Month: October 2016

The late 4th and early 5th century philosopher and mathematician Hypatia was one of the most admired women in Alexandria, but she was also one of the most hated. She was the first known woman to both study and teach mathematics, astronomy, and philosophy, drawing students from far and wide, but she was also unabashedly pagan in a time when the city’s authority figures were Christian. In the end, her commitment to her beliefs would cost her her life.

Scholars differ on the date of Hypatia’s birth. It is thought that she was born between 350 and 370 CE in Alexandria, Egypt, which at the time was the sophisticated center of learning in the ancient world. She was the daughter of famed mathematician Theon, who wrote commentaries on works by the mathematicians Euclid and Ptolemy (his version of Euclid’s Elements was the only one known until the 19th century), and who also wrote a popular treatise on the astrolabe, an instrument used to chart the position of celestial bodies.

Theon considered Hypatia his intellectual heir and tutored her in art, astronomy, literature, science, and philosophy. She taught math and philosophy at the university of Alexandria, where her father was director. She also wrote, producing several commentaries, and collaborated on more written works with her father. Sadly, none of her works survive, although some scholars believe that part of Theon’s version of Ptolemy’s Almagest was actually written by her.

Hypatia was a follower of the Neoplatonist school of thought, based partially on the teachings of the philosopher Plato. The Greek Neoplatonist philosopher Damascius described Hypatia’s work by saying: “The lady made appearances around the center of the city, expounding in public to those willing to listen on Plato or Aristotle.” She is said to have been a popular teacher—and after her father died, was considered the foremost mathematician in the world.

Hypatia never married and most likely remained celibate due to her Neoplatonist beliefs. Damascius noted that she was “honest and chaste,” while Socrates Scholasticus spoke of her “extraordinary dignity and virtue.”

Orestes, the Roman prefect of Alexandria, admired her mind and sought her counsel. He was a Christian, but tolerant of all the faiths that co-existed in Alexandria, and he worked to form bonds between them. This tolerant attitude would place him in direct conflict with Cyril, the city’s new archbishop, and ultimately lead to Hypatia’s death.

Archbishop Cyril was not as tolerant of other faiths. When he became archbishop in 412, he closed and plundered churches belonging to another Christian sect. After a massacre of Christians by Jewish extremists, Cyril expelled all Jews from the city. Orestes opposed Cyril’s actions and complained to Rome, which led to an unsuccessful assassination attempt on the prefect’s life.

He survived, but Hypatia was less fortunate.

When a rumor spread that she was causing the conflict between Orestes and Cyril, a fanatical Christian sect murdered Hypatia in a particularly gruesome way.

On a March evening in the year 415 or 416 (accounts vary), a mob blocked her chariot as she was driving home. They pulled her from the chariot, stripped her naked, and stoned her to death with roofing tiles. The frenzied mob then reportedly tore her body apart, and burned what remained of her.

Some historians considered Hypatia’s death to be a deliberate act taken by Cyril against Orestes, who refused to reconcile with him. Other historians do not hold Cyril directly responsible for Hypatia’s death, while acknowledging that he did promote the intolerance that helped turn a mob against a prominent pagan figure.

Ironically, despite the fact that she was murdered by a Christian mob at least in part because she promoted Neoplatonist ideas, some of her teachings would eventually influence Christian doctrine. One of her students, Synesius, became a Christian bishop, and some scholars say that his earlier Platonic studies influenced the church’s doctrine of the Holy Trinity.

Today, she is remembered as one of the first women known to have studied math and philosophy, and her name lives on in a scholarly journal devoted to feminism and philosophy. She is sometimes credited with the line: “Reserve your right to think, for even to think wrongly is better than not to think at all.”

When you imagine a yoga teacher, you might think of a super-flexible, spiritually enlightened being who seems to radiate peace and benevolence. While it’s true that they inspire their students to harness energy, breathe, and master the downward dog position, yoga teachers also do a lot more than that. We asked a few yogis for the secrets behind their seemingly blissed-out trade.

1. THE BOTTOMS OF THEIR FEET ARE PROBABLY BLACK.

If you work in an office, your feet are most likely covered by shoes and socks. But yoga teachers work barefoot, walking on hardwood floors and stepping on and off yoga mats. Their feet are visibly affected by their work conditions, as Los Angeles yoga teacher Jen Netherby tells mental_floss: “The bottoms of my feet are almost always black since I’m always walking on floors barefoot as I teach.”

