Humanity Trumps Gender/Sexual Identity

Transgender Americans are finding increasing support for their gender identities in unusual places: the so-called red states. In a small Colorado city, parents and the school administration were initially upset with the transition of a student's gender from boy to girl, but other students were not.

But on the first day of school, nothing happened. No flood of calls, no angry protests, and no bullying. Michelle was "happy and shocked" that M.J.'s classmates seemed to get it. When one student made a mocking comment to another using M.J.'s former name, one eighth-grade boy dismissed him with a simple insight. "That person doesn't even exist anymore," he said. "You're talking about somebody who's imaginary."

This proud Coloradan was trying to describe the culture to a friend over dinner tonight. She had no baseline understanding at all, I was the second one of my kind she'd ever met. Unlike our closest-culture-cousin: San Franciscans, there are fewer of us. And fewer still leave. And the majority of those return in a handful of years. So i feel tasked, as one of the few out there, to proclaim, matter-of-factly: Colorado is awesome. That is all.

Ant City = Awe Inspiring

Scientists poured 10 tons of concrete into a mature ant colony, waited for it to harden and spent weeks excavating the results.

Insects generally make me squeamish, as does the booming narrative voice in the clip, but this is definitely worth a look. The structure covers 538 sq feet and travels 26 feet into the earth. In its construction the colony hauled 40 tons of soil out of the earth, equivalent to the Great Wall of China.



I will never cease to be amazed at the complexity of nature, nor its uniquely simple, efficient & utilitarian methods.

Psychopaths, Con Men & Human Nature

Pop culture has warped the reality of nearly all social conditions & behaviors. In particular, we tend to either glorify or simplify those that deviate from "normal" human nature.

Psychopaths: The Unburdened Mind

“I don’t think I feel things the same way you do.”
The man sits at the table in the well-fitted attire of success—charming, witty, and instantly likeable. He is a confident, animated speaker, but he seems to be struggling with this particular point. His name is Frank, and he is a psychopath.

In the public imagination, a "psychopath" is a violent serial killer or an over-the-top movie villain, as one sometimes might suspect Frank to be. He is highly impulsive and has a callous disregard for the well-being of others that can be disquieting. But he is just as likely to be a next-door neighbor, a doctor, or an actor on TV—essentially no different from anyone else who holds these roles, except that Frank lacks the nagging little voice which so profoundly influences most of our lives. Frank has no conscience. And as much as we would like to think that people like him are a rare aberration, safely locked away, the truth is that they are more common than most would ever guess.
(via DamnInteresting.com)

Con Men: How To Cheat At Everything

It's an amazing paradox--a con man has incredible emotional insight, but without the burden of compassion. He must take an intense interest in other people, complete strangers, and work to understand them, yet remain detached and uninvested. That the plan is to cheat these people and ultimately confirm many of their fears cannot be of concern.

Con men tend to be excellent conversationalists. "Many men kissed the Blarney Stone," Mr Lovell likes to say, "a con man has swallowed it." A con man puts a victim at ease by telling a story that reveals his own rather similar anxieties, thereby forging a "mutual understanding" of sorts.

"Now you can prey on their emotions and do evil--because con men are evil, undeniably so," Mr Lovell says. He smirks, admitting pride in past cons.

Just then we are interrupted by our waiter. Mr Lovell notes his British accent, immediately parroting it. The waiter, it turns out, is from north-west London, and the conversation turns to a lively discussion of Watford football. Once the waiter is out of sight, Mr Lovell explains: "You must have an encyclopaedic knowledge of odd bits of trivia and use these facts to win people over."

The reality is not so dramatic, in fact it's quite simple: these people merely combine the desire to please with the ability to manipulate. Perhaps we dramatize these characters because it'd be unpleasant to recognize these frightfully common traits at the table next to us. Or, to some degree, in ourselves.

Back at lunch, our waiter returns with a complimentary round of drinks and free desserts, beaming.
(via MoreIntelligentLife.com)

Daydream Believer

Jonah Lehrer on how creativity benefits from a wandering mind.

