sensation. perception/view. in growing exodus. China’s growing power has coincided with a drastic deterioration in public perceptions abroad.

Nicholas Humphrey’s Beautiful Theory of Mind In the new book “Sentience,” a neuropsychologist argues that consciousness evolved to make us feel that life is worth living. In today’s newsletter, the power of the senses, and then: • The lost art of conversation • Britain’s hip-hop ambassador • The exotic pets of Texas Nicholas Humphrey’s Beautiful Theory of Mind In the new book “Sentience,” a neuropsychologist argues that consciousness evolved to make us feel that life is worth living. Illustration by Samuel Rodriguez “If perceptions make life possible, sensations make it worth living.” That’s how Nick Romeo distills the insights of the neuropsychologist Nicholas Humphrey, in a deeply thought-provoking new piece reported from Greece, where the two men visit a cave that some early archeologists speculated was the basis for Plato’s famous allegory. Romeo charts the idiosyncratic popular and academic career of the seventy-nine-year-old Humphrey, who has argued that, beyond the obvious adaptive benefits of sensation—orgasms good, pain bad—“human beings have evolved to take intrinsic delight in conscious sensation for its own sake,” allowing us access to the rarified condition of having a soul. Read the story

HONG KONG | SCHOOL DROPOUTS

Concerned Hong Kong parents are pulling their children from schools in droves as Beijing increases control over the city under a sweeping national security law.

ASIA.NIKKEI.COM

Thousands of students leave Hong Kong schools in growing exodus

China’s growing power has coincided with a drastic deterioration in public perceptions abroad.


BLOOMBERG.COM
China’s Wolf Warriors Are Turning the World Against Beijing

In America, just 44% percent of respondents said race relations in the country are very or somewhat good compared with 55% who say they are very or somewhat bad


ECONOMIST.COM

Americans’ view of black-white race relations hits a 20-year low

But they have been dismal for some tim

perception

/pəˈsɛpʃn/

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Psychology

Zoology

noun

1. 1.

   the ability to see, hear, or become aware of something through the senses.

   "the normal limits to human perception"
2. 2.

   the way in which something is regarded, understood, or interpreted.

   "Hollywood's perception of the tastes of the American public"

sensation

/s(ɛ)nˈseɪʃn/

noun

1. 1.

   a physical feeling or perception resulting from something that happens to or comes into contact with the body.

   "a burning sensation in the middle of the chest"
2. 2.

   a widespread reaction of interest and excitement.

   "his arrest for poisoning caused a sensation"

growing

/ˈɡrəʊɪŋ/

adjective

1. 1.

   (of a living thing) undergoing natural development by increasing in size and changing physically.

   "the needs of the growing child"
2. 2.

   becoming greater over a period of time; increasing.

   "the growing concern over ozone levels"