What I read
On quora website, which is the website for questioning and answering by its community of users, This question was asked:"What are the biggest facepalm moments you have ever experienced?". Sean Kernan answered this question that it's happened every time when he visits Yahoo Answer website, he's also captured those questions and share with us. Followings are the examples of them.
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My response
I read this in the morning on the subway and I think it is actually true and so fun. So I just want to share it to all of you. I got the same experience likes Kernan. When I tried to search some information and I visited Yahoo answer website, there are some ridiculous answers there.
This also reminds me of Pantip website. Even though it is a very good website and I used it a lot when I need some information about products, restaurant, and travel places, there are some ridiculous questions also; Asking about the name of song, for example, many years ago before Shazam app alive, there are the questions likes "what is the song's name that song's rhythm are "Sha Da Di Da Sha Saa"" I think how we know the answer but there is someone know the answer. How that person know? This is the question that I mean.
Another fun question is "How much the tuition cost in Hawkward"; When I read those questions, it is so fun and I was laughing. I asked the question to myself why those people asked the questions like that. They just want to make other people laughing or they seriously want to know the answers.
By the way, What are biggest facepalm moments that you have ever experience?
What we are about to read In a few minutes, we are going to read "How Does the Brain Multitask" (Bixby & Scanlon, 2013, p. 31), but first, we want to get our ideas on the topic.
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Discuss this question in a comment below.
Think of three examples of multitasking from your daily life. Which situation is the easiest for you? Why?
You have eight minutes to respond to the question.
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Reference
Bixby, J. & Scanlon, J. (2013). Skillful reading & writing: Student's book 3. London: Macmillan Education
Her doctor attributed her longevity to the fact that she is cared for by loved ones. Image and caption: The New York Times
What I read
In "Emma Morano, last person alive born in 1800s, turns 117" (2016), Agence France-Presse (AFP) reports on the life and upcoming 117th birthday of Italian Emma Morano, who was born in 1899 and it still alive in the 21st century, although now bedridden in the home she has not left for 20 years. AFP suggests that Emma attributes her long life to a diet of mainly eggs and cookies, but also noting that she has kept herself independent and lived alone since she got rid of an abusive husband in 1938.
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My response
I don't normally blog articles from the Bangkok Post, but that is where I first saw this story, which the Post got from its AFP news provider. I subsequently saw the BBC News and New York Times versions of the story, and I'm sure many other daily newspapers around the world wrote it up. Naturally, people are interested in the "secret" of growing so old, and there was a bit of variation there: all the sources I read report that Mrs. Morano lives mainly on eggs, preferably raw, but the number of raw ones varied a bit. The New York Times (NYT) account, "Emma Morano, World’s Oldest Person, Turns 117" (2016), explicitly says that "she believed that her secret to longevity was eating three raw eggs a day and remaining single," while the BBC News story at "World's oldest person Emma Morano celebrates 117th birthday" (2016) has her attribute her 117 years to "a rather unusual diet of three eggs - two raw - each day for more than 90 years." It was a minor detail, but one that I noticed in reading the different news coverage. I don't have a very high opinion of the Bangkok Post's news reporting, but AFP has an excellent reputation, and I'm inclined to agree with their version as reported in the Post. The NYT's writer seems to have drawn on his earlier interview with Mrs Morano, and that might have been exaggerated a little.
I thought that the variation was interesting because it also connects with a point that has come up in some of your recent blogging, and which one of the questions we responded to from Skillful yesterday asked: "How do you know the information you find on the Internet is accurate?" This question, of course, does not only apply to the Internet - there is rubbish published in the print edition of the Bangkok Post every day which, while perhaps not outright lies, gives a seriously false image of domestic Thai politics and the society that produces those false images for the captive domestic Thai audience. And during the recent US election, concerns were raised about the competence of citizens to sort fact from fantasy on Facebook, as Den has already written on.
Finally, apart from the raw eggs, the thing that most attracted me in Emma's story was that she has been alone and independent since 1938, after getting rid of her rotten husband. That's almost 80 years of living alone! I like it because it takes courage to to that, especially for a woman of her generation, when social values and attitudes were much less morally developed than they are today. I've lived alone for most of the 40 years since I left home to study at university, and I rather like it, as Emma seems to. I'm not sure how I would feel if I were twice my current age: perhaps I'll get a chance to find out.
