Amongst spoon-feeding us with information, one thing that most schools fail to teach is how to think. How does one think rationally and at the same time, outside the box? Well, Daniel Dennett, being one of the world’s most foremost thinkers himself has seven top tips for thinking and arguing.
1.) Use your Mistakes. In his own words, our past’s stupidity must be appreciated as a new pillar of wisdom. We are privileged to be the only species that can think about the mere act of thinking and contemplate on our past so use this ability wisely.
2.)Respect your opponent. A successful critical commentary does involve pointing out contradicts and logical flaws but you should also list any points of agreement and mention what you’ve learnt from your opponent.
3.)The “Surely Klaxon”. According to Dennet, the use of certain words such as “surely” in any argument is as good as a weak point. In other words, if the person was really sure that the readers or audience agree, then the word wouldn’t be used.
4.) Answer rhetorical questions. We all know that rhetorical questions are not meant to be answered so you can imagine how much it would put your opponents out of their place if you did indeed answer them. So whenever you come across a rhetorical question, try to find an unobvious answer in your head.
5.)Employ Occam’s razor. Very simply; do not go with the unnecessarily complicated argument when you have a simpler one that works.
6.)Don’t waste your time on rubbish. Indeed, A lot of undistinguished work exist in every field whether it is science or art. Either go after the good stuff or leave it alone.
7.) Beware of deepities. This is any statement that appears to be true and meaningful but is only so because of its ambiguous nature. These can be difficult to pick up and analyze but great thinkers must always be wary of them.
That was just a brief summary but to read about all the seven tips in detail click on the image.
What is love from a biological perspective? The answer is more fascinating than you think.
Could leadership skills be genetic?… or at least partially genetic? Well, scientists at University College London have discovered that the presence of a specific gene may increase the chances of an individual having a leadership role at work. This was after analyzing 4000 people’s DNA to find that the gene rs4950 increased their chances by 25% , which frankly speaking, is not a very convincing statistic. But it future studies do reveal a more impressive correlation, then there’s nothing stopping Employers, from one day, running tests on applicants.
I absolutely love how innovative Google’s Project Glass is! As if all their current developments weren’t exciting enough, Google has recently revealed how Project Glass wearers will also be able to listen to audio without headphones. Instead, the company plans to pass sound waves directly to your ear by means of bone conduction which will be created by an electromechanical transducer.
Bacteria may be some of the more simpler life forms on this planet but that doesn’t make them any less fascinating. What particularly intrigues me about these living things is their capacity to survive almost anywhere! This includes some of the most hostile regions of our planet such as the Antarctic lakes and deep see volcanic vents.
If that wasn’t enough, scientists have now found microbes amongst the freezing temperatures of the atmosphere where food is scarce and exposure to UV light is high. The 314 different types found not only tell us that they may have a significant role to play in the atmosphere but also how easily life can evolve and adapt. If life forms such as bacteria can exist in some of the most alien and hostile regions of our planet, whats to say that they wont elsewhere in the universe?
Book Review : Dark Universe by Daniel F.Galouye
Imagine what it would be like to live in a world of utter darkness. Even worse, Imagine an entire society having to live, prosper and advance without access to the sense of sight.
That’s exactly the kind of world Daniel F.Galouye very beautifully creates in this book. Without the use of any visual imagery whatsoever, he gives us reader a terrifyingly prophetic look at the future of humankind. In a post-apocalyptic world where humans have built a society in the dark underground, Jared, the son of the leader of the lower level embarks on a quest for light, which is remembered by his people merely as something holy. Little does he know what exactly it is that he’s looking for.
This thrilling tale will captivate you and indeed, open your eyes and free you from the dark world you may not know you are living in. Its unlike anything I’ve ever read so far.
Some staggering images of Auroras from the past two months. These stunning lights, as seen from the Northern and Southern hemispheres, have inspired and stunned photographers, poets and scientists for hundreds of years. The breathtaking showcase of lights seen are caused by clouds of charged particles from the sun that are funneled down to the poles along the earth’s magnetic field lines. They hit and collide with particles in our earth’s atmosphere, transfer their energy and make the air molecules glow like neon lights.
“A mind made for mating”; A real cinematic espresso shot!
A person or patient who is delusional is someone with an immutable, persistent and most importantly, false belief in something that has absolutely no basis in reality. They resist all arguments and evidence that they are wrong and blindly remain fixed on their delusion. There are five main types of delusions seen by psychiatrists.
