Arboretum - User contributions [en]

Textese

2026-07-19T14:55:13Z

Max: Created and populated with some notes based on what I learned this week

Textese (also commonly referred to as TXT speak, Textisms, Chat Speak, or SMS language) is the formal linguistic term for the electronic paralanguage used in digital communication. It's an efficient dialect characterized by the use of abbreviations, acronyms, and emoticons.

It functions as a hybrid format offering the speed, intimacy, and immediacy of spoken conversation, but mediated through the limitations of text-based interfaces.

== Etymology ==

The word "textspeak" was coined in a 2001 book ''Language and the Internet'' by David Crystal (along with the term "netspeak").

This was followed by "textese" in 2002; the word was created by adding the suffix -ese to "text," which is traditionally used to described languages (Japanese, Chinese) or distinct jargons (legalese). This gave writers and linguists a term that acknowledged texting had become its own dialect with its own grammatical rules1.

Both terms were added to mainstream dictionaries in 2003 and by 2005, Oxford, Merriam-Webster, and other major dictionaries officially began indexing labels for the language style, such as "textisms" and "texting." In 2011, the Oxford English Dictionary began adding textisms, beginning with LOL, OMG, and IMHO2.

== History of Shorthand Communication ==

The true evolution of shorthand communication begins with the earliest forms of written expression but this article focuses on the linguistic evolution of shorthand communication via machines. This will need to be fleshed out with global perspectives. Additional events, like invention or advancement of machinery, also aren't represented here.

* '''1859: Numerical Shorthand - 92 Code'''
** Western Union standardizes a numerical shorthand system to reduce bandwidth congestion on telegraph lines. Operators transmit numbers to represent complete phrases.
** Examples: 17 - "Lightning here." 30 - "No more - the end." 73 - "Best regards." 88 - "Love and kisses."3
** Machinery: Landline telegraphy, copper wire networks

* '''1879: Alphanumeric Shorthand - Philips Code'''
** Walter P. Phillips compiles a system for Associated Press that serves as a massive shorthand dictionary for news reporters. Phrases are compressed into tiny shortcuts to maximize words sent per minute.
** Examples: thu - "the house." wam - "ways and means." hf - "half." goh - "Guest of honor." potus - "President of the United States."4
** Machinery: High-speed commercial telegraphy

* '''1912: Standard Three-Letter Codes - Q-Code'''
** The International Radiotelegraph Convention formalizes three-letter codes beginning with Q. This bypasses global language barriers.
** Examples: QRA - "What ship or coast station is that?" QRL - "Are you busy?" QRN "Are the atmospherics strong?"5
** Machinery: Spark-gap wireless radio telegraphy

* '''1920s-1980s: Morse Code Abbreviations - CW (Continuous Wave) '''
** Amateur ham radio operators adapt telegraph codes into conversational speech. Casual conversational acronyms are popularized to prevent hand fatigue ("telegrapher's cramp") because sending Morse code requires serious physical effort.
** Examples: abt - "about." b4 - "before." ref - "reference; refer to." tmw - "tomorrow."6
** Machinery: Shortwave vacuum tube radio transceivers

* '''1990s-2000s: Acronyms and Abbreviations - Textspeak'''
** Textspeak is pushed into mainstream use due to limitations of mobile phones: 160-character limit of early SMS protocols and the physical friction of phone keypads. Early mobile phone textese inherited shorthand culture from chat rooms, which were built by ham radio hobbyists.
** Examples: Amirite - "Am I right?" BRB - "be right back." </3 - "broken heart." IRL - "in real life." sum1 - "someone."7
** Machinery: 9-key numeric phone keypads

== Links ==

* [https://www.intersteno.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/iprs-tursi2013.pdf The History of Shorthand and Evolution of Shorthand Machines]
* [https://hallahan.info/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/teach-chronology-of-communication-3-2024.pdf A Chronology of Communication History]
* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_communication Wikipedia: History of communication]

=== Notes ===

1 [https://www.vaia.com/en-us/explanations/english/english-language-study/text-speak/ Text Speak Definition]

2 [https://www.pcworld.com/article/496051/omg_lol_internet_slang_added_to_oxford_english_dictionary.html OMG! LOL: Internet Slang Added to Oxford English Dictionary]

3 [http://civilwarsignals.org/pages/tele/wurules1866/92code.html 1859 Western Union "92 Code" & Wood's 1864 "Telegraphic Numerals" & Comparison of Alphabetic Telegraph Codes]

4 [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phillips_Code Wikipedia: Phillips Code]

5 [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Q_code Wikipedia: Q code]

6 [https://tamiamiarc.org/more-cw-resources/ List of CW Abbeviations]

7 [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMS_language SMS language]

----

[[Category:Creativity & Culture]]
[[Category:Information & Tech]]

Arboretum:About

2026-07-19T14:16:15Z

Max: reviewed and updated the whole page now that it's been 3 months of adding pages

[[File:Personal Knowledge & Creative Flow.png|thumb|Max's Personal Knowledge & Creative Flow]]

My Wiki is part of a personal knowledge & creative flow that I have been following since late 2024. It holds the factual and learned details from others with more knowledge than I have. The Arboretum holds the facts, information, quotes, studies, and research notes from my readings and questions that spring from places I visit and people I meet.

I do semi-casual research via the internet, free resources (governments, libraries, archives), and stuff I find in the library database system at the university where I work. It's unstructured and not focused towards a dissertation, book, or other accredited deliverable. I just like learning and this is a good reason to learn how to keep a wiki. (I will admit that keeping a wiki is a professionally relevant skill, too.)

An '''arboretum''' is a center dedicated to the cultivation, study, and display of a wide variety of trees, shrubs, and other woody plants. This wiki grew out of the [https://max-writes.github.io digital garden] in March 2026.

== How It's Made ==

I imagine that keeping this wiki will give many benefits. It's something I've wanted to do my whole life, but always had too much imposter syndrome to execute. In the spirit of [[Learn in public|learning in public]], I'll share some of my goals and the process I'm following for those interested.

=== Goals ===

* Reference list of [[:Category:Technical Documentation|documentation best practices]] that I can use and share, including locations where I learned about each topic ("Max's Writing Manual")
* A representation of this part of my brain that enjoys thinking, learning, and connecting knowledge and a repository of stuff that serves as a learning journal
* Portfolio full of my research, writing, and ideas that I can use a writing artifact (I don't have to remove any proprietary information)

=== Process ===

I gather topics from books I've read, movies I'm watching, and other things here and there around life. Any question I have about anything could end up in here. I try to boil it down to a term or concept that can become a single wiki page.

For each topic, I like to dive into the history or context and explore a few interesting things about it. I spend about 6-8 hours reading about things over the week, then maybe 4 hours drafting and polishing a wiki page.

As I write more and grow the site, I am finding myself making connections and wanting to explore similarities. I expect that the wiki will expand and I'll eventually get into refining pages and connecting topics.

== AI Statement ==

To clear the air: I've typed out everything in this wiki. Part of the purpose is to have a place where I can use writing to help synthesize and connect ideas in a more formal arena than the digital garden. Hard to reach that goal if AI is generating the thoughts and writing it for me.

Main Page

2026-07-19T14:13:48Z

Max: updated category summaries

Welcome to the '''Arboretum''', a dedicated space for the raw materials of my research and learning.

The [[Arboretum:About|Arboretum Wiki]] serves as a place to document the context that informs my thinking. It functions as a structured repository for the subjects I am actively deconstructing. By documenting what I am learning here, I create a trail of information that eventually feeds into creative ideas.

This will always be a work in progress, but it especially is right now as initial installation occurred March 8, 2026. If you like, you can [[Special:AllPages|view a list of all pages]].

== General Categories ==

Here are some examples of what you may find here as this wiki grows.

'''[[:Category:Information & Tech|Information & Tech]]'''
* Technical writing and documentation
* Knowledge management and sharing
* Productivity and workflow frameworks
* Digital tools and architecture

'''[[:Category:Nature & Slow Living|Nature & Slow Living]]'''
* Local and seasonal nutrition
* Ecosystems and native plants
* Philosophies of time and pacing
* Microseasons and global weather patterns

'''[[:Category:Creativity & Culture|Creativity & Culture]]'''
* Psychology of self-doubt
* Cultural movements and expressions
* Histories of independent media
* Mythology in literature

'''[[:Category:Systems, Ethics & Society|Systems, Ethics & Society]]'''
* Structural vs individual history/narrative
* Physical costs of systemic stress
* Antiracism and systemic equity
* Systemic policy and ethics

You may also [[Special:Categories|view all categories]].

== User Account Creation ==

Account creation is currently disabled for all account types, but may open in the future to welcome discussion and corrections. If you need to get in touch, you can write me on [https://letterbird.co/max Letterbird].

Teenagers

2026-07-11T22:14:38Z

Max: two minor edits

A teenager is a person between the ages of 13 and 19 (ages that have the word "teen" at the end in English), but broadly describes a social class characterized by unique subcultures, behaviors, habits, and psychological development.

The concept of "teenager" as we know it today did not exist before the mid-20th century and the word was rarely used before the 1940s. It is a post-war American concept, and only in the last century have we respected that teenagers are in a heavy transition period as they grow from childhood to adulthood.

== Etymology ==

The word "teenager" originates in the English (USA) language as the ages that have the word "teen" at the end. There may not be an equivalent in other languages, so they might use the same word or the equivalent of "adolescent."1

In other English-speaking countries there were few mentions of the word as "teen," "teen age," "Teen Ager" and "Teen-Ager," and "Teenes" throughout history beginning in the 1590s. Prior to that, the suffix "-teen" dates back to Old English2. These terms were used as a descriptor for a certain age group and not as a unique identity.

== History ==

Before this cultural shift, human development was divided between child or adult. Childhood ended abruptly with puberty (ages 12-14). Working-class youth immediately entered full-time labor (factories, mines, or farms), while wealthier young people were arranged into marriages.

The social infrastructure for a "teenage group" to emerge originated in several events (and likely more).

* '''Widespread adoption of the automobile (1920s-1930s)3.''' Cars gave young people physical freedom from parental supervision, allowing a distinct social and dating scene to grow. Previous to this, romantic courtship was supervised and ritualistic. The car took courtship out of the house and provided young people with a private, mobile room. The concept of "dating" grew and shifted the focus of romance from family strategy to compatibility. The car also expanded a teenager's social map; previously, they walked or rode bicycles and this limited their friendships to a limited boundary.
* '''Stricter child labor laws and compulsory education (1930s)4.''' The 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act banned full-time child labor in the US, and this suddenly pulled millions of young people out of factories. Because local communities had been gathering since the 1910s to fund and build free, public high schools around the country (High School Movement5), there were plenty of buildings to send those young people to. US states began rewriting their education codes to raise compulsory education ages to 16 or 18 with minimum days attended per year and worse consequences for non-compliance.
* '''Lacking supervision and wartime outlook (1940s)6.''' World War II effectively emptied American communities of traditional adult supervision as fathers and older brothers were shipped overseas to fight, and mothers entered the wartime workforce. Suddenly, young people had hours of autonomy every day and became heads of households with minimal supervision. For those turning 16 or 17 in 1943 and 1944, the future was certain and terrifying. This created a unified psychological wartime carpe diem moment where the inevitability made the present moment seem much more vibrant and opportunistic.
* '''Post-war economic conditions (1950s)7.''' Thanks to the post-war economic boom, middle-class families had disposable income and young people were given allowances, which made them a targetable consumer demographic. For the first time in history, millions of young people had money to spend, but they weren't interested in kid stuff or adult stuff. More importantly, they had no responsibility for rent, groceries, or utilities.

On December 11, 1944, LIFE magazine published a photo feature titled "Teen-Age Girls: They Live in a Wonderful World of Their Own," which followed a group of twelve 15 to 17 year old girls in a suburb of St. Louis, MO8. The piece documented their habits, like listening to records at the music store, talking on the phone, eating, studying, dating, and weekend sleepovers.

