Curious Customs & Bizarre Beliefs Around the World

Curious Customs & Bizarre Beliefs Around the World
Author: Wesley M. Wilson
Publisher: Peanut Butter Publishing
Total Pages: 264
Release: 1999
Genre: Reference
ISBN:

Curious Customs describes the habits and customs of the way people live their common beliefs, and their spiritual and religious beliefs and traditional health care on more than 140 countries

Bizarre Laws & Curious Customs of the UK

Bizarre Laws & Curious Customs of the UK
Author: Monty Lord
Publisher: Young Legal Eagles
Total Pages: 353
Release: 2023-05-10
Genre: Law
ISBN: 191660501X

'A curious, comical and highly entertaining read, full of eccentric laws and customs that have led to our rich legal heritage.' - Lubna Shuja - President of The Law Society of England and Wales In the UK, we have some bizarre laws that have littered the statute books of our sceptred isle throughout history. Not all of them have been repealed over the centuries. Some of them made perfect sense at the time they were introduced but seen through modern eyes, now appear archaic and draconian. Despite the great efforts of the Law Commission in England and Wales to review and recommend reforms for many of these outdated laws, there are centuries of law that must be painstakingly gone through. As well as some bizarre laws, the UK also has its fair share of curious customs and time-honoured traditions that have been observed for centuries. On the surface, many appear to be nothing more than theatrical pomp and pageantry. However, they are all born from strong rationale. The UK parliament seems to have had a particular penchant for passing laws related to fish and animals, indecency and passing sentences with some humiliating public punishments. This book is a highly entertaining read for anyone who enjoys learning about the more bizarre applications of UK law throughout the centuries, along with some rather macabre consequences along the way. Have you ever heard a bizarre law and thought, that can’t possibly be true? Is it genuine? Was it ever in existence or just an urban myth that became so embellished over time? There are surprisingly, a great many laws still in existence on the statute books today, that would make your jaw drop. Whilst bizarre as these laws may now seem to us, it begs the question, are we in fact, unknowingly breaking these laws on a regular basis? For example… Is it illegal to own a pet whale but not a tiger? Was it illegal for women to argue & quarrel? Is it legal to carry a ladder along a street? Were mince pies once illegal? Who owns your passport? …all these questions and more will be answered in this Volume 2 of a 3 volume series by Monty Lord. Reading this book, you may be inclined to laugh heartily, let out a sorrowful cry or recoil in abject horror at some of the more gruesome sentences passed for breaking these weird laws. With over 160 bizarre but nevertheless true, laws and customs, you can use this book to satisfy your curiosity about what our ancestors had to contend with over the years, or perhaps as a reference guide for trivia quizzes.

The WEIRDest People in the World

The WEIRDest People in the World
Author: Joseph Henrich
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Total Pages: 420
Release: 2020-09-08
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 0374710457

A New York Times Notable Book of 2020 A Bloomberg Best Non-Fiction Book of 2020 A Behavioral Scientist Notable Book of 2020 A Human Behavior & Evolution Society Must-Read Popular Evolution Book of 2020 A bold, epic account of how the co-evolution of psychology and culture created the peculiar Western mind that has profoundly shaped the modern world. Perhaps you are WEIRD: raised in a society that is Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic. If so, you’re rather psychologically peculiar. Unlike much of the world today, and most people who have ever lived, WEIRD people are highly individualistic, self-obsessed, control-oriented, nonconformist, and analytical. They focus on themselves—their attributes, accomplishments, and aspirations—over their relationships and social roles. How did WEIRD populations become so psychologically distinct? What role did these psychological differences play in the industrial revolution and the global expansion of Europe during the last few centuries? In The WEIRDest People in the World, Joseph Henrich draws on cutting-edge research in anthropology, psychology, economics, and evolutionary biology to explore these questions and more. He illuminates the origins and evolution of family structures, marriage, and religion, and the profound impact these cultural transformations had on human psychology. Mapping these shifts through ancient history and late antiquity, Henrich reveals that the most fundamental institutions of kinship and marriage changed dramatically under pressure from the Roman Catholic Church. It was these changes that gave rise to the WEIRD psychology that would coevolve with impersonal markets, occupational specialization, and free competition—laying the foundation for the modern world. Provocative and engaging in both its broad scope and its surprising details, The WEIRDest People in the World explores how culture, institutions, and psychology shape one another, and explains what this means for both our most personal sense of who we are as individuals and also the large-scale social, political, and economic forces that drive human history. Includes black-and-white illustrations.

