WSC Notes
Rip Van Winkle: A Dutch-American villager who falls asleep for 20 years and wakes up to a significantly changed world.
Slice of Life: Narrative style focusing on mundane experiences, typically lacking a distinct plot or conflict, and often open-ended.
Moore's Law: The observation that the number of transistors on a microchip doubles approximately every two years, an empirical trend rather than a strict law.
Megaproject: A large-scale, complex project, typically costing billions, which has a lasting economic and environmental impact.
Big Dig: Officially known as the Central Artery/Tunnel Project, a Boston tunnel project notorious for its cost overruns, delays, and design flaws.
Channel Tunnel: Also known as the Chunnel, an undersea rail tunnel connecting England and France, which opened in 1994.
California High-Speed Rail (CAHSR): A high-speed rail project in California that has faced significant delays and escalating costs.
Sejong City: A planned city in South Korea intended to serve as the administrative capital, founded in 2007.
Hambantota: A city in Sri Lanka known for its major development projects, including a port and other infrastructure.
NEOM: A planned smart city in Saudi Arabia, envisioned as an arcology, with an estimated cost of .
Khazar Islands: A stalled artificial island development project located in Azerbaijan.
Three Gorges Dam: The world's largest power station by installed capacity (22,500 MW), which has increased shipping capacity, reduced flooding, but displaced over 1 million people.
Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge (HZMB): A 55-kilometer bridge-tunnel system that is the world's longest sea crossing.
New Eurasian Land Bridge: A rail transport route for moving freight and passengers between China and Europe.
PARO (robot): A therapeutic robot designed to resemble a baby harp seal, used in therapeutic settings.
Pepper (robot): A semi-humanoid robot developed to read and respond to human emotions.
Robear: A robot designed to assist in care automation, particularly lifting patients.
Hug (robot): A robot designed to assist care workers in lifting and moving people.
Stimulus: Any change in the environment that causes a physiological reaction in an organism.
Goldilocks Principle: The idea that moderation or conditions within a certain range are ideal, often described as "just right."
Doomscrolling: The practice of excessively consuming negative news online, often leading to increased anxiety and distress.
Section 230: A section of the Communications Decency Act that protects online platforms from liability for user-generated content.
Fear Speech: A type of discourse that pressures neutral or moderate parties to align with extremist ideologies.
Headline Anxiety Disorder: A condition characterized by stress and anxiety resulting from reading news headlines.
Clickbait: Deceptive or sensational links designed to attract clicks and increase web traffic.
Boston Marathon Bombing: A terrorist attack that occurred during the Boston Marathon in 2013.
Negativity Bias: The psychological phenomenon by which negative events and information have a greater impact on one's psychological state than neutral or positive ones.
Traumatic Media: Upsetting or disturbing videos or images, often depicting war or crime scenes, that can cause psychological trauma.
Michel de Nostredame: A French astrologer and physician, also known as Nostradamus, famous for his prophecies.
William Butler Yeats - The Second Coming (1919): A poem by William Butler Yeats reflecting on chaos, decline, and the potential for a new era.
Robert Frost - Fire and Ice (1920): A poem by Robert Frost discussing the end of the world, whether by desire (fire) or hatred (ice).
Emily Dickinson - The Future—never spoke (1921): A poem by Emily Dickinson about the unknowable and silent nature of the future.
Divination: The practice of obtaining information or insight through non-ordinary, supernatural, or ritualistic means.
Shang Dynasty: The first historically confirmed dynasty of China, ruling from approximately 1600-1050 BCE.
Comparative horoscopy: The practice of assessing relationship compatibility between individuals by comparing their birth charts.
Haruspicy: A form of divination that involves examining the entrails of sacrificed animals.
Ornithomancy: Divination achieved through observing the actions and flight patterns of birds.
Alectryomancy: A method of divination that involves observing a rooster pecking at grains.
Pyro-osteomancy: Divination using fire and bones, often involving the burning and interpretation of bone fragments.
Oneiromancy: The interpretation of dreams to foretell the future or gain insight.
Bibliomancy: A form of divination that involves selecting passages from a book at random and interpreting their relevance.
Hydromancy: Divination that employs water, observing its patterns, colors, or disturbances to gain insight.
Astragalomancy: Divination using dice or knucklebones.
Scyphomancy: Divination performed using a cup, often involving the interpretation of liquid patterns or residues.
Astrology: The study of the positions and aspects of celestial bodies in the belief that they have an influence on human affairs and terrestrial events.
Palmistry (palm reading): The practice of fortune-telling through the study of the lines and features of the palm of the hand.
Physiognomy (or face reading): The assessment of a person's character or personality from their outer appearance, especially the face.
Carromancy: A method of divination involving the shapes formed by molten wax dropped into water.
Tasseography: The practice of divination by interpreting patterns and symbols in tea leaves, coffee grounds, or wine sediments.
Cartomancy: Fortune-telling or divination using a deck of cards.
Fortune Telling: The practice of predicting information about a person's life or future.
Oracle: A person or thing believed to be a source of wise counsel or prophetic predictions.
Soothsayer: A person who claims to be able to see the future.
Shamanism: A spiritual practice involving a practitioner (shaman) who enters altered states of consciousness to interact with the spirit world for healing or divination.
Witch: A person who practices witchcraft, often involving magic or supernatural powers.
Clairvoyance: The purported ability to acquire information about objects or events through extrasensory perception.
Ifá: A Yoruba divination system that uses 256 sacred poems to provide guidance and insight.
Jyotish: Ancient Indian astrology, also known as Vedic astrology.
I Ching: An ancient Chinese divination text that uses a set of symbols to provide guidance.