I was also reminded of my own 86 year old mum, but ... my coffee has come to an end.
Edited 8:47 AM - an addition
I would normally put any later thoughts in a comment, as I already have, but I can't show the YouTube clip in a comment, so have added it here.
I often multitask by listening to music on YouTube as I'm getting dressed. This morning, I was reminiscing to some Freddie Mercury and Queen when "Living on My Own" came up. Freddie's lyrics directly contradict what I wrote in my response above: although I've lived alone for most of my life, I've rarely felt lonely. The timely coincidence was a good excuse to include a sample of the work of one the greatest ever rock singers in my blog post. I hope you enjoy it.
Source background
On page 29, we read the article "Is Your Memory Online?" And following the advice not only of Jennifer Bixby and Jamie Scanlon (2013), the authors of Skillful Reading and Writing 3, but also of Harvard's brilliant Stephen Pinker, we want to practice reading critically. What do we think about the ideas we have just read? Are they clear? Do we agree with them?
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As usual, Bixby and Scanlon give some specific questions to help us develop our critical thinking skills (p. 30).
What kinds of information do you think it is good to let the internet "remember" for you? What kinds of information do you need to remember?
Do you think that you remember the location of information (where to find it) better than the actual information? Why or why not?
For ten minutes, write down your ideas in response to these questions.
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Reference
Bixby, J. & Scanlon, J. (2013). Skillful Reading & Writing, Student's Book 3. London: Macmillan.
What I read
According to "Your Name review – a beautiful out-of-body experience", Mark Kermode said Your Name has been popular in Japan for months. This movie is a story of switching soul between a high-school girl named "Mitsuha", who live in urban area and want to become a boy, and a young man named "Taki", whose quite popular in Tokyo. Mark Kermode said that teenager will find this movie as a love story like "Romeo + Juliet"; while, older viewers will delight that old fashion arts have become more modern in 21st-century because this move is a combination of "the ancient and modern" like "Treasure the experience.”
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My response
I saw this movie this month after I came back from Chiang Mai. At first, I didn't realise that it's a romantic movie, I went there because my boyfriends wanted to see. He said that this is a great movie; however, I don't think so.
The day after we watched this movie, the amazing things happened. I can bought a copy version of this movie through DVD which exactly the same as I watched. This is one kind of crime that many people didn't realised. They just think that this is a normal things that everyone do may be because they don't have any effect from this action.
This action can effected with many things such as sales of the company or reputation of the country.
If many people think that this is a normal things, in the long term no one will want to create new things. They will wait to copy other people's idea which is hard for Thailand to grow as a developing country in the future.
A question come up in my mind is that how can companies prevent this action and make a long term profit in the future? This is a serious question for companies because it's easily for companies to bankrupt, if they don't have solutions for this problem.
Etude is a Japanese brand that used to sell cosmetics in Thailand and bankrupt in the next few years because Japan is not far from Thailand. That's why many people bought Etude's product from Japan and resell it at a cheaper price in Thailand.
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Reference
Kermode, M. (2016, November 20). Your Name review – a beautiful out-of-body experience. The Guardian. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/nov/20/your-name-review-makoto-shinkai
Source background
On page 27 of our text, Bixby and Scanlon introduce the topic of thought, which is again the title of of the unit, in this Unit 3. As usual, they open with a large photograph and some discussion points.
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Discuss these questions in a comment below.
When you are studying, what kinds of things help you to concentrate? What things distract you?
Do you think you have a good memory? What are you good (or poor) at remembering?
How does modern technology affect the way we learn and study?
You are not writing an essay or formal academic paragraph here, so although you should write your ideas down in sentences, don't spend ten minutes worrying about the whether your language is correct: just write! You have 10 minutes. Go!
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Reference
Bixby, J. & Scanlon, J. (2013). Skillful Reading & Writing, Student's Book 3. London: Macmillan.