2. THEIR JOB REQUIRES PLENTY OF NON-YOGA TIME.

Heather Otterbine, the owner of OmBodies Yoga studio in Chicago, tells mental_floss that a lot of time goes into teaching a one-hour class beyond that hour. “People are always surprised to learn that I don’t ‘only’ practice yoga all day, every day,” she says. Yoga teachers spend time preparing to teach, driving to and from classes, marketing themselves online, doing social media outreach, hosting video webinars, and honing their own practice.

3. PAIN IS ALL AROUND THEM.

Although some students practice yoga to maintain their already-optimal health and wellness, many start yoga because of an injury or chronic pain. According to Netherby, getting in-depth anatomy training helped her better understand her students and how they move. “Lots of students, of all ages, are in pain in some way. I started to notice in my day-to-day how many people walk around with pain, just by how they walk or hold themselves. You really do learn to see people more clearly and have more compassion, as cliché as it is to say that,” Netherby says.

4. THEY’RE WARY OF TOUCHING YOUR MAT.

Because most yoga mats can quickly get sweaty and dirty, your yoga teacher is probably not too keen on touching it. Dr. Robert Lahita tells Elle that yoga mats can be rife with bacteria, fungi, and viruses. “Yoga mats are the worst …[they’re] a perfect incubator for many of our skin infections,” he reveals. To make your mat less germy, clean it regularly with a bleach-based cleaning spray.

5. TAKING CARE OF THEIR HEALTH IS VITAL.

In order to teach class after class, stay flexible, and be in peak physical shape, yoga teachers must take excellent care of their health. By limiting stress, meditating, and doing non-yoga workouts, yogis can bring a strong body and calm mind to class. Eating a good diet also helps them feel their best. To be in tip-top shape, many eschew soft drinks, alcohol, sugar, meat, dairy, and gluten.

6. MIRRORS CAN CONFUSE THEM.

Yoga teachers are constantly using directional signifiers—left, right, up, down—to instruct their students. Whether they’re teaching in front of a mirror or simply standing at the front of a room and mirroring their students’ poses, yoga teachers can understandably get confused about what’s left, right, or (in the case of headstands) up and down. “I spend so much time mirroring students in class that I sometimes have to pause and think which side is right and which is left in my own body,” Netherby admits.

7. MICROPHONES CAN SAVE THEM FROM LOSING THEIR VOICE.

Besides their bodies, the main tool that yoga teachers use to instruct students is their voice. To energize the class and keep everyone’s attention, especially when people are getting tired, good yoga teachers must speak loudly and avoid a monotone. Danielle Cuccio, an LA-based celebrity yoga teacher and CEO of Cuccio Somatology, tells mental_floss that when she first started teaching, she sometimes had to clear her throat by the time she was on her fourth client of the day. To keep her voice strong, Cuccio now teaches three times a day maximum and uses a microphone in some of her larger group classes.

8. THEY GO BEYOND THE PHYSICAL.

“Teaching yoga is like a secret superpower. You sneak in through the back door, and your students have no idea what hit them,” Jen Reuben, the co-owner of Salt Lake Power Yoga, says. Although yoga teachers help their students build physical stamina, they often see extensive improvements in their pupils’ mental health and emotional wellness as well. Cuccio explains that practicing yoga helps us slow down, feel more connected to our true selves, and stop overthinking.

9. PRIVATE LESSONS ARE THEIR BREAD AND BUTTER.

Unless they own their own successful studio, most yoga teachers struggle to make ends meet. They might get a flat rate, graduated rate, or commission based on the number of students who attend each class they teach. But vacation, health insurance, and raises are rare for yoga teachers who work as employees or contractors at a studio. Private lessons (in person or online) can command a much higher rate than teaching group classes, so many yoga teachers rely on them for a significant portion of their income.

10. THEY WISH YOU’D STOP COMPARING YOURSELF TO OTHER STUDENTS.

If you look around the room comparing your crescent lunge pose to other students’, you’re probably not making your yoga teacher happy. “It’s a yoga practice, not a performance!” yoga instructor Gina Marciano says. Don’t be discouraged or jealous if the woman in front of you is gracefully flowing through her poses like a master yogini. Instead, focus on your own journey to slowly improve your fitness and stamina. And don’t be afraid to try a difficult pose, clumsily topple over, and get right back up.

