New Scientific Thing + Geek TV

It's been school holidays for about a week now, and in that time, bugger all has occurred.
So far, I've made it through Season 1 of Merlin, and Season 2 is almost done. All that remains is to finalise a new addition to a philosophic/scientific concept; in this case, the left/right brain theory.

The left/right brain theory (not actual title or official theory) is a concept that a person is either a left-brain or a right-brain type of person, depending on certain personality traits and skills.
The "left" is predominantly logical and analytical, while the "right" side is associated with intuition and creativity. While the left and right hemispheres (or "sides") of the brain do share similar functions as well as certain differences, it is believed by quite a few people that your thought patterns (amongst other  mental characteristics) define you as either "right" or "left" brained.
So with that in mind, some more functions of the "right side" include:

• Recognizing faces
• Expressing emotions
• Music
• Reading emotions
• Colour
• Image

"Left side" functions:

• Logic
• Critical thinking
• Numbers
• Reasoning
• Language

Now that you know all this if you didn't already, here's the thing that boggled my mind the other day;

We know when we first start writing if we're right or left handed. And later on in life, some people discover that they're ambidextrous (able to use both hands equally well). And then there's those people who write like their hands are made of jelly beans.

What if, perhaps, this rule was to apply to brains?

What if some people are right brained, some are left brained, and some are ambidextrous brained (able to use both sides equally well, but with extreme brilliance?), while everyone else has brains made from jelly beans (but they're just called retarded). 

I've Googled "ambidextrous brained", but results about the mental properties of ambidextrous people came up... not anything about ambidextrous brain sides/hemispheres. So maybe I'm onto something?

If you've got anything you'd like to say about brain sides or my potentially innovative theory, let me know in the comments below. 

PS:

I don't know how many of you guys are addicted to geeky/nerd TV and film. But have you, perchance, witnessed the pure amazingness of Merlin????

If yes and you loved it at once; you were born brilliant.

If yes, but you didn't at first; you achieved brilliance.

If you just haven't seen it; brilliance shall hopefully be thrust upon you.

Or maybe you don't like it and weren't destined for brilliance. I suppose that's cool too.

BUT IF YOU'VE GOT BRILLIANCE, then hopefully you'll enjoy the following montage of the best looking people in the history of geek TV. If I've missed anyone, or you demand a sequel, let me know and thy wish is my command. And I may or may not have put in extra pictures of certain people, but it was too painful to leave any out.

(Because Leonard and Penny are televised fictional proof that something as unusual as nerd hooking up with someone "out of their league", can happen. AND THEY'RE SO CUTE IN THIS PIC!)

I definitely think I've missed a few people.... Room for a sequel?

Have a fabulous week, and don't do drugs.

The Deaf Frog Fable

Once upon a time; I was in my Grade 3 classroom. It was a normal schoolday, and the time? Story time. 
We were having a guest reader come in that day, and excitements were brewing. And then the door opened to reveal...
The grandmother of one of our classmates.
She held no book, but instead she held a spiral shell and a glass jar with some dry rice inside, with clingwrap over the opening of the jar.
She sat down in the teacher's special storytelling chair, and she talked to us briefly about deaf people and the condition they suffer from (known as 'deafness'). It was news to most of us, and this new discovery of 'deafness' was beginning to sound a little bit scary and like the end of the world...

She must have sensed our fears, because she smiled and said that there was a story that came with being deaf (not that she suffered from it herself, as we'd come to find out). A breath was taken, and she began to tell us a somewhat disturbing fable that went something like this:

Many years ago, there was a large group of frogs that lived in and around a pond. Amongst them was a deaf frog, and although it took him a while to understand everything; he lived in bliss with the other amphibious residents of the pond. 
One day, he was hopping around the surrounding forest with one of his frog mates, and they both fell into a very deep hole. It was so deep and so dark and so scary to surface dwellers, the other frogs called it Middle Eastern Politics.

Just kidding. But it was still a deep hole, from which escape seemed almost impossible.  The two frogs called out for help, and soon as they heard the cries, the other frogs hopped to it. 
They gathered around the edge of the hole and looked into the depths. After squinting into the darkness, they could sort of see the trapped frogs. 
The panic caused the trapped-and-not-deaf frog to start jumping. And because he thought it was a game, the deaf frog jumped with him too.

"Don't jump!" cried the frogs from the surface. "Escape is impossible! You'll die trying!" (It's well known amongst biologists that frogs are not the most optimistic of amphibians)

So upon hearing the advice from his friends, the trapped-and-not-deaf frog stopped jumping. He sat in the darkness, caught AIDS and died. 