What I read
According to "Fake news is just the beginning", Mark Zackerberg had eventually admitted that Facebook had affected the election's result by facilitating spreading of false news. From this instance, Wadhwa averred that technologies could ruin people's moral and the consequences were not easily predictable. He suggests that we be aware of these technologies' possible impacts on society and prevent them from going overboard.
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My response
It surprised me when I was looking at this news. People used to claim that Facebook is a symbol of freedom of speech. The notion might be changed soon. I don' t think that it is appropriate. If Facebook had the right to censor the public opinion, freedom of speech would exist only in books. Instead of filtering public opinions, Zackerberg should provide information about "the fact" that the government want people to think it is the truth. Although fake news is bad for election result, it is hard to believe that half of Americans voted for Trump because of the fake news. In my opinion, the result of the election didn't come from the news on Facebook but from mistrust of current system.
Some have said that our life wouldn't have changed with a change in government. The current president-elect of the States has proved the argument. The stock market didn't plummet. Americans wouldn't be great again, based on my speculation. What has changed is only people in the White House. If Facebook changed its policy, we wouldn't be better off from the result of the election, but instead would be worse off from deprivation of freedom of speech.
Wadhwa has mentioned other technologies in his article and warned readers that an advancement in technology could be a catastrophe for humans. I concur with his view. It's necessary in considering drawbacks that the innovation could give to humans. However, sometimes this concern has caused an inefficiency in the society or even imparity in the society. For example, GMO produce's consequences haven't been confirmed; nevertheless, people are afraid of GMO produce and food's price keeps at a high level. The fear could sometimes forestall innovation.
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Reference
Wadhwa, V. (2016, November 21). Fake news is just the beginning. The Washington Post. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/innovations/wp/2016/11/21/fake-news-is-just-the-beginning/
What I read
In the Science article "Meet the frail, small-brained people who first trekked out of Africa", Ann Gibbons reports on 25 years of research on early human fossils from a four hectare dig at Dmanisi in modern Georgia (2016). According to Gibbons, the human skulls and other bones, almost 2 million years old, have raised many doubts about older theories about how our ancestors spread out from our origins in Africa more than two million years ago. She reports that we are uncertain why the move occurred, and the mounting evidence suggests that only very simple stone tools were needed for humans to spread everywhere, with our meat eating, which caused appalling dental health, being a major advantage in strange new lands, where we were also often eaten by other animals.
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How we got everywhere
My response
I could only very briefly mention it in my summary, which was approaching the 135 word limit, but Gibbons gives a fairly detailed description of the awful condition of our ancestors' teeth and mouths: broken, rotten teeth that were never cleaned, that were covered in plaque fed by the meat, often raw, that our ancestors ate, even from carcasses past their expiry dates. With infected teeth and gums leading to jaw damage and even death from bad teeth, it was not a pretty image to imagine with my morning coffee. At least I wasn't eating dinner at the time. On the other hand, it certainly helped Gibbons to hold my attention as she told of the changing paleoanthropological theories about how we came to be where we are today: for me, having the morning coffee in central Bangkok before I review and revise the day's lesson plan for teaching at AUA. I'm glad I don't have to hunt down a filthy, verminous animal and eat it raw on a bitterly cold steppe before doing whatever our ancestors then did for the rest of the day – I suspect curl up and try to keep warm and not think about the aching ,rotten teeth. But I'm even more glad that they did do what they did: I'm the end result of all of that very long chain of evolution, and had any link not appeared, I would not be here typing on my computer.
Today, there is a Christian monastery at the Dmanisi site
As I read this article in the magazine published by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), I was again reminded of how modest and uncertain science and scientists are: a major point in Gibbon's article is that new discoveries are forcing us to review and revise old theories: what we thought was true really isn't. And this openness to review in the light of new reasons and evidence is a not a weakness but the great strength of science and healthy critical thinking. The contrast with religion, which arrogantly claims to have absolute and perfectly true answers about things could not be greater. The religions are, unlike science, wrong about almost everything. In the beginning, Uranos gave birth to Kronos and the other titans, which children of the god then killed their father. In turn, Kronos, with his sister Rhea, gave birth to Zeus, who promptly imprisoned his father for all time in Mount Tartarus. And then Zeus set about having lots of children (Apollo, Aphrodite, Ares, and the rest) with his wife Hera and other gods and mortals. With such exciting religious stories, is it any wonder that the Greeks brought some healthy skepticism into the world?
