Tag: blog

Posted in Psychology & Medicine

Gaze

Posted on by Jinavie

A gaze is defined as “to look fixedly, intently, or deliberately at something”, but its true meaning is far deeper than that. In art and psychology, the “gaze” is described as a complex medium of communication between the subject and the object being gazed at. There are many theories as to what the gaze signifies.

A popular explanation is the exertion of dominance by the subject by gazing at an object. In essence, this act objectifies something, such as a painting or a person, placing it on an inferior level relative to the observer. This applies to the concept of the “medical gaze” – where the doctor can see the patient as just an anatomical body, or a holistic being with a soul – or the “male gaze”, which feminists claim to be the tendency for films to objectify women and play to the male audience, providing them with the power and dominance. In this case, the gaze acts as a projection of the viewer, placing himself as a dominant figure indirectly interacting with the female being gazed at in the movie. Although the male gaze itself is questionable, there is no doubt that people tend to project themselves into the characters in a movie through gaze.
This theory explains the uncanny feeling brought on by a gaze, as it gives the impression that you are being defined by someone’s gaze, whilst becoming dominated.

The gaze plays a vital role in the development of babies as they pass through what is called the “mirror stage”. This is when babies first conceive the idea of self, as they see an external image of themselves in the mirror. At this point, the baby’s gaze defines the external image (reflection) while the reflection’s gaze gives the baby an uncanny feeling of “self”.
The concept of the gaze has been well-known throughout history, and is reflected in myths such as the evil eye (that brings bad fortune to those being gazed at) or Medusa (the gorgon who petrifies those who make eye contact with her). Interestingly, the story of Narcissus shows the danger of gaze by misidentifying “self”.

Artists use this concept of gaze effectively by either letting the audience simply gaze at the picture, essentially letting it be defined only when being looked at, or invite the audience in a “conversation” with the painting. This can be achieved when characters in the painting are gazing at the audience, giving the illusion that they can actually see past the two-dimensional plane, gazing into the viewer’s eyes. This produces a strange feeling, while also giving the viewer a heightened appreciation for the painting as he/she feels at level with the painting. 
Furthermore, as the gaze is a two-way conversation, there are also examples of “setting oneself at gaze”. This means that they are exposing themselves to be gazed at, a common example being nude art. Of course, this ties into voyeurism and scopophilia, showing just how complex the meaning behind the word “gaze” can be.

Posted in Science & Nature

Fainting Goat

Posted on by Jinavie

There is a very interesting breed of goats called the Fainting Goat. These goats suffer a genetic condition called myotonia congenita, which produces fascinating yet hilarious situations. When startled by the sudden presence of another animal or even a loud noise, these goats all suddenly freeze and fall to one side. This phenomenon can occur even while running, which causes the goats to crash into the ground, lying on their backs with their legs straight up. This can even occur from the excitement of seeing food and starting to run towards it.

The reason for this peculiar phenomenon is that myotonia congenita damages systems that allow muscles to relax, causing it to become easily excited. Ergo, when a goat is startled, its muscles tense reflexively, causing it to contract suddenly while taking longer to relax. This results in the goat becoming paralysed and falling. Young goats tend to be helpless when this occurs, but more experienced goats prop their legs apart quickly or lean against something to prevent falling (they can even be seen hopping on their stiff legs). These “fainting spells” are painless.

Although this kind of trait is often removed by natural selection (for example, in nature these goats would freeze when they meet a predator, and then proceed to be eaten), humans have bred these goats specifically to save their trait. In old times, these goats were used as “sacrifices” so that they would get eaten first when wolves struck, but nowadays they are bred in certain farms for no particular use. 
Myotonia congenita also affects other animals such as cats, and there are many people in the world affected by this condition too.

Posted in History & Literature

Big Mac Index

Posted on by Jinavie

The Big Mac is McDonald’s poster product, with the key characteristics of two beef patties and three buns. This hamburger has spread to almost every country in the world thanks to globalisation, which allows it to be used in an interesting study in economics.

Although every country’s Big Mac varies in ingredients and nutritional values slightly, they are similar enough to be considered a universal standard. Therefore, the price of a Big Mac in each country can be used to find what is called the Purchasing Power Parity (PPP). The PPP is an index to show how much money in Country A’s currency is required to buy goods that cost $1 of Country B’s currency.

