Most people do not really want freedom, because freedom involves responsibility, and most people are frightened of responsibility.
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Now you can listen to some of Mindforums’ favorite music while you browse through the site, if you go to the Music page on the right hand side of the site menu!!.
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“There is nothing that art cannot express” ~ Oscar Wilde
What would you like to express with art?
T
he Wall Street Journal and The New York Times, two of the most puissant media outlets, informed us of the new experimental HIV Vaccine that inflamed the hopes of many.
“An experimental vaccine regimen has shown a modest ability to protect people exposed to the HIV virus, the first time an investigational HIV vaccine has been shown to have this effect. The results from the trial, which involved more than 16,000 adult participants in Thailand, indicated that the vaccine regimen lowered the rate of contracting HIV by 31% compared with those taking a placebo, according to the U.S. National Institute of Health, which helped fund the study” (Gautam Naik, WSJ).
Out of the 8,198 people who received a placebo drug, 74 became infected with HIV.
Out of the other 8,198 people who received the real vaccine, 51 got affected.
I rejoiced to see the following article in CNN’s Health Care in America commentary: “Drinking age of 21 doesn’t work.” Finally a sensible statement about the issue. The 21-year-old drinking age has not been an effective solution to the problem of drunk driving, or alcohol-related deaths among young adults. Not only is it ineffective, it might actually pose more risks for young people.
Allow me a moment to express my bewilderment of the media and, more specifically television and reality shows.
Almost all cable channels are adulterated with at least one ‘Reality show’ which portrays a reality that cannot be further from the actual world. And even if the portrayal is realistic, don’t we have enough reality in out lives – every minute of every day?! Come on, do you really have to hurry to your TV set in order to see ‘The Real Housewives’? If you are not one yourself, talk to your neighbor. She has 6 kids, too and she is a real housewife! Ask about her life. Ask her what it all feels like. It doesn’t get any more real that that.
About 50% of first marriages for men under age 45 may end in divorce, and between 44 and 52% of women’s first marriages may end in divorce for these age groups.
Rose M. Kreider and Jason M. Fields, “Number, Timing, and Duration of Marriages and Divorces: 1996″, U.S. Census Bureau Current Population Reports, February 2002, p. 18.
What do these numbers tell us?
My interpretation is that marriage is no longer the rock-solid and unyielding sacrament it was invented to be. Yes – invented. Holy matrimony and monogamy, for that matter, are human creations that made a lot a sense in a brutish and nasty world, where one faced a myriad of enemies and hardships. However, that was a totally different time: in 1900 the average lifespan was 47 years; in 2000 it is 77. In the past, many men lost their wives to childbirth and getting remarried was very common. Fortunately, short life and perilous delivery are no longer the norm. So, are we unreasonable in expecting monogamy to work for all of us, all the way through our long life?
When was the last time you stood under the naked skies and gazed at the stars? How often does this happen to you? Let me guess, not too often? Why?
Among other reasons,our skies have turned into a haze of light. And the stars? We don’t see them anymore, at least not so often.
This is due to Light Pollution – any type of artificial light that shines outward and upward instead of downward, where it is actually needed. One might wonder how could this be pollution and how serious could it be, but it is an increasingly growing problem, whose real consequences we are only beginning to understand.
It seems that many of the global problems humanity is facing are due to the fact that our home, Earth, is being overpopulated. Since the Industrial Revolution, the world population has increased its size dramatically. While longevity is on the rise and the overall quality of life has improved significantly, we are far from eradicating hunger, crime, pollution, abuse and neglect. For a large portion of the world population, one or all of the above are a daily reality.
Reactive Attachment Disorder (RAD) is characterized by considerably disturbed and inappropriate social interaction, across situations, that is manifested before the age of five (DSM-IV-R). Evidence for the disorder is usually seen in continuous failure to respond appropriately in social situations (being hypervigilant, inhibited, or ambivalent) and/or inability to develop and exhibit selective attachment to primary caregiver(s) (DSM-IV-R). The causes for the disturbed behavior in Reactive Attachment are associated with the developmental stages of Infancy and Early childhood, when pathogenic care can have profound and lasting effects. DSM-IV outlines three aspects of pathogenic care that explain the disturbance in normal development and behavior: persistent disregard for the child’s physical and emotional needs, as well as repeated changes of primary caregiver and/or surroundings. The connection between pathogenic care and disrupted behavior is compelling and reminds of the critical importance of nurture and effective parenting. Many psychologists have studied in depth child development during the first years of life and reveal that this is an extremely sensitive period for both physical and emotional development and maturation. It is a critical time for cultivating attachment, social skills, developing empathy and understanding basic values.
Prozak (fluoxetine) is among the Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs), aka. second-generation antidepressants. As all SSRIs, Prozak blocks the reuptake transporter for serotonin, preventing it from being taken back to the axon terminal. Since this transporter is blocked, serotonin remains in the synaptic cleft for long periods, continuing to have its effect on the postsynaptic neuron. Although this effect takes place very quickly, depression symptoms take long periods to be alleviated. This phenomenon is not fully understood, but it’s interesting to note that Prozak increases the production of new neurons in the hippocampus – a limbic structure that is very vulnerable to stress-induced damage. Therefore, it is suspected that this renewal in the hippocampus is exactly the reason behind this antidepressant’s effect.