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Selfies and social media: how tourists indulge their influencer fantasies

<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/brendan-canavan-228682">Brendan Canavan</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-nottingham-1192">University of Nottingham</a></em></p> <p>A town in the US state of Vermont <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/vermont-town-banning-influencers-tourists-visiting-fall-foliage-rcna117413">closed its roads to tourists</a> in September 2023 after a social media tag sparked a swarm of visitors that overwhelmed the rural destination.</p> <p>Videos on TikTok were seen by thousands and the hashtag #sleepyhollowfarm went viral, prompting a tourist rush to the pretty New England town of Pomfret, where visitors tried to take photos of themselves against the countryside backdrop. The town, famous for its fall foliage, criticised this as problematic and “influencer tourism”, part of <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160738320300426">a travel trend</a> where a social media phenomenon can spark an overwhelming and unexpected rise in visitor numbers.</p> <p><a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0002764292036002005?casa_token=gQo4-8jeYdIAAAAA:Oq3Nf5gTtAFK7N00D1NgPO7_zl9ONlOEnzFZnojX6fX1nKXQWJZ4ERn52MlV3abn4fDN4_C4hJjq">Traditionally</a>, we think of tourists as travelling to gain new experiences. They look at sites, take photographs and collect souvenirs. However, this relationship between the tourist and touring is changing.</p> <p>Driven by <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/how-instagram-changed-the-tourism-industry/a-65348690">24-hour access to social media</a>, some tourists now travel primarily to have an experience that <a href="https://www.americanexpress.com/en-us/travel/discover/get-inspired/Global-Travel-Trends">looks good online</a>. Around 75% of people in a recent American Express survey said they had been inspired to visit somewhere by social media. Some tourists may be prompted to choose a destination by seeing a <a href="https://www.elle.com/culture/travel-food/a27561982/best-instagram-spots/">backdrop that is popular on social media or on television</a>, in order to create a high-status photo.</p> <p>The expansion of social media and ubiquity of smartphone cameras has had a <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/13/7312">major impact on tourists’ behaviour</a>. This has also led to what’s been called a <a href="https://www.traveldailynews.com/column/articles/who-are-the-selfie-gaze-tourists/">selfie “tourist gaze”</a>, creating photos where the traveller is at the forefront of images rather than the destination.</p> <p>Indeed, according to my research, increasingly, some tourists go somewhere <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160738320300426">to be spotted</a> – to be observed by others both online and in person at these destinations.</p> <h2>Looking for drama</h2> <p>Studies have highlighted how tourists <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0261517715300388?casa_token=W51WkDKJSK8AAAAA:DG99dEWkyYKWIe6hNcLXR4KRApXV24QksHIzrRNcjVY3FngukDgIv9HLHG4o3NV4rqNJtdet">head for</a> particularly dramatic or luxurious destinations because of their social media links. Dubai, for example, with its bling culture and high-end shopping, has become a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/apr/17/in-this-world-social-media-is-everything-how-dubai-became-the-planets-influencer-capital">playground for influencers</a> looking for a luxury backdrop to add to their celebrity-style image.</p> <p>Some tourists aim to photograph themselves in prestigious locations, rather than taking shots of their <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/13567667221113079?casa_token=xbdUjWECQvMAAAAA:mc4rqleOqgjazW9DAYduW7LaPTu4KEw1DIfbPbWF0vl0efwNPC_GQ0U-HjltguwsIsCoO4ycXgyW7Q">travel surroundings</a>. Others choose to <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160738320300426">act like mini-celebrities</a> and perform for the camera, expecting and wanting to be looked at by those they encounter – or even narrating their participation in extreme events.</p> <p>One of these is the <a href="https://www.theadventurists.com/rickshaw-run/">Rickshaw Run</a>, a 2,000km race across India. This adventure tourism event encourages participants to dress up, act eccentrically and get noticed. Driving tuk-tuks around India, from Kerala to Darjeeling, vehicles are personalised with eye-catching designs. Many participants film themselves and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2p3wd0ii2oQ">upload the results</a> to social media, and the events tend to create a significant following. For instance, this YouTube video series created by Rickshaw Run participants drew 3.6m subscribers:</p> <figure><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/2p3wd0ii2oQ?wmode=transparent&start=0" width="440" height="260" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe><figcaption><span class="caption">Taking part in the Rickshaw Run.</span></figcaption></figure> <p>However, some of these tourist “performances” can cause controversy. For instance, <a href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/travel/mexico-tourist-beaten-with-stick-for-climbing-chichen-itza-pyramid/EL5KGLB4CNC5ZONNZCKAMX3LLE/">climbing over</a> fragile archaeological sites in search of social media content might damage them. <a href="https://www.unilad.com/news/russian-tourist-deported-nude-photo-bali-064402-20230330">Posing for laughs</a> in areas considered sacred can offend. The reducing of cultures to <a href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/selfie-tourists-get-up-easter-islanders-noses-sgfxdtkj7">backdrops for social media content</a> can suggest a lack of interest in or respect for hosts by tourists.</p> <p>My research points to a growth in <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/09669582.2016.1263309">narcissism in society</a>, and connects this with what tourists desire from travel and how they act when travelling. This may be reflected in increased sense of entitlement and exhibitionism by tourists who aim to take photos in more difficult to reach locations or off-limit areas, for instance.</p> <p>Selfie culture arguably promotes <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/09528822.2015.1082339?casa_token=tbsXw1drBAEAAAAA:qfSfJBbHWi3x8MSVeoyHBIceP7W_8C55rVctylf-2zRBzx-aG_EeFwvTmHHsOdjQpMd8LVaUrjSo">self-involvement rather than social responsibility</a>. It is well established that tourists <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/1368350050408668198?casa_token=K4p5aZCN8t4AAAAA:96p7f3qNu2WndpE-C-D0rs5mJaOlnJ5F6P4iXQlWQopseMGWuJ_5TiaFmRggxFsEjrMCoAr14Kn4">can be selfish</a>, putting their own comfort and entertainment ahead of concerns about local issues. This is especially true of the super-rich. Private jet users <a href="https://www.transportenvironment.org/discover/private-jets-can-the-super-rich-supercharge-zero-emission-aviation/">are responsible for</a> half of global aviation emissions.</p> <p>However, the desire to promote the individual and their values could be <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/09669582.2016.1263309">harnessed to promote</a> more sustainable tourism. Those volunteering abroad might be motivated by the image enhancement opportunities of doing good, but they often offer something back to the social and natural environments of <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/09669580903395030?casa_token=NvJorz8d1F4AAAAA:AXXTdW7ePimqFkWNg1W5w8umGCBwXIjus0WICRIoNZH_gsdr1hHomvMAQV21PYA2HkLwBGsO_Qus8g">their host destinations</a> in the process.</p> <p>There are signs that there’s another tourism trend, with travellers looking for deep and meaningful experiences, and ecotourism could help provide those. The act of travelling in a <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09669582.2020.1825458">more environmentally friendly way</a> could also be seen as a way to show off, and still provide selfie material.</p> <p>The environmental pros and cons of tourist self-obsession might be <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/09669582.2016.1263309">debatable</a>. However, self-fixation is arguably not good for tourists themselves. For example, the desire to “perform” on camera could affect people’s mental health, according to one <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/10253866.2018.1467318?casa_token=wI7sETKEKJAAAAAA:ebds6fykbyHAGSXIk9iv6-tyziFSIvganp32S65hiX8KeWlaQDwhPxF_2tWEgkNqssqd-SCE-w_3Eg">study</a>.</p> <p>Research has shown that <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14616688.2012.762691?casa_token=Jb9SzAGXBD0AAAAA:L5Q-HhPs9jWtfm0Zq4nB0uFHrZ3W8N7o1Liq0KAIRqC4ivEhKyEexEZN-ACoz1qzm7CMqD96zXOm">unexpected encounters help tourists to gain self-insight</a>. In addition, getting out of your comfort zone can lead to <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2213078020300074?casa_token=MkMbkdyr_cMAAAAA:LLu44kUbbsP5e-iW-kDdI7iSEo3WkLgH5IvKqb2txZA504q74J4OAhTuXIx8m90oDMSvuiq4Mg">rewarding personal growth</a>.</p> <h2>A disconnect between self and place</h2> <p>Taking yet more selfies could cut people off from their surroundings. In doing so, they could be <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S016073831730097X?casa_token=tOaqrhfVQ-wAAAAA:uxb7djQMWjifvjjgPMZzbq2IQqlgoaGHzWoJkkGbQYQqkbZoeuOqLD91zqwBuWs1SfY7dcK4">less present in the travel experience itself</a>. Indeed, the <a href="https://english.elpais.com/usa/2021-10-29/rise-of-selfie-deaths-leads-experts-to-talk-about-a-public-health-problem.html">growing number</a> of <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2019/11/15/asia/french-man-selfie-death-intl-scli/index.html">selfie-related tourist deaths</a> might attest to a disconnect between self and place. A <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6131996/#:%7E:text=selfie-related%20deaths.-,From%20October%202011%20to%20November%202017%2C%20there%20have%20been%20259,respectively%2C%20in%202016%20and%202017">2018 report</a> estimated 259 deaths to have occurred while taking selfies between 2011-2017.</p> <p>Other research suggests that individuals who are motivated by the desire to present a particular online image may be <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211973620301458?casa_token=-HkTUB7WC7cAAAAA:455BE0L2jP-CL1nD18__Ey3fj5GsLmYfKL_EB_P7IWa7lDddpJYIW3UIo5fUjg68e7Nvm7PUlTA#s0050">more likely to take risks</a> with their travel selfies, with potentially fatal consequences.</p> <p>Tourists have always been somewhat self-obsessed. The 18th-century <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0160738385900027">Grand Tour</a>, a leisurely trip around Europe, allowed the wealthy to <a href="https://www.historyhit.com/what-was-the-grand-tour/">indulge themselves</a> in <a href="https://www.salon.com/2002/05/31/sultry/">ways</a> that might not have been socially acceptable back home. And at the beginning of the 21st century, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160738301000305?casa_token=C5eb2NJQvGsAAAAA:YrdY-xjJwBrUE9RjwyOJ3kRBS4-o7e5Jni5sluTCuZOrgnCULybO8EgJtQqsuSL7B5nZJwiH3Q#BIB37">academics worried about</a> self-involved backpacker communities in southeast Asia having little interest in mixing with local people.</p> <p>What is different about smartphones and social media is that these allow some tourists to present such self-indulgent, and sometimes insensitive, tourism traits immediately. Wifi and mobile data mean that these tourists can travel with one eye on finding the perfect selfie backdrop – filtering and sharing their travel as it happens, responding to likes and comments.</p> <p>For better or worse, living this influencer fantasy may have become an integral part of tourism for some time.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/214681/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /></p> <p><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/brendan-canavan-228682"><em>Brendan Canavan</em></a><em>, Senior Lecturer in Marketing, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-nottingham-1192">University of Nottingham</a></em></p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images </em></p> <p><em>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/selfies-and-social-media-how-tourists-indulge-their-influencer-fantasies-214681">original article</a>.</em></p>

Travel Trouble

“I’m being racist to eggs”: Wellness influencer slammed for innocent comment

<p>An Australian influencer has been forced to address a "racist" comment she made about her son's lunch. </p> <p>Health and fitness influencer Sarah Stevenson, who is known by her millions of followers as Sarah's Day, was filming herself as she made lunch for her son.</p> <p>The 31-year-old stopped herself as she made her child a curried egg sandwich, saying he be dubbed “the smelly boy in the playground” if he took the meal to school.</p> <p>“Do you want to be ‘smelly curried egg boy’?” she asked him.</p> <p>While the seemingly innocent comment went unnoticed by many of her followers, one person sent her a message demanding an apology for her "borderline racist" comment. </p> <p>The entrepreneur and mum-of-two replied to the private message in a video response to her followers explaining that she meant the “egg smell” and didn't mean anything racist. </p> <p>“Didn’t everyone go to school with someone who brought eggs in their lunch and you’re like, ‘ew, you smell like rotten eggs’... not ‘you smell like curry!’,” she said in the video on her Instagram Stories.</p> <p>She said sarcastically, “I’m being racist to eggs.”</p> <p>Stevenson then doubled down on the follower’s outrage, following that with a cooking tutorial for “racist eggs”.</p> <p>The late night social media saga was re-shared by a popular account, where it was dubbed “egg gate” and plenty more people weighed in on the drama. </p> <p>“She should have apologised and taken it down instead she’s made it worse,” one commenter wrote.</p> <p>The general consensus from the public was that the original racism accusation “was a definite reach”, but she went too far with her explanation. </p> <p>“Honestly don’t think there was any malice in the original comment — she definitely scrambled (ha!), way too far in explaining herself afterwards though,” someone wrote.</p> <p><em>Image credits: Instagram </em></p>

Food & Wine

Vegan raw food influencer dies of suspected "starvation and exhaustion"