In “Hong Kong Disneyland's huge expansion plans” Cripps reported that the future of Hong Kong Disneyland. Currently, it is one of famous them park in the world that creates a lot of tourism jobs and makes many billions for its country. However, competitions of theme park in Asia are increasing because Shanghai Disneyland was opened in China this year, which is the monstrous Disneyland. If Hong Kong Disneyland wants to attract tourists around the world, they have to develop their theme park.
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My response
I have
been to Hong Kong Disneyland twice. When I was visiting it, I thought it was great
theme park, but later, I went to Tokyo Disneyland, I think Hong Kong Disneyland
is the smallest Disneyland. Nevertheless, when I saw this news, I felt effervescent
because it is the nearest Disneyland from Thailand. Without expand it, it will
lose competitiveness.
Therefore,
I agree with them to improve it bigger that is really good idea because people
usually find new experiences to try everyday. The more they build new attractions,
people will be attractive and want to visit.
Especially,
children around the world are cultivated to love Mickey and fascinated in
Disneyland. Not only children visit Disneyland but they also go with their
parents. Who can deny important costumers?
What I read
In "What’s the Real History of Black Friday?", Sarah Pruitt said that the purpose behind Black Friday is that stores want to make a profit after an entire year of operating as a loss (in the red) on the day after Thanksgiving because buyers will spend so much money on discounted stores. In addition, the true story behind the word Black Friday in 1950s is that police in the city of Philadelphia use this word to describe the chaos that occur from a flooded of tourists and suburban shoppers because they want to see Army-Navy football game which was hold on Saturday.
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My response
Black Friday can remind me about the time when I was working as a marketer of brand Mrs. Fields at DKSH. Every year around the third Friday of November, we'll arrange our company to look like a fair only for selling product and call it "DKSH Fair"
We can call DKSH Fair as a mega Fair because every brand under DKSH (more than 100 brands) including Mrs. Fields, Clarks, Brand, Tipco, Oreo, Lego, and so on will come together and discounted their product up to 70%.
In the past, I didn't know the reason that why they need to arrange a big sale at this period. I only know that DKSH Fair can help us as a seller clear our stocks and earn a lot of profit from only 3 days of selling.
As a buyer, they're very excited and waiting for this day because they can buy many things in a cheaper price than usual.
However, as a seller, It's very painful because we need to prepare many things before the selling days. Moreover, most of the time we don't even have a time to eat lunch or shopping at the other stores because of flooding of customers that waiting to buy our products at the store. As a result, I didn't like DKSH Fair very much.
NOTE : Beware of the expired date ... especially for consumption goods. Most of the time they sell products at the cheapest price because it almost expired.
What I read In "the book review of Never Eat Alone by Keith Ferrazzi – Networking 101by Jason James", James summarized one section of what he read in "Never Eat Alone by Keith Ferrazzi". He described types of the people who you can face to in the networking conferences; The card Dispenser, The commercial break, the interviewer, and the ankle hugger. He suggested don't be all of them but let create the relationship and continue your relationships and it would be benefits in future.
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My response
He set the topic as a book review, however, it is only one section of the book, not all of it. I think it would be better if he reviewed all main ideas of the book. Nevertheless, he quite did well in the summary of this section.
This book actually about how good of the network. Ferrazzi starts this book with the mindset because he thinks it is really important part of building a network. If the readers have still thought that networks are not important, it is not necessary to explain the other parts of the book. I also think that network is really important; my friend, for instance, got the job because of her network. She does not exactly know how that guy who sent her job application to HR team but that guy is her boyfriend's friend.
I like the title of the book which is "Never is alone", it means when you eat alone, you loses your time to build you relationship with other people which exactly match with the topic in the book; networking and how to build and continue your relation.
In the business world, networks are really necessary. Many people study MBA because they think that those classes will lead them to the web of connection.