The first one is what they call an “Erotomanic” delusion and it is when a person believes that another person is seriously and romantically in love with them. It’s very often a Hollywood star or a superior at work. Normal people who are suspicious of someone having a crush on them may do very little but patients with an Erotomatic delusion utilize a great deal of time and energy contacting their delusional lover via emails, visiting and stalking them.
Then there’s the “Grandiose” delusion and it’s when a person believes that they are special and have extraordinary unparalleled abilities or have made a significant discovery, when they in fact have done neither. These delusions may sometimes lead the person to feel that they are a prominent person with special relationship with others or may even be religious, leading to believe that they have a unique connection with a diving being.
Next is the “Jealous” delusion or the unsubstantiated belief that a partner is being unfaithful. People with this delusion often hire a private detective and in worse cases, attempt to imprison their partner as well as verbally and physically assault them.
Fascinatingly, The most common type of delusion is a “persecutory” one where the person strongly believes that someone or a group is conspiring against them. They are often very indignant and scornful for they believe that they are being cheated, spied on, harassed, gossiped about or even poisoned and drugged. Many attempt to take legal measures but fail to proved evidence to authorities regarding their claims. In extreme cases, they get vicious and aggressive towards people whom they wrongly suspect is targeting them.
The last one is the “Somatic” delusion and is not very different to an intriguing disorder known as the Body Dismorphic Disorder. Here, the individual is deluded to believe that his or her body is strange and not functioning properly. This delusion can come in many different types, sometimes is the consistent belief that one smells odd and other times that a particular part of the body is misshaped. In most cases, however, people believe that they may have some internal bug, insect or parasite that is affecting a specific part of the body regardless of medical examinations proving otherwise.
Unfortunately, the causes of these delusions, in particular the extreme ones, still remain a mystery. Various studies have pointed to different biological features of the brain being associated with such disorders including the basal ganglia and neo-cortex. Some researches have found stastical evidence that there is a genetic basis for delusions, as so many patients seem to have first-degree relatives with related disorders. Others have pointed to the fact that many with the disorder have had difficult and often abusive childhood.
Nevertheless, innovations and developments in neuroscience and brain scanning technology leave a lot of hope in unraveling the mysteries of delusions in the near future. It’s astonishing, really, how small minor false beliefs that we all have can develop into such outrageous delusions in some of us.
“Hello. My name is Stephen Hawking: physicist, cosmologist and something of a dreamer. Although I cannot move, and I have to speak through a computer, In my mind I am free.” -Stephen Hawking
Carl Sagan on science, religion and geocentrism. Inspiring and intelligent words by from an inspiring and intelligent man.
“Once we overcome our fear of being tiny, we find ourselves on a threshold of a vast and awesome universe.”
This video blew my mind away! Not only does Stephen Fry bring about the beauty of language beautifully but the animations, too, add a wonderful dimension to it all. I think we’ll all feel a little less guilty about the grammatical errors that we make.
What is a personality? What is it that makes you the distinct individual that you are? There may be over seven billion people on this planet but what are the chances that you will come across an individual with exactly the same personality as you? And i’m talking about someone with identical likes, dislikes, hobbies, passions, emotions, views, beliefs, values, thoughts, tastes and so on. Of course, its not impossible but highly unlikely.
But what is it that determines who we are and the decisions we make? How much control do we really have over who we want to be? I think most of us fail to realize how complex the factors that influence our personalities and characters are. First of all, for instance, there are the influences of society and its values and norms. The beliefs and traditions of the place and society you live in can greatly influence what your own beliefs are. Then there are the influence of your family and I don’t just mean the background you come from. Psychological studies have constantly shown that whether you’re a first child or a last child can by itself influence your personality. Then you have your friends, the peer groups, the type of school you go to or the kind of people you hang out with. These in return can be influence by the social classes and social background you come from which influences the type of opportunities you are give to express and discover yourself. Moreover, there are the social roles and societal expectations. All of these determine the experiences you’ve had which in return shape who are. Then there’s media with the all trends they try to implant into you as a consumer. In addition to all of this, there are the genetic and dispositional factors that also play a huge role. Brain chemistry and the way in which your neurons are constructed in your brain also play a very significant role in who you are.
All of these are just a few examples of all the many factors and influences of your personality which in return is dynamic and changing, especially if you’re still young.