<p>Zhanna Samsonova, a well-known vegan raw food influencer with a significant following on social media, has tragically passed away in Malaysia reportedly due to starvation and exhaustion resulting from her 'extreme' tropical fruit diet.</p> <p>For a decade, Zhanna, also known as Zhanna D'Art, had maintained a raw plant-based diet, which mainly consisted of exotic fruits, sunflower seed sprouts, fruit smoothies, and juices. Additionally, she occasionally practiced 'dry fasting,' abstaining from food and water for extended periods.</p> <p>The 39-year-old influencer, who had not consumed water for over six years, replaced it solely with fruit and vegetable juices. On July 21, she succumbed to what her mother described as a cholera-like infection exacerbated by her highly restrictive eating habits.</p> <p>At the time of her passing, Zhanna was in Malaysia, continuing her travels across Asia, which had spanned 17 years. Her family faced bureaucratic challenges in repatriating her body back to Russia, making the mourning process even more difficult. At the time of writing, her official cause of death has not yet been determined.</p> <p>Zhanna's mother, Vera Samsonova, expressed her disapproval of her daughter's extreme diet and had attempted to persuade her to adopt a more balanced approach, but her efforts were in vain.</p> <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CtLLqS1PecT/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CtLLqS1PecT/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Raw food Creation by Zhanna D’art (@rawveganfoodchef)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p>Over time, the influencer transitioned from a vegan diet to a purely raw food diet, sharing what she believed were 'healthy' recipes on her Instagram profile. However, her social media presence started to reveal an increasingly emaciated appearance, raising concerns among her followers, friends, and family.</p> <p>Many of her loved ones warned her about the potential dangers of her extreme diet, but Zhanna remained steadfast in her convictions. Ultimately, her refusal to heed their advice led to a tragic outcome, with reports indicating that her raw food diet contributed significantly to her demise.</p> <p>In 2021, during a trip to Russia, Zhanna contracted COVID-19 and chose to handle it through an unorthodox method of dry fasting, lasting more than ten days. Despite initially claiming to have overcome the virus, her health may have been compromised, leading to further complications down the line.</p> <p>The passing of Zhanna Samsonova has sparked discussions about the importance of balanced and informed dietary choices. Her story serves as a cautionary tale, urging individuals to approach extreme diets with care and consideration for their overall well-being.</p> <p><em>Images: Instagram</em></p>

Body

Inspiration, influence and theft: what the Ed Sheeran case can tell us about 70 years of pop music

<p>a US court <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/may/04/ed-sheeran-verdict-not-liable-copyright-lawsuit-marvin-gaye">ruled in favour of singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran</a>, agreeing his song <em>Thinking Out Loud</em> did not breach musical copyright. </p> <p>The high-profile court case, brought by the estate of soul singer Marvin Gaye, claimed Sheeran’s song was too similar to Gaye’s song <em>Let’s Get It On</em>.</p> <p>On the stand, Sheeran <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/apr/28/ed-sheeran-sings-in-court-as-part-of-marvin-gaye-copyright-case">defended his songwriting process</a>, stating: “I draw inspiration from a lot from things in my life and family.”</p> <p>Sheeran’s case brought up some difficult questions around what we understand as inspiration and influence, and what we may hear as theft.</p> <p>Musical copyright cases are part of songwriting history. Radiohead’s <em>Creep</em> was found to be <a href="https://entertainment.time.com/2013/08/22/11-suspiciously-sound-alike-songs/slide/the-hollies-the-air-that-i-breathe-1974-vs-radiohead-creep-1992/">too similar</a> to the Hollies’ <em>The Air That I Breathe</em>, and in 2018, Lana Del Rey’s <em>Get Free</em> <a href="https://variety.com/2018/biz/news/lana-del-rey-claims-lawsuit-with-radiohead-is-over-watch-1202736177/">was found to plagiarise Creep</a>. </p> <p>Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars altered the credits to <em>Uptown Funk</em> to <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/lawsuit-bmg-uptown-funk-royalties-gap-band-heirs-1234660379/">acknowledge the similarity</a> to The Gap Band’s <em>Oops Upside Your Head</em>. </p> <p>Here in Australia, the flute solo in Men at Work’s <em>Down Under</em>, which quoted the melody of folk song <em>Kookaburra Sits in the Old Gum Tree</em>, was <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2010/jul/06/men-at-work-down-under">ruled as plagiarism</a>.</p> <p>In this case against Sheeran, the song’s chord progression was at the heart of the claim. The prosecution argued Sheeran’s chord progression was too similar to the chord progression of Gaye’s.</p> <p>But can we copyright a chord progression if it is used extensively in other pop songs? </p> <p>Gaye’s song uses four chords that gradually move upward (I-iii-IV-V). These same chords can be heard in the Beach Boys’ <em>I Can Hear Music</em>, the Seekers’ <em>Georgy Girl</em>, the Beatles’ <em>I Feel Fine</em>, in the Motown tune <em>This Old Heart of Mine</em> by the Isley Brothers, Elvis Presley’s <em>Suspicious Minds</em>, Cher’s <em>Believe</em> and ABBA’s <em>Knowing Me Knowing You</em>, among many others. </p> <p>This chord progression and many others are part of the songwriting toolkit of rock and pop and have been heard continuously over the past 70 years. </p> <h2>The 12 bar blues</h2> <p>A chord progression is the main instrumental part you hear in most pop music, usually played by a guitar, piano or synth. </p> <p>One of the oldest chord progressions in pop is the 12-bar blues – a looping pattern of three chords that is very identifiable. </p> <p>As the name suggests, this set of chords stems from early blues and was a way for musicians to easily play together and improvise. A version of this progression can be heard in Muddy Waters’ I<em>’m Your Hoochie Coochie Man</em> or John Lee Hooker’s <em>Boom Boom</em>. </p> <p>You can also hear this progression in a number of other pop songs – listen to verses of Queen’s <em>I Want to Break Free</em> and <em>Kiss</em> by Prince – both use the same chord progression, but sound very different to each other. </p> <p>More recently, Lizzo’s <em>Better in Colour</em> uses the 12-bar blues in a way that makes an old formula fresh.</p> <h2>The ‘doo-wop’ progression</h2> <p>The “doo-wop” progression has appeared in pop music for close to 80 years, and is named because most doo-wop songs feature this chord progression – it was an essential part of its sound. </p> <p>You can hear it in 1950s hits such as the Penguins’ <em>Earth Angel</em> and Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers’ <em>Why Do Fools Fall in Love?</em>.</p> <p>The strength of these chords means they are used in pop music of all kinds, including ELO’s <em>Telephone Line</em>, <em>Don’t Dream it’s Over</em> by Crowded House, Destiny’s Child’s <em>Say My Name</em>, <em>Blank Space</em> by Taylor Swift, and <em>Flowers</em> by Miley Cyrus. </p> <p>Despite its consistent use, these chords still cross genres and eras, and still catch our ears. </p> <p>Comedy act Axis of Awesome use a similar progression in their video for 4 Chords, where they cleverly play almost 50 different songs with a variation on these four simple chords.</p> <p><iframe title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/oOlDewpCfZQ" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></p> <h2>The I-IV-V (the ‘one, four, five’)</h2> <p>Perhaps the most common chord progressions in rock and pop are those that use the I, IV and V chords in various combinations.</p> <p>They’re usually the first three chords you learn on an instrument and open up thousands of songs to play – from the rock and roll of <em>Summertime Blues</em> by Eddie Cochran, the garage rock of <em>Wild Thing</em> by the Troggs, the bubblegum of Hanson’s <em>Mmmbop</em> and the indie rock of Coldplay’s <em>Yellow</em>, to the modern pop of <em>bad guy</em> by Billie Eilish and <em>good 4 u</em> by Olivia Rodrigo.</p> <h2>Going forward</h2> <p>Rock, pop, blues, doo wop and other musical genres can often be defined by their use of repeated chord progressions. These chord progressions are part of a songwriter’s toolkit in a similar way to how an artist may use different paint brushes. </p> <p>As Sheeran’s lawyer Ilene Farkas <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/may/04/ed-sheeran-verdict-not-liable-copyright-lawsuit-marvin-gaye">noted</a>, chord progressions are, "the letters of the alphabet of music […] these are basic musical building blocks that songwriters now and forever must be free to use."</p> <p>It is how these “building blocks” are used, and in what combinations, that gives us a great variety of pop songs over many decades. The true craft of great pop music is to take these formulas and turn them into something unique (while simultaneously making it sound easy).</p> <p>The ruling in Sheeran’s case supports the rights of musical artists to continue to use these progressions as part of a songwriter’s toolkit, and to build from the artists who came before them. It also acknowledges that influence and inspiration from previous works are part of the construction of the pop music we love.</p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p> <p><em>This article originally appeared on <a href="https://theconversation.com/inspiration-influence-and-theft-what-the-ed-sheeran-case-can-tell-us-about-70-years-of-pop-music-204747" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>. </em></p>

Music

Influencer’s extensive list of plane etiquette rules reignites age-old debate

<p dir="ltr">A travel influencer has shared an extensive list of what you should and shouldn’t do on a plane, reigniting an age-old debate about in-flight etiquette. </p> <p dir="ltr">Ben Keenan, a frequent traveller from Seattle in the US, posted his list of dos and don’ts in a now-viral TikTok, saying it is “disgusting” for a passenger to take off their shoes and you should always check behind before reclining your seat.</p> <p dir="ltr">Keenan begins his list with his least controversial point, saying travellers should always greet their flight attendants when boarding the plane, pointing out that it costs nothing to be friendly and polite. </p> <p dir="ltr">He then broaches the topic of taking off your shoes on a plane, which was met with mixed responses. </p> <p dir="ltr">“Do not take off your shoes or socks when you’re sitting in your seat, you disgusting people,” he said.</p> <p dir="ltr">He went on to urge people not to pick an aisle seat if you plan on sleeping through your journey. </p> <p dir="ltr">“When selecting your seat before the flight, go ahead and determine what type of flyer you are. Are you someone that sleeps or are you someone that’s awake?” he said.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Because if you’re on an aisle seat, you need to be prepared to stand up and move out of the way multiple times during the flight – and I know this sucks but that truly means that you should not be a sleeper.”</p> <p dir="ltr">He continued, “Speaking of sleeping on the plane, if you’re going to recline your seat to do that, go ahead and make sure the people behind you aren’t resting their head on your seat or using that tray table because do you know how many times I’ve been smashed in the head by somebody who just aggressively leans back.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Keenan’s list of etiquette rules was met with a mixed response, with people both praising and criticising certain unspoken rules. </p> <p dir="ltr">“Nope … definitely taking my shoes off! And I’m not turning back to check … I will recline gently though,” one traveller said.</p> <p dir="ltr">“If it is a long flight, shoes are allowed to come off (8+ hours),” another wrote.</p> <p dir="ltr"> One flyer agreed with Keenan’s rules, admitting, “I approach every flight like I'm being graded, and the flight attendants will give me an A+ for my flight etiquette.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Another bemused viewer put it simply, writing, “I’ve never flown but this all seems like common sense?”</p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image credits: TikTok</em></p>

Travel Tips

“Kids are not accessories”: Influencer slammed for putting baby in danger

<p dir="ltr">Influencer Camila Coelho has been slammed for putting her 7-month-old in danger, after posting multiple photos and a video of her standing with her infant son on a Paris balcony. </p> <p dir="ltr">Coelho, who boasts over 9 million followers on Instagram, has remained silent on the backlash, despite worried followers telling her to stop. </p> <p dir="ltr">The first photo was posted on February 27 with the caption: "Kai’s first time in PARIS. so happy to be back (for PFW) & spend my birthday tomorrow here with him and hubby!" </p> <p dir="ltr">In the photo Coelho can be seen wearing a ribbed pink turtleneck jumper, a matching pink coat and boots and a denim miniskirt.</p> <p dir="ltr">Her adorable son, donning an all-grey outfit, was pictured standing on the edge of the balcony with Coelho’s arms around him. </p> <p dir="ltr">The fashion blogger’s followers immediately condemned her actions, with one saying: "Please remove these photos! Kids are not accessories!" </p> <p dir="ltr">“Babies and balconies don’t go together. People will naturally get triggered. You are my favourite fashion blogger and I’m sure you were in control, but there will be other wannabe bloggers who will try to recreate this image and potentially put their babies at risk. It takes a second for an accident to happen. It’s not worth the risk or pic,” commented another. </p> <p dir="ltr">“How far can you go for likes? Yes, you are in Paris and yes, you have a view. No need to put a baby on the edge of a balcony,” wrote another.</p> <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CpIkwcGNRZP/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CpIkwcGNRZP/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by CAMILA COELHO (@camilacoelho)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p dir="ltr">In the same series of photos, Coelho can be seen lifting her baby up and holding him a little too close to the edge. </p> <p dir="ltr">“For the sake of his life it’s not necessary to lift him up on the edge of the balcony,” commented a follower. </p> <p dir="ltr">“Really? So dangerous just for a photo,” commented another. </p> <p dir="ltr">A few days later, Coelho added fuel to the fire by posting a video from the same balcony, where she is seen sipping tea on a chilly morning with Kai perched in her arms, close to the edge.</p> <p dir="ltr">Her followers couldn’t help but express their disappointment. </p> <p dir="ltr">“Dear Camila, I love you as a woman, how you act in everything, but this is now the second time that you come into the picture with Kai on the edge balcony,” wrote one follower. </p> <p dir="ltr">"Disappointing....I'm starting to think you're just trolling people. but of course everything for the many likes," wrote another. </p> <p dir="ltr">The video has since been deleted, but the photos are still up on Coelho’s Instagram.</p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Images: Instagram</em></p>