Finding the Big Mac index is quite simple. First, find the prices of Big Macs in two countries. Then, divide the first price by the second price (without converting currencies), and find the ratio. This ratio (i.e. the PPP) is then compared against the actual exchange rate, using percentage. As it is hard to explain in words, here is a mathematical expression of what is said above (using July 2008 figures):

  1. A Big Mac costs $3.57 in the US and £2.29 in the UK on average
  2. $3.57/£2.29 = 1.56 (PPP)
  3. Actual exchange rate: USD$2.00 : GBP£1.00 = 2.00
  4. (2.00 – 1.56)/1.56 = 0.28 = +28%
  5. Therefore, the pound is 28% overvalued

The PPP shows that the exchange rate does not show the actual value of a currency compared to another currency. As in, although the official exchange rate is $2.00=£1.00, using the Big Mac index the actual value ratio between the two currencies is $1.56=£1.00.

Even complicated economic concepts can be explained with everyday objects such as hamburgers, or “burgernomics”.

Posted in History & Literature

Michelangelo’s Model

Posted on by Jinavie

There are few (intellectual) people who do not know the master artist of the Renaissance, Michelangelo. His works are well-known for powerfully expressing the beauty of the male body and the energy it contains. However, there is a secret that lies in many of his paintings.

The work that most obviously shows this is the famous ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. This giant painting features many characters from the Bible and Greek mythology, one of which includes the Sybils, or female prophets. In particular, the one called The Libyan Sybil shows a woman holding up the pages of a large book. However, on closer inspection it can be seen that she has a very muscular build and very large shoulders – features of the male anatomy. In fact, this feature is found in almost all of the Sybils and many other supposedly “female” characters.

The reason being, Michelangelo was a misogynist and admirer of the male form, thus he frequently (and almost exclusively) used male models for his paintings. For example, the model of The Libyan Sybil was one of his studio assistants. He believed that beauty of the human body peaked only in men, which combined with his talents for expressing vigour and energy in his art produced some of the most powerful, masculine paintings.

Of course, him being attracted to the nude male beauty both aesthetically and emotionally have given birth to many theories that he was a homosexual.

Posted in Science & Nature

Quod Erat Demonstrandum

Posted on by Jinavie

1. Let a and b be equal non-zero quantities
        a = b

2. Multiply by a
a = ab²

3. Subtract b²
a² – b² = ab – b²

4. Factor both sides
(a – b)(a + b) = b(a – b)

5. Divide out (a – b)
a + b = b

6. Observing that a = b
b + b = b

7. Combine like terms on the left
        2b = b

8. Divide by b
2 = 1

9. Add 1 to each side and flip over equation

        1 + 1 = 3

Q.E.D. (Thus we have proved)

How is this proof possible?

The source of the fallacy is the fifth step, where (a – b) is divided out.

As a = b, a – b = 0, and dividing by zero is impossible in mathematics.

Posted in Psychology & Medicine

Power Of Thought

Posted on by Jinavie

The power of thought is extremely potent. Beliefs can drive people to extreme actions, or let those who lost everything pick up and carry on. Not only does this apply to religion, but all beliefs have a powerful effect on us.

The most easily observed effect is that the mind has over the body. In the 1950s, an accident occurred where a sailor was trapped in a refrigerated container on a cargo ship. There was plenty of food, but he knew he had no hope when his fingers and toes begun to go numb, and as his body started go stiff. Instead, he decided to record the pain and suffering of freezing to death on the wall using a piece of metal. By the time the ship arrived at the port, he had already frozen to death. However, the container was not refrigerated as it was not being used – the sailor had killed himself with the power of thought.
This shows how thought affects the way we perceive the world, which forms the basis of the placebo effect. If you give a patient sugar pills and tell them it is medicine, it is common to see an improvement in their health. This is due to the body’s amazing ability to repair itself, yet the brain believes the drugs helped it recover.

Thoughts and beliefs affect society as well.
Private property, the monetary system, authority and ethics are all products of the human mind. This is called the Tinkerbell Effect, where some things only exist because people believe in them. The name comes from how Tinkerbell from the play Peter Pan is revived with the belief of children.

Furthermore, believing can determine the future. In philosophy, there is something called the Thomas Theorem, which states that “If men define situations as real, they are real in their consequences”. For example, if there is a rumour that a bank will go bankrupt, people will withdraw their money and cause the bank to go bankrupt. 
This theorem explains self-fulfilled prophecies, a type of prediction that causes the events to take place because of the prophecies. Horoscopes and fortune telling are largely based around this effect, where telling a person that “good things will happen” (or bad) will cause the person to think positive (or negatively) and result in them acting in favour of positive results (or negative). 
This strange phenomenon is described very well in the movie “The Matrix”. When Neo visits the Oracle, she tells him “Don’t worry about the vase”. When he says “What vase” and turns around, he knocks over the vase behind him, causing it to fall and shatter. The Oracle then questions whether the vase would have broken if she had not told him about it. A similar case is seen in “Terminator” and “Back To The Future”.

