Desire Paths / Lines: a term apparently coined by Gaston Bachelard in The Poetics of Space. What was the original French he used? and are there any other terms for the act and outcome of paths that emerge through routine, reflexion and the feedback of movement. [more inside]
posted by 0bvious on May 25, 2009 - 1 answer

I'm fascinated by studies of body language and their application - yet my own body language sucks - I seem to have - 'hey, cut in front of me when I'm walking or queueing' or 'when I express an opinion, puff up and argue with me' - even though sometimes I actually do have the right info. Does anyone have theories on the type of body language I can use to dispel/improve this? Being short, female and 38 with a 'kind' face doesn't give me a good head start apparently. I look forward to hearing your thoughts. This can get to be tiring and annoying - and I'm actually pretty patient.
posted by IdleRepose on Mar 26, 2009 - 26 answers

I am looking for writings on the infinity of definition. [more inside]
posted by 0bvious on Mar 13, 2008 - 32 answers

I am searching for examples of The Infinite, or the immeasurably large, in our mythologies and archetypes. I am also interested in the categories of Truth which came out of the emergence of Western, ontological thought. Does the trust in a rationally conceivable reality deny us the infinity of the mythological realm? By rooting ourselves in the present, and denying atemporal mythologies, do we also deny the infinite origins from where we came? [more inside]
posted by 0bvious on Nov 28, 2007 - 22 answers

linguists: i vaguely remember a story that i can't verify. the gist is this: two groups of people who spoke the same language became separated by some minor geographical obstacles, like hills, and remained so for a period of years (decades, i think). upon analysis some years later, their common tongue had forked noticeably into fairly different languages. is this true? [more inside]
posted by patricking on May 13, 2006 - 17 answers

What is the label for an entity or idea which began as nothing and came to have identity through its own fictionalisation? That is, notions diametrically opposed to 'simulacra' - in that the entity has no referent to begin with... [more inside]
posted by 0bvious on Feb 21, 2006 - 20 answers

I am trying to find articles online which delve into the origins of naming human offspring and whether or not other species have audible monickers as well. [more inside]
posted by The Great Big Mulp on May 21, 2005 - 4 answers