Colliding Ideas

Life is a mystery, and many of us ponder as to why or how our existence came to be. Each is entitled to their own opinion, and many share common ideas. Though many times they are incoherent, the idea that people think in a society is good. If we ourselves had no thought process, society would be stuck in an abyss of delusion where we would think only highly of ourselves with no true progress. Cultures and societies have managed to progress only because they are made up of individuals with their own ideas.

-Ivan

A distinguish scent

It's funny how you can distinguish a person just by their scent. When you've been around a person too long, sometimes you recognize them by their scent or when you borrow their clothes you can tell that their scent has brushed off on you. In an episode of Friends on KTLA, one of the characters was able to tell that her boyfriend was cheating on her because she scented another woman's smell on his clothes. Every person favors a different sense of smell. For instance, my favorite scent is is vanilla. My friends would be able to distinguish me by the vanilla scent because I would always smell like it. Individualism can easily be represented because a person chooses to their favorite scent to wear.

Cindy T.

Escapes

Everyone has their own way of avoiding the stresses of their normal lives. whether its something as simple as walking, or things a little more complex like puzzles or reading, people almost always seem to have something to fall back on to avoid the rough patches in their life. While browsing through the internet I came across this rather disturbing video. A video about those who believe that they have nothing more to fall back on.

It's not necessary to watch the whole video but it seems to be an interesting phenomena that people would choose to go to such a beautiful area in order to commit acts of suicide. Perhaps when people have nothing to escape to, they choose to return to nature and reflect on whether or not living is something that is worthwhile. With such a fleeting thing that life is, maybe some individuals would choose to end it the way they want instead of whatever fate would have in store for them. It's not a bad concept I suppose, a life of pure misery must not be easy to live through at all. Everyone has their own problems to deal with, however, suicide just never seems like the optimal path to handle problems.

-Chris M.

The features of being alive.

There are seven characteristics that define being alive. Living things are composed of cells. Living things use energy. Living things respond to their environment for survival. Living things grow. Living things reproduce. Living things adapt to their environment. From this, we can see that most things are distinguishable between two main categories, animate and inanimate objects. But regardless of these traits that group a majority of us here, there is a much more deeper set of traits that define us as who we are. We ourselves have developed various traits that make us different from one another. This is not enclosed only to humans or higher multicellular beings. Even single celled bacteria often develop mutations in their single strand of DNA that make them different from the rest. While it may be true that we often share traits with others, it can be assured that that is not a dependent variable, but rather how the trait is used or developed. Luckily, diversity allows for many individuals to chose how to use these traits and pass them on.

Sources:

http://infohost.nmt.edu/~klathrop/7characterisitcs_of_life.htm

http://www.biology-online.org/dictionary/Bacteria

Different hair, don't care.

In an episode of  ABC's 20/20 "What Would You Do?" showed how people with red hair easily get picked on. The purpose of this show is to have people reenact different real life situations to see what people would do about them and they realized that everything was just played out. On the show, an actor with ginger red hair did a reenactment of how he was constantly getting picked on by these actor bullies who always picked on him because his hair color was different. It took place in a restaurant and those bullies had to cause a scene in order for anyone to do something about the situation. One of the bullies said, "it's kick a ginger head day!" and came over to him and literally kicked him in the knee. A woman who was having dinner with her family came over to talk to him once the bullies left and told him that they were jerks and he shouldn't listen to what they say and that he should stand up for himself. Then in the next reenactment they bought in an actress with red hair. This time there were girl bullies who were making fun of her because her hair color is different. One of the actresses who played the bully was speaking out loud and said how her hair color was very "obnoxious." Another woman who was having dinner with her family confronted her and said how she should just leave her alone and she's a beautiful girl and that "every single person here is different from everyone else. There is no reason to pick on them." Once the woman found out everything was played out she was relieved to find out that those bullies weren't actually real bullies and that she was happy to know those girls aren't actually like that. This episode was a life learning experience and teaches people that everyone has different hair colors and they shouldn't be picked on because of it. Imagine you were in their shoes, you wouldn't want to go through what they go through almost everyday.