In "We need proverbs because they reflect who we are", Mark Peters writes that there's a proverb everywhere and for everything. Proverbs express a common truth or practical knowledge. They are hard to be defined but most people believe they know when they see it. The origin of proverbs cannot be specified as Mark writes "Finding out exactly where in the past a proverb emerged is a tough task, akin to looking for a needle not just in a haystack, but in the entire farmland". Proverbs and Quotations are overlaps but proverbs are more powerful, useful and popular because “people use them to connect with other people and the wisdom of the past” said Mark. ___________________________
My response In every movie, I have ever watched, I've heard and seen at least one proverb and that makes me feel that it's the way of American people say things to encourage themselves or friends and family. But in this article, there's a sentence that made me recount my idea "For a native speaker, the worst thing about a proverb is probably its overuse. For everyone who finds comfort in saying like “Everything happens for a reason” and “God only gives you what you can handle,” there’s someone else who finds such sayings maddening." Maybe people use proverbs just because their habits?
Somehow, I don't see many Thai people use proverbs at all in Thailand. Since I was little we didn't proverb anything but we do have them in the Thai language though. For me, I don't use them because no one uses it to me before and I find that Thai proverbs are not as classic as English proverbs and it's an old- fashion, I mean real old fasion and the words are too hard to bear in mind. I remembered when I was in junior school I had proverbs exams and I failed because those words weren't used in real life and how would I remember that?. However, I respect my language and I think it's a good idea to preserve them for future generations.
The proverb that always pops up in my mind is "Nothing ventured, nothing gained". I knew it from my favorite song of Hugo called "Wake alone", it was at the beginning of the song. The meaning of this proverb is that "you can't expect to achieve anything if you never take any risks." I believe it's true as I see a lot of successful people have had taken risks and became successful but I still wonder Would everyone can be successful? But still, I believe we have to start before thinking of the end.
What is your favorite proverb? Share your thoughts!
What I read
In "Here’s what the best salespeople do to close more deals and make tons of money", the enterprise tech reporter, Eugene Kim, revealed the 19 in common characteristics of the best salespeople and their team always do in order to make a close deals by looking at Salesforce’s latest annual State of Sales report and a separate survey of 280 salespeople.The examples of those characteristics are that most salespeople are not spending most of their time selling; 64-percent is Non-selling, best salespeople are early-birds and so on. you can find the least of them in "Here’s what the best salespeople do to close more deals and make tons of money".
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My response
This article is written to the people who want to be good at selling. However. some of those characteristics are not only be found in the good salespeople, but also other effective people likes some example of the characteristic that I wrote in the summary of the reading, the early-bird people.
This also reminds me of my grandmother quote. She always told me since I was a child when I wake up late that early-riser people would be done many jobs and sell many things when I was in the bed and they could get a lot of money. On the other hand, I'm still in the bed and do nothing. This teaching always pushed me to wake up early, but some day I could not because I had been gone to bed late. So I fixed this problem by setting my sleeping time and I want to sleep at least 7 hours since it is good for my brain to get enough sleep. Nevertheless, when I get many tasks to be done I will sleep only 6 hours.
I think sales is a very tough job because it has to deal with many types of customers and we have to have a rhetoric skill which I really want to good at. Another thing comes to my mind when I think of selling something, win-win situation. I believe that when I want to sell something to other, it could have to benefit to customers. Salespeople should not only think about the money that they would get, but they should think how customer will get from their product. This will create that rebuy process and both sides will get the benefits. On the other hand, the win-lose situation will finally lead to lose-lose situation. The employee case, for instance, when you want to hire someone to do some jobs for you but you pay him/her lower than he/she expects. He/she will eventually leave the job when he/she can find a job with their expected wages. At the beginning, you will be in win situation because you pay less but at the end, you will be in lose situation because you will lose an experienced person and have to find the new person for doing your job instead.