As shown above, thoughts and beliefs contain immense power, and all humans need to do to make a better world is imagine and believe in such a world. However, the problem is that we seem to be unable to utilise this potential.

Posted in Life & Happiness

Coffee

Posted on by Jinavie

The coffee that we order from cafés tend to be espresso coffee, which is made by roasting fresh coffee beans, grinding them up and extracting 30ml of coffee from exactly 8g of coffee beans at 9 atmosphere pressure. This concentrated form of coffee can be drunk straight as espresso, or short black, but there are many more variations that can be seen on the menu.

Firstly, there is the basic method of diluting it with hot water, now called a long black or americano. If it is chilled with ice, it becomes an iced americano.
Other than espresso and long black, most coffee use steamed milk and foam. For example, if only a dollop of foam is placed on the espresso, it is a macchiato; if only steamed milk is used, it becomes a flat white or a latte (a latte has more froth).

To make a more complicated drink, layering both steamed milk and foam produces a cappuccino, well-known for its dry foam that coats the drinker’s lips. As every country has a different recipe for it, it is often a subject of debate, even to the point of Italy publishing an official standard recipe for traditional Italian cappuccinos.
As a cappuccino has more foam than steamed milk, it has a richer taste. A flat white has a much smoother taste as it has the most steamed milk.
Furthermore, a mocha is made by adding chocolate to a latte, and an Irish coffee is made by adding whiskey to long black.

A glass of this aromatic drink can brighten up a morning, let you enjoy a relaxing, luxurious afternoon, or casually sipped while chatting to friends.

Posted in History & Literature

The Raven

Posted on by Jinavie

Edgar Allan Poe is quite possibly the father of horror literature, well-known for his macabre works such as mystery novels, poetry and critiques. His stories are uncanny and gripping at the same time, and it can only be described as “mad genius”. Among his most famous works is a poem called The Raven.

It is a story about a young scholar whose lover has passed on, and his eerie, dream-like conversation with a raven on a winter night. The poem repeats the word nevermore extensively, creating a powerful effect as its meaning varies for every stanza. The narrator constantly cries out to the raven, expressing pain and torment, to which the raven replies – cold and succinctly – “Nevermore”, depriving him of hope.

Here, the raven is a metaphor of the man’s anguish and his eternal devotion and love. Furthermore, as a raven is often a symbol of logical thought and darkness, it sets the atmosphere of the poem very nicely. Lastly, as the reader is left pondering whether the bird actually converses with the narrator, or simply repeating the same word meaninglessly, it brings upon a chill down the reader’s spine, as the man is placed in a perverse conflict between desire to forget and desire to remember. The raven leads him through his descent from weakness and frailty to confusion, and from confusion to madness.

However, the reason The Raven is so famous is not just because of its sinister mood, the metaphor of the young man’s sorrow and anguish or the powerful repetition of the word nevermore, but also because of the actual structure. Poe wrote the poem in the meter of trochaic octameter, where stressed syllables and unstressed syllables alternate to produce beautiful fluidity. The meter together with the rhyming scheme (including internal rhymes and alliterations) allows the poem to be read in a dreamy way, reinforcing the question of whether the raven comes to the man in reality or in his dream.

(Original poem after the break)

Continue reading “The Raven” →

Posted in History & Literature

Meaning Of Family

Posted on by Jinavie

Father
And 
Mother
I 
Love
You

Although the actual etymology of the word comes from the Latin word familia, meaning “members of a household”, perhaps this acronym best reflects the true meaning of the word.

Posted in Science & Nature

Mobius Strip

Posted on by Jinavie

A piece of paper has two sides. However, a Möbius strip has only one side. Ergo, if you walk on a Möbius strip, you walk on both sides and end up on the opposite side on the same location you started at in one trip. Because it has one side, it also has one boundary. This means that if you cut a Möbius strip along its length, you end up with not two rings, but one thinner, longer loop with an extra twist.

A similar structure is the Klein bottle. This structure is a self-paradoxical, single curvature, as its opening meets with its base, making the inside and outside indistinguishable. The entry is the exit, the inside is the outside, and the top is the bottom.

Our universe might be such a space where there is no distinction between the beginning and the end.