On June 11, 1945, LIFE magazine ran a follow-up titled "Teen-Age Boys: Faced With War, They are Just the Same as They Have Always Been" to document teenage boys during wartime9. This time in Des Moines, IA, the same photographer Nina Leen captured the daily lives of sleeping, eating, and hanging out. They worked on cars, snacked, got into shenanigans, touched their hair, decorated their rooms with interest-based artifacts, and read magazines and comic books. The article was heavier than the one on girls as it somberly acknowledged that every boy involved was likely to be at war in a few years.

LIFE magazine did not create the concept of the teenager, but it gave it a word, description, and image, by documenting the impacts of multiple clashing events.

== Links ==

* [https://www.life.com/history/proper-teenagers-in-a-post-war-world/ Proper Teenagers in a Post-War World]
* [https://www.life.com/history/life-with-postwar-teens-photos-of-fads-from-around-the-u-s-in-1948/ LIFE With Postwar Teens: Photos of Fads from Around the U.S. in 1948]
* [https://www.life.com/history/american-teenagers-paris/ ‘Wow, Quel Babes!’: American Teenagers in Paris in the 1950s]
* [https://www.life.com/history/theres-quaint-and-then-theres-a-story-on-phone-obsessed-teens-from-1956/ There’s Quaint, and Then There’s a Story on Phone-Obsessed Teens from 1956]
* [https://www.life.com/arts-entertainment/photographer-spotlight-nina-leen/ LIFE Photography Spotlight: Nina Leen]

=== Notes ===

1 [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teenager_(word) Wikipedia: Teenager (word)]

2 [https://www.etymonline.com/word/-teen Etymonline: -teen]

3 [https://archive.org/details/middletownstudyi00lynd/mode/1up?_autoReadAloud=show Middletown: A Study in American Culture by Robert Staughton Lynd]

4 [https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w6144/w6144.pdf Why the United States Led in Education: Lessons From Secondary School Expansion, 1910 to 1940]

5 [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_school_movement Wikipedia: High school movement]

6 [https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/the-american-home-front-and-world-war-ii.htm The American Home Front and World War II]

7 [https://teachrock.org/wp-content/uploads/Life_Magazine_Article.edited_1.pdf A New $10 Billion Power: The U. S. Teen-Age Consumer]

8 [https://time.com/3639041/the-invention-of-teenagers-life-and-the-triumph-of-youth-culture/ The Invention of Teenagers: LIFE and the Triumph of Youth Culture]

9 [https://www.life.com/history/heartland-cool-teenage-boys-in-iowa-1945/ Heartland Cool: Teenage Boys in Iowa, 1945]

----

[[Category:Systems, Ethics & Society]]
[[Category:Creativity & Culture]]

Teenagers

2026-07-11T22:05:08Z

Max: added categories

A teenager is a person between the ages of 13 and 19 (ages that have the word "teen" at the end in English), but broadly describes a social class characterized by unique subcultures, behaviors, habits, and psychological development.

The concept of "teenager" as we know it today did not exist before the mid-20th century and the word was rarely used before the 1940s. It is a post-war American concept, and only in the last century have we respected that teenagers are in a heavy transition period as they grow from childhood to adulthood.

== Etymology ==

The word "teenager" originates in the English (USA) language as the ages that have the word "teen" at the end. There may not be an equivalent in other languages, so they might use the same word or the equivalent of "adolescent."1

In other English-speaking countries there were few mentions of the word as "teen," "teen age," "Teen Ager" and "Teen-Ager," and "Teenes" throughout history beginning in the 1590s. Prior to that, the suffix "-teen" dates back to Old English2. These terms were used as a descriptor for a certain age group and not as a unique identity.

== History ==

Before this cultural shift, human development was divided between child or adult. Childhood ended abruptly with puberty (ages 12-14). Working-class youth immediately entered full-time labor (factories, mines, or farms), while wealthier young people were arranged into marriages.

The social infrastructure for a "teenage group" to emerge originated in several events (and likely more).

* '''Widespread adoption of the automobile (1920s-1930s)3.''' Cars gave young people physical freedom from parental supervision, allowing a distinct social and dating scene to grow. Previous to this, romantic courtship was supervised and ritualistic. The car took courtship out of the house and provided young people with a private, mobile room. The concept of "dating" grew and shifted the focus of romance from family strategy to compatibility. The car also expanded a teenager's social map; previously, they walked or rode bicycles and this limited their friendships to a limited boundary.
* '''Stricter child labor laws and compulsory education (1930s)4.''' The 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act banned full-time child labor in the US, and this suddenly pulled millions of young people out of factories. Because local communities had been gathering since the 1910s to fund and build free, public high schools around the country (High School Movement5), there were plenty of buildings to send those young people to. US states began rewriting their education codes to raise compulsory education ages to 16 or 18 with minimum days attended per year and worse consequences for non-compliance.
* '''Lacking supervision and wartime outlook (1940s)6.''' World War II effectively emptied American communities of traditional adult supervision as fathers and older brothers were shipped overseas to fight, and mothers entered the wartime workforce. Suddenly, young people had hours of autonomy every day and became heads of households with minimal supervision. For those turning 16 or 17 in 1943 and 1944, the future was certain and terrifying. This created a psychological wartime carpe diem moment where the inevitability made the present moment seem much more vibrant and opportunistic.
* '''Post-war economic conditions (1950s)7.''' Thanks to the post-war economic boom, middle-class families had disposable income and young people were given allowances, which made them a targetable consumer demographic. For the first time in history, millions of young people had money to spend, but they weren't interested in kid stuff or adult stuff. More importantly, they had no responsibility for rent, groceries, or utilities.

On December 11, 1944, LIFE magazine published a photo feature titled "Teen-Age Girls: They Live in a Wonderful World of Their Own," which followed a group of twelve 15 to 17 year old girls in a suburb of St. Louis, MO8. The piece documented their habits, like listening to records at the music store, talking on the phone, eating, studying, dating, and weekend sleepovers.

On June 11, 1945, LIFE magazine ran a follow-up titled "Teen-Age Boys: Faced With War, They are Just the Same as They Have Always Been" to document teenage boys during wartime9. This time in Des Moines, IA, the same photographer Nina Leen captured the daily lives of sleeping, eating, and hanging out. They worked on cars, snacked, got into shenanigans, touched their hair, decorated their rooms with interest-based artifacts, and read magazines and comic books. The article was heavier than the one on girls as it somberly acknowledged that every boy involved were likely to be at war in a few years.

LIFE magazine did not create the concept of the teenager, but it gave it a word, description, and image, by documenting the impacts of multiple clashing events.

== Links ==

* [https://www.life.com/history/proper-teenagers-in-a-post-war-world/ Proper Teenagers in a Post-War World]
* [https://www.life.com/history/life-with-postwar-teens-photos-of-fads-from-around-the-u-s-in-1948/ LIFE With Postwar Teens: Photos of Fads from Around the U.S. in 1948]
* [https://www.life.com/history/american-teenagers-paris/ ‘Wow, Quel Babes!’: American Teenagers in Paris in the 1950s]
* [https://www.life.com/history/theres-quaint-and-then-theres-a-story-on-phone-obsessed-teens-from-1956/ There’s Quaint, and Then There’s a Story on Phone-Obsessed Teens from 1956]
* [https://www.life.com/arts-entertainment/photographer-spotlight-nina-leen/ LIFE Photography Spotlight: Nina Leen]

=== Notes ===

1 [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teenager_(word) Wikipedia: Teenager (word)]

2 [https://www.etymonline.com/word/-teen Etymonline: -teen]

3 [https://archive.org/details/middletownstudyi00lynd/mode/1up?_autoReadAloud=show Middletown: A Study in American Culture by Robert Staughton Lynd]

4 [https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w6144/w6144.pdf Why the United States Led in Education: Lessons From Secondary School Expansion, 1910 to 1940]

5 [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_school_movement Wikipedia: High school movement]

6 [https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/the-american-home-front-and-world-war-ii.htm The American Home Front and World War II]

7 [https://teachrock.org/wp-content/uploads/Life_Magazine_Article.edited_1.pdf A New $10 Billion Power: The U. S. Teen-Age Consumer]

8 [https://time.com/3639041/the-invention-of-teenagers-life-and-the-triumph-of-youth-culture/ The Invention of Teenagers: LIFE and the Triumph of Youth Culture]

9 [https://www.life.com/history/heartland-cool-teenage-boys-in-iowa-1945/ Heartland Cool: Teenage Boys in Iowa, 1945]

----

[[Category:Systems, Ethics & Society]]
[[Category:Creativity & Culture]]

Teenagers

2026-07-11T22:04:18Z

Max: Protected "Teenagers" ([Edit=Allow only administrators] (indefinite) [Move=Allow only administrators] (indefinite)) [cascading]

A teenager is a person between the ages of 13 and 19 (ages that have the word "teen" at the end in English), but broadly describes a social class characterized by unique subcultures, behaviors, habits, and psychological development.

The concept of "teenager" as we know it today did not exist before the mid-20th century and the word was rarely used before the 1940s. It is a post-war American concept, and only in the last century have we respected that teenagers are in a heavy transition period as they grow from childhood to adulthood.

== Etymology ==

The word "teenager" originates in the English (USA) language as the ages that have the word "teen" at the end. There may not be an equivalent in other languages, so they might use the same word or the equivalent of "adolescent."1

In other English-speaking countries there were few mentions of the word as "teen," "teen age," "Teen Ager" and "Teen-Ager," and "Teenes" throughout history beginning in the 1590s. Prior to that, the suffix "-teen" dates back to Old English2. These terms were used as a descriptor for a certain age group and not as a unique identity.

== History ==

Before this cultural shift, human development was divided between child or adult. Childhood ended abruptly with puberty (ages 12-14). Working-class youth immediately entered full-time labor (factories, mines, or farms), while wealthier young people were arranged into marriages.

The social infrastructure for a "teenage group" to emerge originated in several events (and likely more).

* '''Widespread adoption of the automobile (1920s-1930s)3.''' Cars gave young people physical freedom from parental supervision, allowing a distinct social and dating scene to grow. Previous to this, romantic courtship was supervised and ritualistic. The car took courtship out of the house and provided young people with a private, mobile room. The concept of "dating" grew and shifted the focus of romance from family strategy to compatibility. The car also expanded a teenager's social map; previously, they walked or rode bicycles and this limited their friendships to a limited boundary.
* '''Stricter child labor laws and compulsory education (1930s)4.''' The 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act banned full-time child labor in the US, and this suddenly pulled millions of young people out of factories. Because local communities had been gathering since the 1910s to fund and build free, public high schools around the country (High School Movement5), there were plenty of buildings to send those young people to. US states began rewriting their education codes to raise compulsory education ages to 16 or 18 with minimum days attended per year and worse consequences for non-compliance.
* '''Lacking supervision and wartime outlook (1940s)6.''' World War II effectively emptied American communities of traditional adult supervision as fathers and older brothers were shipped overseas to fight, and mothers entered the wartime workforce. Suddenly, young people had hours of autonomy every day and became heads of households with minimal supervision. For those turning 16 or 17 in 1943 and 1944, the future was certain and terrifying. This created a psychological wartime carpe diem moment where the inevitability made the present moment seem much more vibrant and opportunistic.
* '''Post-war economic conditions (1950s)7.''' Thanks to the post-war economic boom, middle-class families had disposable income and young people were given allowances, which made them a targetable consumer demographic. For the first time in history, millions of young people had money to spend, but they weren't interested in kid stuff or adult stuff. More importantly, they had no responsibility for rent, groceries, or utilities.