What I read In "Let me tell you a story", Jorge Bucay, in each chapter, writes about a short conversation between Damian and his psychotherapist, Jorge (Jorge Bucay, 2013). Damian is a sensitive young man who curious about the world and himself. He also has difficulty facing some every's life problems such as his relationships with friends, family and his fears also his concerning of works. Then we realize that Damian is just an ordinary person like us that wants to be happy and fulfilled. In every chapter, we will be reading a short story that Jorge tells Demian which help him to overcome his suspects and find happiness. More than that those stories also help reader to better understand ourselves, our relationships and our fears.
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My response I first saw this book in a Thai bookstore and the Thai title version of it sounded so fascinating "จะเล่าให้คุณฟัง" then after reading a few chapters I decided to buy it. Actually, I considered that I must buy it since I finished the first chapter. The first chapter was about Damian's having a problem about confessing his feeling to the girl he likes so Jorge tells him a story of "The chained elephant" about how little Jorge was curious why a giant elephant in the circus with a power that can easily break a tree in half, do not escape from the circus because he noticed that after the show, one of the elephant's legs was always chained to a small post was staked into the ground that an animal so strong it was capable of uprooting a tree from the ground could easily wrench himself free of the post and take off. Why didn't he run away? What kept him from doing it? Till he grows older he found out the answer and that's surprised me so I decided to but it just then... I won't spoil why it is surprised me but you can ask me later!
After I have read a few chapters I started to get confuse by languages because this book is translated from Spanish. Then I found the English version which has helped me to clarify what I didn't understand from Thai version. Now I'm reading an English version I enjoy it even more.
All those stories make me realize that what it is, it's not always what it seems. I have been reading this long enough to agree with a lot of reviewers that said it was a good book to read, gave us a lot of things to learn and live on. Some said it can change your life but you have to really do it even you've failed before as Jorge said, at the end of chapter one, “The only way you can know if you can is to try again and do it with all your heart. With all your heart!”.
What I read
In "Small steps in Dupont Circle add up to strides toward cleaner energy", Turner reported the existence of "smart tiles" on Connecticut Avenue in Washington. The "smart tiles" utilize pedestrian's footsteps to create energy for outdoor street lighting. Pavegen, the company that create these tiles, claimed that each stride can generate 30 seconds for a street lamp. The "smart tiles" in Washington are the first in the United States and this is the first "stride toward cleaner energy" of the United States.
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My response
When I had my eyes on this news, I think it could be one of the answers to global energy problems. I think cost benefit analysis is necessary to evaluate the technology.
Some might be curious that what I mean by saying "Recycling our Energy." When we walk or run, we use our energy, in calories. If there are these tiles on the floor then we could recycle this energy into real energy.
As far as energy is concerned, these tiles are energy generator. Therefore, many might think that they definitely save energy and thus we use less fuel energy. Is that so? Not necessarily. What about tiles' material. These tiles might be made of plastic or the like substance and instead of save energy, we might exhaust more energy than not using these tiles.
Perhaps this is not really useful in Thailand, where it is sunny all year long, so solar cell tech is more practical here.
This tech, however, reminds me of my dream. I mean the dream that I had at night. some similar technology but in different aspect. the tiles in my dream make people on them moved in any direction. They were really convenient and comfortable.
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Reference
Turner, K. (2016, November 21). Small steps in Dupont Circle add up to strides toward cleaner energy. The Washington Post. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/innovations/wp/2016/11/19/new-tiles-harness-the-energy-of-footsteps-in-washington-d-c/
According to "can luxury cage homes fix Hong Kong's housing crisis?", Andrea writes that a "luxury cage" in Hong Kong. Nowadays, cost of living in Hong Kong is one of top in the world .Luxury cage home was built by Wong who offers alternative bedroom. The outstanding of it is cheaper, safer, and more comfortable than normal flat. Moreover, luxury cage home uses a little space, thus it can build in the city center.
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My response
When I saw the headline on the CNN's homepage, I thought that is interesting but I just concentrated on pictures. Presently, Bangkok will have problems same as Hong Kong because price of condominiums is increasing everyday. Luxury cage home is a first alternative choice for me. Not only save my money, but I also manage my space to make others, such as bigger living room, bigger kitchen room and bigger desk.
Conversely, other people argue that they do not like it because they thing it is narrow space. If they cannot live alone in accommodations, they will be lonely and depressed. I suggest they should fine other methods.