"If your mind didn't wander, then you'd be largely shackled to whatever you are doing right now," says Jonathan Schooler, a psychologist at the University of California, Santa Barbara. "But instead you can engage in mental time travel and other kinds of simulation. During a daydream, your thoughts are really unbounded."

It is this ability to tune out the present moment and contemplate the make-believe that separates the human mind from every other. "Daydreaming builds on this fundamental capacity people have for being able to project themselves into imaginary situations, like the future," Malia Mason, a neuroscientist at Columbia, says. "Without that skill, we'd be pretty limited creatures."

Our persuasion of children to stop daydreaming and focus might actually be detrimental to their development and society as a whole.

After monitoring the daily schedule of the children for several months, Belton came to the conclusion that their lack of imagination was, at least in part, caused by the absence of "empty time," or periods without any activity or sensory stimulation. She noticed that as soon as these children got even a little bit bored, they simply turned on the television: the moving images kept their minds occupied. "It was a very automatic reaction," she says. "Television was what they did when they didn't know what else to do."

The article continues on to define types of daydreaming and the implications on autism, schizophrenia, and the aging brain.

Early on in my career, right before a pressing deadline, I was caught by my boss surfing the net with a glazed expression. I was flustered, but she smiled and said,

"Thinking is not a linear process."

Thought of the Day

I'm sure you've heard it before: "Quarter Life Crisis". It seems to have become more and more common, as the phrase "Mid-life Crisis" has seemingly found a reprieve from social discussions.

While both are real problems that can cripple the affected, I find myself much less sympathetic to the QLC (as Wikipedia calls it). Why?

"Snap out of it!"

You can say that to the twenty-something regretting their college major, hating their mundane desk-monkey status and boo-hooing their last break-up ("Really, this time, this was the one!"). In fact, i often do. But see, I'd would not and could not say it to the balding 50 year-old with a dead-end job, an ungrateful child and a wife whose vocabulary has whittled down to the essentials for nagging criticism. He wants a fire-red two-seater convertible? Go for it, because frankly, he should be in crisis, his life sucks and he's stuck.

In contrast, sufferers of QLC have their whole lives ahead of them. Regardless of how badly things are going, they have an invaluable luxury in their hands: Time. And with that, Hope.

QLC's anxieties & frustrations should be a catalyst for change, and in that sense: Empowering. You're 27. You work for an imbecile who takes credit for your reports? Switch jobs. You feel bored in your field? Go back to school. You're still fixated on your last "love"? Stop moping and get on with it while you still have your looks. No matter how critical you are while taking inventory of what you have and don't have, here are the facts: You don't have a mortgage. You don't have a family to support. You do have your health. So, snap out of it!

Alright, now i'm off to poison myself with malt beverages while bemoaning my poor choice of university, my sexist pig of a boss, and the hopelessness of true love in Manhattan.

10 Smartest TV Shows

..according to MENSA. Here's the list with comments by MENSA chairman Jim Werdell.

1. "M*A*S*H" – It had smart repartee and was so much more than a comedy.
2. "Cosmos" (with Carl Sagan) – Sagan was able to communicate something extremely complicated to the layman and do it well, and that’s unusual for a scientist at his level.
3. "CSI" — The way they use science to solve their programs is intriguing to viewers.
4. "House" – Again, it’s high level type of show; it’s the personality that makes it a winner, plus it deals with science.
5. "West Wing" – You had to pay attention to stay up with it. The repartee was fast and furious and you needed a fairly high level intelligence to keep up with it.
6. "Boston Legal" – It’s primarily because of the characters. The story lines are okay, but the characters are incredible and the writers give them great dialogue.
7. "All in the Family" – The show dealt with social issues before its time and was on the forefront of trying to show people’s feelings, beliefs and the complexities of personality, in both a serious and comedic way.
8. "Frasier" – The repartee was sensational; the main characters were very good. Even though they portrayed people who were likely of high intelligence, they also showed their weaknesses.
9. "Mad About You" – It’s a personal favorite, I loved the characters and the back and forth. It was very smart.
10. "Jeopardy" – It’s about the only game show that really tries to test people’s intelligence. There’s very little luck involved, and there are few game shows like that. I don’t watch it all that much honestly, but from what I’ve seen it tests more than knowledge, it tests intelligence too

.