But what of the deaf frog? 
His inability to listen to the advice from his friends was what saved him from death (and AIDS, but they might as well be the same thing). He didn't listen to the advice that told him to "give up" and "stop trying". He carried on jumping until some bright spark from the surface put a big branch into the hole, and he caught on to it, and was then pulled out of the darkness. 

The other frogs and the deaf frog (but not the dead one; because he's the idiot of this story), went back to the pond and had a party. They all (except the dead one 'cause he got AIDS) lived happily ever after, until a Frenchman established a restaurant 10 metres away from the pond. 

THE END

Nice story, eh? It all sounded a bit pointless to the 8 year old me, because I thought that was her way of glorifying being deaf. But now I've aged considerably since hearing it, and I'm now beginning to see some of the sucky things in life that just weren't there for me when I was 8. And upon seeing these sucky things, I think that the fable can be interpreted as this:

The problems we face now are bigger than the ones we had when we were kids. Kids are lucky because they don't have to deal with unemployment, boys that make no sense, 1000 word assignments, careers, the families they make for themselves, or the destruction of rainforests.

So while we can't go back to being a kid (well we can, but at our age it's called immaturity), we have the option of doing this occasionally helpful thing called getting advice from friends/family/the cat. 
And sometimes it can be very, very useful in solving a problem.
But sometimes, their answers may not be what's right for you. Sometimes you have to jump out of the hole yourself, and not listen to the suggestions of others.
That's called stubborn persistence, and that's a virtue that anyone (whether frog or human) can have.
And sometimes, if you never stop trying to persistently fix a problem, one day a breakthrough will be made.

So perhaps we may need to be like a deaf frog (unless the problem is financial) in some situations, and keep on trying no matter what.
Because some unknown genius once said "Victory always comes to the person who refuses to stop fighting". 
And life's not much without a little bit of victory.


PS: In case you were wondering, the spiral shell and the jar of rice were supposed to represent parts of the human ear (yep, I don't get it either).

Shame (Fun Size Post)

What is it about technology that brings out our darker sides? But to put the question in a more expository light; what is it about the Internet that makes us seem to lose any concept of shame? One minute, we can be so petty about keeping things private/secret/concealed. And then the next minute, we get on our computers and then everything is either put on display, or your dark side comes out.

Things like inappropriate/overly intimate photos, innermost and vulgar/rude/racist/hurtful thoughts and all the other things we wouldn't want the world to normally see; are now available 24/7 online.
Offline, you might have the discretion skills of a nun. Offline, you might not believe in stalking someone. Offline, you're yourself.
But online... who do you become? What sort of person is it that types those statuses? Who is the person posting the picture? Who is the person being creepy?

In life, it's inevitable for us to do dumb stuff we will all regret. Whether it's getting a tattoo, or whether it's riding a bike off a cliff to get the disability pension... that's up to you.
Another thing that's supposedly in your control is how you behave online. It's perfectly easy to be a good little boy/girl with Internet usage. There's just a tonne of rules telling you not to do certain stuff.
Listening to those rules is not a matter of life or death, but rather a matter of gradual shame.

And the beautiful thing about the Internet? Whatever rule you break, you always leave a digital footprint in the sands of time. It's hard to wash them away, and you also can't get rid of any duplicate footprints, or the memories in your mind and everyone else's.
If you're going to be shameful, I'd like to say the best place to do that is offline. But seeing as there's cameras on phones nowadays; we might as well just avoid doing things we will regret.
Unfortunately, regret is one of the inevitable elements of life, and without it, stuff is somehow meaningless.
If you're ever going to regret anything then; make sure there's no cameras or Wi-Fi around at the time. Because the shame increases tenfold when it's all online. 

Silver Linings Ratio

Tonight, instead of doing a crucial history assignment, I decided to kick back and watch a movie online (I found the best site ever!), and of all the numerous options, I decided to watch Silver Linings Playbook because:

1. The trailer looked good
2. The plot sounded intriguing
3. IT'S GOT JENNIFER FREAKING LAWRENCE!!!!!!!!!!

With a click, I was sucked into an amazing movie. With characters so flawed and yet so wonderfully full of life, it's hard not to be intrigued. And aside from the soundtrack/the storyline/the happy ending, the best bit about the movie was the moral I learnt from it: every day, no matter how cloudy, the silver linings are what counts. 

It reminds us (in some utterly bonkers way) that when times look dark, we've got to count our blessings. We've got to look at the ratio of blessings to clouds, and be happy that nothing in life is ever really 100% cloudy.

Even when we lose what we thought was the world, the Earth still rotates. Life goes on. The seasons still change. And because Earth's still turning, we can always wake up to a new day. And even though that day may be cloudy with a chance of rain, we can still see the silver linings hidden behind the cloud.