Admittedly, in the future, many countries will have same problems about space of living. It is better?, we are preparing to manage our space in order to confront the problems.
The Virus Afterlife - November 8, 2016 Click to view images full size.
What I read
In "The Virus Afterlife", cartoonist Scott Adams has Dilbert invent an artificial soul since he can no evidence of any other soul that he might have (2016). Adams then has Dilbert explain to the worried co-worker that his soul won't be trapped on a single server because it's wrapped in a virus so that the physically dead Dilbert will still be able to move around.
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My response
I was looking for something very different to blog on as an example. The Dilbert cartoon meets the criteria: it's something I've recently read, which is in fact the only criterion for the source. The summary of this reading was a bit quicker than usual: there just aren't many words there to summarize.
Robot Must Reproduce November 27, 2015
But once the literal ideas are done, that leaves the more interesting ideas behind this cartoon. Adams, as he has done in the past (for example in "Robot Must Reproduce"), is making fun in a gentle way of the common human error of thinking that we, the real us, is some sort of mini-person inside of us, but somehow not a physical thing. Western culture, under the error-prone inspiration of Christianity with all it's Middle Eastern mistakes has traditionally called this a soul, but there are no such things as souls, and just a few minutes critical thinking about the concept shows it to be seriously flawed. What is the soul? Where is the soul? Descartes, who was no fool, thought it was some sort of immaterial (spirit) substance that could not interact with the physical world, except through the human pituitary gland in the brain. At least Descartes realised that our brain is where we (I mean our concept of being us) is created. But he got almost everything else wrong. Either the soul can interact with the rest of the universe, including the non-soul part of us, or it cannot. If it can, that must be detectable. If it can't, its an irrelevance in which there can be no reason to believe. As Dilbert says, the evidence is precisely zero.
However, we don't need souls to explain ourselves: modern neuroscience, AI research and other fields are doing a lot today to help us better understand how our brains create our sensation of being a person, that is, our identity for ourselves and others. As I reading and reflecting on the readings in Unit 1 of Skillful, I also thought about these issues. Although it's not the most important to me the person who is Peter, my given identity is the certainly the most significant because the physical make up of my genes and environment fully determine all of my chosen and core identity, without exception. As the Dilbert cartoon from last November tells us, the human notion of free will is an illusion, as false as the common belief in souls. If anything, I think that the notion of free will is looks to be even more confused when we apply a little critical thinking to it. But is this a big problem for our concepts of personal identity? I don't think so.
What I read
In " If you walk and text, you'll look like a bloody idiot", Peter reported that the number of "distracted walking injuries" in US has double. The disadvantages of using the phone while walking can not only change the way people walk, it can make them look silly or behave unpredictably. Moreover, It can annoyed people who walk behind them. A few countries solve this problem by having "text lanes" for people who love to texting and walking at the same time.
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My response I admit that I'm the one who addicted with mobile phone very much. Sometime I love to text and walk at the same time which I realise that it's very dangerous. It's easy for me to have a big accident. I don't think that the idea of "text lanes" can solve the problem of people who addict with mobile phone. The best way to solve this problem is communicating about disadvantages of mobile phone or strict for occasions for people to use mobile phone. However, I'm not sure that my suggestions will be practicable or not? Because it's very hard to immediately change behaviours of someone.
What I read
Exploring Australian cultural values in his long novel The Vivisector, Patrick White tells the life story of Hurtle Duffield, who temporarily becomes the rich Hurtle Courtney when he is adopted from his own poor family of laundering mum and drunken dad (White & Coetzee, 2009). Through the character of Duffield, who progresses from brilliant child keen on sex to famous artist keen on sex, White also carves up for examination a collection of other characters as he explores the Australian identity, or perceptions of Australian identity, that emerged before and after World War II.
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My response
I thought that a novel I've recently read would make a nice change from the news articles I've been blogging the past week. White's great novel was just the thing. I say great, but I suspect that most Australians have not only not read this piece of literature from my country's only winner of a Nobel Prize in literature, but have never even heard of it. In fact, if I asked them, I wouldn't be surprised if my young nieces and nephews had never even heard of Patrick White. I'm not sure whether his work is still taught in high school or not. When I was in high school, we had to study at least one of White's novels.