Travel Trouble

60-year-old influencer hits back at claims she’s “dressing inappropriately”

<p dir="ltr">A fashion influencer from Montreal, Canada, has taken on the trolls who see fit to tear her down for shamelessly embracing her style in her 60s. </p> <p dir="ltr">Roslyn Griner has had a passion for fashion for as long as she can remember - she credits her late mother, a seamstress who would often make Roslyn items to wear, with developing her love for the fashion world.</p> <p dir="ltr">Nowadays, she shares her style journey with over 11k followers on social media. She embraces chic looks, current trends, and dons pieces most commonly marketed to younger generations - and stuns in every single one of them. </p> <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/Cosy3rUJG3g/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Cosy3rUJG3g/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Roslyn Griner (@howrosdoesit)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p dir="ltr">And while the majority of her comments are positive, with many praising Roslyn for her bold choices, it hasn’t stopped the outspoken few from sharing their distaste.</p> <p dir="ltr">However, Roslyn won’t be stopped quite so easily, and has spoken out against her haters, putting an end to the idea that anyone has to stop dressing the way that makes them happy just because they’ve celebrated another birthday. </p> <p dir="ltr">“People say I am dressing inappropriately,” Roslyn said, “but it's about your style, not your age number.”</p> <p dir="ltr">“We become this invisible minority when we hit a certain age and are known as mothers and grandmothers,” she continued, “but you can be sexy and all these things. </p> <p dir="ltr">“You don't lose the zest for life.”</p> <p dir="ltr">She went on to speak of her desire to inspire women, and show them that they “don’t have to stop dressing a certain way just because you’re 50 or 60.” </p> <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CoanFoAJmnq/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CoanFoAJmnq/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Roslyn Griner (@howrosdoesit)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p dir="ltr">And when it comes to the inspiration for her looks, Roslyn noted that she loves music, and that it has the power to help keep people youthful. As well as that, she’s an avid gym goer, and uses her fashion to highlight some of the things she likes most about herself. </p> <p dir="ltr">“I’m showcasing how I like to dress,” she said. “I wear mini-skirts, I like my legs, so I’m going to show them off.</p> <p dir="ltr">“My style of dressing isn’t for everyone,” she added, “but I don’t address the negative comments anymore. </p> <p dir="ltr">“You can be conservative in your 30s or trendy in your 50s. I'm showing young girls that it is not scary to age. It's cool to be my age.”</p> <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/Cl1CdRbuVof/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Cl1CdRbuVof/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Roslyn Griner (@howrosdoesit)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p dir="ltr">For those struggling with their confidence, Roslyn admitted that she herself “didn’t come into myself until my late 30s”, and that she wrestled with being shy and feeling unattractive for most of her 20s. </p> <p dir="ltr">“I feel I'm much more confident now. As you go down the path of life you care less about everyone's opinions,” she explained. </p> <p dir="ltr">“I'm transparent and I have had Botox. Exercise keeps me ageless. I never feel like my age.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I'm not creaky, I'm dynamic. I'm living in the present.”</p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Images: Instagram</em></p>

Beauty & Style

The Dark Side of the Moon at 50: how Marx, trauma and compassion all influenced Pink Floyd’s masterpiece

<p><em>Dixi et salvavi animam meam.</em></p> <p>This Latin phrase – I have spoken and saved my soul – sits at the end of Karl Marx’s <a href="https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1875/gotha/">Critique of the Gotha Programme</a>. </p> <p>Written in 1875, this text imagines a communist society that will come about “after the enslaving of the individual to the division of labour, and thereby also the antithesis between mental and physical labour has vanished”. </p> <p>Only then, Marx argues, “can the narrow horizon of bourgeois right be completely transcended and society inscribe on its banners: from each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs!”</p> <p>Roger Waters – bassist, lyricist and conceptual mastermind behind Pink Floyd’s 1973 album <em>The Dark Side of the Moon</em>, released 50 years ago today – knows Marx’s Critique. Indeed, he quotes it when discussing the record with music journalist John Harris. </p> <p>“Making <em>The Dark Side of the Moon</em>, we were all trying to do as much as we possibly could,” Waters <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/301401">told</a> Harris.</p> <p>"It was a very communal thing. What’s that old Marxist maxim? ‘From each according to his ability, to each according to his need.’ That’s sort of the way the band worked at that point."</p> <p>Assertions about solidarity, cooperation and shared “unity of purpose” – as Waters says – situate <em>Dark Side</em> in the context of Pink Floyd’s <a href="https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/pink-floyd-roger-waters-david-gilmour-feud/">notoriously fractious</a> recording career and helps us understand the album’s enduring appeal.</p> <h2>Shine on you crazy diamond</h2> <p>Pink Floyd formed in London in 1965. Led by the charismatic songwriter, guitarist and lead vocalist Syd Barrett, the group established itself as a leader in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UK_underground">London underground music scene</a>. They released their debut album <em>The Piper at the Gates of Dawn</em> in 1967.</p> <p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soft_Machine">Soft Machine</a> member Kevin Ayers <a href="https://www.bloomsbury.com/au/pink-floyds-the-piper-at-the-gates-of-dawn-9781441185174/">described</a> <em>The Piper at the Gates of Dawn</em> as “something magical, but it was in Syd Barrett”. </p> <p>Not long after the record’s release, Barrett suffered a catastrophic, LSD-induced breakdown. In response, the band recruited David Gilmour on guitar and recorded a second album, <em>A Saucerful of Secrets</em>, as a five-piece in 1968. Around this time, the increasingly unstable Barrett was unceremoniously ousted by the rest of the band. </p> <p>After Barrett left, says Ayers, “Pink Floyd became something else totally”. </p> <p>There are different versions of Pink Floyd. The recordings released after Barrett left the band in 1968 bear little resemblance to the first. </p> <p><em>Dark Side</em> sounds nothing like the whimsical Piper. But it is obvious the record is in large part preoccupied with the loss of Barrett.</p> <p>This preoccupation comes to the fore in the album’s penultimate track.</p> <p><em><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1OOQP1-wOE&ab_channel=HDPinkFloyd">Brain Damage</a></em>, written and sung by Waters, references Barrett’s adolescence (“Remembering games and daisy chains and laughs”), alludes to his illness (“And if the dam breaks open many years too soon”), and acknowledges his leaving the group (“And if the band you’re in starts playing different tunes; I’ll see you on the dark side of the Moon”). </p> <p>Drummer Nick Mason confirms the group didn’t want to lose Barrett.</p> <p>In his <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/265734.Inside_Out">autobiography</a>, he writes, "He was our songwriter, singer, guitarist, and – although you might not have known from our less than sympathetic treatment of him – he was our friend."</p> <h2>If the dam breaks open many years too soon</h2> <p>What we hear on <em>The Dark Side of the Moon</em> is a band dealing with trauma. </p> <p>In this sense, Dark Side represents the start of a reckoning with the past – a process that culminated with the band’s next record, 1975’s elegiac <em><a href="https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/wish-you-were-here-pink-floyd-seminal-ode-to-the-tragic-life-of-syd-barrett/">Wish You Were Here</a></em>.</p> <p>Culmination is a useful term when it comes to <em>Dark Side</em> more generally. On this record, all the avant-garde techniques and tendencies the band had toyed with in the post-Barrett period – <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musique_concr%C3%A8te">musique concrète</a>, sonic manipulation, extended improvisation, analogue tape manipulation – come together to spectacular effect. </p> <p><em><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0kcet4aPpQ">Money</a> –</em> with its anti-capitalist lyrics penned by Waters (“Money, it’s a crime; share it fairly, but don’t take a slice of my pie”), odd time signature, and handmade tape-loops mimicking the sounds of cash tills, bags of coins being dropped from great height and bank notes being torn up – is one of the stranger hit singles in pop music history. </p> <p>Be that as it may, Money and the album from which it is taken, of which <a href="https://www.pinkfloyd.com/tdsotm50/">more than 50 million copies</a> have been sold, continue to resonate with listeners worldwide, five decades on from its initial release.</p> <h2>The enormous risk of being truly banal</h2> <p>“I made a conscious effort when I was writing the lyrics for <em>Dark Side of the Moon</em> to take the enormous risk of being truly banal about a lot of it,” Waters told John Harris, “in order that the ideas should be expressed as simply and plainly as possible.”</p> <p>On this point, <a href="https://www.loudersound.com/news/david-gilmour-says-its-pretty-unlikely-he-and-roger-waters-will-resolve-pink-floyd-feud">if nothing else</a>, David Gilmour agrees. He told Harris, "There was definitely a feeling that the words were going to be very clear and specific. That was a leap forward. Things would mean what they meant. That was a distinct step away from what we had done before."</p> <p>Mortality, insanity, conflict, affluence, poverty and, in another nod to Marx, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marx%27s_theory_of_alienation">alienation</a> are some of the themes presented on the record. The need – and this brings us full circle – for compassion, if not outright solidarity, is another. </p> <p>This is an album about the importance of understanding, as Waters <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/301401">insists, "T</a>he potential that human beings have for recognising each other’s humanity and responding to it, with empathy rather than antipathy."</p> <p>Given the sorry state of the world in 2023, about which Roger Waters has many <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-64580688">contentious</a> and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/feb/07/pink-floyd-lyricist-calls-roger-waters-an-antisemite-and-putin-apologist">problematic</a> things to say, I wager Pink Floyd’s masterwork will continue to resonate with listeners for a while yet.</p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p> <p><em>This article originally appeared on <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-dark-side-of-the-moon-at-50-how-marx-trauma-and-compassion-all-influenced-pink-floyds-masterpiece-198400" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>. </em></p>

Music

China’s influence in Myanmar could tip the scales towards war in the South China Sea

