Valori Umani: Intelligence

Intelligence is a ubiquitous individual difference, a hypothetical construct reflected in a variety of behaviours which demonstrate a cognitive capacity for: thinking and reasoning; learning and adapting.

Perspective

Half full or half empty?

Valori Umani: Hate

Hate in general is a vehement aversion entertained by one person for another, or for something more or less identified with that other. Theologians commonly mention two distinct species of this passion.

• One (odium abominationis, or loathing) is that in which the intense dislike is concentrated primarily on the qualities or attributes of a person, and only secondarily, and as it were derivatively, upon the person himself.
• The second sort (odium inimicitiae, or hostility) aims directly at the person, indulges a propensity to see what is evil and unlovable in him, feels a fierce satisfaction at anything tending to his discredit, and is keenly desirous that his lot may be an unmixedly hard one, either in general or in this or that specified way.

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Valori Umani: Imagination

Imagination is the ability to form a mental image of something that is not perceived through the senses. It is the ability of the mind to build mental scenes, objects or events that do not exist, are not present or have happened in the past. Memory is actually a manifestation of imagination. Everyone possesses some imagination ability. In some it may be highly developed and in others it may manifest in a weaker form. It manifests in various degrees in various people.

Imagination makes it possible to experience a whole world inside the mind. It gives the ability to look at any situation from a different point of view, and enables one to mentally explore the past and the future.

It manifests in various forms, one of which is daydreaming. Though too much idle daydreaming may make one impractical, some daydreaming, when not being engaged in something that requires attention provides some temporary happiness, calmness and relief from stress.

In your imagination you can travel anywhere in the speed of light without any obstacles. It can make you feel free, though temporarily, and only in the mind, from tasks, difficulties and unpleasant circumstances.[ref]

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Valori Umani: Faith

Faith is what bridges the gap between evidence and belief for many people. It allows people to believe in that which they cannot prove is out there. It is the chosen vehicle, according to the Bible, for salvation. So how valuable does that make faith compared to evidence? If we were capable of presenting empirical evidence that God exists and has a plan for us, would faith be necessary? Would belief based on evidence save us the same as belief based on faith? If belief must be based on faith and not evidence, then faith is infinitely more valuable than empirical evidence. [ref]

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Valori Umani: Patriotism

Patriotic love is for one's country, true brotherhood expresses love of mankind, care and respect for nature is love of creation and - for those who profess religious belief - devotion is love of the Creator. The word patriotism comes from a Greek word meaning fatherland. For most of history, love of fatherland or homeland was an attachment to the physical features of the land. But that notion changed in the eighteenth century, when the ideals of democracy, socialism, and communism strongly emerged into political thought. Patriotism was still a love of one's country that included connections to the land and people, but then also included its customs and traditions, pride in its history, and devotion to its welfare.

Today most people agree that patriotism also involves service to their country, but many disagree on how to best perform such service. Some believe that the national government speaks for a country; therefore, all its citizens should actively support government policies and actions. Others argue that a true patriot speaks out when convinced that their country is following an unwise or unjust action.[ref]

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Valori Umani: Serenity

Serenity is defined in the dictionary as being without stress and anxiety: a state or condition of being tranquil and calm. A serene person has peace of mind, a relaxed nature and takes things in stride without worrying: contentment.

Serenity is also a goal to be achieved. Serenity is not the ordinary condition that we are in when we go about our daily lives. Turmoil seems to be the 'normal' condition. It seems that we are always in some sort of conflict and trouble eating away at us. This is especially true of addicts and alcoholics. Serenity is at the opposite end of turmoil. [ref]

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Valori Umani: Care

Care is a basic human value which again relates to concern and respect for others and the environment. It is often expressed by the word 'love' used in a broader sense than in common parlance. Love as care does not refer to an emotion or a state of mind so much as to a human faculty of identification with others, sympathy with all beings, creation and - in spiritual or religious beliefs - of Divinity. Love seeks many and various channels of realisation. It's essence can be characterised by the words "Love is unselfish care and concern for the well-being of others and the world at large.

The less selfish it is, the more it enriches life. Being universal, it takes on different general forms in different relations; mother love, fatherly love, conjugal love of one's partner, loving friendship etc. Being neither a sensation, an emotion nor a mere conception, but being identifiable only at the heart or core of the human consciousness, love in this universal sense is the characteristic par excellence of the human soul or psyche. [ref]

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Valori Umani: Art

Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging symbolic elements in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect. It encompasses a diverse range of human activities, creations, and modes of expression, including music, literature, film, photography, sculpture, and paintings. The meaning of art is explored in a branch of philosophy known as aesthetics, and even disciplines such as history and psychoanalysis analyze its relationship with humans and generations.

Traditionally, the term art was used to refer to any skill or mastery. This conception changed during the Romantic period, when art came to be seen as "a special faculty of the human mind to be classified with religion and science". Generally, art is made with the intention of stimulating thoughts and emotions. [ref:wiki]

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Valori Umani: Love, Peace

Peacefulness in a persons's life, in society and in world terms is a product of all postive values working together sufficiently. Without truth, caring concern (or 'love') and justice, conflicts arise and peace is endangered or lost. While peace is the absence of disturbance, violence, war and wrongdoing generally, it is tangible present when experienced individually as peace of mind, the mutual respect and pleasure of friendliness and tolerance.. As a universally-accepted positive value, peace refers to the experience of harmony, a balanced but nevertheless dynamic mental condition. Peace of mind can be independent of 'externals' like the absence of disturbance in 'peace and quiet', or the intrusion of an environment through noise, violence, terror etc.). Inner blissfulness which is not dependent upon external sensory or physical conditions is a high expression of peacefulness. [ref]

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Valori Umani: Harmony

Harmony is the coming together of disparate elements for common purpose. It is the moving together of varied or opposing forces, so that they emerge in a higher truth that all can benefit from (not merely a compromised truth). The value of Teamwork is one variation of the value of Harmony, as is the value of Organization. Harmony is such noble and elevated a value that it can be considered a spiritual value.

Make harmony a permanent personal value that you believe in and practice. Over the next few days and weeks notice points of conflict that appear in your work and life and seek to implement a higher truth, or point of view, or action in each situation that can harmonize the opposing ideas, conflicts between people, and other forms of opposition. [ref]

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Introducing Valori Umani

I have been super busy during the holidays so i wasn't very active in updating my doodle blog. Now, i had the time to dig into my archives and finally here's the debut my new series which i want to call "Valori Umani". This term simply means Human Values in Italian, hehe.( I just want to make it sound good.) Anyways, i doodled these last April 2008 in my planner/doodle book and i spiced it up a bit putting some colors.

These drawings means so much to me. It is a discovery of my self and looking back into the universal human values that we learn during our childhood days which became the guiding principles of our lives. I really like this definition by gurusoftware.net that a Value is a belief, a mission, or a philosophy that is meaningful. These things are intangible like what St. Exupery said in The Little Prince, "It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."

There are so many values in life and they differ from one person to another. Some may value pride, some would rather choose humility. Some prefer to be more of what they are, some are simply contented. For me, there are so much things to value in life, others are very limited to what they think are valuable to them. I hope this series will translate what values mean for me in a form of a visual art. Valori Umani hopes that you may also ponder on the things that makes your life meaningful. What do you values in life? And more importantly, why are some of these values more important than the others?