Customs of the World

Customs of the World
Author: Walter Hutchinson
Publisher: Concept Publishing Company
Total Pages: 1426
Release: 2008
Genre: Manners and customs
ISBN: 9788172681708

Curious

Curious
Author: Ian Leslie
Publisher: Basic Books
Total Pages: 250
Release: 2014-08-26
Genre: Self-Help
ISBN: 0465056946

A fun yet provocative look at the importance of staying curious in an increasingly indifferent world Everyone is born curious. But only some retain the habits of exploring, learning, and discovering as they grow older. Those who do so tend to be smarter, more creative, and more successful. But at the very moment when the rewards of curiosity have never been higher, it is misunderstood and undervalued, and increasingly monopolized by the cognitive elite. A "curiosity divide" is opening up. In Curious, Ian Leslie makes a passionate case for the cultivation of our "desire to know." Drawing on fascinating research from psychology, economics, education, and business, Leslie looks at what feeds curiosity and what starves it, and finds surprising answers. Curiosity is a mental muscle that atrophies without regular exercise and a habit that parents, schools, and workplaces need to nurture. Filled with inspiring stories, case studies, and practical advice, Curious will change the way you think about your own mental life, and that of those around you.

The Encyclopedia of the Weird and Wonderful

The Encyclopedia of the Weird and Wonderful
Author: Milo Rossi
Publisher: Wellfleet Press
Total Pages: 258
Release: 2023-10-03
Genre: Reference
ISBN: 0760380015

The Encyclopedia of the Weird and Wonderful features explanations of some of the most intriguing and entertaining facts from prehistory, ancient Egypt, the Industrial Revolution, and beyond. Discover a plethora of intriguing and entertaining facts from archaeology and history—brought to life with the author’s signature wit and levity. In The Encyclopedia of the Weird and Wonderful, TikTok educator and Youtuber Milo Rossi presents an assortment of funny and detailed anecdotes of some of the more quotidian mysteries of life, such as: Have you ever wondered what it was like to be a mother in the Mesolithic period as the climate shifted, the seas rose, and wild game migrated? Or what types of dogs paced the wide and narrow forest patches of North America as their masters constructed some of the largest earthen works in the world? Or what meals were eaten under the trees of the old- growth forests of ancient Europe, how China accidentally invented standardized testing by refining their government, or what fashion trends shook the mining camps during the California gold rush? Coupled with engaging illustrations, The Encyclopedia of the Weird and Wonderful takes the saying “you learn something new every day” to a new extreme!

Strange Rites

Strange Rites
Author: Tara Isabella Burton
Publisher: Public Affairs
Total Pages: 320
Release: 2022-01-18
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9781541762527

A sparklingly strange odyssey through the kaleidoscope of America's new spirituality: the cults, practices, high priests and prophets of our supposedly post-religion age. Fifty-five years have passed since the cover of Time magazine proclaimed the death of God and while participation in mainstream religion has indeed plummeted, Americans have never been more spiritually busy. While rejecting traditional worship in unprecedented numbers, today's Americans are embracing a kaleidoscopic panoply of spiritual traditions, rituals, and subcultures -- from astrology and witchcraft to SoulCycle and the alt-right.As the Internet makes it ever-easier to find new "tribes," and consumer capitalism forever threatens to turn spirituality into a lifestyle brand, remarkably modern American religious culture is undergoing a revival comparable with the Great Awakenings of centuries past. Faith is experiencing not a decline but a Renaissance. Disillusioned with organized religion and political establishments alike, more and more Americans are seeking out spiritual paths driven by intuition, not institutions. In Strange Rites, religious scholar and commentator Tara Isabella Burton visits with the techno-utopians of Silicon Valley; Satanists and polyamorous communities, witches from Bushwick, wellness junkies and social justice activists and devotees of Jordan Peterson, proving Americans are not abandoning religion but remixing it. In search of the deep and the real, they are finding meaning, purpose, ritual, and communities in ever-newer, ever-stranger ways.