<p>The fate of Myanmar has major implications for a free and open Indo-Pacific.</p> <p>An undemocratic Myanmar serves no one’s interests except China, which is consolidating its economic and strategic influence in its smaller neighbour in pursuit of its <a href="https://cimsec.org/chinese-maritime-strategy-indian-ocean/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">two-ocean strategy</a>.</p> <p>Since the coup China has been – by far – the main source of <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/myanmar-economy-idUSL4N2U721T" target="_blank" rel="noopener">foreign investment</a> in Myanmar.</p> <p>This includes <a href="https://www.myanmar-now.org/en/news/junta-approves-25bn-power-plant-project-backed-by-chinese-companies" target="_blank" rel="noopener">US$2.5 billion</a> in a gas-fired power plant to be built west of Myanmar’s capital, Yangon, that will be 81% owned and operated by Chinese companies.</p> <p>Among the dozens of infrastructure projects China is funding are high-speed rail links and dams. But its most strategically important investment is the <a href="https://www.wilsoncenter.org/blog-post/china-myanmar-economic-corridor-and-chinas-determination-see-it-through" target="_blank" rel="noopener">China-Myanmar Economic Corridor</a>, encompassing oil and gas pipelines, roads and rail links costing many tens of billions of dollars.</p> <p>The corridor’s “jewel in the crown” is a deep-sea port to be built at Kyaukphyu, on Myanmar’s west coast, at an estimated <a href="https://www.bnionline.net/en/news/kyaukphyu-deep-sea-port-poses-challenges-maday-islanders-and-local-fisheries" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cost of US$7 billion</a>.</p> <p>This will finally give China its long-desired “back door” to the Indian Ocean.</p> <p>Natural gas from Myanmar can help China reduce its dependence on imports from suppliers such as Australia. Access <a href="https://www.diis.dk/en/research/myanmar-chinas-west-coast-dream" target="_blank" rel="noopener">to the Indian Ocean</a> will enable China to import gas and oil from the Middle East, Africa and Venezuela without ships having to pass through the contested waters of the South China Sea to Chinese ports.</p> <p>About <a href="https://chinapower.csis.org/much-trade-transits-south-china-sea/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">80% of China’s oil imports</a> now move through the South China Sea via the Malacca Strait, which is just 65 kilometres wide at its narrowest point between the Malay Peninsula and Indonesia’s Sumatra.</p> <p>Overcoming this strategic vulnerability arguably makes the Kyaukphyu port and pipelines the most important element of China’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/china-is-financing-infrastructure-projects-around-the-world-many-could-harm-nature-and-indigenous-communities-168060" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Belt and Road initiative</a> to reshape global trade routes and assert its influence over other nations.</p> <h2>Deepening relationship</h2> <p>Most of China’s infrastructure investment was planned before Myanmar’s coup. But whereas other governments and foreign investors have sought to distance themselves from the junta since it overthrew Myanmar’s elected government in February 2021, China has deepened its relationship.</p> <p>China is the Myanmar regime’s most important international supporter. In April Foreign Minister Wang Yi said <a href="https://apnews.com/article/wang-yi-aung-san-suu-kyi-china-myanmar-diplomacy-d68de69436c1462f647f6475b6315c92" target="_blank" rel="noopener">China would support Myanmar</a> “no matter how the situation changes”. In May it used its veto power on the United Nations Security Council to thwart <a href="https://news.yahoo.com/russia-china-block-un-statement-034542265.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a statement expressing concern</a> about violence and the growing humanitarian crisis in Myanmar.</p> <p>Work continues on projects associated with the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor. New ventures (such as the aforementioned power station) have been approved. More projects are on the cards. In June, for example, China’s embassy in Myanmar announced the completion of <a href="https://www.thestar.com.my/aseanplus/aseanplus-news/2022/06/08/feasibility-study-completed-for-myanmar039s-wan-pong-port-improvement-project" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a feasibility study</a> to upgrade the Wan Pong port on the Lancang-Mekong River in Myanmar’s east.</p> <h2>Debt trap warnings</h2> <p>In 2020, before the coup, Myanmar’s auditor general Maw Than <a href="https://www.rfa.org/english/news/myanmar/costly-borrowing-06102020151951.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">warned of growing indebtedness</a> to China, with Chinese lenders charging higher interest payments than those from the International Monetary Fund or World Bank.</p> <p>At that time <a href="https://www.asianews.it/news-en/Forty-per-cent-of-Myanmar%E2%80%99s-government-debt-held-by-China-46071.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">about 40%</a> of Myanmar’s foreign debt of US$10 billion was owed to China. It is likely to be greater now. It will only increase the longer a military dictatorship, with few other supporters or sources of foreign money, remains in power, <a href="https://www.eastasiaforum.org/2021/06/23/how-the-coup-is-destroying-myanmars-economy/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">dragging down Myanmar’s economy</a>.</p> <p>Efforts to restore democracy in Myanmar should therefore be seen as crucial to the long-term strategic interests of the region’s democracies, and to global peace and prosperity, given the increasing belligerence of China under Xi Jinping.</p> <p>Xi, now president for life, this month told the People’s Liberation Army to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/nov/09/xi-jinping-tells-chinas-army-to-focus-on-preparation-for-war" target="_blank" rel="noopener">prepare for war</a>. A compliant and indebted Myanmar with a deep-sea port controlled by Chinese interests tips the scales towards that happening.</p> <p>A democratic and independent Myanmar is a counter-strategy to this potential.</p> <h2>Calls for sanctions</h2> <p>Myanmar’s democracy movement wants the international community to impose <a href="https://specialadvisorycouncil.org/cut-the-cash/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tough sanctions</a> on the junta. But few have responded.</p> <p>The United States and United Kingdom have gone furthest, banning business dealings with Myanmar military officials and state-owned or private companies controlled by the military.</p> <p>The European Union and Canada have imposed sanctions against a more limited range of individuals and economic entities.</p> <p>South Korea has suspended financing new infrastructure projects. Japan has suspended aid and postponed the launch of Myanmar’s first satellite. New Zealand has suspended political and military contact.</p> <p>Australia has suspended military cooperation (with some <a href="https://www.dfat.gov.au/international-relations/security/sanctions/sanctions-regimes/myanmar-sanctions-regime" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pre-existing restrictions</a> on dealing with military leaders imposed following the human rights atrocities committed against the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-41566561" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Rohingya</a> in 2017.</p> <p>But that’s about it.</p> <p>Myanmar’s closest neighbours in the ten-member Association of South-East Asian Nations are still committed to a policy of dialogue and “<a href="https://thediplomat.com/2022/11/will-asean-finally-change-its-approach-toward-myanmar/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">non-interference</a>” – though <a href="https://thediplomat.com/2022/05/malaysian-fm-says-asean-envoy-welcomes-idea-of-engaging-myanmars-nug/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Malaysia</a> and <a href="https://thediplomat.com/2022/11/indonesian-fm-says-myanmar-military-to-blame-for-countrys-crisis/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Indonesia</a> are increasingly arguing for a tougher approach as the atrocities mount.</p> <p>The <a href="https://myanmar.iiss.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project</a> says the only country now more violent than Myanmar is Ukraine.</p> <p>Given its unique geo-strategic position, self-interest alone should be enough for the international community to take greater action.</p> <p><strong>This article originally appeared on <a href="https://theconversation.com/chinas-influence-in-myanmar-could-tip-the-scales-towards-war-in-the-south-china-sea-189780" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>.</strong></p> <p><em>Image: Shutterstock</em></p>

Legal

Influencer slammed for holding raunchy party at retirement home

<p dir="ltr">An elderly woman has appeared to suffer a heart attack while dancing with three strippers at an aged care home.</p> <p dir="ltr">Shocking footage shared to Instagram by influencer Nadia Cartagena shows a group of raunchy dancers showing off their moves to the elderly group at Una Mano Amiga Foundation in El Prado, Cartagena.</p> <p dir="ltr">The clip then shows the woman dancing in between three male dancers before she gasps and puts her hand on her heart.</p> <p dir="ltr">Moments later she is on the floor unconscious and sirens can be heard wailing in the background, rushing to the scene.</p> <p dir="ltr">The woman is then placed on a stretcher and taken to hospital in the ambulance.</p> <p dir="ltr">Nadia announced to her followers that she held an erotic party for “older adults, and I got the biggest scare of my life”.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I did not expect what happened to happen, and the truth is that I am very sorry, I just wanted to give them some fun and I did not expect that situation, so I want you to comment on the situation.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Her post was then inundated with furious comments from followers who slammed her for being inconsiderate.</p> <p dir="ltr">“How can you do that, girl? Can't you see that they are old? They can't stand so much voltage. Some suffer from diseases,” one person wrote.</p> <p dir="ltr">“You had too much, a party is ok but with another theme not like this,” another commented.</p> <p dir="ltr">“That party is out of order, that's not fun for people of that age that hurts,” someone else wrote.</p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Images: Instagram</em></p>

Retirement Life

How Stoicism influenced music from the French Renaissance to Pink Floyd

<p>Have you ever turned to music when struggling with a difficult emotion, like sadness, anxiety or anger? </p> <p>Most people believe that music has some therapeutic power, and that confidence is increasingly backed by <a href="https://www.musictherapy.org/research/sound_health_initiative/">empirical evidence</a>. However, there remains little consensus on precisely how or why music has an ability to influence our emotional, physical and mental well-being.</p> <p>Since ancient times, physicians and philosophers have explored the power of music in human life. Although the writings of Plato and Aristotle are more famous, another ancient school of philosophy, <a href="https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/stoicism/">Stoicism</a>, cultivated an interest in music’s therapeutic potential. </p> <p>Given that the word “<a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/stoic">stoic</a>” is mostly used to describe a rigid, emotionless person, Stoic musical practices would seem doomed to the boring or bizarre.</p> <p>But Stoicism – the capital “S” kind – is a school of thought that’s really more about managing turbulent emotions in everyday life. This casts their connection to music in a different light, and it helps explain how Stoicism positively shaped the course of intellectual and music history. </p> <h2>Control what you can</h2> <p>Founded in ancient Athens and peaking in popularity in first century Rome, Stoicism was developed by philosophers like <a href="https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/seneca/">Seneca</a>, <a href="https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/epictetus/">Epictetus</a> and the Roman emperor <a href="https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/marcus-aurelius/">Marcus Aurelius</a> to manage destructive emotions such as anxiety, anger and grief through exercises that shift perspective. The question of control forms the core of this method. The Stoics taught that it is only by recognizing and accepting what is beyond a person’s control that a person can exert maximal control over what is within their power. </p> <p>Importantly, the Stoic approach does not seek to directly suppress bad emotions but focuses instead on reshaping a person’s worldview, so that when they encounter difficulty or trauma, they will be prepared to experience emotions less destructively. </p> <p>This strategy of putting things in perspective may seem familiar; the founders of cognitive behavioral therapy, <a href="https://theconversation.com/cbt-dbt-psychodynamic-what-type-of-therapy-is-right-for-me-171101">one of the most popular forms of psychotherapy today</a>, <a href="https://www.routledge.com/The-Philosophy-of-Cognitive-Behavioural-Therapy-CBT-Stoic-Philosophy/Robertson/p/book/9780367219147">directly borrowed from Stoicism</a>. </p> <p>In recent years – and especially since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic – interest in Stoicism <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2020/apr/16/how-stoics-are-speaking-to-locked-down-readers">has surged</a>, with people from diverse political and economic backgrounds recognizing the efficacy of this ancient system to address afflictions like anxiety and addiction.</p> <h2>In turbulent times, Neostoicism emerges</h2> <p>So where does music fit into all of this?</p> <p><a href="https://tufts.academia.edu/MelindaLatour">As a historical musicologist</a>, I have done <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-voice-of-virtue-9780197529744?q=voice%20of%20virtue&lang=en&cc=us">extensive research</a> on musical practices inspired by the revival of Stoicism in late-16th and 17th-century France, a movement known as Neostoicism.</p> <p>Emerging in the wake of the violent <a href="https://explore.lib.virginia.edu/exhibits/show/renaissance-in-print/frenchwarsofreligion">French Wars of Religion</a>, Neostoics looked to Stoicism as a remedy for social and political instability. They developed a vocal music repertoire to teach the principles of the system, guiding singers and listeners to “rehearse” Stoic techniques of emotional regulation through informal musical gatherings in people’s homes. </p> <p>These songs illustrated Stoic principles through musical “<a href="https://youtu.be/HaQTq6LsggA">text painting</a>,” in which specific words, actions or concepts were musically conveyed through sound – and, sometimes, visuals – in the score.</p> <p>Take an example from 1582 – “L’eau va viste,” a poem by Antoine de Chandieu that was set to music by Paschal de L’Estocart.</p> <p>Numerous Stoic writings, such as Seneca’s “<a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/On-the-Brevity-of-Life">On the Brevity of Life</a>,” evoke similar imagery of running water to warn against placing one’s happiness in external comforts and securities, which, like a current, quickly pass. </p> <p>L’Estocart’s musical arrangement for “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYKsBPxmenc">L’eau va viste</a>” picks up on this quality of motion. A snowballing rhythm gains momentum with each new example of quick passing. </p> <h2>The river of time</h2> <p>Zoom ahead almost four centuries, and the English rock band Pink Floyd composed a strikingly similar musical reflection in their iconic song “Time” from their 1973 album, “<a href="https://www.loc.gov/static/programs/national-recording-preservation-board/documents/DarkSideOfTheMoon.pdf">Dark Side of the Moon</a>.” </p> <p>The album outlines all the major forces and concerns that can drive people insane: aging, death, fear, greed and violence. </p> <p>Mental health held particular salience for the band. Their founding frontman, Syd Barrett, <a href="https://www.pastemagazine.com/science/psychedelics/was-syd-barrett-an-acid-casualty/">had a mental breakdown</a> only a few years prior. According to Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters, the album is about “life with a heartbeat,” and the band signals this by opening and closing the album with a slow, simulated heartbeat that sounds somehow both mechanical and profoundly human.</p> <p>Developing this rhythmic symbolism further, the single “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgXozIma-Oc">Time</a>” uses numerous musical strategies to draw attention to the fragility of human life.</p> <p>The track opens with a meandering two-and-a-half minute instrumental introduction, slowly building from a breathy synthesizer drone to the disorienting sound of numerous ticking clocks. Then there’s a cacophony of alarms before listeners hear a mechanical bass click that sounds like a metronome or a mechanical heartbeat.</p> <p>The entrance of the electric guitar and increasingly regular musical phrases finally set up the arrival of <a href="https://genius.com/Pink-floyd-time-lyrics">the vocals in the first verse</a>: “Ticking away the moments that make up a dull day / fritter and waste the hours in an off-hand way.” </p> <p>This unusual extended instrumental introduction destabilizes a listener’s expectation of musical time and demands greater attention to the moment-by-moment sensations of its passing. The lyrics throughout the song reinforce this initial musical warning –that listeners must pay close attention to the flow of time and to make sure it’s used with purpose and meaning. </p> <p>“The time is gone. The song is over,” <a href="https://genius.com/Pink-floyd-time-lyrics">the lyrics conclude</a>, “Thought I’d something more to say.” </p> <h2>An internal store of power</h2> <p>These two musical examples, composed nearly 400 years apart, model a core element of Stoic therapy: By meditating on the fragility of time, Stoics seek not to instill dread, but to reveal death and transience as natural aspects of the human experience that can be faced without anxiety. This calm acceptance offers a release from destructive emotions like fear and yearning that pull our attention to the future and the past. <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/6367/meditations-by-marcus-aurelius-a-new-translation-by-gregory-hays/9781588361738">As Marcus Aurelius recommended</a>, “Give yourself a gift – the present moment.”</p> <p>Stoicism and its abundant artistic echoes are easily misread as pessimistic because of this relentless focus on human mortality and fragility. This negative reading misses Stoicism’s profoundly optimistic and empowering message, which is that our mental freedom remains in our control, regardless of our external circumstances. </p> <p>Waters highlighted exactly this point in his defense of the humanism of “Dark Side of the Moon,” <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Rough_Guide_to_Pink_Floyd.html?id=yHsZAQAAIAAJ">explaining that</a> “Despite the rather depressing ending … there is an allowance that all things are possible, that the potential is in our hands.”</p> <p>Music, from this perspective, offers a way to learn about the therapeutic method of the Stoics in a way that goes beyond the contemplation of philosophical lyrics. These examples – and many others in the Stoic tradition that so thoughtfully unite words and sounds – transform helpful Stoic advice into a therapeutic practice guided through the twists and turns of song.</p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p> <p><em>This article originally appeared on <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-stoicism-influenced-music-from-the-french-renaissance-to-pink-floyd-181701" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>.</em></p>

