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"Unimaginable curse": Karl Stefanovic pays tribute to fallen father

Karl Stefanovic has paid tribute to Lachlan Webb, a young Queensland dad who sadly passed away from a rare genetic brain disorder. Webb first started showing symptoms of Fatal Familial Insomnia (FFI) early last year, a rare degenerative brain disorder where the inability to fall asleep is just one of the many symptoms of the condition which many describe to be a living nightmare. From there the symptoms progress to the inability to walk, loss of sight and speech and eventual total shutdown of the body's ability to keep itself alive among others. The Queensland father had already lost his grandmother, aunties, uncles and his mum Narelle to the disease, with his mum passing away just six months after she was diagnosed. The condition is so rare that only 50 families worldwide are known to carry the gene. Karl Stefanovic first met Webb and his sister Hayley back in 2016, after they both learned that they carried the fatal gene. Despite the diagnosis the siblings were determined to ensure the "curse" ended with them, travelling to the US to participate in a clinical study. The siblings also both underwent IVF with their respective partners to ensure that their children won't carry the gene. "Lachlan was a remarkable man battling an unimaginable curse," Karl said on the Today show. "Everyone at Today is thinking of the Webb family, Hayley, Lachlan's beautiful wife Claire and his little boy Morrison." "Hayley also has that gene, their bravery and resilience was incredible to witness firsthand and it's such an important message - everyday is a gift and our thoughts, our prayers and our love are with you all this morning." Images: Nine

Caring

Woman cons her mother out of $82 million artwork by claiming it was “cursed”

A 48-year-old woman has been arrested on suspicion of swindling her elderly mother out of a painting worth $82 million, by making her believe it was “cursed”. Sabine Coll Boghici allegedly tricked her 82-year-old mother Genevieve into handing over Sol Poente (1949) by Tarsila do Amaral. The artwork belonged to Genevieve’s late husband, who was an art collector, as the artwork had previously been exhibited at New York’s Museum of Modern Art. Sabine’s art con is just one part of a haul of cash, art and jewellery worth almost $200 million allegedly defrauded by the Brazilian woman. The scam to obtain Genevieve’s artwork began in 2020, when a psychic approached the elderly woman with prophecies of her daughter’s imminent death. The victim was then taken to several more psychics, who police say used personal information provided by her daughter to scam her distraught mother into transferring money to pay for “spiritual treatment”. Sabine and an accomplice posing as a psychic “began to take the artwork from the (mother's) house, claiming that the painting was cursed with something negative, with negative energy that needed to be prayed over,” said Rio de Janeiro police officer Gilberto Ribeiro. After almost a year of being mistreated by Sabine and her accomplices, Genevieve decided to go to the police. Police say 16 paintings were stolen, including works by renowned Brazilian artists like Cicero Dias, Rubens Gerchman and Alberto Guignard. Police say seven people are suspected of involvement in the years-long crime, facing charges of embezzlement, robbery, extortion, false imprisonment and criminal association. Image credits: Rio de Janeiro Civil Police / AFP

Art

Why do people believe in curses?