Individualism Article

Individualism: A Personality Disorder

I came across this article on individualism recently and it caught my eye. Since most of my generation were children we've been told to be ourselves and be whoever we want to be. With the idea of being whoever I want to be getting put into my brain at such an early age, I was a little surprised to read in the article that being an individual is a pretty recent idea in human history. According to this article, argument continues on whether or not being an individual is beneficial or a liability in personality development. I believe that being an individual is slightly less important at younger ages because its important to try different things to see what you favor. Eventually however, one must be able to break away from some of the larger influences effecting their actions in order to become themselves with their own likes and dislikes of activities or mindsets.


-Chris M.

don't dwell on the past

We tend to spend the majority of our time reminiscing about our past, thinking about how we could've changed it in order for us to have been happier with the way things really should've went. When thinking about the past, it tends to bring back fond memories or even the worst memories that you wish you could forget but can't because some things are just hard to forget about. It's better if we just stick to the present because there's no point in going back and thinking about what happened before because what's done is done. Wouldn't you rather go through life saying "oh well" than "what if?" In the story of The Picture of Dorian Gray, Lord Henry states how a person should not regret their mistakes and should just go through life finding happiness instead of dwelling on the bad stuff. Each of us, individually, should just find a way to make ourselves happy and not have to worry about what we could have done to change the past.

-Cindy T.

Individuality at a cellular level.

We as people sometimes doubt how special we are. We wonder what makes us special when there are 7 billion plus people on this planet. Well the truth of the matter is, YOU are special becuase you won the race the moment a diploid cell was made. Let me explain. In order for the process of human growth to start, we must start with two different types of cells. A mother carries the egg cell, while the father carries the fertalizing cell. Each cell type carries exactly 23 chromosomes which encode for traits from your mother and your father. These types of cells are called haploid cells because they contain only half the genetic data needed to make an embryo. The tricky part of this is that there are hundreds of cells all racing towards the female ovulate, and the cell that one is what made you. Each cell racing towards the other carries different alleles that encode for the same gene. To clarify, all cells encode for hair, eyes, skin pigment, and more, but the alleles are the specific details of those traits. Each person is special because they are the outcome of two diploid cells uniting into a haploid cell to make an embryo. It is truly fascinating to think that all of us developed from a miniscule cell, who in its most basic form still displayed complexity within its inner workings. People don't often think of themselves as "special", but the reality is, the moment you are born, you have already survived various hazards. So enjoy life, and be thankful of being who you are, for it may have not been you.

-Ivan

Sources:

http://www.visembryo.com/

Fake it 'till you break it?

A large part of being able to act is the ability to fake the emotions of the character that  is being depicted. One must be able to feel, see, and react as though they were actually the character they are going to portray. In the novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, a young girl named Sibyl Vane was a star actress in an otherwise shoddy venue. She even captured the love of Dorian with her ability to act, and in turn, fell in love him him  as well. With this new found love for Dorian, Sibyl was unable to fake the emotion for her productions because she knew that the words and emotions were not hers, and her acting suffered greatly for it. She states that she only knew the theater as her world, but with Dorian, she was freed from the lie of believing the hollow shadows to be real. She found her individuality in loving another but ironically lost the love of Dorian because of it.

-Chris M.

Picture: http://www.betadaily.com/2010/03/03/how-to-become-an-acting-coach/

Aesthetic Beauty

For centuries, society has been filled with individuals who own own or collect various items of personal importance. Some people have often had self portraits of themselves made in order to maintain an image of their aesthetic beauty. Actual paintings were used before the invention of the camera, but even since then,  people have photographed themselves to maintain an image that never ages. In the story of Dorian Gray, we see that Dorian realizes this idea of a never aging portrait, and wishes to put his soul into this painting, so that the he will no longer age. This idea of a painting or self portrait does not display a representation of a person themselves,  but rather it conveys a moment in the past that is never changing. People don't only do this to portraits, but also to objects that they own, not for their purpose, but rather for their beauty. One example is those mothers who collect porcelain china, but never use it because they are for display only. The irony of people having any such object is that they do not own it for its purpose, but rather a personal meaning, or attachment. The idea that beauty can be conserved is a silly idea, but everyone is entitled to their opinion.