I'm pleased to find "Boston Legal" on the list, it's grossly under-rated in my opinion. Here's a clip:

The New Yorker- Full Edition

For the first time (or by mistake), the entire issue of the latest New Yorker is available online. Usually they leave more than a handful of articles off so's to encourage you to shell out the bucks at the newstand.

The New Yorker, September 8, 2008 edition.
I highly recommend the profile of Alec Baldwin by Ian Parker, titled "Why Me?"
My favorite 30-Rock clip below, which does justice to the genius of Alec Baldwin.

Urinal Targets

The good people at GOOD Magazine talk about tricking people into doing the right thing. We are all, how you say, "nudge-able" and GOOD compiled a shortlist of "carefully planned nudges" that effectively curb teenage pregnancy and help smokers quit.

Stop men from peeing on the floor. Authorities at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam have etched the image of a black housefly into each urinal. It seems that men usually do not pay much attention to where they aim, which can create a bit of a mess. But if you give them a target, they can’t help but try to hit it. Similar designs have been implemented in urinals around the world, including mini soccer goals, bulls-eyes, and urine video games (seriously). Do they work? Since the bugs were etched into the airport urinals, spillage has decreased by 80 percent.

Cow & Boy

Joe Biden

Our newly announced potential VP is obviously:

• a Democrat
• a long-term Senator
• a skilled public speaker

If you want to learn more about him, might i suggest you click HERE? The website tracks his historical votes on all issues: international and domestic, economic and social. Yes, i'm sending you to an embarrassingly sophomoric site (visually and organizationally), but the content there is impartial and comprehensive, which is a rarity these days.

Chick Flicks...

.. according to Sarah Haskins. Must watch till the end, heh.

"You have seen them all before. But you will see them all again."

Thought of the Day

Hi there, enraptured reader. *Wave to myself* Yes, i'm back after a slight hiatus for no good reason. I've been generally neglectful of life activities and its participants. But this blog can't feel too bad, because blogs don't have feelings. The creature that's sprung up from my neglected dishes, however, has evolved complex emotions and is heckling me as i type.

Merriam-Webster defines cliché as:

1: a trite phrase or expression; also : the idea expressed by it
2: a hackneyed theme, characterization, or situation
3: something (as a menu item) that has become overly familiar or commonplace

Duh, people try to avoid them. But i've been thinking: Cliché are clichés for a reason. Repetition is a prerequisite, so why would we repeat something that didn't resonate? I actually disagree with the definition by Merriam-Webster, it's only the last line (#3) that's key. A cliché is not trite by nature, but made so by becoming overly familiar or commonplace. Let me put it another way- the word cliché is by no means a synonym for trite or hackneyed. I mean, when someone says something trite, i'd call it stupid, ignorant or umm... trite. The c-word would never come to mind unless I'd heard it before, a lot, and in those words.

So, i think clichés have gotten a bad rep. In rebellion, i thought i'd share my favorites. I find them neither trite nor hackneyed...unless Merriam-Webster defines either of those words as "True, simply true."

• Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
• The apple doesn't fall too far from the tree.
  
• Women: you can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em.
  
• Don't count your chickens before they're hatched.
• The bell doesn't un-ring quite so loudly.
  
• If you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen.
• All's fair in love and war.
• Everybody hurts sometime.
• New York: if I can make it here, I can make it anywhere.
  
• Breaking up is hard to do.
• Stay forever young.
• It's my party and I'll cry if I want to.
  
• Oops I did it again.

Oh, oops, the last couple might be pop song lyrics. But i think it goes with the spirit of this post.

Q: How do you get into any club?

A: By pretending you're a DJ.

"I've got my headphones, my ironic sunglasses, my ironic hoodie, and of course, my DJ bag."

After conquering a range of clubs, Nicholas and AJ try their luck at:

• Taking over international concerts
• Cutting the line at ATM machines
  
• Skipping bridge tolls
• Getting into Parliament House
• Taking the bus for free

How could they not try the stint on some ladies?!

