Month: December 2023

The Development of Japanese Tea Gardens and Tea Houses

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The Japanese tea garden is the antithesis of the Buddhist Zen garden and originated in the 9th century after tea was imported into Japan from China. Buddhist monks would drink Chinese tea to keep themselves awake during long meditation sessions. Over the subsequent centuries, tea drinking became an elaborate practice which was highly ritualized with samurai, geishas, and monks all serving tea using these same concepts. Japanese tea gardens developed during the 16th century with direct influence from the concepts of tea ceremonies, designed and constructed to surround tea houses

The Origin of the Tradition of Bringing Christmas Trees Indoors

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During the Ancient Roman Saturnalia festival near the winter solstice, coniferous branches, boughs, and trees were brought indoors and kept. Although the exact rationale is debated, the concept may have developed as a means to symbolize everlasting life and/or as a method to ensure the god Saturn, the patron deity of time, wealth, and agriculture among other things within Ancient Rome, would prolong summer and shorten winter. In the 4th century A.D. this festival was replaced by the Christian holiday of Christmas which adopted the practice of bringing trees indoors as well. It should be noted, bringing coniferous trees indoors during the winter solstice was a pagan tradition throughout the northern hemisphere, with multiple cultures and empires outside of the Ancient Romans adopting the practice

The Generational Health Effects of Smoking During Pregnancy

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Smoking during pregnancy doubles the risk of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder in children. Exposure to cigarette smoke during pregnancy can persist transgenerationally, being passed from parent to child, and can result within a higher probability of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder in 2nd and 3rd generation offspring. Smoking was purported as a remedy for morning sickness during the 1930’s which could explain why Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder has been identified more and more throughout the past few decades. It takes a person with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder 150 milliseconds longer than a person without, to react to stimuli, which is the equivalent difference between a succesful hit and a near miss of a ball with a baseball bat

The Etymology of “Seal Team 6”

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When former U.S. Naval Commander Richard Marcinko developed the concept of the U.S. Navy Component of the Joint Special Operations Command Seal Team 6, it was only himself and another person he had recruited personally. The specific intent of this decision was designed to cause enemy combatants to become confounded as to where the 4 additional members of the 6 person team were located after a mission had successfully been accomplished or discovered, failed, and aborted (e.g. enemy combatant discovering evidence of tampering with equipment therefore reviewing security footage etc.). This purposeful misdirection of information has proven to be an incredibly beneficial strategic tactic for the U.S. military as the psychology of war at its core is primarily the withholding of true information and the spread of false propaganda