Stuff I Know

Here's some stuff I know.

Niccolò Paganini was an Italian violin virtuoso, famous for being so good that people supposed that he had sold his soul for his talent. The reason for this was his flamboyant stunts. My personal favorite involves learning a popular, complex song on only three strings instead of all four. Then before the concert he would saw partly through the fourth string so it would break halfway through the piece. Undeterred, he would simply complete the piece on the three remaining strings, presumably causing people to go "WHAAAAA?!"

In the past, the small country of Bhutan has been one of the few examples of a functioning aristocracy, based on the central tenets of Buddhism. Unfortunately, the country's youth has been influenced by the creeping specter of MTV and other such side-effects of globalization. The king, realizing that his time had come to an end, decided to implement democracy (instead of flipping out and becoming a dictator. Good move, sir). Interestingly enough, the first election saw the king in power again. While not originally considered for the position, almost everyone voted for him, not wanting anything to change. Only the future will see what's going to happen to that place.

A psychology experiment done in the 1980s revealed that when someone threatens to commit suicide by jumping from a great height, the crowd that inevitably groups below is likely to discourage the jumper. However, as it gets darker or as the crowd gets bigger, the mainstream view tends to drift into the opposite direction, the direction of "JUMP! JUMP! JUMP!" This phenomenon is known as deindividuation, where the individual loses his sense of self, becoming one with the crowd. Why a hivemind is so favorable of suicide is a mystery for the ages.

And that's some stuff I know.