On December 11, 1944, LIFE magazine published a photo feature titled "Teen-Age Girls: They Live in a Wonderful World of Their Own," which followed a group of twelve 15 to 17 year old girls in a suburb of St. Louis, MO8. The piece documented their habits, like listening to records at the music store, talking on the phone, eating, studying, dating, and weekend sleepovers.

On June 11, 1945, LIFE magazine ran a follow-up titled "Teen-Age Boys: Faced With War, They are Just the Same as They Have Always Been" to document teenage boys during wartime9. This time in Des Moines, IA, the same photographer Nina Leen captured the daily lives of sleeping, eating, and hanging out. They worked on cars, snacked, got into shenanigans, touched their hair, decorated their rooms with interest-based artifacts, and read magazines and comic books. The article was heavier than the one on girls as it somberly acknowledged that every boy involved were likely to be at war in a few years.

LIFE magazine did not create the concept of the teenager, but it gave it a word, description, and image, by documenting the impacts of multiple clashing events.

== Links ==

* [https://www.life.com/history/proper-teenagers-in-a-post-war-world/ Proper Teenagers in a Post-War World]
* [https://www.life.com/history/life-with-postwar-teens-photos-of-fads-from-around-the-u-s-in-1948/ LIFE With Postwar Teens: Photos of Fads from Around the U.S. in 1948]
* [https://www.life.com/history/american-teenagers-paris/ ‘Wow, Quel Babes!’: American Teenagers in Paris in the 1950s]
* [https://www.life.com/history/theres-quaint-and-then-theres-a-story-on-phone-obsessed-teens-from-1956/ There’s Quaint, and Then There’s a Story on Phone-Obsessed Teens from 1956]
* [https://www.life.com/arts-entertainment/photographer-spotlight-nina-leen/ LIFE Photography Spotlight: Nina Leen]

=== Notes ===

1 [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teenager_(word) Wikipedia: Teenager (word)]

2 [https://www.etymonline.com/word/-teen Etymonline: -teen]

3 [https://archive.org/details/middletownstudyi00lynd/mode/1up?_autoReadAloud=show Middletown: A Study in American Culture by Robert Staughton Lynd]

4 [https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w6144/w6144.pdf Why the United States Led in Education: Lessons From Secondary School Expansion, 1910 to 1940]

5 [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_school_movement Wikipedia: High school movement]

6 [https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/the-american-home-front-and-world-war-ii.htm The American Home Front and World War II]

7 [https://teachrock.org/wp-content/uploads/Life_Magazine_Article.edited_1.pdf A New $10 Billion Power: The U. S. Teen-Age Consumer]

8 [https://time.com/3639041/the-invention-of-teenagers-life-and-the-triumph-of-youth-culture/ The Invention of Teenagers: LIFE and the Triumph of Youth Culture]

9 [https://www.life.com/history/heartland-cool-teenage-boys-in-iowa-1945/ Heartland Cool: Teenage Boys in Iowa, 1945]

Teenagers

2026-07-11T22:04:05Z

Max: Created and populated with some notes based on what I learned this week

A teenager is a person between the ages of 13 and 19 (ages that have the word "teen" at the end in English), but broadly describes a social class characterized by unique subcultures, behaviors, habits, and psychological development.

The concept of "teenager" as we know it today did not exist before the mid-20th century and the word was rarely used before the 1940s. It is a post-war American concept, and only in the last century have we respected that teenagers are in a heavy transition period as they grow from childhood to adulthood.

== Etymology ==

The word "teenager" originates in the English (USA) language as the ages that have the word "teen" at the end. There may not be an equivalent in other languages, so they might use the same word or the equivalent of "adolescent."1

In other English-speaking countries there were few mentions of the word as "teen," "teen age," "Teen Ager" and "Teen-Ager," and "Teenes" throughout history beginning in the 1590s. Prior to that, the suffix "-teen" dates back to Old English2. These terms were used as a descriptor for a certain age group and not as a unique identity.

== History ==

Before this cultural shift, human development was divided between child or adult. Childhood ended abruptly with puberty (ages 12-14). Working-class youth immediately entered full-time labor (factories, mines, or farms), while wealthier young people were arranged into marriages.

The social infrastructure for a "teenage group" to emerge originated in several events (and likely more).

* '''Widespread adoption of the automobile (1920s-1930s)3.''' Cars gave young people physical freedom from parental supervision, allowing a distinct social and dating scene to grow. Previous to this, romantic courtship was supervised and ritualistic. The car took courtship out of the house and provided young people with a private, mobile room. The concept of "dating" grew and shifted the focus of romance from family strategy to compatibility. The car also expanded a teenager's social map; previously, they walked or rode bicycles and this limited their friendships to a limited boundary.
* '''Stricter child labor laws and compulsory education (1930s)4.''' The 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act banned full-time child labor in the US, and this suddenly pulled millions of young people out of factories. Because local communities had been gathering since the 1910s to fund and build free, public high schools around the country (High School Movement5), there were plenty of buildings to send those young people to. US states began rewriting their education codes to raise compulsory education ages to 16 or 18 with minimum days attended per year and worse consequences for non-compliance.
* '''Lacking supervision and wartime outlook (1940s)6.''' World War II effectively emptied American communities of traditional adult supervision as fathers and older brothers were shipped overseas to fight, and mothers entered the wartime workforce. Suddenly, young people had hours of autonomy every day and became heads of households with minimal supervision. For those turning 16 or 17 in 1943 and 1944, the future was certain and terrifying. This created a psychological wartime carpe diem moment where the inevitability made the present moment seem much more vibrant and opportunistic.
* '''Post-war economic conditions (1950s)7.''' Thanks to the post-war economic boom, middle-class families had disposable income and young people were given allowances, which made them a targetable consumer demographic. For the first time in history, millions of young people had money to spend, but they weren't interested in kid stuff or adult stuff. More importantly, they had no responsibility for rent, groceries, or utilities.

On December 11, 1944, LIFE magazine published a photo feature titled "Teen-Age Girls: They Live in a Wonderful World of Their Own," which followed a group of twelve 15 to 17 year old girls in a suburb of St. Louis, MO8. The piece documented their habits, like listening to records at the music store, talking on the phone, eating, studying, dating, and weekend sleepovers.

On June 11, 1945, LIFE magazine ran a follow-up titled "Teen-Age Boys: Faced With War, They are Just the Same as They Have Always Been" to document teenage boys during wartime9. This time in Des Moines, IA, the same photographer Nina Leen captured the daily lives of sleeping, eating, and hanging out. They worked on cars, snacked, got into shenanigans, touched their hair, decorated their rooms with interest-based artifacts, and read magazines and comic books. The article was heavier than the one on girls as it somberly acknowledged that every boy involved were likely to be at war in a few years.

LIFE magazine did not create the concept of the teenager, but it gave it a word, description, and image, by documenting the impacts of multiple clashing events.

== Links ==

* [https://www.life.com/history/proper-teenagers-in-a-post-war-world/ Proper Teenagers in a Post-War World]
* [https://www.life.com/history/life-with-postwar-teens-photos-of-fads-from-around-the-u-s-in-1948/ LIFE With Postwar Teens: Photos of Fads from Around the U.S. in 1948]
* [https://www.life.com/history/american-teenagers-paris/ ‘Wow, Quel Babes!’: American Teenagers in Paris in the 1950s]
* [https://www.life.com/history/theres-quaint-and-then-theres-a-story-on-phone-obsessed-teens-from-1956/ There’s Quaint, and Then There’s a Story on Phone-Obsessed Teens from 1956]
* [https://www.life.com/arts-entertainment/photographer-spotlight-nina-leen/ LIFE Photography Spotlight: Nina Leen]

=== Notes ===

1 [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teenager_(word) Wikipedia: Teenager (word)]

2 [https://www.etymonline.com/word/-teen Etymonline: -teen]

3 [https://archive.org/details/middletownstudyi00lynd/mode/1up?_autoReadAloud=show Middletown: A Study in American Culture by Robert Staughton Lynd]

4 [https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w6144/w6144.pdf Why the United States Led in Education: Lessons From Secondary School Expansion, 1910 to 1940]

5 [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_school_movement Wikipedia: High school movement]

6 [https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/the-american-home-front-and-world-war-ii.htm The American Home Front and World War II]

7 [https://teachrock.org/wp-content/uploads/Life_Magazine_Article.edited_1.pdf A New $10 Billion Power: The U. S. Teen-Age Consumer]

8 [https://time.com/3639041/the-invention-of-teenagers-life-and-the-triumph-of-youth-culture/ The Invention of Teenagers: LIFE and the Triumph of Youth Culture]

9 [https://www.life.com/history/heartland-cool-teenage-boys-in-iowa-1945/ Heartland Cool: Teenage Boys in Iowa, 1945]

Book:The Food Book (2024)

2026-07-05T14:57:27Z

Max: Added link to new convenience foods page

''The Food Book: The Stories, Science, and History of What We Eat'' by DK Publishing

== Related articles ==
Questions/notes from my reading that I've explored (and will continue exploring).
* [[Convenience foods]]

== My notes on things to learn about/do ==
These will one day become related articles.
* How evolving foods impacted evolution and technology
* Thoughts/ideas about food over time (false and true)
* Paleontologist tooth studies
* Nut/bread related deaths (not due to allergies)
* History of snacking
* Wineries
* Animals that thieve eggs
* Honey thieves
* Foods associated with death and the dead

----

[[Category:Nature & Slow Living]]

Communities of Practice (CoP)

2026-07-03T16:39:05Z

Max: Protected "Communities of Practice (CoP)" ([Edit=Allow only administrators] (indefinite) [Move=Allow only administrators] (indefinite)) [cascading]

A Community of Practice (CoP) is a group of people who are a common interest, concern, set of problems, or passion for a topic. To deepen their knowledge and expertise, they interact on an ongoing basis1.

== History ==
The idea was coined by cognitive anthropologist Jean Lave and educational theorist Etienne Wenger in 19912. According to Wenger, a network or club becomes a CoP when it features three intersecting components:

* '''Domain:''' Shared area of interest that creates common ground and defines the community. Membership implies a baseline commitment and competence that distinguishes members from non-members.
* '''Community:''' Members engage in activities, discussions, and information-sharing to build relationships, help each other, and learn together.
* '''Practice:''' Members are practitioners and develop resources such as experiences, tools, templates, and proven ways of addressing recurring concerns.

By the late 1990s, corporate organizations caught on that standard knowledge management failed to capture human experience. Wenger continued studies with additional partners and this work helped to shift the concept of CoP into an organizational tool. CoPs often form to break down silos and foster innovation3.

== Common Contexts ==

A CoP is very useful in the following contexts:

* '''Extracting Tacit Knowledge:''' Documentation keeps explicit knowledge, but struggle with tacit knowledge. CoPs excel at surfacing context-based wisdom through experience-sharing.
* '''Breaking Down Silos:''' Practitioners doing similar work are often compartmentalized into different departments. CoPs provide a bridge for isolated peers to exchange knowledge and tools.
* '''Preventing Knowledge Loss:''' Undocumented expertise leaves with employees. CoPs are an ongoing archive of knowledge distribution across multiple teams.

CoPs may meet bi-weekly or monthly with no standard cadence, agenda, or top-down needs. They thrive as an informal chance for conversation and engagement, rather than enforcement.

