Image by Sonny Abesamis, courtesy of Creative Commons licensing.
Happy Saturday y'all! Below, I have rounded up some things for you to think about this weekend:
1. More than a dozen men (thought to be neo-Nazis) stormed into a vegan cafe in Tbilsi, the capital of Georgia, shouting, smoking, and throwing meat at patrons. In many other locations around the world (and probably even other stats in the U.S.), going against any mainstream opinion (including the non-mainstream decision to be a vegan) can often be a calculated risk concerning the potential to be on the receiving end of physical violence. Although I do wish that veganism was more accepted here in North Carolina and the overall country, I am grateful that I don't have to worry (all that much) about being physically attacked for my choice to abstain from consuming/using animal products.
2. If humans were to disappear from Earth, what would happen to the planet? Traces of our existence would start to vanish fairly quickly. Within 24-48 hours power will be out pretty much everywhere. After 72 hours, all of the world's subways would flood. One year later, satellites in space will fall into the atmosphere, looking like shooting stars that packs of wild dogs will see. 25 years later, streets will be reclaimed by vegetation growing underneath the pavement, the air will be cleaner, and nature will have taken back mostly everything we've built over it. 500 years later, there will be no trace of modern cities. 300 million years later, there will be no trace of us at all. The visiting aliens at that time will have no idea we were ever here. For more detail, photographs, videos, and animated GIFs that depict this process, check out what Earth will look like millions of years after humans.
3. As a rabid fan of Alice in Wonderland, I really enjoyed this brief compilation of the various ways that people have interpreted the book: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Many ideas have circulated over the years about what the book is about—drugs, sex, religion, politics, colonialism, etc. It's possible that there is a mixture of all of these involved, as far as I am concerned. Regardless of any allegorical hidden meanings behind the book, it's an excellent read, Disney's 1951 film adaptation is superb, the 2010 version with Johnny Depp was pretty good, and you should probably check all of it out if you haven't already.
That's all for this week's edition of Weekend Thoughts. Until next week, keep thinking wilder.