Strictly Come Dancing, the TV show which pairs celebrities with professional dancers to compete in a ballroom dancing competition, has apparently been the cause of a number of divorces, break-ups, and scandals. This “<a href="https://www.radiotimes.com/news/tv/2019-08-19/strictly-come-dancing-strictly-curse-affairs-break-ups/">Strictly curse</a>” is not helped by the show’s demanding schedule, long practice hours, and intimate dancing. Strictly is not the only modern curse featured in the media of late. The <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-49125467">curse of the Tour de France</a> returned, with the failure of a French rider to win the <a href="https://usimmigrationupdate.com/french-cyclists-hit-again-by-curse-of-tour-de-france-bbc-news/">cycling race</a>. Hopes that Julian Alaphillippe would this year end the 34-year drought were dashed. Meanwhile, the rapper Drake has been linked to a series of <a href="https://www.nme.com/blogs/nme-blogs/the-drake-curse-best-times-it-struck-down-sports-teams-athletes-2487702">sporting failures</a> over the years. The Drake curse <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/newsbeat-47947155">was broken</a>, however, when his team (the Raptors) won their first basketball championship earlier this summer. Other popular culture “curses” around James Dean’s <a href="https://sg.news.yahoo.com/curse-james-dean-porsche-550-010003800.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAF2ZVBzvFXEOzvnoMUgY8skG7UrCeRorWZqdpvaG_S4strong5uBQpsuPmuhd4IF81thP1olYYRZm2M4UM9fnKeCgNd8_vW2c4TpA8cF8uNnsXs6roX4sjdbWZXpXeiVeqN9uKxf8ToZc2suFf0VKmK7OMf6gKX2xIJWf5xKupt25V5l">car</a> and the next <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/jun/07/james-bond-25-film-cursed">James Bond</a> film, have also circulated of late. What’s this all about? Most people these days surely don’t believe in supernatural curses. But their prevalence in the media suggests that they still have a hold on psyches, and that a good amount of people still pay credence to them. Rational explanations From a scientific perspective, curses have rational explanations. These clarify why people directly ascribe supernatural powers to negative events. For instance, belief in curses can arise from thinking style. Psychologist Daniel Kahneman has <a href="http://reflectd.co/2016/02/24/thinking-styles/">proposed</a> that there are two distinct modes of decision making. System 1 is automatic, rapid and largely unconscious. Subsequently, this system is intuitive and prone to biases and systematic errors. In contrast, System 2 is controlled, slow, effortful, and produces rational thought. So, perhaps people believe in curses because their spontaneous, subjective, System 1 thinking predominates. Endorsement of curses may also stem from the desire to make sense of the world; ascribe meaning to chaos. Why do people sometimes see faces in clouds or Jesus in their toast? We have a tendency to find meaningful patterns in meaningless noise: which some call <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/blog/reality-play/201207/being-amused-apophenia">apophenia</a> and others <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/patternicity-finding-meaningful-patterns/">patternicity</a>. In the case of curses, this can cause people to see links between random events and wrongly attribute misfortune and bad luck to a magical hex rather than factors such as chance and human error. Those who believe in curses may also be susceptible to the <a href="http://www.howtogetyourownway.com/effects/barnum_effect.html">Barnum</a> or Forer Effect. This is where people wrongly infer that general information has specific personal relevance. In the context of curses, this might explain the tendency to associate general misfortune with particular, personally significant jinxes. Psychological influences A belief in curses, once it exists, is often reinforced by other psychological tendencies. Believers in curses may look for affirming evidence, such as potentially related bad luck, and discount contradictory data. This confirmatory bias produces coherent, but logically inconsistent narratives supporting the presumption of supernatural forces. This was true of the curse of Tutankhamun, for example. This derived from the general notion that a curse would befall anyone who broke into a pharaoh’s burial site. At the time of the excavation of Tutankhamun’s tomb, the archaeologists suffered no misfortune. But as a result of press coverage about “the pharaoh’s curse”, subsequent deaths and misfortunes of the archaeology team became associated with the curse. Similarly, the movies Poltergeist and The Omen have over time acquired a reputation <a href="https://www.historytoday.com/archive/months-past/tutankhamuns-curse">as cursed</a>. The power of curses to influence people stems from belief in their veracity. This often arises from an external locus of control, where people feel unable to influence events. In the absence of perceived control, people become more accepting of mysterious, external forces. Psychologists refer to this as <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/blog/moments-matter/201708/locus-control">magical thinking</a>. In addition, belief in curses is associated with certain personality characteristics. Particularly, tolerance of ambiguity and neuroticism. Tolerance of ambiguity describes the degree to which an individual can <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/anger-in-the-age-entitlement/200902/uncertainty-is-your-friend-part-i">cope with uncertainty</a>. People with low tolerance of ambiguity tend to look for closure. This manifests as the failure to critically consider evidence and to jump to conclusions. These factors can lead to indiscriminate, premature acceptance of material. Neuroticism, meanwhile, can facilitate worry, concern and rumination about curses. In extreme cases, belief in curses can undermine confidence in oneself and one’s future success. Psychologists refer to this as self-fulfilling prophecy. This is where belief in a curse produces the perception of inevitable misfortune. Indeed, the mere suggestion of bad luck can produce negative outcomes. Researchers call this the <a href="https://www.brainblogger.com/2009/07/15/the-curse-of-the-nocebo-effect">Nocebo Effect</a>. Social factors The influence of curses also originates from their grounding in culture. Specifically, through education and social narratives, the notion of curses perpetuates over time. Consequently, they become culturally acceptable and in some instances plausible. For example, the <a href="http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20180216-the-strange-power-of-the-evil-eye">evil eye</a> has a long tradition around the world. This derives from the belief that someone who achieves great success also attracts the envy of those around them, manifesting itself as a curse that will undo their good fortune. Socially, media coverage can induce the notion that curses exist. A recent example is the <a href="https://www.nme.com/blogs/what-is-momo-your-guide-to-the-horrifying-meme-billed-as-the-new-slenderman-2364215">Momo Challenge</a>. This spread via WhatsApp and involved the appearance of a creepy, Japanese sculpture accompanied by instructions to perform dangerous tasks. The communication also predicted unfortunate consequences if the receiver failed to follow instructions, or pass on the message. This story went viral and caused children and parents great anxiety. Although there is of course no scientific evidence to support the supernatural basis of curses, they can still have a powerful psychological influence on people. Believing in curses can undermine decision making, well-being and self confidence. In extreme cases, they can also facilitate unusual ideas, undermine critical thinking and produce <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2012/apr/25/the-knowledge-football-curses">odd behaviours</a>. Despite evidence to the contrary, some curses are compelling. So it will be interesting to see whether forthcoming contestants in Strictly Come Dancing avoid the bad luck associated with previous series.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/121385/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> Written by Ken Drinkwater, Senior Lecturer and Researcher in Cognitive and Parapsychology, Manchester Metropolitan University and Neil Dagnall, Reader in Applied Cognitive Psychology, Manchester Metropolitan University. Republished with permission of <a rel="noopener" href="https://theconversation.com/why-do-people-believe-in-curses-121385" target="_blank">The Conversation</a>.

