An eye for an eye: People agree about the values of body parts across cultures and eras

mind & bodyanalysisThe Conversation: Arts + Culture (US)

An eye for an eye: People agree about the values of body parts across cultures and eras

the gist

Across cultures and centuries, people tend to rank body parts in a similar order of value. A study of 614 people in the United States and India found that lay judgements about how much a body part matters matched compensation set by old and modern laws. Participants valued the index finger above the ring finger and one eye above one ear, as ancient codes and modern workers' compensation schedules do. The values also track function: losing several of one part counts as worse than losing one, and losing a whole limb is worse than losing one part of it. The researchers suggest that these shared intuitions help underpin laws about bodily harm across time and place.

so what

It suggests some legal ideas about harm may rest on widely shared human intuitions rather than only on local custom, challenging the view that law is purely cultural. Compensation for injury has appeared in societies from Mesopotamia to Tang dynasty China.

the bigger pattern

The Code of Ur-Nammu, written about 4,100 years ago in ancient Nippur, set fixed silver payments for injuries such as a cut nose or a knocked-out tooth. Similar compensation systems, known as wergild in Germanic societies, appeared in many cultures, showing a long-running pattern of putting prices on bodily harm.

The Conversation

Illustrative photo · Eike von Repgow, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

source: The Conversation: Arts + Culture (US) ↗

historyWikipediaclassic1336–1565 · Karnataka, India

Hampi was once one of the world's largest cities, until its Vijayanagara capital was destroyed in 1565

the gist

Hampi is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Karnataka, India, with more than 1,600 surviving remains spread over 4,100 hectares. It was the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire from 1336 to 1565. Travellers from Persia and Portugal described it as a prosperous, wealthy and grand city with temples, markets and farms along the Tungabhadra River. By 1500 it was estimated to be the world's second-largest city after Beijing, and probably India's richest at the time. In 1565 a coalition of Muslim sultanates defeated the Vijayanagara Empire, its capital was conquered and destroyed, and the city was left in ruins. Hampi remains a religious centre, with the active Virupaksha Temple at its heart.

how it works

The city was built around a fortified core with temples, markets and water structures along the river, supplied by an extensive network of roads and waterworks. When the empire fell, the city was not rebuilt, so its stone monuments were left standing.

so what

Hampi shows how quickly a great city can vanish after a military defeat, and how a ruined capital can remain sacred. Its ruins give historians a view of medieval South Asia that few other sites can match.

fun fact

The name Hampi comes from Pampa, an old name for the Tungabhadra River.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia · text CC BY-SA 4.0

Image: Wikimedia Commons

source: Wikipedia ↗

2 min

politicsshortCNA2:01

False allegations about Singapore’s hand in Indonesia’s markets and a made-up meeting

from CNA

CNA Verify has found close to 400 posts pushing falsehoods tying Singapore to Indonesia’s stock market rout and to a secret meeting that never took place. Together, they drew nearly 12 million views, and some were circulated by accounts that appeared to be working in concert, across multiple social media platforms.

Here’s how the disinformation campaign targeting Singapore was uncovered.

on YouTube: CNA ↗