A Darker View

At the very north end of Hawai'i lies a monument of the island's darker, bloodier history. This is one of the Hawaiian great temples, a heiau. Every heiau has a history, some were dedicated to worshiping the sea gods or the gods of the great mountains. Some may have served as navigational landmarks, with pointer stones to destinations across the vast Pacific. At Mo'okini a somewhat darker past is preserved in the rocks.

It is here that the Tahitian priests set up one of their first temples when they arrived in these islands. Temples dedicated to bloodthirsty gods that demanded human lives. It is here that so many people were sacrificed, possibly tens of thousands over the centuries. This place was for many centuries the center of life for the entire north end of this island. It is in the shadow of this heiau that Kamehameha I would be born and begin his quest to unify the islands. Starting the wheels of history that would forever end the darker practices of the Hawaiian religions.

Mo'okini heiau from the southwest

This is fascinating. An interesting study into how our expectations can actually change how we experience something. When subjects were presented with a wine that they thought was more expensive they actually enjoyed drinking it more than a less expensive wine. The study treads on well worn ground, it is well know by marketing and sales people that perception is everything in how a customer experiences a product. If you believe something is better you may actually perceive it to be better. The difference here is that the researchers did the test in a functional MRI scanner capable of imaging the regions of the brain involved in the experience. The regions of the brain associated with pleasure showed more activity when the subject expected a better wine, even when drinking exactly the same wine, they were simply told it was more expensive.

More data into not only just how flexible to human brain is when percieving experience, but also insight into how a person will see what they want to see, if it is real or not.

You can read a longer article at The Boston Globe Website. More info from the Stanford new release or the original paper (subscription service).

Hat tip to 3 Quarks Daily.