ARTICLES
The long stuff
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We'll take a dive into the structure of fictional stories by following the hero's cycle. In all the adventures we tell, there is usually one motif or narrative that, some people may have noticed, keeps repeating itself. The Hero with a Thousand Faces is the story of these stories.
Today’s topic will be about the learning process. I want to describe and investigate the learning process that takes place in mastering a craft, and hopefully help the readers understand better their own journey—where they are now, where they are going, and how to get there.
You’ll find an analysis of footfalls of the most common quadrupeds’ gaits, including which animals each gait suits best. Here, I analyze all six gaits in the order of the speed they provide the animal: walk, amble, trot, pace, canter, and gallop.
That is why we need clear goals to guide and mold our habits into what we want. If we don’t have a clear sense of direction, we might pick up habits here and there that we think are “good” but that have little to no relevance in our lives, and such habits rarely stick with us for long.
Creative ideas are among the most elusive commodities we value, and yet how to reach them remains, for the most part, a mystery. The creative inspiration we look for seems so out of reach when we focus on it, and then it comes to us when we least expect it.
The problem is that this stress reaction evolved to be a quick fix for a temporary problem; it is not sustainable. When we maintain stress in our lives over long periods of time, the body will eventually enter a stage of exhaustion when our internal resources become depleted.
When we engage with a story, we are momentarily drawn away from our circumstances and enter into a different universe living it through the protagonist. His goals become our goals; we feel his achievements and losses as our own.
Flow is described as a state of mind in which we feel our best and perform our best; we are so involved in what we are doing that we no longer have the mental energy to be aware of anything else.
Different species evolved different types of eyes, depending on the needs of their environment. Did you ever stop to notice that some animals have eyes on the side of their head? Why are ours so frontal? And why the eyes of a fly look so different?
Today’s article will focus on understanding the anatomy of the wing that propels flight and the basics of aerodynamics that make flying a reality. We cover the different flight patterns and break down the three stages of flight: lift-off, flying, and landing. At the end, I've covered some curiosities about wing shapes and how they influence flight patterns.