And whilst we're on the topic of movies, I have but two things left to say:

• Does anyone else in this universe agree that Slumdog Millionare was a brilliant movie? 
• Has anyone reading this seen Now You See Me? I'm going to see it soon, and a review/honest opinion would be fabulous and interesting....

Evolution Vs. God (a fun-size post)

A couple of posts back (March 24, 2013), I mentioned that "today is the golden age of atheism". And from that point on, the post was basically about how society shouldn't discard religion in favour of theories.
Also, a couple of days ago, I watched a video called "Evolution Vs. God", which was quite fascinating... Whether you believe in Jesus or primordial ooze, it's something worth watching and discussing.

The synopsis is that it's about the flaws in atheism and how there's evidence for a Creator. People get interviewed, and thoughts get provoked.

~

Tension between atheists and people with a religious belief has occurred since the dawn of man, and not since the formation of Darwin's theory of evolution.
The faults of each 'side' are always brought to light and one person will always leave the argument in a huff.

I dislike arguments about religion. It's one thing for two people of different beliefs to discuss why they believe/don't believe certain stuff, but it's another matter when it escalates to "you're wrong and I'm right."
At the end of the day, your belief might be the right one. But you're not the one in the right if you get arrogant in a religious argument. If you mock their belief; you're the wrong one. If you mock how they rebuke you; you're wrong.
And if you don't acknowledge the fact that all people are equal (whether before God or not); then you're most certainly in need of a good slap.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0u3-2CGOMQ

Watch this, and have a deep think.
Or do both, but also add your thoughts into the comments below.

The James Bond Book Club; reviews 'classics'

"You want weapons? We're in a library. Books! The best weapons in the world!"- The Doctor (S2,"Tooth and Claw).
Whilst I agree with David Tennant's incarnation of The Doctor, I must confess that there is more to books than using them as weapons (but they are very effective); there is much more to be gained.
Through books, you can learn new things, whether they're philosophical or factual or general knowledge.... You can open your mind, and most importantly; you can be easily entertained if you have the patience to read books.
Lately I've been burying myself in 'classics' when I've had a spare moment. I have:

• started 'The Complete Stories of Sherlock Holmes' by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle 
• finished 'Lord of The Flies' by William Golding
• finished 'From Russia With Love' by Ian Fleming
• started 'Pride and Prejudice' by Jane Austen
• started 'Cat Among The Pigeons' by Agatha Christie.

And of all the above, I have to say, I'm most impressed with Sherlock Holmes. Last night was a night devoted to reading "A Scandal In Bohemia".... it was not wasted. 

Yet what struck me as being curiously disappointing was 'From Russia With Love'. I had expected one of the 'best James Bond novels' (according to my librarian) to be more enthralling. James Bond himself is an interesting character, but his neo-sexist tendencies towards women had my inner feminist shaking her head. Plus I don't get how he can just ignore the awesomeness of Miss Moneypenny like that. He knows she exists, and they do have a flirtationship of sorts, but c'mon? How do you ignore a woman like that?

(I've only read one Bond novel, but I've seen Goldfinger, You Only Live Twice and all the Daniel Craig ones.... James Bond really needs to stop his extreme flirting and stay with Moneypenny)

Lord of the Flies was a compulsory read; it was for an English assignment. Unlike most of the books you get assigned to read, Lord of the Flies is actually not bad.  (Unless you compare it to "A Scandal In Bohemia"....)

In any case, LOTF is quite a thought provoking book and well written. Except for those parts where William Golding just goes ON and ON and ON about the scenery. 

And there has been some experimentation with Edgar Allan Poe; 'The Raven' has always been my favourite poem, but after reading 'The Tell Tale Heart' and various other short stories (which can be conveniently found online!), further thought is required. 

So yourself a favour today. Read a book that isn't from the 21st century. Delve into books made before the 1980's and experience literature at its finest.
Seriously, anything like:

• To Kill A Mockingbird- Harper Lee
• Lord of the Flies- William Golding
• Animal Farm- George Orwell
• The diary of Anne Frank- (Anne Frank, obviously)
• Various Austen/Brontë novels- by Jane Austen/the Brontë sisters.
• Those really big books
• War and Peace- Leo Tolstoy

Read any of those and be amazed at how deep people used to be. Cause these days, that kind of intelligence and outlook is hard to find.

Delve into classics of anything. Who needs modern art when the work of Da Vinci is there to admire? Who needs rap music when there is more beautiful instrumentation in 'Danse Macabre'? 

Immerse yourself in pre-21st century things, and your world might just get a little more... sophisticated.