== Common Functions ==

Discussions in Communities of Practice usually break down into a few general buckets, but vary depending on the topic and organizational needs. These might include:
* Problem solving
* Requests for information/resources
* Experience sharing
* Asset sharing
* Discussing developments or innovative ideas

== Links ==

* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community_of_practice Wikipedia: Community of practice]
* [https://www.forbes.com/sites/lisaconn/2024/01/18/what-is-a-community-of-practice-and-why-you-need-one/ What Is A Community Of Practice? (And Why You Need One)]

=== Notes ===
1 [https://edutechwiki.unige.ch/en/community_of_practice Edutech Wiki: Community of practice]

2 [https://www.wenger-trayner.com/introduction-to-communities-of-practice/ Introduction to communities of practice]

3 [https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2654669/ Evolution of Wenger's concept of community of practice]

----

[[Category:Information & Tech]]

Communities of Practice (CoP)

2026-07-03T16:38:52Z

Max: Created and populated with some notes based on what I learned today

Book:Knowledge Management Basics (2009)

2026-07-03T16:33:43Z

Max: added a link to new article

''Knowledge Management Basics'' by Christee Gabour Atwood (2009)

== Related articles ==
Questions/notes from my reading that I've explored (and will continue exploring).
* [[Communities of Practice (CoP)]]

== My notes on things to learn about/do ==
These will one day become related articles.
* Methodologies/designs for knowledge portals
* Knowledge audits
* Discovering vs finding knowledge
* Care and keeping of Zenny knowledge map
* Window bird feeder maintenance knowledge map

----

[[Category: Information & Tech]]

Book:Forest Euphoria (2025)

2026-07-03T16:02:27Z

Max: Protected "Book:Forest Euphoria (2025)" ([Edit=Allow only administrators] (indefinite) [Move=Allow only administrators] (indefinite)) [cascading]

''Forest Euphoria: The Abounding Queerness of Nature'' by Patricia Ononiwu Kaishian (2025)

== Related articles ==
Questions/notes from my reading that I've explored (and will continue exploring).
* [[Cow Parsnip (Heracleum maximum)]]

== My notes on things to learn about/do ==
These will one day become related articles.
* Culturally hated animals that pose little threat to humans (and why we hate them?)
* Snakes and knowledge
* History/context of the name 'Turtle Island'
* Different kinds of swamps
* Great Dismal Swamp
* Colonial history of swamps
* Why do we hate/distrust fungi?
* Colonialism in nature taxonomy
* Beetles
* Corvids and teaching
* Intuition
* Cicadas
* Homestead Acts, Dawes Act

----

[[Category:Nature & Slow Living]]

Book:Forest Euphoria (2025)

2026-07-03T16:02:08Z

Max: Created and populated

Intranet

2026-06-21T20:35:37Z

Max: Protected "Intranet" ([Edit=Allow only administrators] (indefinite) [Move=Allow only administrators] (indefinite)) [cascading]

An intranet is a private network used within an organization to facilitate communication, collaboration, and information-sharing among employees. It is accessible only by authorized users, usually a company email or org authentication method, and designed to enhance internal processes and connectivity.

It's used as a source of truth for company documents like forms, templates, branding guidelines, HR information, policies, procedures, and more. Some companies use an organization-wide intranet only; while others allow documents and teams to create sites for different needs and manage permissions (org-wide vs users/groups) among them.

== Content types ==

An intranet may focus on one or all of these.

* '''Knowledge Base or Resource Hub:''' Serves as a self-service, centralized repository for training materials, FAQ, handbooks & manuals, user guides, templates, standard operating procedures (SOPs), templates, and compliance resources.
* '''Communication:''' Top-down delivery of news, announcements, HR events, executive updates, performance metrics, and alerts to keep employees informed and encourage organization-wide cultural cohesion1. Some bottom-up dynamics available in polls, surveys, and other feedback mechanisms.
* '''Team or Cross-Team Collaboration:''' Real-time document sharing, integrated task trackers, project management boards, chats, and other team interaction that prevents knowledge silos and encourages transparency.

== Major components ==

Content types are communicated in a variety of ways depending on company needs. There is no standard blueprint for what all organizations require in an intranet.

* '''Name/Logo''': Usually has a custom name and logo that is distinct from the main corporate brand2.
* '''Navigation:''' Global menu providing links to primary sections like Home, News, Company Resources, Employee Resources, and other main hubs. Mega menus include sublinks under parent headers for dense hierarchies. The navigation area usually includes a search box.
* '''Homepage:''' Landing dashboard with shortcuts to high-traffic utility hubs (e.g., news & communications, payroll, benefits, policies, calendars, employee directory, service desk portals, etc).
* '''Topic/Info Section:''' Explains a subject or service tailored to why it matters to the employee with resources such as upcoming events, FAQ, links, or other structured information.

=== Example: Onboarding Hub ===

This is an example of what you might find on a "New Hire Dashboard" send to new employees. A department would create one page or a set of pages and send this link to all new hires to assist with their orientation and help them understand expectations.

* '''"Your First Week":''' Roadmap outlining day-to-day expectations and checklists while network access and provisioning are being finalized.
* '''Orientation Resources:''' Videos, slide decks, and virtual courses explaining company or department vision, history, and values.
* '''Administrative Resources:''' User guides and handbooks detailing how to use basic tools, team expectations, and project tracking.
* '''30-60-90 Day Expectations:''' Structured benchmarks outlining a new hire's developmental journey and key performance metrics.
* '''Bookmarks:''' Standardized references to required everyday links.
* '''HR Resources:''' Direct access to payroll & benefits information provided by the company.
* '''Learning & Development (L&D):''' Details about mandatory compliance courses, self-paced training, and where employees can find more L&D resources.

== Links ==

* [https://www.interactsoftware.com/blog/intranet-definition/ Intranet definition: What is an intranet?]
* [https://www.getguru.com/reference/what-is-intranet-and-is-it-relevant What Is an Intranet? Meaning, Uses, Best Practices]
* [https://blog.jostle.me/blog/what-is-an-intranet What is an intranet? Examples, benefits, and best practices]
* [https://intranetconnections.com/blog/document-management-and-your-intranet/ Document Management and Your Intranet]
* [https://www.origamiconnect.com/blog/company-intranet-examples 6 Company Intranet Examples to Impress Your Employees]

=== Notes ===
1 [https://www.lumapps.com/modern-intranet/essential-intranet-features Intranet : 30 Essential Features you should have in your intranet]

2 [https://theintranethub.com/ The Intranet Hub]

----

[[Category:Information & Tech]]

Intranet

2026-06-21T20:32:57Z

Max: Created and populated with some notes

Imposter syndrome

2026-06-19T20:30:16Z

Max: Protected "Imposter syndrome" ([Edit=Allow only administrators] (indefinite) [Move=Allow only administrators] (indefinite)) [cascading]

Imposter syndrome is a psychological experience where someone suffers from intense self-doubt. Between 70-80% of the general population has experienced imposter syndrome during their life. Although the term contains the word "syndrome," it is not considered a diagnosable condition, but rather an experience that people can have.

In 1978, it was labeled as "imposter phenomenon" and described an internal experience of intellectual phoniness1. That is a narrow definition as feelings of imposter syndrome apply across many contexts (intellectual, professional, creative, etc.).

Imposter syndrome is accompanied by the feeling that the individual will be "found out" for posing as someone who knows more than they do, is able to perform better than they can, or has technical ability that they don't have. The irony is that people feel imposter syndrome after proving they can fulfill those expectations because it's often triggered by success. They perceive a gap - it's both because of someone/thing else if this was a success and their fault if it went wrong.

The experience influences the perspective that everyone else knows what they're doing. In contrast, strategic imposters are aware of their abilities but present themselves as less capable to achieve specific outcomes.

== Individual, systemic, and cultural contexts ==

Imposter syndrome is often discussed as an individual, isolated flaw. While it's important to understand the psychological, familial, and cognitive traits that make someone susceptible to experiencing imposter syndrome, it's also vital to understand that causes are also a structural byproduct of systemic factors.

* '''Personality Traits & Individual Psychology:''' Certain personality traits and behavioral patterns are connected to imposter syndrome, including: perfectionism, low self-efficacy, neuroticism, and clinical comorbidities like social anxiety disorder and depression2.
* '''Developmental & Family Environments:''' Those with anxious or avoidant attachment styles operate with a baseline assumption that acceptance is fragile and can be revoked when they make a mistake, an internal script that can turn into intense, frequent feelings of imposter syndrome3. Specific family dynamics can influence development of imposter syndrome; for example, individuals who were praised for what they achieved (grades, awards) rather than who they were or the effort they put in are at risk4.
* '''Cognitive, Cultural, & Religious Biases:''' Individuals with imposter syndrome naturally filter out evidence of their own competence while hyper-focusing on evidence of inadequacy5. Internalized cultural frameworks can also shape how we process our own success; for example, upbringings that emphasize extreme humility can cause psychological friction when an individual achieves success or recognition.

=== Systems & Society ===

The academic and professional experience is frequently a predictable response to institutional architectures and workplace cultures.

* '''Professional Spaces Built for Other Demographics:''' Navigating corporate, academic, or professional institutions that were historically built by and for a specific dominant demographic (e.g., Eurocentric, masculine frameworks) creates an implicit "out-group" penalty. If the prototype of success does not look like you, self-doubt is a logical reaction to a lack of mirror representation6.
* '''Leadership Diversity:''' When workplace cultures lack diverse leadership, structural exclusion creates a natural sense of alienation that is mislabeled as a personal lack of confidence.7
* '''Cultures that Reward Overproduction:''' Environments that glorify perfectionism, constant availability, and overachievement use self-doubt as fuel. People overwork themselves as a defensive mechanism to ensure they are never "exposed." 8
* '''Knowledge-Expertise Connection:''' In knowledge-dense domains, professional cultures often cultivate a myth of the "all-knowing expert." The systemic expectation to know everything creates a permanent gap between what a person knows and what is demanded of them, creating an impossible landscape of chronic individual self-doubt.

=== Creativity & Culture ===

Imposter feelings about creativity are actively manufactured by cultural gatekeeping, semantic policing, and constant pressure to validate one's intrinsic self-expression through the lens of productivity.

* '''Commodification of Self-Expression:''' Creative fields are heavily policed by the pressure of monetization. If an artistic endeavor is not generating capital, cultural myths dictate that it isn't "real" or "valuable," causing artists to feel like frauds.
* '''Suffering Artist Pipeline:''' Dominant cultural narratives enforce narrow paths to validation. Choosing an authentic, alternative path creates friction which makes a creator feel like an imposter.
* '''Semantic Anxiety:''' Cultural and industry frameworks enforce rigid definitions on creative identifies (e.g., distinguishing between "artist" from "creator," or "writer" from "author"). When individuals evaluate whether they fit into a predefined structured to be considered legitimate, they often find they don't fit. This friction convinces them they are pretending, instead of acknowledging that these semantic boundaries are designed for different purposes, not to limit personal creativity or identification.

== Long-term impacts ==

People who experience imposter syndrome can develop chronic systemic stress that leads to burnout, anxiety disorders, and severe emotional exhaustion9.

Imposter syndrome is often triggered by success and is rarely a one-and-done experience. When faced with a new task or challenge, an individual with imposter syndrome may experience the anxiety of being "found out." When they inevitably succeed, they attribute success to other conditions or luck. The cycle resets with each challenge or success, creating a baseline of anticipatory anxiety that exhausts the nervous system10.

The ultimate personal danger of long-term imposter syndrome is that individuals stunt their own potential out of fear of "exposure." If left unaddressed, what starts as a situational feeling becomes a core self-belief that you will fail.