Music

The exclusive dating app for celebrities and influencers

<p>In 2020, Sharon Stone <a href="https://www.nme.com/news/film/sharon-stones-bumble-dating-profile-has-finally-been-restored-2607744" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tweeted</a> that her Bumble dating profile had been closed due to users reporting the account as fake. In less than 24 hours, Bumble had restored her account and apologised for the misunderstanding.</p> <p>You might be forgiven for thinking the Basic Instinct star couldn’t possibly be looking for love on a mainstream dating app like Bumble. It’s not every day that you swipe left to discover the next profile to be a Hollywood celebrity.</p> <p>However it would appear celebrities, are just like the rest of us. Looking for love or intimacy in a world where the face-to-face meetings are no longer commonplace. Unlike Sharon Stone, instead of using Bumble, the majority use their own special dating app called <a href="https://www.rayatheapp.com/">Raya</a>.</p> <p>A membership to this invite-only dating app is as exclusive as you would expect, with only a small number of elite applicants accepted on the app ⁠– which means your chances of charming and dating someone rich and famous on Tinder (insert shocked emoji) just got even slimmer.</p> <h2>What is Raya?</h2> <p>Launched in 2015, Raya, prides itself on being “an exclusive dating and networking platform for people in creative industries.”</p> <p>Cara Delevingne, Ruby Rose, Alexander Wang, Patrick Schwarzenegger, Teri Hatcher, Elijah Wood, and Zach Braff are among the elite crew <a href="https://thelatch.com.au/what-is-raya-secret-dating-app-for-celebrities/#:%7E:text=A%20year%20on%20from%20Raya's,were%20among%20the%20elite%20crew." target="_blank" rel="noopener">rumoured</a> to be on the dating app. Demi Lovato has been a longtime user of online relationship sites. She revealed in her documentary, Simply Complicated, that she chose Raya after her split from Wilmer Valderrama in 2016. Most recently Lily Allen and David Harbour credited their meeting to Raya.</p> <p>Before you think about sneaking onto the platform sometimes known as the “Tinder Illuminati” of the dating-app-world, there’s a complex application process – which includes being referred by three people, and then being vetted by an unknown panel of judges. Rumour has it, Raya has over<a href="https://www.newyorker.com/culture/infinite-scroll/raya-and-the-promise-of-private-social-media" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> ten times</a> more people waiting to get on the app – than those currently on it.</p> <p>The New York Times reports only about <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/27/style/raya-dating-app.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">8% of applications are accepted</a>, meaning Raya has a higher rejection rate than the illustrious Harvard Business School.</p> <p>You’ll also need to pay for it it, with a conservative fee of AU $9.99 a month, and further in app purchases (for example, extra swipes - once you’ve swiped on a certain number of profiles, Raya temporarily stops showing you new profiles unless you choose to pay a small fee of $4.99) required. Promotional material indicates: “Raya’s primary goal is for like-minded people to have an easy, accessible, and comfortable platform on which to connect.”</p> <p>The applications are “reviewed by an anonymous global committee” to “maintain that ideal.”</p> <h2>How to find love on Raya</h2> <p>My research examines how and if dating apps have changed intimacy, sex and romantic relationships. How does love change as a result of a digital sieve? However, it’s difficult to locate Raya users to provide their testimonies on their exclusive experiences.</p> <p>Most B grade users, that is, non-celebrities and non-influencers, report that the app is overwhelming, and doesn’t deliver matches. In simple terms if you’re not an A grade celebrity, you simply don’t have the celebrity pull to get the matches.</p> <p>Insiders indicate that the app is awash with professional photos, where the majority of users look like models. On ordinary apps, such profiles are usually rejected as potentially fake profiles or as bots.</p> <p>The profiles are shown in slideshow format, with users picking a song to play their slideshow to. All profiles include the person’s Instagram handle, so if you did really like the look of someone and wanted to make sure you did connect with them, you could add them on Instagram. In addition, screenshots, are not allowed within these hallowed halls.</p> <p>From 40 people interviewed in Australia, only 2 had used Raya. Those interviewed described the app as a “waste of time”, indicating that while there was a plethora of recognisable talent on the app, the majority fell into the influencer category - and their strike/ or match rate was low if not non-existent.</p> <h2>Celebrities and creatives</h2> <p>The app does raise a pertinent question around what we consider to be the creative industries in today’s society - and whether this terminology expands out to influencers or for example, OnlyFans content creators, and how we tier celebrities, and creatives.</p> <p>Dating apps also tend to open a pandora’s box of judgemental behaviours. My research would indicate that the majority of users make split-second decisions mostly based on appearance, but also tend to continue this hypercritical behaviour as they discontinue direct message exchanges, and ultimately people.</p> <p>Mainstream dating apps are highly white domains, <a href="https://www.npr.org/2018/01/09/575352051/least-desirable-how-racial-discrimination-plays-out-in-online-dating" target="_blank" rel="noopener">with sexual racism proliferating</a>, occurring in overt (for example, the common “No Asians” <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-03-06/sexual-racism-on-dating-apps-in-australia/100872332" target="_blank" rel="noopener">bio descriptions</a>), to more covert behaviours such swiping left against ethnically diverse people.</p> <p>They encourage a <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2020/02/modern-dating-odds-economy-apps-tinder-math/606982/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">highly visual economy</a>, where individuals are often reduced to a hot or not factor. Most of the participants in my focus groups and interviews felt like they had become more judgemental as a result of their dating app use – quickly rejecting punters who were not arbitrarily attractive.</p> <p>Apps like Raya, while claiming to pool together like-minded people instead tend to extend and reinforce the idea that modern-day-love, categorised by the dating app, is only eligible for a certain hallowed few arbitrarily good-looking people, with solid Instagram, or Only Fans followings. Simultaneously, they warp the idea of the creative industries and creative people.</p> <p>Raya opens up the promise of a private dating space in an online environment. However, in doing so it creates a digital culture where intimacy is limited to an elite group of people, no longer open to the masses.</p> <p>As platforms like Tinder <a href="https://www.choice.com.au/consumer-advocacy/policy-submissions/2020/august/complaint-to-the-accc-about-tinder-misuse-of-data-and-discriminatory-pricing" target="_blank" rel="noopener">undergo scrutiny </a>around pricing structures and safety, the future could entail a plethora of Rayas – defined by the attributes (and payment) of their community members. Importantly, keeping the undesirables at bay.</p> <p>But in doing so are we further creating a world of intimacy haves and have-nots?</p> <p>While a select few might be enjoying the sanctity of private and exclusive dating - the rest of us have been locked outside, left to navigate the wild-west of the digital dating world.</p> <p><strong>This article originally appeared on <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-exclusive-dating-app-for-celebrities-and-influencers-why-raya-has-been-called-the-illuminati-of-the-tinder-world-186828" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>. </strong></p> <p><em>Image: Raya</em></p>

Relationships

Does a sibling’s gender influence our own personality? A major new study answers an age-old question

<p>Our siblings play a central role in our childhoods, so it stands to reason they influence our personality in the long term. In particular, researchers have long been interested in how growing up with a sister compared to a brother might influence who we become as adults.</p> <p>How do children interact with their sister or brother? How do parents behave differently towards their children of different genders, and how does that interaction influence the children?</p> <p>Past theories have made quite different predictions: siblings of the opposite gender may plausibly result in either <a href="https://doi.org/10.2307/2786054" target="_blank" rel="noopener">gender-stereotypical personalities</a> (a girl may take on a more feminine role to differentiate herself from her brother) or <a href="https://doi.org/10.9783/9781512800807" target="_blank" rel="noopener">less gender stereotypical personalities</a> (a girl may take on more masculine traits because she imitates her brother).</p> <p>In fact, psychological research has been exploring these differences for over half a century. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2015.02.037" target="_blank" rel="noopener">In some studies</a>, siblings of the opposite sex seemed to be more gender-conforming. Girls with brothers later become more “typically female” and boys with sisters more “typically male”.</p> <p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/h0030055" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Other studies find the exact opposite</a>, however. Opposite gender siblings developed in typically gender-conforming ways. To resolve these contradictions, we wanted to test the effect of sibling gender on personality in a rigorous and comprehensive way.</p> <figure class="align-center "><em><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/480681/original/file-20220823-16-4ll79p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/480681/original/file-20220823-16-4ll79p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480681/original/file-20220823-16-4ll79p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480681/original/file-20220823-16-4ll79p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480681/original/file-20220823-16-4ll79p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480681/original/file-20220823-16-4ll79p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480681/original/file-20220823-16-4ll79p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" alt="" /></em><figcaption><em><span class="caption">Like brother, like sister? Researchers have differed on the likely influence of an opposite gender sibling on personality.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Getty Images</span></span></em></figcaption></figure> <p><strong>Using big data</strong></p> <p>In our <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/09567976221094630" target="_blank" rel="noopener">new study</a> we focused on the relationships between children and their next older or younger sibling. We compiled a unique data set by combining 12 large representative surveys covering nine countries across four continents (US, UK, Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, Australia, Mexico, China and Indonesia).</p> <p>This resulted in a data set of more than 85,000 people – many times the sample sizes used in previous studies.</p> <p>We also investigated many more personality traits than previous studies have. This included the traits that have been most widely studied in other research, and which have been shown to be important predictors of people’s decisions and choices.</p> <p>The “big five” of these traits are: openness to experiences, conscientiousness, extroversion, agreeableness and neuroticism. The other traits examined were: risk tolerance, trust, patience and “locus of control” (the degree to which people believe they have control over their lives).</p> <p>We also created an index describing to what extent people have a typically female personality. This allowed us to test comprehensively whether growing up with an opposite gender sibling leads to a more or less gender-stereotypical personality.</p> <p><strong>Sibling gender and life experience</strong></p> <p>This study is not only innovative in its use of a large data set, but it also applies a consistent method to identify any causal effects of a sibling’s gender on personality traits.</p> <p>To estimate credible causal effects, we make use of an interesting fact of nature: once parents decide to have another child it is essentially random whether they have a girl or boy. In this “natural experiment” some people are therefore “randomly assigned” a younger sister or brother.</p> <p>This allows us to estimate the causal effect of sibling gender on personality by comparing the average personality of people who grew up with a sister as their next youngest sibling with those who grew up with a next younger brother.</p> <p><strong>Brothers and sisters</strong></p> <p>Our results suggest sibling gender has no effect on personality. For all nine personality traits and the summary index, we find people who have a next younger sister display, on average, the same personality traits as people who have a next younger brother.</p> <p>We also see no difference in personality between people who have a next older sister and people who have a next older brother. Because we have data on more than 85,000 people, these results are estimated with great precision.</p> <p>The results help refute the idea that brothers or sisters cause each other to develop “feminine” or “masculine” personality traits over the long term.</p> <p>However, the results don’t mean sibling gender has no long-term effect at all. Other studies that applied a similar methodological approach have shown that women with brothers in the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.labeco.2019.02.009" target="_blank" rel="noopener">US</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s00148-021-00830-9" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Denmark</a> earn less. And a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/qje/qjt011" target="_blank" rel="noopener">study of Asian populations</a> has found women with younger sisters marry earlier and women with older sisters marry later.</p> <p>So, there seem to be interesting sibling dynamics related to gender – but personality is probably not part of the explanation for those effects.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/188532/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /></p> <p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/jan-feld-594140" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jan Feld</a>, Senior Lecturer in Economics, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/te-herenga-waka-victoria-university-of-wellington-1200" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/anne-ardila-brenoe-1373305" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Anne Ardila Brenøe</a>, Assistant Professor of Economics, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-zurich-1139" target="_blank" rel="noopener">University of Zurich</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/thomas-dudek-1372681" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Thomas Dudek</a>, Postdoctoral Researcher, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/te-herenga-waka-victoria-university-of-wellington-1200" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington</a></em></p> <p><em>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/does-a-siblings-gender-influence-our-own-personality-a-major-new-study-answers-an-age-old-question-188532" target="_blank" rel="noopener">original article</a>.</em></p> <p><em>Image: Getty Images</em></p>