Obama Wants to Text You

...who his VP running mate will be. Text VP to 62262 to receive the update on your mobile phone. Or fill out this form.

O-Obama, you so kewl. Wait, hmm, didn't the Pope do it first?

Eating like an Olympian

The Michael Phelps Diet amounts to about 12,000 calories a day. For context, an average joe takes in 2,200-2,800.

Here we go then: The Michael Phelps Diet for Health, Happiness and More Olympic Gold Medals Than Anyone Else Ever. We'll ignore, momentarily, the fact that the best swimmer the world has seen stands 6ft 4in tall, has a wingspan - fingertip to fingertip - of 6ft 7in, and weighs in at 192lb. We'll ignore also the fact that he spends most of his life in a pool, swimming at least 50 miles a week very fast indeed, and the rest of it in a gym. We'll ignore, finally, the fact that I am not quite as big as him, and do not, most days, get quite as much exercise.

I am going to see what it is like to eat what Michael Phelps eats in a day.

What happens with a Guardian journalist tries to replicate it? You got it- nausea. Lots of it.

Christian the Lion

Tissue, please.



A lovely article with more backstory can be found here.

Thought of the Day

"Truth hurts," they say. I ask- why, why does the truth hurt?

Is it because we're not used to it?

We spin layers of lies around us like a protective cocoon; we turn a blind eye to the unpleasant & unpalatable. Moreso than the previous ages, we now cling to ignorance, not as a result of limitations (in information, science, communication), but as a choice.

I'm not judging. There's a reason we do this: to survive.

"To be acutely conscious is a disease, a real, honest-to-goodness disease."
-Dostoevsky, Notes from Underground

Mitch Hedberg Stand-up

"I'm saved by the buoyancy of citrus!"



The best thing he ever said:

"You know, I'm sick of following my dreams, man. I'm just going to ask where they're going and hook up with 'em later."

BBC Documentary on Cannabis

From Mind Hacks:

"I've uploaded a fascinating video clip where a TV presenter is intravenously injected with the active ingredients of cannabis as part of the BBC documentary Should I Smoke Dope?.

It's part of an experiment to compare the effects of intravenous THC and cannabidiol combined, with intravenous THC on its own. The mix of both gives the presenter a pleasant giggly high while THC on its own causes her to become desolate and paranoid.

Both are these are known to be key psychoactive ingredients in cannabis but the video is interesting as it is a reflection of the fact that THC has been most linked to an increased risk of developing psychosis while cannabidiol seems to have an antipsychotic effect."

Me, myself and i

Why do we capitalize the word "I"?

There’s no grammatical reason for doing so, and oddly enough, the majuscule “I” appears only in English.

Consider other languages: some, like Hebrew, Arabic and Devanagari-Hindi, have no capitalized letters, and others, like Japanese, make it possible to drop pronouns altogether. The supposedly snobbish French leave all personal pronouns in the unassuming lowercase, and Germans respectfully capitalize the formal form of “you” and even, occasionally, the informal form of “you,” but would never capitalize “I.” Yet in English, the solitary “I” towers above “he,” “she,” “it” and the royal “we.” Even a gathering that includes God might not be addressed with a capitalized “you.”

Fascinating. For nearly two decades now, my person writings have utilized an uncapitalized "i".

e. e. cummings

i carry your heart

i carry your heart with me (i carry it in

my heart) i am never without it (anywhere

i go you go, my dear; and whatever is done

by only me is your doing, my darling)

i fear

no fate (for you are my fate, my sweet) i want

no world (for beautiful you are my world, my true)

and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant

and whatever a sun will always sing is you


here is the deepest secret nobody knows

(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud

and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows

higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)

and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart


i carry your heart (i carry it in my heart)

Sir David Attenborough on the Orangutan

Must watch.

Irony

I just used a book to smash a fly to death.
Name of the book?
Buddha.

The Earth is Flat

Flat-earthers are people who believe, here in the 21st century, that the earth is flat. (Believers in a round earth are called globularists.)