Mind

The one souvenir you should never take from Uluru

Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park is in the red, hot centre of Australia and has been a World Heritage listed site since 1987 for its natural beauty and spectacular geological rock formation. It’s therefore unsurprising that people want to take a piece of this natural beauty home with them. There are many ways you can do this, whether it be through a stubby holder or through a sweet painting. However, some people opt for a more, er, interesting method. They take a piece of Uluru home with them. That’s right. Some tourists are opting to take rocks, pebbles, sand and twigs from Uluru. Sammy Wilson, a traditional owner of Aboriginal land, has said that the curse is unsurprising. He explains in a <a href="https://www.news.com.au/travel/australian-holidays/northern-territory/the-souvenir-from-uluru-you-should-never-take/news-story/31345382f651611f088775ae0eb16e5f">news.com.au</a> video: “Many people come to this place [Uluru] and often, they think it’s just a place. A site in the landscape. “What they don’t realise is that it’s full of Tjukurpa, our ancient traditional law.” People are realising that there are consequences when they take unsolicited souvenirs from Uluru. Parks Australia have said that they’re becoming overwhelmed with the number of letters and packages they receive from people around the world experiencing bad luck. “The practice of taking the rocks in the first place must stop. We can’t actually do anything with the returned materials,” a spokeswoman from Parks Australia said. An Australian author, Tim the Yowie Man, has recognised this phenomenon in his new book, Haunted: Mysterious Australia. “Hundreds of visitors from all over the world are returning their illegal caches of rock and sand … often after experiencing bad luck attributed to their souvenirs – the curse of Uluru,” the book has said. Under Anangu law governing life and land, there are consequences for disrespecting the land. This has been confirmed by Parks Australia. There are also fines in place. Tourists who are caught trying to take rocks or sand from the park can expect to receive a fine of up to $8500. Have you ever visited Uluru? Let us know in the comments below.

Domestic Travel

Is the mobile phone a blessing or a curse?

“I can’t live without my mobile phone!” is what I often hear people say as they lament about how mobiles have become an indispensable part of their lives. The blurring of personal and work lives brought about by the device are posing challenges to many. The all so common sight of heads bent, eyes staring intently at mobile screens and fingers busy tapping away repeats itself across major cities around the world. Whenever there is a moment to spare while on the train, taxi or waiting in a queue, people busy themselves with their mobile devices. Some even confess to checking in with their phones while out on a date! Such unhealthy obsession with mobile devices is disrupting how we appreciate the little things in life or miss the moments that matter. The truth is that technology overall should be seen as a tool to enhance our way of living and not as a backfill for the good things that we as humans naturally enjoy. Mobile phones have certainly made a significant impact on our lives, but I truly believe it’s for the better. It’s changed the way we communicate, whether for work or play. We are now less constrained by time and geographical location. With my mobile device, I can dial into conference calls while stuck in a traffic jam, or reply to urgent e-mails while on the go. I can send a text message or share photos and videos with friends who aren’t living in the same country. My phone calendar keeps my life organised, and even Facebook, Twitter, and instant messaging are now accessible from mobile devices! Smartphones are more than just a means to stay connected; they are also a key source of entertainment. The game of Snake was one of the first mobile games that I got hooked on way back in the 1990s. Today, the market’s flooded with mobile apps – we’re so spoilt for choice! And it’s not just games. There are apps to help you find your way around literally anywhere, apps that let you listen to your favourite music, apps to book cinema or concert tickets, and even apps that teach the alphabet to toddlers. The mobile revolution isn’t just changing the lives of urbanites like myself. I know of a young Bangladeshi woman named Shompa Akhter who has a passion for fashion and design. She dreamt about starting her own business and she did just that, opening a boutique in Kushtia featuring her own creations. Dealing with suppliers in different towns was a hassle for Shompa – purchase orders had to either be hand delivered or mailed out to suppliers. Shompa also found it tough publicising her business to potential customers outside her town. Before using a mobile phone, Shompa had never heard of e-mails! The technology intimidated her and she was sceptical about how a mobile phone and e-mail could help her business. But once she got the hang of it, she was hooked. Mobile e-mail is a blessing in her life. The 25-year-old entrepreneur now stays in touch easily with her suppliers. I hear inspiring stories like Shompa’s from so many other countries. Teachers, like Edna Cas and Imelda Pontejos from Ligao East Central School in the Philippines, have brought lessons to life in the classrooms by downloading multimedia content via smartphones using the Text2Teach programme and linking it to television screens to show to their students. Farmers, like Edi Sugara Purba in North Sumatra, Indonesia now have access to weather information critical to crops. With the information gained through his mobile phone, Edi can quickly decide how to best protect the coffee and oranges he grows. He also gets information on crop prices to help him negotiate better and decide on how to price his crops competitively. Who would have thought that mobility could effect such monumental change? It shouldn’t really be a surprise though. Information is empowering. Just ask Shompa, Edna and Edi. Still, close to six billion mobile phone users don’t own a smartphone. Another 3.2 billion people don’t own a mobile device at all. The mobile revolution is here but there are still many out there who have yet to experience its benefits. We’ve only just begun. Written by Neil Gordon. This article first appeared in <a href="http://www.readersdigest.com.au/true-stories-lifestyle/science-technology/mobile-phone-blessing-or-curse">Reader’s Digest.</a> For more of what you love from the world’s best-loved magazine, <a href="http://readersdigest.innovations.com.au/c/readersdigestemailsubscribe?utm_source=over60&utm_medium=articles&utm_campaign=RDSUB&keycode=WRA87V">here's our best subscription offer.</a> <img style="width: 100px !important; height: 100px !important;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7820640/1.png" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/f30947086c8e47b89cb076eb5bb9b3e2" />