Family & Pets

70-year-old influencer shares skincare tips that keep her looking young

<p dir="ltr">A 70-year-old has shared her three holy grail tips for keeping her skin looking young and healthy. </p> <p dir="ltr">Beauty influencer Brittany Allyn attracted more than 370,000 viewers on TikTok after her aunt shared her secrets for ageless skin.</p> <p dir="ltr">Viewers were left astonished by Brittany’s aunty’s youthful looks in the now viral TikTok, captioned: “Simple, but it works.”</p> <p dir="ltr">“First, I never stretch my skin. Think of old leather shoes – how they stretch. Your skin will too, it’s like leather,” she told Allyn’s 254,000 followers in the video.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Always dab it with a towel, don’t use make-up wipes to wipe off your make-up,” she continues.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Number two, I only wash my face at night. I use my fingertips very gently and splash water on and then dab it with a towel,” she says. </p> <p dir="ltr">In text over the clip, Allyn explained that “over-washing strips your natural oils from your skin, which are key to preventing wrinkles.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Her final tip is to use a retinol product, which is a holy grail ingredient for any anti-ageing skincare routine. </p> <p dir="ltr">“I dab it on my eyes, I do my forehead, my cheeks, my neck, and my chest,” she says while mapping out where she places her product. </p> <p dir="ltr">“I’ll do it a second time and, if I think I need it, a third time. On my mouth and eyes.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Brittany’s video was flooded with comments calling her aunty “stunning”, saying her skincare tips are invaluable.</p> <p dir="ltr">While many found the hacks helpful, others were sure her ageless looks were the result of cosmetic surgery. </p> <p dir="ltr">“Face lift Botox fillers. Nothing wrong with that but it’s not the retinol,” said one critic.</p> <p dir="ltr">Allyn later commented beneath her video to clarify the rumours.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Hey all! This was supposed to be a fun video w/ her top non-surgery tips. She does get Botox/fillers too to be transparent! Her tips are helpful too!” she wrote.</p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image credits: TikTok</em></p>

Beauty & Style

How eye disorders may have influenced the work of famous painters

<p>Vision is an important tool when creating a painted artwork. Vision is used to survey a scene, guide the artist’s movements over the canvas and provide feedback on the colour and form of the work. However, it’s possible for disease and disorders to alter an artist’s visual perception.</p> <p>There is a <a href="http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/cgi-bin/HistSciTech/HistSciTech-idx?type=article&did=HISTSCITECH.NATURE18720321.I0007&id=HistSciTech.Nature18720321&isize=M">long history</a> of <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1869328/">scientists and clinicians</a> arguing <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8510952">particular artists</a> were affected by <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26563659">vision disorders</a>, based on signs in their works. Some argued the <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8510952">leaders of the Impressionist movement were short-sighted</a>, for instance, and that their blurry distance vision when not using spectacles may explain their broad, impetuous style.</p> <p>Supporting evidence of such disorders and their influence on artworks is often speculative, and hampered by a lack of clinical records to support the diagnosis. A particular challenge to verifying these speculations is that artists are, of course, free to represent the world in whatever fashion they like. </p> <p>So, is a particular style the result of impoverished vision, or rather a conscious artistic choice made by the artist? Here are three artists who it has been claimed suffered vision impairments.</p> <h2>El Greco</h2> <p>Architect, painter and sculptor of the Spanish Renaissance, El Greco (1541-1614) is known for vertically elongating certain figures in his paintings. In 1913, ophthalmologist <a href="https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/5059/8e2c07220d1bb76b52f02508ee7f09ce0077.pdf">Germán Beritens argued</a> this elongation was due to astigmatism.</p> <p>Astigmatism typically results when the cornea – the front surface of the eye and the principal light-focusing element – is not spherical, but shaped more like a watermelon. </p> <p>This means the light bends in different amounts, depending on the direction in which it’s passing through the eye. Lines and contours in an image that are of a particular orientation will be less in focus than others.</p> <p>Beritens would demonstrate his astigmatism theory to house guests using a special lens that produced El Greco-like vertical elongations.</p> <p>But there are several problems with Beriten’s theory. A common objection is that any vertical stretching should have affected El Greco’s view of both the subject being painted and the canvas being painted on. This would mean the astigmatism effects <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24577418">should largely cancel out</a>. Possibly <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24577418">more problematic</a> is that uncorrected astigmatism mainly causes blurry vision, rather than a change in image size.</p> <p>Plus, <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26563659">other evidence suggests</a> El Greco’s use of vertical elongation was a deliberate artistic choice. For example, in his 1610 painting, St Jerome as Scholar (above), the horizontally oriented hand of the saint is also elongated, just like the figure. If El Greco’s elongated figures were due to a simple vertical stretching in his visual perception, we would expect the hand to look comparatively stubby.</p> <h2>Claude Monet</h2> <p>Elsewhere, the influence of eye anomalies in artworks is more compelling. Cataracts are a progressive cloudiness of the lens inside the eye, producing blurred and dulled vision that can’t be corrected with spectacles. </p> <p>Cataracts are often brown, which filter the light passing through them, impairing colour discrimination. In severe cases, blue light is almost completely blocked.</p> <p>Claude Monet was <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26563659">diagnosed with cataracts in 1912</a>, and recommended to undergo surgery. He refused. Over the subsequent decade, his ability to see critical detail reduced, as is documented in his medical records.</p> <p>Importantly, his colour vision also suffered. In 1914, he <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26563659">noted how reds appeared dull and muddy</a>, and by 1918 he was reduced to selecting colours from the label on the paint tube.</p> <p>The visual impact of his cataracts is demonstrated in two paintings of the same scene: the Japanese footbridge over his garden’s lily pond. The first, painted ten years prior to his cataract diagnosis, is full of detail and subtle use of colour. </p> <p>In contrast, the second – painted the year prior to his eventually relenting to surgery – shows colours to be dark and murky, with a near absence of blue, and a dramatic reduction in the level of painted detail.</p> <p>There is good evidence such changes were not a conscious artistic choice. In a 1922 <a href="https://psyc.ucalgary.ca/PACE/VA-Lab/AVDE-Website/Monet.html">letter to author Marc Elder</a>, Monet confided he recognised his visual impairment was causing him to spoil paintings, and that his blindness was forcing him to abandon work despite his otherwise good health.</p> <p>One of <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26563659">Monet’s fears</a> was that surgery would alter his colour perception, and indeed after surgery he complained of the world appearing too yellow or sometimes too blue. It was two years before he felt his colour vision had returned to normal. </p> <p>Experimental work <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15518204">has confirmed</a> colour perception is measurably altered for months after cataract surgery, as the eye and brain adapt to the increased blue light previously blocked by the cataract.</p> <h2>Clifton Pugh</h2> <p>In addition to eye disease, colour vision can be altered by inherited deficiencies. Around <a href="http://www.colourblindawareness.org/colour-blindness/">8% of men and 0.5% of women</a> are born with abnormal colour vision – sometimes erroneously called “colour blindness”. </p> <p>In one of its most common severe forms, people see colours purely in terms of various levels of blue and yellow. They can’t distinguish colours that vary only in their redness or greenness, and so have trouble distinguishing ripe from unripe fruit, for example. </p> <p>It has been argued no major artist is known to have <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11274694">abnormal colour vision</a>. But <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19515095">subsequent research</a> argues against this.</p> <p>Australian artist <a href="https://www.portrait.gov.au/portraits/2006.56/kate-hattam/31931/">Clifton Pugh</a> can readily lay claim to the title of “major artist”: he was three-times winner of the Archibald Prize for Portraiture, is highly represented in national galleries, and even won a bronze medal for painting at the Olympics (back when such things were possible).</p> <p>His abnormal colour vision is <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19515095">well documented</a> in biographical information. Owing to the inherited nature of colour vision deficiencies, researchers were able to test the colour vision of surviving family members to support their case that Pugh almost certainly had a severe red-green colour deficiency. </p> <p>But an analysis of the colours used in Pugh’s paintings failed to reveal any signatures that would suggest a colour vision deficiency. This is consistent with <a href="https://academic.oup.com/bjaesthetics/article-abstract/7/2/132/117619?redirectedFrom=fulltext">previous work</a>, demonstrating it was not possible to reliably diagnose a colour vision deficiency based on an artist’s work.</p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p> <p><em>This article originally appeared on <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-eye-disorders-may-have-influenced-the-work-of-famous-painters-92830" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>. </em></p>

Art

The better you are at math, the more money seems to influence your satisfaction

<p>Your grade school math teacher probably told you that being good at math would be very important to your grownup self. But maybe the younger you didn’t believe that at the time. A lot of research, though, has shown that <a rel="noopener" href="https://theconversation.com/people-who-are-bad-with-numbers-often-find-it-harder-to-make-ends-meet-even-if-they-are-not-poor-172272" target="_blank">your teacher was right</a>.</p> <p>We are two researchers who study decision-making and how it relates to wealth and happiness. In a study published in November 2021, we found that, in general, people who are better at math <a rel="noopener" href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0259331" target="_blank">make more money and are more satisfied with their lives</a> than people who aren’t as mathematically talented. But being good at math seems to be a double-edged sword. Although math-proficient people are very satisfied when they have high incomes, they are more dissatisfied, compared to those who aren’t as good at math, when they don’t make a lot of money.</p> <p>Many researchers have suggested that more money only increases <a rel="noopener" href="https://qz.com/1503207/a-nobel-prize-winning-psychologist-defines-happiness-versus-satisfaction/" target="_blank">life satisfaction and happiness</a> up to a certain point. Our research modifies this idea by showing that satisfaction derived from income relates strongly to how good a person is at math.</p> <p><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/441600/original/file-20220119-27-1kh4idi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/441600/original/file-20220119-27-1kh4idi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="A person holding a pencil above a sheet of paper." /></a> <em><span class="caption">Nearly 6,000 people responded to a survey that asked about math skills, income and life satisfaction.</span> <span class="attribution"><a rel="noopener" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/student-taking-math-quiz-cropped-royalty-free-image/97612935?adppopup=true" target="_blank" class="source">PhotoAlto/Odilon Dimier via Getty Images</a></span></em></p> <p><strong>A math and happiness test</strong></p> <p>We investigated the relationship between math ability, income and life satisfaction, using surveys sent to 5,748 diverse Americans as part of the <a rel="noopener" href="https://uasdata.usc.edu/index.php" target="_blank">Understanding America Study</a>.</p> <p>The study included two questions and one test relevant to our research. One question asked participants about their household yearly income. Another one asked respondents to rate how satisfied they are with their lives on a scale of zero to 10.</p> <p>Finally, people answered eight math questions that varied in difficulty to get a sense of their math skills. For example, one of the moderately difficult questions was: “Jerry received both the 15th highest and the 15th lowest mark in the class. How many students are in the class?” The correct answer is 29 students.</p> <p>We then combined the results to see how they all related to one another.</p> <p>Math skills and income also are tied to <a rel="noopener" href="https://theconversation.com/money-buys-even-more-happiness-than-it-used-to-141766" target="_blank">level of education,</a> so, in our analyses, we controlled for education, verbal intelligence, personality traits and other demographics.</p> <p><strong>Connecting math skills to income and satisfaction</strong></p> <p>On average, the better a person was at math, the <a rel="noopener" href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0259331" target="_blank">more money they made</a>. For every one additional right answer on the eight-question math test, people reported an average of $4,062 more in annual income.</p> <p>Imagine you have two people with the same level of education, one of whom answered none of the math questions correctly and the other answered all of them correctly. Our research predicts that the person who answered all of the questions correctly will earn about $30,000 more each year.</p> <p>The survey also showed that people who are better at math were, on average, also more satisfied with their lives than those with lower math ability. This finding agrees with <a rel="noopener" href="https://doi.org/10.1257/0002828041464551" target="_blank">a lot of other research</a> and suggests that income influences life satisfaction.</p> <p>But prior research has shown that the relationship between income and satisfaction is not as straightforward as “more money equals greater happiness.” It turns out that how satisfied a person is with their income often depends on how they feel it <a rel="noopener" href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797610362671" target="_blank">compares to other people’s incomes</a>.</p> <p>Other research has also shown that people who are better at math tend to make <a rel="noopener" href="https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780190861094.001.0001" target="_blank">more numerical comparisons</a> in general than those who are worse at math. This led our team to suspect that math-proficient people would compare incomes more, too. Our results seem to show just that.</p> <p><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/439268/original/file-20220104-15-15r038f.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/439268/original/file-20220104-15-15r038f.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="A graph correlating math skills to life satisfaction and income." /></a><em> <span class="caption">This chart shows that people who scored highest on the math test (red line) appear to be happiest when they make a lot of money (top right of graph), but also the least satisfied when they make less money (bottom left of graph). Different color lines correspond to the number of math questions answered correctly.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ellen Peters, Pär Bjälkebring</span>, <a rel="noopener" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/" target="_blank" class="license">CC BY-ND</a></span></em></p> <p>Simply put, the better a person was at math, the <a rel="noopener" href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0259331" target="_blank">more they cared about how much money they make</a>. People who are better at math had the highest life satisfaction when they had high incomes. But deriving satisfaction from income goes both ways. These people also had the lowest life satisfaction when they had lower incomes. Among people who aren’t as good at math, income didn’t relate to satisfaction nearly as much. Thus, the same income was valued differently depending on a person’s math skills.</p> <p><strong>Money does buy happiness for some</strong></p> <p>An often-quoted fact – backed up by research – says that once a person makes around $95,000 a year, <a rel="noopener" href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-017-0277-0" target="_blank">earning more money doesn’t dramatically increase satisfaction</a>. This concept is called <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-017-0277-0?mod=article_inline" target="_blank">income satiation</a>. Our research challenges that blanket statement.</p> <p>Interestingly, the people who are best at math did not seem to show income satiation. They were more and more satisfied with more income, and there didn’t appear to be an upper limit. This did not hold true for people who weren’t as talented at math. The least math-proficient group gained more satisfaction from income only until about $50,000. After that, earning more money made little difference.</p> <p>For some, money does seem to buy happiness. While more work needs to be done to really understand why, we think it may be because math-oriented people compare numbers – including incomes – to make sense of the world. And maybe that’s not always a great thing. In comparison, those who are worse at math appear to derive life satisfaction from sources other than income. So if you are feeling dissatisfied with your income, maybe seeing beyond the numbers will be a winning strategy for you.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/173720/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /></p> <p><em><a rel="noopener" href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/par-bjalkebring-1289840" target="_blank">Pär Bjälkebring</a>, Assistant Professor of Psychology, <a rel="noopener" href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-gothenburg-1351" target="_blank">University of Gothenburg</a> and <a rel="noopener" href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/ellen-peters-812268" target="_blank">Ellen Peters</a>, Director, Center for Science Communication Research, <a rel="noopener" href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-oregon-811" target="_blank">University of Oregon</a></em></p> <p><em>This article is republished from <a rel="noopener" href="https://theconversation.com" target="_blank">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a rel="noopener" href="https://theconversation.com/the-better-you-are-at-math-the-more-money-seems-to-influence-your-satisfaction-173720" target="_blank">original article</a>.</em></p> <p><em>Image: Getty Images</em></p>

