[ 07.2016 | Pankow ]

I like the idea of picturing the human brain as a ma­chine that is con­tin­uous­ly at work (at dif­fer­ent depths) and needs input for what it does. the brain is able to create ideas and theories – which I im­agine as more or less indi­vid­ual complex struc­tures with a lot of dif­fer­ent levels – mostly about how to deal with some­thing (e.g. per­cep­tion, opin­ion, inten­tion, infor­mation) or how to imagine some­thing. creat­ing and under­stand­ing the mean­ing of such theo­ries and ideas is con­sid­ered to be an essen­tial human fea­ture.

in the figurative sense, to shed some light on some­thing is an idiom that means to pro­vide an expla­nation that makes a dif­fi­cult sub­ject easier to under­stand. and the expla­na­tion for why I am post­ing this today is the Inter­national Week of Science and Peace for which we need bright ideas and plau­sible theo­ries that are able to en­light­en society as to the nature of science and peace and instil hope and confi­dence into it.

illumination can be provided by a light bulb. the design of the elec­tric lamp in the pic­ture is based on an incan­des­cent light bulb with a male screw base. the fila­ment, the hori­zon­tal con­nec­tion between the two verti­cal supply wires, is heated by pass­ing an elec­tric current. until it glows. the hot wire is pro­tected from oxida­tion by a bulb made of glass or quartz filled with gas. accord­ing to dif­fer­ent sources Thomas Alva Edison wasn’t THE inven­tor of the light bulb. the story actu­ally starts ca. 70 years earlier with Humph­rey Davy. in the end, and sup­pos­edly more than 20 inven­tors later, Edison’s version was better because he used a more effec­tive incan­des­cent material, higher vacuum, and achieved a higher resist­ance. and so it was him to take out a patent on it in 1879.
– happy International Week of Science and Peace!

sources: macmillandictionary.com | idioms.thefreedictionary.com | bulbs.com