== Links ==

* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impostor_syndrome Wikipedia: Imposter syndrome]
* [https://www.verywellmind.com/imposter-syndrome-and-social-anxiety-disorder-4156469 The Five Types of Imposter Syndrome and How to Manage Them]
* [https://psychologieetserenite.com/en/blog/why-you-feel-like-a-fraud-and-how-to-stop Imposter Syndrome: 5 Ways to Overcome Feeling Like a Fraud]
* [https://health.clevelandclinic.org/a-psychologist-explains-how-to-deal-with-imposter-syndrome Impostor Syndrome May Be Holding You Back]
* [https://www.sciencefocus.com/wellbeing/impostor-syndrome-how-to-beat-it 4 simple ways to overcome imposter syndrome, explained by psychologists]

=== Notes ===

1 [https://ctl.stanford.edu/students/imposter-syndrome Stanford Center for Teaching and Learning: Imposter Syndrome]

2 [https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11007186/ Interventions addressing the impostor phenomenon: a scoping review]

3 [https://dc.ewu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1276&context=theses I'm not all that: a look at the imposter phenomenon in intimate relationships]

4 [https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7703426/ Contextualizing the Impostor “Syndrome”]

5 [https://www.mentalhealthjournal.org/articles/commentary-prevalence-predictors-and-treatment-of-imposter-syndrome-a-systematic-review.html Commentary: Prevalence, Predictors, and Treatment of Imposter Syndrome: A Systematic Review]

6 [https://kimcenter.org/resources/stop-telling-women-they-have-imposter-syndrome/ Stop Telling Women They Have Imposter Syndrome]

7 [https://www.forbes.com/sites/andymolinsky/2025/11/04/imposter-syndrome-isnt-a-confidence-problem-its-a-culture-problem/ Imposter Syndrome Isn't A Confidence Problem. It's A Culture Problem]

8 [https://www.impostersyndrome.ie/blog/how-workplace-culture-fuels-imposter-syndrome-and-how-to-fix-it/ How Workplace Culture Fuels Imposter Syndrome (and How to Fix It)]

9 [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK585058/ Imposter Phenomenon]

10 [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/389551591_Impostor_phenomenon_a_narrative_review_of_manifestations_diagnosis_and_treatment Impostor phenomenon: a narrative review of manifestations, diagnosis, and treatment]

----

[[Category:Systems, Ethics & Society]]
[[Category:Creativity & Culture]]

Imposter syndrome

2026-06-19T20:30:00Z

Max: Created and populated with some notes. !ACHIEVEMENT first topic to span 2 categories !ACHIEVEMENT I realized I should I have been using reference links this whole time

Seasonal foods

2026-06-14T17:04:35Z

Max: Protected "Seasonal foods" ([Edit=Allow only administrators] (indefinite) [Move=Allow only administrators] (indefinite)) [cascading]

Seasonal foods refer to fruits, vegetables, and other agricultural crops harvested at their natural peak of ripeness during specific times of the year. Because they are grown under optimal local climatic conditions without artificial acceleration, they retain the highest possible nutrient density, vibrant natural flavor, and abundance. Choosing them aligns human dietary variety with nature's cyclic harvest and promotes optimal gut health.

== Benefits ==

When fruits and vegetables are harvested out of season, they are often picked early so they don't spoil during transit. Plants left to ripen naturally on the vine or in soil develop a full profile of vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals.

Nature frequently provides what human bodies need for the specific season, like hydrating, lycopene-rich tomatoes and cucumbers in the heat of summer, or dense, comforting beta-carotene-rich winter squashes and root vegetables in the colder months.

Lycopene is a summer-ripening red pigment. Benefits:
* antioxidant that neutralizes free radicals generated by ultraviolet (UV) radiation,
* provides systemic cellular defense against sun damage, and
* assists the cardiovascular system in regulating body temperature during high-heat months.

Beta-carotene is an autumn and winter-harvested orange pigment. Benefits:
* the body converts it into active Vitamin A,
* drives the production of immune cells during cold and flu season, and
* assists in maintaining a physical barrier against winter pathogens by reinforcing the structure & moisture levels of linings in the respiratory tract.

Eating seasonally inherently forces a natural rotation of ingredients every few months. This introduces a variety of plant fibers and micronutrients into your diet, which is an effective way to foster a robust, diverse, and healthy gut microbiome.

== Find out which foods are regionally seasonal (USA) ==

1. '''Region-specific seasonal guides.'''

The easiest way is to use an existing database to discover agricultural schedules by state or region. The [https://www.seasonalfoodguide.org/ Seasonal Food Guide] can generate a complete list of produce harvested locally given the US state/month. Alternatively, visit the Department of Agriculture website for your state. Many have a dedicated "Buy Local" or "Agri-Tourism" section that offer downloadable calendars tailored to the location.

2. '''Producer-only farmers markets.'''

Not produce-only, '''producer-only'''. In these markets, vendors are legally required to sell only what they grow or make themselves. This usually means produce will match what your regional season is growing.

3. '''Farm shares or CSAs.'''

A Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) is a system where you buy a "share" of a local farm’s harvest at the start of the season, and in return, you get a weekly box of whatever they pull from the ground.

4. '''Price-watching.'''

If you don't have access to local gardens or markets, watch the prices in grocery stores. When a crop is in season, the supply is massive and transportation costs are minimal. Seasonal produce tends to have lower pricing as a result. (If your $6 blueberries are $3, they're probably in season.)

== Links ==

* [https://www.healthline.com/health/carotenoids Carotenoids: Everything You Need to Know]
* [https://health.umms.org/primary-care/seasonal-eating/ The Benefits of Seasonal Eating]
* [https://fixel.ufhealth.org/2025/09/22/vegetable-variety-and-seasonality-eating-for-health-and-balance/ Vegetable variety and seasonality: Eating for health and balance]
* [https://news.cuanschutz.edu/department-of-medicine/local-seasonal-foods-health-diet-gut Are Local, Seasonal Foods Healthier? Dietitians Weigh In]
* [https://premiummedicalcircle.com/en/artikel/seasonal-nutrition-the-natural-way-to-better-health Seasonal Nutrition: The Natural Way to Better Health]
* [https://foodprint.org/eating-sustainably/seasonal-food-guide/ Seasonal Food Guide]
* [https://www.farmersalmanac.com/farmers-almanac/calendars Farmers' Almanac Calendars]

----

[[Category:Nature & Slow Living]]

Seasonal foods

2026-06-14T17:03:34Z

Max: Created page and populated with topic details

Dietary guidelines around the world

2026-06-14T16:27:15Z

Max:

Food Pyramid vs Plate Model (USA)
* The Food Pyramid was invented in 1972 by the Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare, depicting "base" foods and "supplemental" foods and illustrating relative portions through the size of each block. Breads, cereals, potatoes, milk, cheese, and margarine were at the bottom while meats, fish, and eggs were at the top. In the early 90s, the familiar food pyramid (MyPyramid) was released in the US, placing bread, cereal, rice, and pasta at the bottom and fats, oils, and sweets at the top.
* In 2011, the USDA released MyPlate, depicting all the food groups as part of a meal where you can clearly see how each are portioned relative to each other. With this visualization, one could build a plate of food matching the diagram. Unlike the pyramid, the plate puts emphasis on fruits and vegetables taking up half your plate. Additionally, the plate doesn't even include fats and oils.
* Other countries use different diagrams according to their diet, available foods, and needs. For example, Japan uses a spinning top, China uses a Pagoda, Canada's is a rainbow, and Antigua & Barbuda uses a pineapple.

Core recommendations across most guides
* Must eat: Whole grains, fruits/veggies, legumes and pulses, animal-sourced foods
* Limit or eliminate: Added sugars, excessive salt/sodium, highly processed foods, saturated and trans fats
* Lifestyle suggestions: Variety, proportions, hydration, physical activity
* Recently, many guidelines have been updated to include sustainability: choosing plant-based over animal, consuming [[Seasonal foods|seasonal]]/[[local foods]], and reducing food waste

Links/references
* [https://www.fao.org/nutrition/nutrition-education/food-dietary-guidelines/en/]
* [https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/canada-food-guide-international-guidelines-1.4962611]
* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_nutrition_guides]

----

[[Category:Nature & Slow Living]]

Dietary guidelines around the world

2026-06-14T16:27:00Z

Max: Added link to new seasonal foods page

Food Pyramid vs Plate Model (USA)
* The Food Pyramid was invented in 1972 by the Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare, depicting "base" foods and "supplemental" foods and illustrating relative portions through the size of each block. Breads, cereals, potatoes, milk, cheese, and margarine were at the bottom while meats, fish, and eggs were at the top. In the early 90s, the familiar food pyramid (MyPyramid) was released in the US, placing bread, cereal, rice, and pasta at the bottom and fats, oils, and sweets at the top.
* In 2011, the USDA released MyPlate, depicting all the food groups as part of a meal where you can clearly see how each are portioned relative to each other. With this visualization, one could build a plate of food matching the diagram. Unlike the pyramid, the plate puts emphasis on fruits and vegetables taking up half your plate. Additionally, the plate doesn't even include fats and oils.
* Other countries use different diagrams according to their diet, available foods, and needs. For example, Japan uses a spinning top, China uses a Pagoda, Canada's is a rainbow, and Antigua & Barbuda uses a pineapple.

Core recommendations across most guides
* Must eat: Whole grains, fruits/veggies, legumes and pulses, animal-sourced foods
* Limit or eliminate: Added sugars, excessive salt/sodium, highly processed foods, saturated and trans fats
* Lifestyle suggestions: Variety, proportions, hydration, physical activity
* Recently, many guidelines have been updated to include sustainability: choosing plant-based over animal, consuming [[Seasonal foods|seasonal]]seasonal/[[local foods]], and reducing food waste

Links/references
* [https://www.fao.org/nutrition/nutrition-education/food-dietary-guidelines/en/]
* [https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/canada-food-guide-international-guidelines-1.4962611]
* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_nutrition_guides]

----

[[Category:Nature & Slow Living]]

Local foods

2026-06-14T16:25:50Z

Max: Add link to new seasonal foods page

Local food is produced within a short distance of consumption, usually less than 400 mile (e.g., foods produced within your geographic region). It is often managed by a supply chain that is different from the large-scale supermarket system or global food model, which often see food traveling some distance before it reaches the consumer.

Many supermarket chains cooperate with local food movements to supply locally grown produce to consumers, but people can connect to local produce directly too.

== Benefits ==

* The food gets to you faster so it lasts longer in your home
* You support your community
* Organic foods often contain reduced pesticides and pollutants
* Fosters relationships between farmers and consumers
* Environmentally friendly with reduced greenhouse gas emissions in storage and transport
* Farmers markets create local jobs
* Higher nutrient density since grown produce is allowed to ripen naturally
* Inherently means eating [[Seasonal foods|seasonally]]
* Closer connection to the immediate environment

== Where to find local foods ==

1. '''Farmers markets.'''

A farmers market is a physical retail marketplace intended to sell foods directly from producers to consumers. These markets typically operate in outdoor public spaces or community pavilions on a recurring weekly schedule.

Public markets have served as distribution hubs for centuries. In North America, formalized municipal markets date back to the 17th century. The modern farmers market model experienced a resurgence in the late 20th century as consumers sought alternatives to centralized industrial agriculture.

2. '''Local farm shares (community supported agriculture).'''

Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) is a socio-economic model of agriculture and food distribution where consumers buy shares of a farm's harvest prior to the growing season. Shareholders receive regular allocations of produce throughout the harvest cycle.

The CSA model emerged during the mid-20th century, independently developing in Europe and Japan. In Japan, the concept was formalized in the 1960s under the term Teikei (meaning "cooperation" or "partnership") by consumers seeking organic produce and regional food security. The model was introduced to the United States in the mid-1980s.

The CSA structure provides farmers with guaranteed upfront working capital, mitigating financial risk. For consumers, the fixed subscription model correlates with increased dietary diversity, exposing households to a wider variety of seasonal vegetables and micro-nutrients.

3. '''Road-side stands or orchards.'''

Roadside stands and pick-your-own orchards are forms of direct-marketing where agricultural products are sold on or immediately adjacent to the farm property where they were grown.

Roadside marketing expanded significantly in the United States during the 1920s and 1930s, coinciding with the proliferation of personal automobiles and the expansion of paved rural road networks. Farmers utilized these stands to bypass wholesale middlemen and sell surplus inventory directly to traveling motorists.

4. '''Grocery store ("locally grown" signs).'''

Commercial supermarkets utilize "locally grown" procurement programs to source a portion of their inventory from farms located within a defined geographic radius (typically within state lines or 400-mile limit).