Money & Banking

‘Similar to ordering a pizza’: how buy now, pay later apps influence young people’s spending

<p>Young people are often blamed for making <a href="https://www.theaustralian.com.au/life/weekend-australian-magazine/moralisers-we-need-you/news-story/6bdb24f77572be68330bd306c14ee8a3">irresponsible choices</a> with money.</p> <p>But the real issue is not whether they eat too many <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2016/oct/18/are-millennials-actually-bad-at-saving-or-are-houses-just-unaffordable?CMP=share_btn_fb">expensive cafe breakfasts</a>. Young Australians today face an uncertain job market, rising university fees and astronomical house prices. Unfortunately, <a href="https://theconversation.com/home-ownership-falling-debts-rising-its-looking-grim-for-the-under-40s-81619">debt</a> is also an inevitable part of their lives.</p> <p>This comes amid a huge rise in the number of “buy now, pay later” apps, such as <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-how-lending-startups-like-afterpay-make-their-money-86477">AfterPay</a>, and <a href="https://www.news.com.au/finance/money/costs/ripoff-financial-experts-warn-of-the-dangerous-trap-of-payday-loans/news-story/1471cc4a61594cdb9e7a724a76e534d7">payday loan apps</a>, such as <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-08-18/payday-lending-consumer-risk-coronavirus-financial-hardship/12549412">Nimble</a>. It is possible to make purchases online with the the tap of a button, even if you don’t have the money in your account or on your credit card. It is also possible the able to borrow money <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/triplej/programs/hack/whats-up-with-payday-loans/7794806">within minutes</a>.</p> <p>To better understand how young people negotiate debt, we interviewed 31 people aged between 18 and 29 in the Newcastle and Hunter Valley area in 2020 and 2021. We asked them how they access credit and their views on different kinds of debt.</p> <h2>Our study</h2> <p>Our participants saw debt as a necessity if they are going to have an acceptable life in the present and plan for the future. As Steph, a 22-year-old university student, said:</p> <blockquote> <p>Large debts like the mortgage, the HECS debt […] things like that I suppose in a sense it’s useful debt. It makes sense and it gets you further by doing it because there’s still an equity in what you’re doing … It follows you not nearly as badly as some other debts.</p> </blockquote> <p>Young people also made distinctions about the way debt feels and how approachable it is. They acknowledged short-term consumer debts may not be “good”, but felt they were also part of being able to buy the things and have the experiences associated with being young.</p> <p>Those we interviewed talked about AfterPay (where you pay off the debt in four installments) as an everyday part of life. As Alexa, a 23-year-old university student, told us:</p> <blockquote> <p>AfterPay is for just those little wants that I don’t want to pay for up front.</p> </blockquote> <p>They also described it as a low-risk and almost friendly way to buy things. This was particularly when compared to a bank. Alice, a 21-year-old sales assistant, put it this way:</p> <blockquote> <p>AfterPay is like, ‘Oh, just pay this off in four quick things and you can have your item. We’ll send it out.’ But then banks are like, ‘If you don’t pay this back, you’re going to get so much interest and it’s going to suck, and you’ll have the sheriffs roll up at your house and you’re going to be sad.’</p> </blockquote> <h2>Like ordering a pizza</h2> <p>Interviewees attributed some of this friendliness to the process of accessing the money or goods. Mia, a 21-year-old paralegal, described applying for a small loan on the Nimble app:</p> <blockquote> <p>When you apply for the money […] you can track at any point on it. The Nimble app is so similar to ordering a Domino’s pizza […] Whereas a credit card through a banking app, it’s nothing like that […] They send me letters and even opening the mail terrifies me, nothing good comes via snail mail ever.</p> </blockquote> <p>The online, easy nature of these loan services closely relates to how young people engage with information more generally in their lives. In this sense, there is a familiarity and comfort to the way they work.</p> <p>As Mia continues:</p> <blockquote> <p>[It’s] positive, it’s not daunting, it’s informative, it’s instantaneous. The second the money comes out, I get a thank you email and a notification on the app. It’s like, ‘you have this many payments left, this is how much you’ve paid, this is how much you have left to pay, you will still be paid in full by this date’. I don’t have any of that with my credit card.</p> </blockquote> <h2>Familiar tactics</h2> <p>Inteviewees also spoke of how services like AfterPay and short-term loan apps used similar tactics to social media platforms to encourage increased engagement and make the experience feel informal and even social.</p> <p><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/429684/original/file-20211102-10001-letons.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="Young people using their phones and laptops." /> <span class="caption">Applying for a loan via an app does not involve ‘scary’ paperwork, according to interviewees.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">www.shutterstock.com</span></span></p> <p>These include “on this day” reminders (such as, “this time last year, you bought this pair of shoes”) and waiting time indicators. There are also <a href="https://theconversation.com/gamification-status-you-score-ten-points-for-reading-this-article-5068">game elements</a>, including “rewards” for early repayments.</p> <p>Interviewees were aware this was manipulative. Lilian (26) works at a chain clothing store and was “rewarded ” for paying off a purchase early.</p> <blockquote> <p>I got this thing the other day saying that my first payment [on a new purchase] is actually going to come out [later] now. Of course, I’ve been rewarded for paying everything off early [before] […] Yeah it’s like it’s delaying it, it’s not an issue now, but it’s going to be an issue in two weeks’ time.</p> </blockquote> <h2>What next?</h2> <p>Our interviewees may see debt as a necessity, but they are also aware they have (some) choices within this. So they prefer to go with providers or platforms that feel less threatening, especially as using “buy now, pay later” services sometimes does not feel like being in debt.</p> <p><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/429686/original/file-20211102-25-9gi5ho.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="Young man on his phone with a coffee." /> <span class="caption">Young people see debt as an inevitable part of life, according to new research.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">www.shutterstock.com</span></span></p> <p>There is a need for <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/calls-for-tighter-regulation-as-buy-now-pay-later-costs-mount-20210610-p57zuc.html">greater regulation</a> of the ways these products are promoted. It should always be made clear that this is a form of debt, not just a way to pay.</p> <p>Beyond, this, instead of “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2016/oct/18/are-millennials-actually-bad-at-saving-or-are-houses-just-unaffordable?CMP=share_btn_fb">blaming</a>” young people for their spending habits, we need a better understanding of the economy and society they are living and working in. And how debt it is all but inevitable for people on low wages, with poor job security and insecure housing.</p> <p><span><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/steven-threadgold-167968">Steven Threadgold</a>, Associate Professor, Sociology, <em><a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-newcastle-1060">University of Newcastle</a></em>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/david-farrugia-243862">David Farrugia</a>, Senior Lecturer, School of Humanities and Social Science, <em><a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-newcastle-1060">University of Newcastle</a></em>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/julia-coffey-129629">Julia Coffey</a>, Senior Lecturer in Sociology, <em><a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-newcastle-1060">University of Newcastle</a></em>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/julia-cook-869068">Julia Cook</a>, Lecturer in Sociology, <em><a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-newcastle-1060">University of Newcastle</a></em>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/kate-davies-290466">Kate Davies</a>, Human Services Lecturer, <em><a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-newcastle-1060">University of Newcastle</a></em>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/kate-senior-1284499">Kate Senior</a>, Associate Professor, <em><a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-newcastle-1060">University of Newcastle</a></em></span></p> <p>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/similar-to-ordering-a-pizza-how-buy-now-pay-later-apps-influence-young-peoples-spending-170024">original article</a>.</p> <p><em>Image: Shutterstock</em></p>

