A situation in which someone sees a pattern or image of something that does not exist, for example a face in a cloud, is an example of a phenomenon known as “pareidolia”. It is the human tendency to read significance into random or vague stimuli (both visual and auditory). The term comes from the Greek words “para” (παρά), meaning beside or beyond, and “eidolon” (εἴδωλον), meaning form or image. Though animals or plants can “appear” in clouds and human speech can do the same in static noise, the appearance of a face where there is none is perhaps the most common variant of pareidolia. Pareidolia was once thought of as… Read More

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Pretty privilege or beauty bias is real. But can it be unlearned? The term pretty privilege has been bandied around for a while now but has come back into light recently. Pretty privilege works on the principle that people who are deemed more attractive—based on societal beauty standards—have an upper hand in the world and are afforded many opportunities that us regular folks don’t have. Like most other biases, pretty privilege is something we’re all aware of—whether we have experienced it first-hand or not. Yet, it’s not often that we are willing to admit it—or even talk about it—especially if we’re on the receiving end of its benefits. Nonetheless, various… Read More

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EF EPI is a standardized and objective report that categorizes the English language skills of non-native English speaking countries. The report was compiled with data on English proficiency from 2 million individuals who have taken the EF Standard English Test (EF SET) or other English language proficiency test models provided by EF in 2020. This year, 2021,Indonesia’s EPI achievement is ranked 80 out of 112 countries or down 6 places compared to the position last year. Indonesia got 466 points, an increase from last year score of 453. Despite an increase in score, this year Indonesia is still in the “low” category for English proficiency. Globally, Indonesia’s EPI score is… Read More

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