The shift toward self-service grocery stores began with the opening of Piggly Wiggly in 1916, which consolidated distribution and eventually led to highly centralized global supply chains. In response to shifting consumer demand in the 21st century, major retail chains reintroduced regional sourcing protocols to capture local market share.

5. '''Specialty shops (cheese shops, butchers, bakers, fish).'''

Specialty shops are retail establishments focused on a specific category of food preparation, often emphasizing traditional processing techniques.

Neighborhood-scale artisanal shops were the primary source of urban food distribution prior to the mid-20th century consolidation of supermarkets. While industrialization marginalized these businesses, the model persists as a niche sector focusing on regional agricultural variations and specialized culinary preservation methods.

6. '''Community gardens or grow your own.'''

Community and residential cultivation involves utilizing shared plots, private yards, or container systems to grow food for personal or neighborhood consumption rather than commercial sale.

== Links ==

* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Local_food Wikipedia: Local Food]
* [https://extension.usu.edu/sustainability/research/the-local-food-movement-definitions-benefits-and-resources The Local Food Movement: Definitions, Benefits & Resources]
* [https://bastyr.edu/about/news/10-benefits-eating-local-food 10 Benefits of Eating Local Food]
* [https://www.ams.usda.gov/local-food-directories/farmersmarkets Local Food Directories: National Farmers Market Directory]
* [https://www.nal.usda.gov/farms-and-agricultural-production-systems/community-supported-agriculture Community Supported Agriculture]
* [https://extension.psu.edu/the-structure-of-a-roadside-stand The Structure of a Roadside Stand]
* [https://www.uvm.edu/extension/food-farms-and-community-exploring-food-systems Food, Farms, and Community: Exploring Food Systems]

----

[[Category:Nature & Slow Living]]

Local foods

2026-06-13T19:31:58Z

Max: expanded on page so it's not just a list of ideas for the page.

Local food is produced within a short distance of consumption, usually less than 400 mile (e.g., foods produced within your geographic region). It is often managed by a supply chain that is different from the large-scale supermarket system or global food model, which often see food traveling some distance before it reaches the consumer.

Many supermarket chains cooperate with local food movements to supply locally grown produce to consumers, but people can connect to local produce directly too.

== Benefits ==

* The food gets to you faster so it lasts longer in your home
* You support your community
* Organic foods often contain reduced pesticides and pollutants
* Fosters relationships between farmers and consumers
* Environmentally friendly with reduced greenhouse gas emissions in storage and transport
* Farmers markets create local jobs
* Higher nutrient density since grown produce is allowed to ripen naturally
* Inherently means eating seasonally
* Closer connection to the immediate environment

== Where to find local foods ==

1. '''Farmers markets.'''

A farmers market is a physical retail marketplace intended to sell foods directly from producers to consumers. These markets typically operate in outdoor public spaces or community pavilions on a recurring weekly schedule.

Public markets have served as distribution hubs for centuries. In North America, formalized municipal markets date back to the 17th century. The modern farmers market model experienced a resurgence in the late 20th century as consumers sought alternatives to centralized industrial agriculture.

2. '''Local farm shares (community supported agriculture).'''

Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) is a socio-economic model of agriculture and food distribution where consumers buy shares of a farm's harvest prior to the growing season. Shareholders receive regular allocations of produce throughout the harvest cycle.

The CSA model emerged during the mid-20th century, independently developing in Europe and Japan. In Japan, the concept was formalized in the 1960s under the term Teikei (meaning "cooperation" or "partnership") by consumers seeking organic produce and regional food security. The model was introduced to the United States in the mid-1980s.

The CSA structure provides farmers with guaranteed upfront working capital, mitigating financial risk. For consumers, the fixed subscription model correlates with increased dietary diversity, exposing households to a wider variety of seasonal vegetables and micro-nutrients.

3. '''Road-side stands or orchards.'''

Roadside stands and pick-your-own orchards are forms of direct-marketing where agricultural products are sold on or immediately adjacent to the farm property where they were grown.

Roadside marketing expanded significantly in the United States during the 1920s and 1930s, coinciding with the proliferation of personal automobiles and the expansion of paved rural road networks. Farmers utilized these stands to bypass wholesale middlemen and sell surplus inventory directly to traveling motorists.

4. '''Grocery store ("locally grown" signs).'''

Commercial supermarkets utilize "locally grown" procurement programs to source a portion of their inventory from farms located within a defined geographic radius (typically within state lines or 400-mile limit).

The shift toward self-service grocery stores began with the opening of Piggly Wiggly in 1916, which consolidated distribution and eventually led to highly centralized global supply chains. In response to shifting consumer demand in the 21st century, major retail chains reintroduced regional sourcing protocols to capture local market share.

5. '''Specialty shops (cheese shops, butchers, bakers, fish).'''

Specialty shops are retail establishments focused on a specific category of food preparation, often emphasizing traditional processing techniques.

Neighborhood-scale artisanal shops were the primary source of urban food distribution prior to the mid-20th century consolidation of supermarkets. While industrialization marginalized these businesses, the model persists as a niche sector focusing on regional agricultural variations and specialized culinary preservation methods.

6. '''Community gardens or grow your own.'''

Community and residential cultivation involves utilizing shared plots, private yards, or container systems to grow food for personal or neighborhood consumption rather than commercial sale.

== Links ==

* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Local_food Wikipedia: Local Food]
* [https://extension.usu.edu/sustainability/research/the-local-food-movement-definitions-benefits-and-resources The Local Food Movement: Definitions, Benefits & Resources]
* [https://bastyr.edu/about/news/10-benefits-eating-local-food 10 Benefits of Eating Local Food]
* [https://www.ams.usda.gov/local-food-directories/farmersmarkets Local Food Directories: National Farmers Market Directory]
* [https://www.nal.usda.gov/farms-and-agricultural-production-systems/community-supported-agriculture Community Supported Agriculture]
* [https://extension.psu.edu/the-structure-of-a-roadside-stand The Structure of a Roadside Stand]
* [https://www.uvm.edu/extension/food-farms-and-community-exploring-food-systems Food, Farms, and Community: Exploring Food Systems]

----

[[Category:Nature & Slow Living]]

Manifesto

2026-05-25T18:28:31Z

Max: Protected "Manifesto" ([Edit=Allow only administrators] (indefinite) [Move=Allow only administrators] (indefinite)) [cascading]

A manifesto is a written declaration of the intentions, motives, or views of the issuer. The issuer can be an individual, group, political party, or government. Although manifestos are generally seen as a rejection of accepted knowledge, they can also accept it.

The word manifesto comes from the Latin ''manifestus'', meaning clear, evident, or caught in the act. To manifest something means it is made tangible.

Modern social justice manifestos adopt a new vision, approach, or program, by criticizing the present and how it came to be, and announcing the advent of a new era. They are an inspirational declaration of change often authored by a minority.

== History ==

Starting in the 15th century, early European sovereigns distributed war manifestos as a top-down, authoritative legal tool to justify military conflict to the public and other rulers.

In the 16th and 17th centuries, a manifesto was a formal declaration issued by a sovereign or a state. Monarchs, state officials, and high-ranking religious authorities were allowed to write them, and the tone was usually legally binding, objective, and heavy with divine/institutional authority. If a king was going to war or changing royal succession, he published a manifesto to justify his actions to other nations and his subjects.

In the 19th century, after the invention of the printing press, regular citizens, underground groups, and political dissidents seized the format for revolution. Instead of a ruler explaining what ''is'', the manifesto became a tool for the marginalized to demand what it ''should be''. The pinnacle example of this shift was ''The Communist Manifesto'' from Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels (1848).

In the early 20th century, Futurists, Dadaists, and Surrealists turned the manifesto into an artform, using them to launch cultural movements. They weren't always trying to change laws, but rather shatter old ways of thinking. They often used aggressive, poetic, and deliberately contradictory language. The ''Futurist Manifesto'' by Tommaso Marinetti broadcast an artistic revolution directly to the public in 1909.

In the print era, writing and distributing a manifesto required to access to a network (printer, publisher, newspaper, street corner...), but the internet eliminated that entry requirement. Online, the manifesto shifted to personal blogs, forums, and early digital spaces that allowed a single person to publish their unedited worldview instantly.

Pieces like ''A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace'' (1996) by John Perry Barlow argued that the internet was a new, borderless world free from government tyranny. The ''Hacker Manifesto'' (1986) became a defining text for a generation.

The barrier to entry is now so low that the word 'manifesto' is often broken into two different cultural lanes:

* '''Micro-Movements''': Design manifestos, coding philosophies, open-source declarations, slow-living principles posted on blogs, websites, digital gardens, or GitHub.
* '''Isolation & Radicalization''': Without editorial oversight, anyone can post their toxic, violent grievances, trying to retroactively frame solitary crimes as grand political statements.

What started as an official decree is now an everyday medium for the individual. It went from a rare declaration designed to shift empires to a text format for anyone to use while carving out an intentional digital space, philosophy, or movement.

== Blueprint ==

There are no academically standard structures for manifestos, but to define something as a modern social justice manifesto, it must follow a three-part structure.

1. '''The Ideological Grievance (The Past)''': Explicitly identify a systemic flaw, oppressive structure, or cultural failure. Diagnose why the status quo is fundamentally broken or unequal.

2. '''The Urgent Present''': Establish a collective identity (the "we") that is actively experiencing the crisis right now. Demand immediate disruption of the norm, rather than gradual reform.

3. '''The Actionable Future''': Inspirational declaration of change with an unapologetic call to action. Lay out the principles, demands, or behaviors the movement must adopt to force a new era into existence.

== Examples ==
* 1647: [https://oll.libertyfund.org/pages/1647-the-agreement-of-the-people-as-presented-to-the-council-of-the-army An Agreement of the People]
* 1776: [https://billofrightsinstitute.org/primary-sources/declaration-of-independence/ The Declaration of Independence]
* 1792: [https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/3420 A Vindication of the Rights of Woman]
* 1848: [https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1848/communist-manifesto/ Manifesto of the Communist Party]
* 1909: [https://bactra.org/T4PM/futurist-manifesto.html The Futurist Manifesto]
* 1963: [https://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkihaveadream.htm I Have a Dream] (though spoken, this speech fulfills every requirement of a modern manifesto)
* 1986: [https://phrack.org/issues/7/3 Hacker's Manifesto]
* 1996: [https://www.eff.org/cyberspace-independence A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace]
* 2018: [https://aeon.co/essays/take-your-time-the-seven-pillars-of-a-slow-thought-manifesto Slow Thought: a manifesto]

== Links ==

* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manifesto Wikipedia: Manifesto]
* [https://lawreview.uchicago.edu/print-archive/war-manifestos War Manifestos]
* [https://assets.press.princeton.edu/chapters/i8066.pdf Manifestos: Poetry of the Revolution]
* [https://www.bl.uk/stories/blogs/posts/what-is-a-manifesto What is a manifesto?]
* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levellers Wikipedia: Levellers]
* [https://architektura-urbanizmus.sk/2026/02/11/towards-the-manifesto-tracing-a-genre-at-the-crossroads-of-architectural-theory-and-practice/ Towards the Manifesto: Tracing a Genre at the Crossroads of Architectural Theory and Practice]
* [https://www.psychiatrictimes.com/view/the-manifesto-in-the-21st-century-from-art-to-politics-to-the-psy-disciplines-part-1 The Manifesto in the 21st Century: From Art to Politics to the Psy Disciplines—Part 1]

----

[[Category:Creativity & Culture]]

Manifesto

2026-05-25T18:23:37Z

Max: Created and populated with some notes based on what I learned today

Cow Parsnip (Heracleum maximum)

2026-05-24T20:21:36Z

Max: Protected "Cow Parsnip (Heracleum maximum)" ([Edit=Allow only administrators] (indefinite) [Move=Allow only administrators] (indefinite)) [cascading]

[[File:CowParsnip-LateSpring.jpeg|thumb|Cow Parsnip, late spring]]

The '''Cow Parsnip''' (''Heracleum maximum''), also known as '''Indian Celery''', '''Pushki''', '''Satan celery''', or '''poison turnip''', is the only member of the genus ''Heracleum'' that is native to North America. ''Heracleum'' is a genus of biennial and perennial herbs found from the northern hemisphere to as far south as Ethiopia.