Technology

The bleeping weird origins of the most common curse words

They’re words we hear (or even say) all the time, but did you ever stop to wonder where expletives came from and why they’re so taboo? Well, we decided it was time to find out. Here, we’re delving into the history behind some of the English language’s most controversial words. 1. Crap Starting with a fairly innocuous one, “crap” comes from the Middle Dutch word “krappe”, meaning “to cut off”. In the 15th century, however, it became a word we more commonly use to describe something that’s “nonsense” or as a slightly less flithy version of the next word. 2. Sh** This swear word dates back all the way to the 1500s, when it was mostly used to describe an “obnoxious person”. It comes from the Middle Dutch word “schiten” and the Middle English word “sh*ten” meaning – you guessed it – to defecate. It wasn’t until around the 1920s that we began using it to describe things we couldn’t care less about (e.g. “I don’t give a sh**”), and since then, it’s evolved dozens of different uses, including to describe things we don’t like, agree with or believe in (“that’s bullsh**”). 3. B*tch It’s one of the most disrespectful words ever used to describe a woman, but you might be surprised to learn b*tch is one of our oldest words, dating back to the year 1000. Originating from the Middle English word “bicche”, we all know it means “female dog”. However, it wasn’t used to describe a lewd woman until the 1800s, when it was considered even more offensive than the word “whore”. 4. The F word The origins of this profanity are a little murky, but from what we do know, it’s safe to say it’s been considered a vulgar word for centuries – its root word in Middle Dutch (meaning to copulate with someone) was banned from the dictionary when it originated. Though first seen written around 1500, the current use of the F word didn’t come about until the 1900s.

Books

Is Barack and Michelle Obama's new home cursed?

Since saying goodbye to the White House, Barack and Michelle Obama have applied to live at an apartment at 10 Gracie Square on New York City’s Upper East Side. The apartment the Obamas are interested in sits in the $10-$12 million range and they have to wait until the co-op board approves them. Although the apartment is a prestigious piece of real estate, the building also has a dark history. A number of high-profile suicides have occurred at this address, including the suicide of author Jean Stein, daughter of entertainment mogul Jules Stein. At the time of her death, Jean was believed to be worth nearly $50 million. In 1988, 23-year-old Carter Cooper, brother to CNN news anchor Anderson Cooper and son of Gloria Vanderbilt, jumped to his death. A notorious murder plot also took place in this building. Auto parts magnate Franklin Bradshaw’s daughter, Frances Schreuder, planned to have her father killed so she could access her inheritance. Frances had many failed attempts, including hiring a hitman and poisoning her father’s breakfast. She then recruited her son, Marc Schreuder, to disguise himself as a burglar and shoot his grandfather. In 1978, they successfully carried out the plot. Two years later, Marc was arrested and convicted of murder. In 1982, police showed up at Frances' door and she tried to escape by climbing out the window. She was later found guilty of capital murder and served 13 years in prison. Would you still move into a building with a history like this? Let us know in the comments below.

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