Every commercial I see, I find myself spotting sexism, racism, classism, and homophobia. The media creates these “ideals” that help raise children to believe certain ideas we take for granted every day we live. Not only is it commercials, but the very tv shows, movies, and interactions with peers that perpetuate discrimination. It angers me so much to sit and realize that no one seems to care enough to even bring it up in casual conversation. Rather what I find myself talking about lately are things relatively unimportant. Things like video games, sports, tv, or that new food place you wanted to try.
Perhaps these are things that are typical of an early 20 twenty year old, but to be honest it’s getting old fast. There’s little substance when talking about other people’s lives, or who you think is gonna win the bachelor. This is why whenever I see the opportunity to pose questions people don’t normally find themselves thinking about, I do. These questions are usually posed in such a manner that is responded with a questioning remark or look. They aren’t direct questions about theory, rather they are situational questions that I look to see how people maneuver not only the hypothetical situation I put them in, but how they answer the question itself. Do they fumble? Do they answer quickly and decisively. Do they defer the question to me or to someone else? Do they look for more information? There might be a limited amount of answers, but the amount of responses are infinite. What I can learn is infinite. I can never have enough understanding about any one person. People change, or may not. Either way this knowledge is empowering, and it greatly increase my life satisfaction. Connecting with others is a priority, and after all, we are a social animal. We are living in a technological age which accepts that things like rape and “black face” are going to happen, and we must prepare for the inevitable. This is truly unfortunate, as we should be looking for ways to eliminate them instead. It saddens me knowing that some people will live their lives in darkness because of nothing but fear.
I really love this.
At birth, a baby is not a person, but a potential person. To become a “real” person, the child’s inherent potential must be realized. Unhappiness and frustration are caused by the unrealized potential of a person, leading to failed goals and a poor life. Aristotle said, “Nature does nothing in vain.” Therefore, it is imperative for persons to act in accordance with their nature and develop their latent talents in order to be content and complete. Happiness was held to be the ultimate goal. All other things, such as civic life or wealth, are merely means to the end.
(x)
Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act 3, Scene 2
I took it as meaning that one acts upon one’s judgements and is not hypocritical to themselves and that they don’t bow to what might immediately seem the best, but use their reason, their judgement. But No Fear Shakespeare’s modern translation is,
Blessed are those who mix emotion with reason in just the right proportion, making them strong enough to resist the whims of Lady Luck.
What do you think?
A larger context for the quote can be found here.
(via the-naut)
It goes like this: when the players are out there the game is a sealed arena of interbombarding chance. But when the game is on video then every tiniest action already exists. The past, present, and future exist at the same time: all the tape is there, in your hand. There can be no chance, for every human decision and random fall of the ball is already fated. Therefore, does chance or fate control our lives? Well, the answer is as relative as time. If you’re in your life, chance. Viewed from the outside, like a book you’re reading, it’s fate all the way.
- Ghostwritten by David Mitchell
Tonight is a good wikipedia night. Studying for an environmental studies exam, and there are a few sections that I need to broadly supplement because the teacher is really big on attendance and thus has provided an intentionally vague study guide. Just bouncing around.
Enclosure - fun fact: I never realized that there was a time in which the majority of land was free / commonly owned until I took a class called Black Marxism at UCSB. Professor was really good (Dr. McAuley; I have striking memories of this class because he was one of the most successful employers of the socratic method that I have ever seen - as far as actually getting the class engaged and still steering discussion to provide detailed, relevant info, and LOTS of it); sounds cliche but the class literally changed the way I view the interactions I watch people partake in broadly, everyday (it was also the last fucking straw on the camel’s back for my academic career, at least in Santa Barbara, as it confirmed that all of my worst suspicions about academia and my own background were true).
Bounded Rationality (has me thinking, about Game Theory and how identifying “optimal” scenarios relies on our ability to predict the behavior of others; also about God, because I finished Ghostwritten the other day and one of the stories examines choice / predetermination).
(via sonder-inpravda)
Optogenetics
Optogenetics is the amazing field that combines optics and genetics in order to control events in living cells. First predicted by Francis Crick (yes, THAT Crick) in 1999, a breakthrough came in 2005 when researchers found that mammalian neurons could be targeted and manipulated through this process (Fancy!). Optogenetics depends on manipulating channelrhodopsin, a type of chemical pathway in cells that has the unique ability of being controllable with light. It allows for them to be activated or suppressed when differently colored lights are directed at points on the membrane, changing their chemical balance. One of the most significant results of this is that scientists can selectively fire individual or groups of neurons in the brain with a high degree of accuracy. Sparking a mini-revolution in neurosciences, optogenetics allows the study of specific brain functions, including behavior. Since exploding in 2006, researchers have discovered methods to control the ability for mice to awake from a nap, the speed of eye movements in nonhuman primates, changing of social behaviors (such as angry to friendly) and possibly to teach new cells in the eye to see. The latter is one of the first movements towards therapeutic uses, aiming to improve or return sight to those whose primary sight cells (cones and rods) are dead. Tests on rodents seem to indicate that optogenetics will allow for possible therapies for human brain disorders, but it is unknown if some practices will scale to the complexity of the human brain.
Guest article written by Andrew Kays (ThePublicScience.tumblr.com)