{| class="wikitable" style="margin:auto"
|+ Scientific Classification
|-
! Group !! Value
|-
| Kingdom || Plantae
|-
| Division || Magnoliophyta
|-
| Class || Magnoliopsida
|-
| Order || Apiales
|-
| Family || Apiaceae
|-
| Genus || ''Heracleum''
|-
| Species || ''Heracleum maximum''
|}

== Facts and Trivia ==

Like many in the genus ''Heracleum'', Cow Parsnip contains furanocoumarins, a sap that, if it gets on your skin & becomes exposed to sunlight, can cause severe blistering or burns (phytophotodermatitis).

Because the nectar is completely exposed, Cow Parsnip caters to a massive variety of insects, including bees, parasitic wasps, predatory beetles, hoverflies, and butterflies. Grizzly bears, black bears, elk, cows, goats, and deer forage for the young rosettes and stalks, which are tender and packed with sugars.

Crushing a mature, dry Cow Parsnip seed releases a strong aroma, smelling intensely of citrus zest, anise (licorice), and a musky herbal fragrance.

=== Uses ===

The plant can stand 4 to 10 feet tall. The stems are hollow and have been used by Indigenous peoples across North America as drinking straws, moose calls, and musical flutes or whistles.

The plant can also be used as a dermatological aid, applied to bruises or sores after prepared properly.

Humans can eat the plant at specific stages.

== Stages of Growth ==

<gallery mode="slideshow">
File:CowParsnip-EarlyBudStage.jpeg|Early bud stage
File:CowParsnip-EarlyBloom.jpeg|Early bloom
File:CowParsnip-PeakBloom.jpeg|Peak bloom
File:CowParsnip-PostBloom.jpeg|Post bloom
File:CowParsnip-SeedProduction.jpeg|Advanced seed production
</gallery>

1. '''Seedling and Initial Germination'''

'''When''': Late Winter/Early Spring (March - April)

Seeds require a period of cold stratification (exposure to freezing temperatures) to break dormancy. When the ground warms, a small taproot anchors into moist soil, sending up tiny cotyledons (seed leaves).

2. '''Vegetative Rosette Stage'''

'''When''': Mid to Late Spring (April - May)

For the first year or two, cow parsnip does not produce a flowering stalk. It focuses on underground storage and funnels all its energy into a thick, deep taproot. Above ground, it forms a low-lying rosette of leaves, which can stretch to over 2 feet wide to capture as much sunlight as possible to fuel the root system.

3. '''Early Bud Stage'''

'''When''': Late Spring (Late May)

Once the plant has stored enough energy, it undergoes a massive growth spurt. A deeply ridged stem shoots upward and grows several inches a day. At the top of the stalks, large leafy sheaths form containing tightly packed flower clusters.

4. '''Early Bloom'''

'''When''': Early Summer (early June)

The protective sheaths swell and split open, allowing immature flower heads to rise and expand into a structure called and umbel. An umbel is a flat-topped flower cluster where individual stalks radiate from a central point. The flowers are small and white.

5. '''Peak Bloom'''

'''When''': Mid Summer (mid-June - early July)

The flat-topped flower arrays fully expand, reaching up to a foot in diameter. The large central umbel is surrounded by smaller, secondary side-umbels. The outward-facing petals are significantly larger and split to provide a runway for pollinators.

6. '''Post Bloom'''

'''When''': Late Summer (July)

Once pollination is successful, the white petals drop, leaving behind the green architectural skeletons. The energy shifts immediately away from attraction and entirely into development.

7. '''Advanced Seed Production'''

'''When''': Late Summer to Early Autumn (August - September)

The green arrays transform into heavy clusters of dry, papery fruit (seeds) called schizocarps. The seeds are flat and wide, designed for wind dispersal. A single robust plant can produce thousands of seeds.

8. '''Senescence and Winter Dormancy'''

'''When''': Mid Autumn through Winter (October - February)

After a massive flowering event, the main flowering stalk dies completely, turning a brittle brown while the seeds drop to the ground. A winter freeze restarts the sequence.

=== Timeline Notes ===

Textbook timelines are broad regional averages. Because nature doesn't fit a rigid calendar, these lifecycle stages can occur out of sync due to a combination of microclimates, genetics, and shifting seasonal weather. For example, if a pocket of soil within a patch of Cow Parsnip dries out early, it can trigger emergency flowering. If the plant senses stress or lack of water, it speeds through its bloom stage to ensure it sets seeds before drying out completely. Additionally, unusually warm springs can shift the entire timeline forward. Umbels may be uneven on the same stem, with a top central umbrella opening first, blooming fast, and dropping petals before a secondary umbel lower on the stem opens.

The gallery of photos included on this page were taken in late May and include five stages of the Cow Parsnip lifecycle.

== Links==

* [https://wikidoc.org/index.php/Cow_Parsnip WikiDoc: Cow Parsnip]
* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heracleum_maximum Wikipedia: Heracleum maximum]
* Identified using [https://www.inaturalist.org iNaturalist]
* [https://www.gardenfortheenvironment.org/growing-gardeners/2020/5/4/native-plant-fun-facts-the-charismatic-cow-parsnip Native Plant Fun Facts: The Charismatic Cow Parsnip]
* [https://foragerchef.com/cow-parsnip/ Cow Parsnip: Identification, Edible Parts, and Cooking]

----

[[Category:Nature & Slow Living]]

Cow Parsnip (Heracleum maximum)

2026-05-24T20:21:12Z

Max: Created and populated with some notes based on what I learned today after a walk

File:CowParsnip-SeedProduction.jpeg

2026-05-24T19:20:28Z

Max: Advanced Seed Production: The seeds are maturing and becoming more defined. As summer progresses, these clusters will dry out completely for the wind to disperse.

== Summary ==
Advanced Seed Production: The seeds are maturing and becoming more defined. As summer progresses, these clusters will dry out completely for the wind to disperse.

== Licensing ==
{{PD}}

File:CowParsnip-PostBloom.jpeg

2026-05-24T19:19:37Z

Max: Post-Bloom: The white petals are falling after successful pollination and the plant is transitioning into the fruiting stage. The tiny green teardrops at the ends are immature fruits (seeds).

== Summary ==
Post-Bloom: The white petals are falling after successful pollination and the plant is transitioning into the fruiting stage. The tiny green teardrops at the ends are immature fruits (seeds).

== Licensing ==
{{PD}}

File:CowParsnip-PeakBloom.jpeg

2026-05-24T19:18:35Z

Max: Peak Bloom: The umbel is now fully expanded and in peak bloom. In this stage, the flowers attract pollinators.

== Summary ==
Peak Bloom: The umbel is now fully expanded and in peak bloom. In this stage, the flowers attract pollinators.

== Licensing ==
{{PD}}

File:CowParsnip-EarlyBloom.jpeg

2026-05-24T19:17:40Z

Max: Early Bloom: The cluster has burst out of the sheath and the individual stalks are spreading outwards to form a structure called a compound umbel. The outer flowers are starting to open while inner clusters are still tightly bunched.

== Summary ==
Early Bloom: The cluster has burst out of the sheath and the individual stalks are spreading outwards to form a structure called a compound umbel. The outer flowers are starting to open while inner clusters are still tightly bunched.
== Licensing ==
{{PD}}

File:CowParsnip-EarlyBudStage.jpeg

2026-05-24T19:15:13Z

Max: Cow Parsnip in Early Bud Stage: The flower cluster is packed and enclosed inside a protective leaf-like structure called a sheath or spathe.

== Summary ==
Cow Parsnip in Early Bud Stage: The flower cluster is packed and enclosed inside a protective leaf-like structure called a sheath or spathe.
== Licensing ==
{{PD}}

MediaWiki:Licenses

2026-05-24T19:13:03Z

Max: Creating page to assign licenses to images and files

File:CowParsnip-LateSpring.jpeg

2026-05-24T19:02:46Z

Max: Late Spring photo of Cow Parsnip in various stages of growth. Taken at Winkler Botanical Garden in Alexandria, VA.

== Summary ==
Late Spring photo of Cow Parsnip in various stages of growth. Taken at Winkler Botanical Garden in Alexandria, VA.

Definitions of time

2026-05-10T23:38:23Z

Max: Protected "Definitions of time" ([Edit=Allow only administrators] (indefinite) [Move=Allow only administrators] (indefinite))

Measurement of time is a social construct. The flow of time is a physical reality, but the units humans use to track it are entirely manmade.

== Origins of the Units of Time ==

The units of time are cultural and historical inventions.

* '''The Number 60''': The ancient Sumerians and Babylonians used a sexagesimal (base-60) number system. This was chosen to measure (60 minutes/60 seconds) because 60 is divisible by many numbers, making it easy to calculate fractions of time.
* '''The 24-Hour Day''': The ancient Egyptians divided the daylight into 10 hours, added 2 hours for twilight, and 12 hours for the night. They were the first civilization to divide the day into parts using advanced sundials. When time was standardized, this was adopted as the base system. (Note that 60 is divisible by 10, 2, and 12, making time easy to calculate in this system.)
* '''The 7-Day Week''': This is a social and cultural convention that was loosely based on the lunar cycle, but with no strict basis in astronomy. A "week" is a human-designed rhythm for labor and rest that endured since the Roman calendar in 321 CE, embedded in human cultures, systems, and practices.

== Measuring Time ==

=== Apparent Solar Time ===

For most of human history, time was defined by celestial movement.

* '''The Day''': Interval between two successive noons (when the sun is at its highest point)
* '''The Month''': Approximately 29.5 days; originally tracked by the phases of the moon
* '''The Year''': Marked by seasons and equinoxes and based on the Earth's orbit around the sun

Because the Earth's orbit is elliptical and its axis is tilted, solar days vary in length throughout the year. To solve this, humans created '''Mean Solar Time''', which averages the length of all solar days to 24 hours.

=== Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) ===

Before standard time was established, each town set its clocks to high noon. However, noon in one city could be 10+ minutes behind another city merely 50 miles away. The invention of the railroad made this localized system obsolete. In 1884, the International Meridian Conference established the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London, UK, as the Prime Meridian (0° longitude). Time zones were divided into 15-degree increments of longitude, each representing 1 hour.

We use '''Coordinated Universal Time (UTC)''' as the primary standard by which the world regulates clocks and time. It was confusing that GMT started at noon, but midnight almost everywhere else. UTC was introduced in 1928 to denote that the day started at midnight.

== Links==

* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenwich_Mean_Time Wikipedia: Greenwich Mean Time]
* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Time Wikipedia: Universal Time]
* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_time#Apparent_solar_time Wikipedia: Solar Time]
* [https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/experts-time-division-days-hours-minutes/ Why is a minute divided into 60 seconds, an hour into 60 minutes, yet there are only 24 hours in a day?]
* [https://www.thethinkacademy.com/blog/edubriefs-why-a-week-has-7-days-history-2/ Why Does a Week Have 7 Days? Explained for Kids]

----

[[Category:Nature & Slow Living]]

Definitions of time

2026-05-10T23:38:10Z

Max: Created this page and populated with some content to get started

Book:The Order of Time (2019)

2026-05-10T23:17:51Z

Max: Adding related article about time

''The Order of Time'' by Carlo Rovelli (2019)

== Related articles ==
Questions/notes from my reading that I've explored (and will continue exploring).
* [[Definitions of time]]

== My notes on things to learn about/do ==
These will one day become related articles.
* How people perceive time in different ways around the world
* Entropy
* The physics of "now"
* The relationship between memory and time

----

[[Category:Nature & Slow Living]]

History of scientific racism

2026-05-09T17:38:04Z

Max: Added quote about scientific racism from a book I read last year.