Money & Banking

Squid Game is influenced by the horror of survival comics and real-life debt

<p><em>Note: The following article contains spoilers about “Squid Game.”</em></p> <p>Is the Netflix Korean sensation <em>Squid Game</em> <a href="https://www.nme.com/reviews/tv-reviews/squid-game-review-netflix-k-drama-3056718">an allegory for late capitalism</a>? The response to the show is similar to <a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/morality-play-dramatic-genre">medieval morality plays that attempted to hammer home the eternal damnability of the Seven Deadly Sins</a>.</p> <p>I’m a university literature professor who specializes in film and video media. This means that I’m usually on the hunt for “constitutive contradictions” — <a href="https://doi.org/10.7208/9780226670973-010">those hypocrisies that may defy the rule of law and common sense, but are required in allegedly just, democratic, ultra-advanced capitalist societies</a>.</p> <p>And so, I’m undecided between a red button and a green button of the types that figure in <em>Squid Game</em> Episode 2’s mockery of an election. If allegory is a story or performance conveying deeper or hidden meaning that its audience must work to interpret, the show would qualify based on audience reaction alone. But maybe it isn’t at all allegorical, in that <em>Squid Game</em> makes what little covert evil and hypocrisy may remain in our world so graphically, unmistakably overt.</p> <h2>Alternatives to capitalism</h2> <p>This series socks us with what cultural theorist Mark Fisher called “<a href="https://libcom.org/files/Capitalist%20Realism_%20Is%20There%20No%20Alternat%20-%20Mark%20Fisher.pdf">capitalist realism</a>” — the impossibility of imagining an outside to the political-economic system in which most of us live, let alone an alternative to it.</p> <p>But when asked if he deliberately set out to expose the dehumanizing and even lethal effects of late capitalism, <em>Squid Game</em> creator Hwang Dong-hyuk laughed off the suggestion that his blockbuster series delivers any “profound” point or message.</p> <p>“The show is motivated by a simple idea,” he told the <em>Guardian</em>. “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2021/oct/26/squid-games-creator-rich-netflix-bonus-hwang-dong-hyuk">We are fighting for our lives in very unequal circumstances</a>.”</p> <p>Hwang referred to his own experience of the <a href="https://www.rba.gov.au/education/resources/explainers/the-global-financial-crisis.html">2009 global economic downturn</a> as an inspiration for the series, which saw financing for his film projects dry up and compelled him, his mother and grandmother to take out loans.</p> <p>Drawn to the hardcore survivalist games depicted in Japanese and South Korean comic books, Hwang pondered just how bad things could get and how far he might go to keep himself and his family alive. He didn’t need to look far to find cautionary tales.</p> <p><iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/N0p1t-dC7Ko?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe> <br /><span class="caption">‘Squid Game’ creator Hwang Dong-hyuk named Japanese manga and cult movie ‘Battle Royale’ as one of his influences.</span></p> <h2>Real-life events</h2> <p>The back story of <em>Squid Game</em>‘s protagonist, Seong Gi-hun, is a fictionalized retelling of the violent 2009 <a href="https://www.thenation.com/article/culture/squid-game-review/">clash between car manufacturer Ssangyong and 1,000 of the over 2,600 employees</a> Ssangyong laid off. Striking workers stood down a brutal alliance of private security forces and Korean police for 77 days. Thirty strikers and a few of their spouses lost their lives — many to suicide — during the strike and its aftermath in the Korean courts.</p> <p>Continued under- and unemployment, loss of property and accumulated debt (<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2021-coronavirus-global-debt/">compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic</a>), has meant that in 2021, personal debt in South Korea climbed to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/oct/08/squid-game-lays-bare-south-koreas-real-life-personal-debt-crisis">105 per cent of GDP</a>. Canada’s average household debt <a href="https://tradingeconomics.com/canada/households-debt-to-gdp">skyrocketed to 112 per cent of GDP in the first quarter of 2021, before dropping to 109 per cent in the second quarter</a>.</p> <p>“We are all living in a Squid Game world,” Hwang told the <em>Guardian</em>, without pretension or exaggeration.</p> <h2>Financial demands</h2> <p>Actor Lee Jung-jae as Seong Gi-hun is riveting as our everyman. Like millions of workers displaced and discarded worldwide, <em>Squid Game</em>’s protagonist Gi-hun tries to stay afloat in the service and gig economies, with a fried chicken restaurant that quickly fails, and then as a driver.</p> <p>He takes out loans from banks and loan sharks that tenuously prop up his gambling addiction. Gi-hun’s ex-wife has remarried, to a gainfully employed man, and is planning to move with him to the United States, along with Gi-hun’s daughter. The new husband can afford to celebrate his stepdaughter’s birthday with dinner at a steakhouse (uttered in English, so all know it’s a big deal), while Gi-hun can only pay for a hot dog and fish cake fast-food snack, and a tragicomic inappropriate gift clawed out from an arcade game.</p> <p><iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/t6YuqFh5htw?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe> <br /><span class="caption">Despite his financial situation, Gi-hun tries to redeem himself on his daughter’s birthday.</span></p> <p>An inveterate gamer and perennial optimist with an endearingly expressive face, Gi-hun lives on the cusp of the Big Payoff — whether off-track betting, withdrawing money from his mother’s bank account or accepting an invitation to play a <a href="https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/drama/squid-game-paper-flip-ddakji-how-to-play/">game of ddakji</a> in a Seoul subway station.</p> <p>But like all games of chance in the nine-episode series, it’s clear that this one — where players toss paper tokens in an attempt to flip over their opponent’s tokens — is rigged from before the start. It’s also clear that all 456 competitors (Gi-hun is No. 456) are in a <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/battle%20royal">battle royal</a> for their lives and a giant cash jackpot, which lends the show its highest-stakes, highest-concept brand of suspense.</p> <h2>Contradictions</h2> <p>What may be less clear — and potentially the stuff of constitutive contradictions and ironies galore — is why record numbers of viewers have flocked to <em>Squid Game</em>. The series is <a href="https://www.thenation.com/article/culture/squid-game-review/">the most watched Netflix series ever</a>, beating out previous ratings champion <em>Bridgerton</em>. Bloomberg News estimates <em>Squid Game</em>’s worth to Netflix to be <a href="https://www.marketwatch.com/story/squid-game-is-worth-nearly-900-million-to-netflix-report-11634511855?mod=article_inline">close to US$900 million</a>.</p> <p>The whole series, however, only <a href="https://www.marketwatch.com/story/squid-game-is-worth-nearly-900-million-to-netflix-report-11634511855">cost about $21 million to make</a>, while creator Hwang lost six teeth from all the stress and has received no performance-based bonuses. He also doesn’t want to be forever known as “the Squid Game guy.”</p> <p><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/429792/original/file-20211102-39236-6iqujn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/429792/original/file-20211102-39236-6iqujn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="An aerial view of Seoul, showing highrises and shanty towns" /></a> <span class="caption">Personal debt in South Korea climbed to 105 per cent of GDP in 2021.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></p> <p>An unidentified Korean part-time food delivery driver told the <em>Guardian</em>: “You have to pay to watch [the show] and I don’t know anyone who will let me use their Netflix account.… In any case, why would I want to watch a bunch of people with huge debts? <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/oct/08/squid-game-lays-bare-south-koreas-real-life-personal-debt-crisis">I can just look in the mirror</a>.”</p> <p>Why indeed would anyone in financial straits like any of the players in the series want to watch <em>Squid Game</em>? I’ve searched the internet, without success, for a ballpark number of the 142 million households that tuned in globally who may have signed up for a Netflix free-trial period to do so.</p> <p>Hwang is currently in discussions with his streaming empire paymasters <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/squid-game-creator-season-2-meaning-1235030617/">over potential additional seasons as well as his other film projects</a>. Considering <a href="https://www.fool.com/investing/2021/08/05/netflix-subscriber-growth-accelerate-through-2025/">industry growth predictions</a>, what will some viewers pay or sacrifice to keep watching <em>Squid Game</em>?</p> <p>More to the point, why would they? I think an answer to the late-capitalist allegory question hinges on what audiences see reflected back to themselves on screen. One viewer might recognize their own challenging situation in a character’s story, while another sees suffering of an unimaginable kind.</p> <p>These divergent vectors of identification may determine whether there is or isn’t any profound or hidden meaning to <em>Squid Game</em>. They may also influence new, gruesome games of chance, manipulation and life-or-death next season. We’ll have to stay tuned to find out.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/170514/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /></p> <p><span><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/elaine-chang-1283642">Elaine Chang</a>, Associate Professor, English and Theatre Studies, <em><a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-guelph-1071">University of Guelph</a></em></span></p> <p>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/squid-game-is-influenced-by-the-horror-of-survival-comics-and-real-life-debt-170514">original article</a>.</p> <p><em>Image: Shutterstock</em></p>

Police investigate the welfare of re-homed autistic child of YouTube influencers

<p><span>Police have confirmed they are looking into the welfare and whereabouts of the adopted son of YouTube couple Myka and James Stauffer, who they admitted they “re-homed” with another family.</span><br /><br /><span>Myka sparked fury online when she came forward on her YouTube channel to announce she had sent her adopted son Huxley, five, to live with another family after his special needs meant that they could no longer provide the best support for him.</span><br /><br /><span>The couple adopted Huxley from China in 2016, and did not shy away from sharing the process on Myka's YouTube channel.</span><br /><br /><span>Though they were told the boy suffered from brain tumours, it was later revealed to the family that the young boy has level three autism and a sensory processing disorder, the result of having a stroke in utero.</span></p> <p><img style="width: 500px; height: 281.25px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7836396/myka-stauffer-2.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/410fbb6f9d404221ac32968c2f25ddaf" /></p> <p><em>Image: Instagram</em><br /><br /><span>Myka and James announced that they had sent Huxley to live with a family better equipped to handle his needs in a video that went viral last week.</span><br /><br /><span>Fans promptly accused the pair of "re-homing" him because of his autism.</span><br /><br /><span>It has also since raised questions about Huxley's whereabouts since leaving the Stauffer family.</span><br /><br /><span>The Delaware, US County Sheriff's Office is looking into the case alongside “several other agencies”, according to BuzzFeed News.</span><br /><br /><span>Tracy Whited, the office's community and media relations manager, said that the case is ongoing but was able to confirm that the five-year-old boy “is not missing”.</span><br /><br /><span>“All adoption cases are confidential, and must go through a thorough process, with specific requirements and safeguards,” Whited said.</span></p> <p><img style="width: 500px; height: 281.25px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7836397/myka-stauffer-1.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/64ab6f6e927345fa9b1eb7f6f5a2bda8" /></p> <p><em>Myka and her husband took to Youtube to reveal they had "rehomed" their son Huxley. </em><br /><br /><span>“In private adoptions there are the same legal requirements that must be adhered to. These include home studies as well as background checks on the adopting parent(s).”</span><br /><br /><span>She added that both parties are being represented by attorneys.</span><br /><br /><span>Last week lawyers for the Stauffer family released a statement addressing the backlash surrounding Myka and James' video.</span><br /><br /><span>“We are privy to this case, and given the facts at hand, we feel this was the best decision for Huxley,” lawyers Thomas Taneff and Taylor Sayers said.</span><br /><br /><span>“In coming to know our clients, we know they are a loving family and are very caring parents that would do anything for their children. Since his adoption, they consulted with multiple professionals in the health care and educational arenas in order to provide Huxley with the best possible treatment and care.</span><br /><br /><span>“Over time, the team of medical professionals advised our clients it might be best for Huxley to be placed with another family.”</span><br /><br /><span>Fans and critics asked to know how little Hux had been “re-homed”, as the details were never made clear.</span><br /><br /><span>Myka appears to have since removed all photos of Huxley from her Instagram account while images of her other four children remain.</span></p>

Caring

Instagram influencer hits back at online bullies over white doona dust-up

<p>An Aussie Instagram influencer has spoken up after receiving online attacks over her post on a white doona cover.</p> <p>Tasmanian woman Claire is the manager of @thekmartlover, an Instagram page that provides tips and updates on fashion and home décor featuring products from Kmart and other stores in Australia.</p> <p>After posting about a white quilt cover from Kmart with the part of caption reading “white is right” on Friday, she received messages calling her “racist” and “white supremacist”.</p> <p>She then replaced the line “white is right” with: “Can you beat a white quilt cover for a relaxing entrance to a bedroom? I love it!”</p> <blockquote style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/B7sdBqAJPEK/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="12"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <p style="margin: 8px 0 0 0; padding: 0 4px;"><a style="color: #000; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none; word-wrap: break-word;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/B7sdBqAJPEK/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank">Can you beat a white quilt cover for a relaxing entrance to a bedroom? I love it! This is the @kmartaus waffle quilt cover, $45 for the king. Of course it’s teamed with the stunning new $69 wool blend shirred rug and poppy cushion $12. Decorative ladder $25 and throw (old stock sorry) also from Kmart Bed @freedom_australia</a></p> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;">A post shared by <a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/thekmartlover/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank"> • C L A I R E •</a> (@thekmartlover) on Jan 23, 2020 at 11:48pm PST</p> </div> </blockquote> <p>On Saturday, Claire spoke about the controversy on Instagram Story. “I’m not racist. I was purely talking about a bloody doona cover and it does hurt. It hurts me. I put in time to this page. It’s my page,” she said.</p> <p>She shared another post addressing the controversy.</p> <p>“This week I have been trolled for having too many hats and contributing to landfill. This week I have been trolled as being racist for saying ‘white is right’ about the depicted doona cover. This week I have been trolled for having too many clothes and that I should donated more, that I am wasteful, not thoughtful and that I should influence people in a far better way,” she wrote.</p> <p>“I am using my voice so that hopefully this changes the mindset of one person out there that has thought about writing something negative in any online forum.”</p> <blockquote style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/B7vDSUUJAW7/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="12"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/B7vDSUUJAW7/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank">A post shared by • C L A I R E • (@thekmartlover)</a> on Jan 25, 2020 at 12:01am PST</p> </div> </blockquote> <p>She encouraged her 111,000 followers to support her collaboration t-shirt project with Small Print Design. For every t-shirt sold, $5 will be donated to anti-bullying organisation Bully Zero.</p> <p>Claire told <em><a href="https://10daily.com.au/lifestyle/life/a200127crina/it-hurts-me-aussie-instagram-influencer-viciously-attacked-over-white-doona-cover-20200128">10daily</a></em>, “If you do not like it, then simply unfollow and use your time in another manner. Obviously a message of mine is Just Be Kind. A little kindness goes a long way.”</p>

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Selfies and social media: how tourists indulge their influencer fantasies

“I’m being racist to eggs”: Wellness influencer slammed for innocent comment

Vegan raw food influencer dies of suspected "starvation and exhaustion"

Inspiration, influence and theft: what the Ed Sheeran case can tell us about 70 years of pop music

Influencer’s extensive list of plane etiquette rules reignites age-old debate

“Kids are not accessories”: Influencer slammed for putting baby in danger

60-year-old influencer hits back at claims she’s “dressing inappropriately”

The Dark Side of the Moon at 50: how Marx, trauma and compassion all influenced Pink Floyd’s masterpiece

China’s influence in Myanmar could tip the scales towards war in the South China Sea

Influencer slammed for holding raunchy party at retirement home

How Stoicism influenced music from the French Renaissance to Pink Floyd

The exclusive dating app for celebrities and influencers

Does a sibling’s gender influence our own personality? A major new study answers an age-old question

70-year-old influencer shares skincare tips that keep her looking young

How eye disorders may have influenced the work of famous painters

The better you are at math, the more money seems to influence your satisfaction

‘Similar to ordering a pizza’: how buy now, pay later apps influence young people’s spending

Squid Game is influenced by the horror of survival comics and real-life debt

Police investigate the welfare of re-homed autistic child of YouTube influencers

Instagram influencer hits back at online bullies over white doona dust-up

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Catalogues

Travel

Health

Lifestyle

Finance

Entertainment

Property

Information

Keep up to date

Search

Selfies and social media: how tourists indulge their influencer fantasies

“I’m being racist to eggs”: Wellness influencer slammed for innocent comment

Vegan raw food influencer dies of suspected "starvation and exhaustion"

Inspiration, influence and theft: what the Ed Sheeran case can tell us about 70 years of pop music

Influencer’s extensive list of plane etiquette rules reignites age-old debate

“Kids are not accessories”: Influencer slammed for putting baby in danger

60-year-old influencer hits back at claims she’s “dressing inappropriately”

The Dark Side of the Moon at 50: how Marx, trauma and compassion all influenced Pink Floyd’s masterpiece

China’s influence in Myanmar could tip the scales towards war in the South China Sea

Influencer slammed for holding raunchy party at retirement home

How Stoicism influenced music from the French Renaissance to Pink Floyd

The exclusive dating app for celebrities and influencers

Does a sibling’s gender influence our own personality? A major new study answers an age-old question

70-year-old influencer shares skincare tips that keep her looking young

How eye disorders may have influenced the work of famous painters

The better you are at math, the more money seems to influence your satisfaction

‘Similar to ordering a pizza’: how buy now, pay later apps influence young people’s spending

Squid Game is influenced by the horror of survival comics and real-life debt

Police investigate the welfare of re-homed autistic child of YouTube influencers

Instagram influencer hits back at online bullies over white doona dust-up

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