11. THEY SMILE THROUGH BAD MOODS.

Yoga teachers are expected to be positive and encouraging, but sometimes that means they have to conceal their own bad moods. “You have your own life, your own moods, your own good days, bad days … But no matter what kind of day you’re having, you have to put on a smile,” Cuccio says.

Forcing a smile, though, can start a positive chain reaction. “It’s not that I’m avoiding what I’m really feeling, but I’m reminded of how much I love my clients and what I do. Moving with my clients, teaching them, smiling, and being the teacher that they come to class for makes me happy and makes that ‘bad day’ maybe not so bad after that hour together,” she admits.

12. THEY’RE LIFELONG STUDENTS.

According to Serge Berliawsky, the founder and director of Shivakali Yoga in Los Angeles, yoga teachers must balance their role as a teacher with their own spiritual needs. “We are thrust into a position of some form of spiritual leadership … Yet at the same time, it is absolutely integral as a yoga teacher that we continue our own personal practice, mindfulness, self-growth, and self-reflection to maintain the purity and consciousness that enables us to hold such a position,” Berliawsky tells mental_floss.

By taking classes from other teachers and continuing to learn, yoga teachers can also keep their skills sharp and continue to innovate. “My students love when I apply new sequences and give them something totally new. It keeps it fresh and fun,” Cuccio says.

All photos via iStock.

Women hold nearly 52 percent of all professional-level jobs, but 75 percent of executive- and senior-level officials are men. Meanwhile, only 4.6 percent of CEOs at S&P 500 companies are female. Researchers have chalked this disparity up to a number of factors, a large one being that women presumably don’t want to sacrifice work-life balance or a family for a career. But according to a new analysis conducted by Sheryl Sandberg’s nonprofit LeanIn.Org, many women simply aren’t interested in becoming a top boss—and they provide a variety of reasons for their decision.

LeanIn.Org teamed up with management consulting firm McKinsey & Company to conduct the “Women in the Workplace 2016” report. They collected 132 companies’ pipeline data and surveyed more than 34,000 employees about their career opportunities and goals.

Many of the findings are similar to insights culled from other workplace studies (for example, women do in fact ask for raises, but are less likely to receive them). But the Women in the Workplace study also revealed that only 40 percent of senior female managers said they wanted a top executive job, in contrast with 56 percent of men.

When asked why they don’t want to be a top executive, 42 percent of both women and men said “I wouldn’t be able to balance family and work commitments.” Their opinions differed, however, when imagining the experience of being at the top. A third of women, compared to a fifth of men, said they didn’t want the pressure that comes with a top-level job. And only 43 percent of women, compared to 51 percent of men, believed becoming a top executive would “significantly improve their ability to impact the business.” According to the report, this may be because “women may not think their ideas and contributions carry the same weight as men’s.”

Even if a woman does want to become a CEO, she faces a much more difficult climb than her male co-workers—partly because her chances for advancement are thwarted early on in her career. The survey found that for every 100 women promoted to their first managerial position, 130 men are promoted, making it harder for women to progress into leadership positions. In general, fewer women are also hired from the outside than men, and when they do get their feet in the door they receive “less access to the people, input, and opportunities that accelerate careers,” the report states. It’s no surprise, then, that the report also shows that early-level female employees are nearly three times as likely as men to think their gender will hinder them, career-wise.

“This report is a reminder, yet again, of how much is left to do,” Sandberg concluded in an editorial for The Wall Street Journal. In order to close these gaps, companies need to advocate for gender diversity, provide gender-bias training for managers, and address gender stereotypes head-on.

Know of something you think we should cover? Email us at tips@mentalfloss.com.

What are these tiny bits of rubber sticking out of tires?

Simon Hunt:

They have no purpose.

The tire is made in a big solid mold—those tiny bits of “flash” are the rubber that solidified in holes used to vent the mold, or pump the rubber into the mold.

When the tire is pulled out of the mold, the solidified rubber in the holes pulls out with it (thus clearing the holes for the next tire).

They are actually interestingly called “nubbins” and there are clever ways to eliminate them—which is why you don’t see them so often on expensive tires from manufacturers with more advanced equipment.

This post originally appeared on Quora. Click here to view.