I checked around, and this doesn't seem to be a joke. Are you as frightened as I am?

From the Flat-earth FAQ:

Q: "Why are other celestial bodies round but not the Earth?"

A: The Earth is not one of the other planets. The Earth is special and unlike the other bodies in numerous ways.

Q: "What's underneath the Earth?" aka "What's on the bottom?" aka "What's on the other side?"

A: This is unknown. Some believe it to be just rocks, others believe the Earth rests on the back of four elephants and a turtle.

They unfortunately do not address my subsequent question:
Are the animals distributed evenly across the bottom or stacked like a mini Jenga? If so, I feel sorry for the turtle.

The i-Rack

Still one of my favorite skits, ever.

World's Oldest Tree

...is nearly 10,000 years old!

Age 13

Dear Prince,

My hair is very short,
I don't live high up
at the top of some
castle,
And I don't need
the
rescue.

Just
ride
your
blue
bike
down
my street and
ring the bell
this Saturday.

We can
chase
those
dragons
to
gether.

- Your Potential Princess

Thought of the Day

When you get down to it, all religions are employed to define and direct us to be an outstanding human citizen.

The fundamental difference between western religions (Christianity, Catholicism, etc.) and eastern religions (Buddhism, Taoism, etc.) is simply:

The former motivates on fear: if you're not good you'll go to hell. While the latter motivates by...well, nothing really. Sure, there's something to strive for- enlightenment, nirvana- but none of those endpoints are described to be particularly pleasant or lovely.

Basic Divergences:

• God: The first 4 commandments dictate a single and transcendent God, for which there is "no other". In the west, you'd have to say there is no God (for anyone can achieve the topmost level of nirvana) or there are countless (depending on location or situation). There's no concept of a God that's all powerful, since each one is limited by area of expertise.
  I like to think of these folks as "specialized".
• Consequences: In eastern religions, there is no such thing as punishment. That's not to say actions don't have consequences, that's addressed by the concept of karma. According to Wikipedia, "Through the law of karma, the effects of all deeds actively create past, present, and future experiences, thus making one responsible for one's own life, and the pain and joy it brings to him/her and others." Essentially, I should not kill my neighbor because at the end, I have to answer to myself and the reality of my deed. Based on western teachings, I will not kill my neighbor because God would smite me down.
  Now which of those motivations is more viscerally powerful? Err, I plead the 5th.
  
• Transience: Of course, all religions must establish a sense of permanence, which gives the practitioner a sense of comfort and value beyond the immediate. However, the eastern teachings eliminate transience (for better or worse) more thoroughly than the west. "Carpe diem!" is a neat inspirational catchphrase, but humans generally can not live in the moment, cling to a sense of self-grandeur, and cower before the transience of existence. Both types of religions employ "the soul" as a permanent fixture beyond time and flesh & bones. However, eastern practices establishes a permanence to one's actions (see Wiki quote above) through time. To me, it seems a bit harsh to bear the consequences of any deed for the duration of all existence. But what's the alternative? Western religions employ the concept of "confession", which has no statute of limitations. Theoretically, you may live an entire lifetime in sin, but on your deathbed you can "repent and be forgiven".
  I can't help but think about a court of law (they do both call it judgment). In our legal system, a confession made in duress and significant emotional distress is labeled coerced and thrown out. Now, wouldn't you say that laying on one's deathbed is emotionally distressing? Or at least you'll have to give me this: the threat of eternal damnation is a damn good (pun intended) coercion technique.
  
• Goals: If I live according to the western teachings, I will be rewarded with heaven, a place of perfect goodness, "…a place of light, a place of green pasture, a place of repose, whence all sickness, sorrow and sighing are fled away for all eternity." If I abide by the eastern standards, I can hope for a transient reprieve from the suffering of life (Samsara), after which my karma will rebirth me into a human, animal or other being. Gee, how gracious.
  

Good God, I'm going to hell or coming back as a dung-beetle for writing this entry.

Foodie-llectualism

Illuminating talk by Mark Bittman about food.

Coming from an adamant carnivore, this is still worth chewing on.