-Ivan

Most prized possession

When it comes to my most valuable possession, I find myself having a hard time thinking about what I own that's so important to me that if I lose it, I would hate myself. For anyone else, it could be their most expensive prized possession or something simple that means a lot more than what it may look like. I for one, appreciate and am grateful for everything I have, which can be hard for me to think about what I truly value. So my most valuable possession? It would probably be all my pictures in my photo album. Memories are hard to get back and relive, and I can't get back those pictures if they were ever gone. I have some embarrassing photos that I wish were never captured on camera but it makes me smile every time I look at them and because "A picture is worth a thousand words."

-Cindy T.

That Guy...

In a world full of all sorts of fashion styles and name brands, it's pretty refreshing to see someone not following the status quo. Earlier today I saw a man walk out of a fast food restaurant wearing a suit jacket, swim shorts, sandals, and what looked like a sombrero. I don't think I have ever seen somebody walk out so calm and cool as he did, wearing such an outrageous style, but he proceeded to walk down the street as if it was a completely normal day. It seems unlikely I will ever meet or see that person again but never have I seen someone so unique since maybe Lady Gaga or something.

-Chris M.

Picture:http://www.reddit.com/r/funny/comments/s9kq5/98_of_the_clones_were_successful/

Taste in Music

As part of being an individual, we have each developed our own personal taste in music. The vast variety of genres that exist are numerous and still growing, from the classical compositions, to the new wave of electronic made possible by computers. Music helps different people achieve different things. Some use music as a therapeutic gateway of inspiration. Others simply enjoy the mash of sounds that create a singular work. Music has been the inspiration of many achievements. Music can be seen everywhere, including nature, as done by birds who sing sweet melodious tunes. Sadly, there still exist those who cannot enjoy the sound produced by various things. Amazingly, though they make lack the sense of hearing, they can adapt to sound through other means such as vibrations:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/11/011128035455.htm

One individual who continued to enjoy music regardless of this disability was Ludwig van Beethoven, who lost his hearing at the age of 26. It is even harder to imagine someone who not only was an music enthusiast, but also composed music, losing their sense of hearing. It is truly inspirational the things music allows us to do. 

-Ivan

Freedom of Speech

Everybody deserves to have an opinion. Being able to say what you want and expressing the way you feel about things allows people to see the way you see things. Respecting their opinion and thoughts can make people have more respect for you because you have such a strong opinion about things. Expressing your own ideas and concepts gives a person a better understanding. However, not many people express their feelings about things, they tend to keep it to themselves because they feel like they may be judged or insecure. Because people have such a strong opinion about things, they can be defensive easily offended. It is up to us to allow others to speak their minds so that we all have a better understanding of each other, allowing others to respect you and themselves.

-Cindy T.

Those That Hide

It's always been difficult for me to find the ability to trust a person. As someone who has grown up playing video games and living in a moderately sketchy and unsafe neighborhood I've learned to always expect deception from people. It usually takes months or even years for me to feel comfortable around a person or group of people. It's hard to tell whether they are really being themselves or are just putting on a mask to fit in with a group of people or to hide how ugly they really are inside.

A friend of mine told me a story recently about someone who he at met a party who seemed to be pretty cool. They start to hang out occasionally for the next few weeks and became fast friends. In that time my friend had been noticing things missing around his dorm room. It was small things at first like coins but eventually things like his CD's and other objects started going missing. Turns out the guy my friend met was stealing his stuff, and was caught in the act while trying to take my friend's iPod. Justice was served in the form of a very intense beating and needless to say they don't hang out any more. It's pretty disgusting how this guy tricked my friend but I was not surprised at all, its just the way I've always seen people. Until there's been a sufficient amount of time to know them, you can't confirm if there's not something that you have that they want.

-Chris M.

Picture: http://www.reddit.com/r/WTF/comments/s8p1g/so_i_googled_so_i_googled_so_i_googled/

Phobias

Each and every one of us has at least on personal fear. Many of us have multiple fears. To be afraid and irrational is to be human, because no one knows everything. We as people are often intimidated by that which we cannot comprehend. We each create a persona for things we don't understand, from the boogie man, to unknown entities that represent the unexplainable. The phobias that exist can range from commonly shared phobias such as arachnophobia, to phobias that are extremely rare such as Ambulophobia which is the fear of walking. Here is an interesting list of phobias that people can have:     http://phobialist.com/

All in all, we must remember that the fears that we have only add to our unique and vast personality. 

-Ivan