<blockquote>"Categorizing and ascribing meaning to difference is a common human trait; we often need to categorize to get by and make sense of the world around us. Sometimes this classification is harmless, and sometimes not."

-- Martin Lund, "[https://thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/a-prehistory-of-scientific-racism/ A Prehistory of Scientific Racism]"</blockquote>

'''Scientific racism''' is the misuse of scientific methods, data, and theories to justify racial hierarchies, discrimination, and the belief in the inherent superiority or inferiority of certain racial groups. It uses pseudoscientific methods to create false, biologically based distinctions between humans.

It is important to emphasize that scientific racism is not considered genuine science by modern standards. It has been fundamentally debunked by contemporary genetics, which demonstrates that human genetic variation is actually greater within populations than between them, and that "race" is a sociopolitical phenomenon rather than a biological one.

Ideas related to scientific racism persisted because it's a highly functional tool for maintaining power. It was a structural justification for colonialism, slavery, and socioeconomic exclusion.

<blockquote>“Skull science,” the practice of taking measurements from skulls in order to argue for the inferiority of whole ethnic groups, was discredited by Darwin’s time in the nineteenth century—smarter people don’t have bigger skulls—but it became vogue in the early twentieth century precisely because people who wanted to commit horrific acts against other ethnic groups thought skull science gave them a veneer of scientific objectivity.

-- Elyse Graham, from Book and Dagger, How Scholars and Librarians Became the Unlikely Spies of World War II, 2024.</blockquote>

== Key Figures and Ideas in Scientific Racism ==

1. '''François Bernier (1620–1688):''' First to attempt to classify the entirety of humanity into "species" or "races" based on physical traits (particularly women). This is often considered a starting point for modern racial thought and established white Europeans as the "norm" from which others deviated.

2. '''Carl Linnaeus (1707–1778):''' Divided humans into five varieties. His classification assigned behavioral and mental traits to physical types and this became a blueprint for racist hierarchies.

3. '''Charles White (1728–1813):''' He used the "Great Chain of Being" to attempt to prove that whites and Black people were separate species. He was a supporter of polygenism: the belief that different races have separate origins.

4. '''Samuel George Morton (1799–1851):''' American physician who used craniometry (skull measurements) to argue that brain size correlated with intelligence, Claimed Caucasians had the largest brains and Black people the smallest. His data was famously critiqued for its inaccuracies and bias.

5. '''Arthur de Gobineau (1816–1882):''' Proposed a rigid three-race model (white, black, yellow) and warned that "race mixing" would lead to the collapse of civilization. His work was pivotal in the development of "Aryan" supremacy theories.

6. '''Francis Galton (1822–1911):''' Coined the term "eugenics" in 1883. He sought to "improve" human populations through selective breeding and was a foundational figure in statistics and psychometrics. Cousin of Charles Darwin.

7. '''Madison Grant (1865–1937):''' Promoted the concept of the "Nordic race" as the pinnacle of humanity. His work was highly influential in the US and in Nazi Germany.

== Links==

* [https://mgriblog.org/2020/10/14/a-brief-history-of-scientific-racism/ A Brief History of Scientific Racism]
* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_racism Wikipedia: Scientific racism]
* [https://thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/a-prehistory-of-scientific-racism/ A Prehistory of Scientific Racism]
* [https://www.olli-dc.org/uploads/PDFs/2020_Fall/747_Parascandola/Jacksonandweidman-originsofscientificracism.pdf The Origins of Scientific Racism]
* [https://www.genome.gov/about-genomics/fact-sheets/Eugenics-and-Scientific-Racism Eugenics and Scientific Racism]
* [https://www.un.org/en/chronicle/article/ideology-racism-misusing-science-justify-racial-discrimination The Ideology of Racism: Misusing Science to Justify Racial Discrimination]
* [https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9668105/ The return of race science and why it matters for family science]

----

[[Category: Systems, Ethics & Society]]

History of scientific racism

2026-04-25T21:25:15Z

Max: Protected "History of scientific racism" ([Edit=Allow only administrators] (indefinite) [Move=Allow only administrators] (indefinite)) [cascading]

<blockquote>"Categorizing and ascribing meaning to difference is a common human trait; we often need to categorize to get by and make sense of the world around us. Sometimes this classification is harmless, and sometimes not."

-- Martin Lund, "[https://thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/a-prehistory-of-scientific-racism/ A Prehistory of Scientific Racism]"</blockquote>

'''Scientific racism''' is the misuse of scientific methods, data, and theories to justify racial hierarchies, discrimination, and the belief in the inherent superiority or inferiority of certain racial groups. It uses pseudoscientific methods to create false, biologically based distinctions between humans.

It is important to emphasize that scientific racism is not considered genuine science by modern standards. It has been fundamentally debunked by contemporary genetics, which demonstrates that human genetic variation is actually greater within populations than between them, and that "race" is a sociopolitical phenomenon rather than a biological one.

Ideas related to scientific racism persisted because it's a highly functional tool for maintaining power. It was a structural justification for colonialism, slavery, and socioeconomic exclusion.

== Key Figures and Ideas in Scientific Racism ==

1. '''François Bernier (1620–1688):''' First to attempt to classify the entirety of humanity into "species" or "races" based on physical traits (particularly women). This is often considered a starting point for modern racial thought and established white Europeans as the "norm" from which others deviated.

2. '''Carl Linnaeus (1707–1778):''' Divided humans into five varieties. His classification assigned behavioral and mental traits to physical types and this became a blueprint for racist hierarchies.

3. '''Charles White (1728–1813):''' He used the "Great Chain of Being" to attempt to prove that whites and Black people were separate species. He was a supporter of polygenism: the belief that different races have separate origins.

4. '''Samuel George Morton (1799–1851):''' American physician who used craniometry (skull measurements) to argue that brain size correlated with intelligence, Claimed Caucasians had the largest brains and Black people the smallest. His data was famously critiqued for its inaccuracies and bias.

5. '''Arthur de Gobineau (1816–1882):''' Proposed a rigid three-race model (white, black, yellow) and warned that "race mixing" would lead to the collapse of civilization. His work was pivotal in the development of "Aryan" supremacy theories.

6. '''Francis Galton (1822–1911):''' Coined the term "eugenics" in 1883. He sought to "improve" human populations through selective breeding and was a foundational figure in statistics and psychometrics. Cousin of Charles Darwin.

7. '''Madison Grant (1865–1937):''' Promoted the concept of the "Nordic race" as the pinnacle of humanity. His work was highly influential in the US and in Nazi Germany.

== Links==

* [https://mgriblog.org/2020/10/14/a-brief-history-of-scientific-racism/ A Brief History of Scientific Racism]
* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_racism Wikipedia: Scientific racism]
* [https://thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/a-prehistory-of-scientific-racism/ A Prehistory of Scientific Racism]
* [https://www.olli-dc.org/uploads/PDFs/2020_Fall/747_Parascandola/Jacksonandweidman-originsofscientificracism.pdf The Origins of Scientific Racism]
* [https://www.genome.gov/about-genomics/fact-sheets/Eugenics-and-Scientific-Racism Eugenics and Scientific Racism]
* [https://www.un.org/en/chronicle/article/ideology-racism-misusing-science-justify-racial-discrimination The Ideology of Racism: Misusing Science to Justify Racial Discrimination]
* [https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9668105/ The return of race science and why it matters for family science]

----

[[Category: Systems, Ethics & Society]]

Book:How to Be An Antiracist (2019)

2026-04-25T21:14:12Z

Max: Started reading more about one of my notes on things to learn about - history of scientific racism. Created a page and added the link here.

''How to Be An Antiracist'' by Ibram X. Kendi (2019)

== Related articles ==
Questions/notes from my reading that I've explored (and will continue exploring).
* [[History of scientific racism]]

== My notes on things to learn about/do ==
These will one day become related articles.
* Malcolm X vs Martin Luther King Jr - perspectives of anger vs peace
* Racist theology
* Map of the human genome
* Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965
* Refugee Act of 1980
* Immigration Act of 1990
* 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act
* Asiatic Barred Zone in 1917
* 1921 Emergency Quota Act
* Immigration Act of 1924
* Attribution effect
* Respectability politics

----

[[Category:Systems, Ethics & Society]]

History of scientific racism

2026-04-25T21:13:00Z

Max: Started building out page from my readings and notes. Added major figures in scientific racism.

<blockquote>"Categorizing and ascribing meaning to difference is a common human trait; we often need to categorize to get by and make sense of the world around us. Sometimes this classification is harmless, and sometimes not."

-- Martin Lund, "[https://thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/a-prehistory-of-scientific-racism/ A Prehistory of Scientific Racism]"</blockquote>

'''Scientific racism''' is the misuse of scientific methods, data, and theories to justify racial hierarchies, discrimination, and the belief in the inherent superiority or inferiority of certain racial groups. It uses pseudoscientific methods to create false, biologically based distinctions between humans.

It is important to emphasize that scientific racism is not considered genuine science by modern standards. It has been fundamentally debunked by contemporary genetics, which demonstrates that human genetic variation is actually greater within populations than between them, and that "race" is a sociopolitical phenomenon rather than a biological one.

Ideas related to scientific racism persisted because it's a highly functional tool for maintaining power. It was a structural justification for colonialism, slavery, and socioeconomic exclusion.

== Key Figures and Ideas in Scientific Racism ==

1. '''François Bernier (1620–1688):''' First to attempt to classify the entirety of humanity into "species" or "races" based on physical traits (particularly women). This is often considered a starting point for modern racial thought and established white Europeans as the "norm" from which others deviated.

2. '''Carl Linnaeus (1707–1778):''' Divided humans into five varieties. His classification assigned behavioral and mental traits to physical types and this became a blueprint for racist hierarchies.

3. '''Charles White (1728–1813):''' He used the "Great Chain of Being" to attempt to prove that whites and Black people were separate species. He was a supporter of polygenism: the belief that different races have separate origins.

4. '''Samuel George Morton (1799–1851):''' American physician who used craniometry (skull measurements) to argue that brain size correlated with intelligence, Claimed Caucasians had the largest brains and Black people the smallest. His data was famously critiqued for its inaccuracies and bias.

5. '''Arthur de Gobineau (1816–1882):''' Proposed a rigid three-race model (white, black, yellow) and warned that "race mixing" would lead to the collapse of civilization. His work was pivotal in the development of "Aryan" supremacy theories.

6. '''Francis Galton (1822–1911):''' Coined the term "eugenics" in 1883. He sought to "improve" human populations through selective breeding and was a foundational figure in statistics and psychometrics. Cousin of Charles Darwin.

7. '''Madison Grant (1865–1937):''' Promoted the concept of the "Nordic race" as the pinnacle of humanity. His work was highly influential in the US and in Nazi Germany.

== Links==

* [https://mgriblog.org/2020/10/14/a-brief-history-of-scientific-racism/ A Brief History of Scientific Racism]
* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_racism Wikipedia: Scientific racism]
* [https://thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/a-prehistory-of-scientific-racism/ A Prehistory of Scientific Racism]
* [https://www.olli-dc.org/uploads/PDFs/2020_Fall/747_Parascandola/Jacksonandweidman-originsofscientificracism.pdf The Origins of Scientific Racism]
* [https://www.genome.gov/about-genomics/fact-sheets/Eugenics-and-Scientific-Racism Eugenics and Scientific Racism]
* [https://www.un.org/en/chronicle/article/ideology-racism-misusing-science-justify-racial-discrimination The Ideology of Racism: Misusing Science to Justify Racial Discrimination]
* [https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9668105/ The return of race science and why it matters for family science]

----

[[Category: Systems, Ethics & Society]]

Book:How to Be An Antiracist (2019)

2026-04-25T20:11:32Z