Bazi: A Chinese astrology system based on the time and date of a person's birth.
Jiaobei: Wooden divination tools used in Chinese folk religion to ask yes/no questions.
Omikuji: Random fortunes written on strips of paper at Japanese shrines and temples.
Ouija: A board used to spell out messages during séances, believed to communicate with spirits.
Crystal Ball: A crystal or glass ball used in fortune-telling to see visions or predict the future.
Fortune Cookie: A crisp cookie with a fortune written on a slip of paper inside.
Horoscope: An astrological chart or diagram representing the positions of the Sun, Moon, planets, and astrological aspects at the time of an event, often used in fortune-telling; The Barnum effect helps explain why people accept horoscopes as accurate.
Michio Kaku: A theoretical physicist and futurist known for his work in string field theory and popularizing science.
Caravaggio | The Fortune Teller (c. 1595): A painting by Caravaggio depicting a gypsy palm reader stealing a ring from a wealthy young man.
Georges de la Tour | The Fortune Teller (1630): A painting by Georges de la Tour showing a fortune teller surrounded by thieves.
Michel Vrubel | The Fortune Teller (1895): A painting by Michel Vrubel portraying a mysterious and enigmatic fortune teller.
Julio Romero de Torres | The Fortune Teller (1922): A painting by Julio Romero de Torres featuring women near a window, with a fortune-telling theme.
Helena Sofia Schjerfbeck | The Fortune Teller (Woman in a Yellow Dress) (1926): A painting by Helena Sofia Schjerfbeck of a woman in a yellow dress, with the implication of fortune-telling.
Jose Luis Cuevas | Dreams of Rasputin (1968): A painting by Jose Luis Cuevas depicting grotesque figures, inspired by Rasputin.
Georges Bizet | "Trio des Cartes" (1875): A scene in Bizet's opera Carmen in which the characters predict their tragic fates with cards.
Carl Orff | "O Fortuna" (1935): A song from Carmina Burana about the ups and downs of fate and fortune.
Benny Spellman | "Fortune Teller" (1962): A song by Benny Spellman about visiting a fortune teller.
Al Stewart | Nostradamus (1973): A song by Al Stewart based on the prophecies of Nostradamus.
Suzanne Vega | "Predictions" (1990): A song by Suzanne Vega about destiny and control.
The Barnum Effect: The psychological phenomenon where individuals believe that generic personality descriptions are uniquely applicable to themselves.
Pygmalion Effect: The phenomenon where higher expectations lead to an increase in performance.
Cold Reading: A set of techniques used to gather information about a person without prior knowledge, often used by mentalists and fortune tellers.
Confirmation Bias: The tendency to seek out information that confirms one's existing beliefs and to ignore information that contradicts them.
Self-Fulfilling Prophecy: A prediction that directly or indirectly causes itself to become true due to the behaviors and beliefs it creates.
Determinism: The philosophical view that all events are causally determined by prior events.
Indeterminism: The view that events occur by random chance and are not causally determined.
Self-Determination: The ability to make choices based on one's own reasons and desires.
Causal Determinism: The belief that events are determined by prior events in a causal chain.
Logical Determinism: The idea that the future is already fixed in the present because all propositions about the future are either true or false.
Theological Determinism: The doctrine that God has predetermined all events that will occur.
Physical Determinism: The theory that events are determined by the laws of physics.
Biological Determinism: The belief that events are determined by genes and biological factors.
Environmental Determinism: The idea that events are determined by environmental factors.
Free Will: The feeling of being in charge of one's own decisions and actions.
Hard Determinism: The view that determinism is true and that free will is an illusion.
Libertarianism: The belief in free will and the denial of determinism.
Compatibilism (Soft Determinism): The view that free will and determinism can coexist.
Incompatibilism: The view that free will and determinism cannot both be true.
Ted Chiang | What's expected of us (2005): A short story by Ted Chiang exploring the psychological impact of disproving free will.
Sam Hughes | "I don't know, Timmy, being God Is a big responsibility" (2007): A short story in which scientists simulate universes and grapple with existential questions.
Aztec Agricultural Calendar: A calendar system used by the Aztecs that utilized mountains as solar observatories.
Mayan Cyclical Calendars: Interlocking calendar cycles used by the Mayan civilization, based on the movements of the sun, moon, and planets.
Zodiac: A region of the sky divided into twelve parts, each associated with a different constellation.
Solar Terms: Twenty-four periods in Chinese lunisolar calendars that correspond to specific astronomical events and seasons.
Computus: The calculation of the date of Easter.
Saros: A period of approximately 18 years and 11 days used to predict eclipses.
Metonic Cycle: A period of 19 years after which lunar phases recur on the same days of the year.
Antikythera Mechanism: An ancient Greek device used to predict astronomical positions and eclipses.
Rocket Mail: The delivery of mail by rocket.
Flying Car: A vehicle designed to operate on both roads and in the air.
Maglev (Magnetic Levitation): A type of rail transport that uses electromagnets to levitate and propel trains.
Zeppelin: A rigid airship characterized by a fabric-covered frame containing multiple gas cells.
Suspension Railway: An elevated monorail system where the train is suspended from an overhead track.
Ground-Effect Vehicle (GEV): A vehicle supported by the reaction of air against its wings or hull close to the ground or water surface.
Supersonic Transport (SST): A civilian aircraft capable of flying at supersonic speeds.
Nuclear Propulsion: The use of nuclear reactions as a power source for propulsion.
Hyperloop: A high-speed transportation system that involves traveling in pods through low-pressure tubes.
Hydrogen Vehicle: A vehicle that uses hydrogen as its