I remember many days in Mr. Neall's English class trying to remember what the silver nutmeg grater symbolized in The Tree of Man. I think Mr. Neall was a good teacher, but although I loved reading and was reading a couple of novels and other things every week for fun, I was a bit rebellious when forced to spend time away from mathematics or physics on things I had not chosen myself. As I realised a few years later at university, when I read it purely for pleasure, Patrick White's story of the growth of Sydney from a town on the edge of the wild bush to a great modern city is another masterpiece analysing the Australian character and the values that really make us us.
What do I like about White? It isn't just his chosen topics, which are not obviously exciting, especially The Tree of Man, which really is the story of an uneducated man who clears a wilderness, gets a wife, works hard, has children, endures forest fires, floods, an adulterous wife and worse. White makes all of this gripping. What he does best is use the English language to achieve his purposes. I still remember "the long green smell of the cow shit" (I think that's White's phrase) as a perfectly expressed image to create the mood and symbolism that White wanted. He didn't publish a lot, and I suspect he reviewed and revised again and again and again before he sent anything off to his publishers. The result is great works of art that readers like me can enjoy reading again, and again and again.
I wrote the title because I thought my response to White's The Vivisector would also carve up aspects of my identity for analysis, but I'm not sure how much of that I've done. For someone who has read the novel, knowing how I feel about it might suggest a few things about me, just as I like to know what my friends and others are reading as a way to come to know them better.
Currently, I'm reading Donna Tartt's The Little Friend. This modern American writer chooses very different topics (murder and other exciting crimes) and stories to White, but her complex yet seeming natural and easy language remind me a lot of White. Perhaps next week when I've finished it, The Little Friend will be something for me to blog here. I also like Tartt's name, and her avoidance, again very much like Patrick White, of publicity. White almost never gave interviews, went to book functions or any of the usual self-promotion that artists go in for.
What I read
In "The world's first blue wine", Julie Bensman writes that a wine two years in the making is causing controversy in traditional Spanish wine culture (2016). According to Bensman, Gïk was created to "start a little revolution," which is reflected in its associations with alternative bands and other non-traditional elements of culture. Although available in 25 countries, Bensman notes that it is uncertain whether the electric blue wine will prove more than a passing fad.
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My response
When I saw the headline on the BBC's homepage as I was having my morning coffee on Saturday, my first reaction was "Eugh!" But I also had to finish my morning drug hit and rush off to teach my 8:00 AM writing class, so only skimmed the story quickly before emailing it to myself. It seemed like the sort of story that might not "prove more than a passing fad."
Reading it again later, and rereading it a couple of times this morning, my initial reaction was confirmed: eugh! Although wholesomely natural (Is nature wholesome? Really?), Gïk is also described as being a "sweet, slightly syrupy mouthfeel" and that's enough to turn me off (mouthfeel? I only just noticed that weirdness, which my brain had automatically read differently, when I copied and pasted it in here. I presume Bensman means mouthful). Alcohol in its many varieties, from beer to whisky to rum to wine to cognac and so on is the popular drug of addiction in most cultures, and always has been, but I prefer mine red, not sweet, and preferably in the company of some good food and familiar companions.
Spain's northern Basque Country
I don't think I'm particularly traditionalist in my outlook, but of the images on the BBC Travel article, I found the first one, a view of the old Basque region of Spain, with it's beautifully laid out vineyards and ancient buildings put up over centuries, far more attractive than the image of blue wine coming out of a bottle.
On the other hand, I am a great admirer of classical literature and the cultures of Greece and Rome, whose ideas and inventions largely found today's global culture, including Thailand's. I don't know what percentage of people today have read Homer, for example, but already in The Iliad we see the ideas of democracy and critical thinking that contrast so strongly with the authoritarian cultural norms of the neighbouring East, and which would knock the gods and other despots off their thrones to give rise to what we have inherited, albeit with the Middle Eastern invasion of Christianity that temporarily conquered the Western world from 400 AD. But we can drink, not with Gïk, to the happy recovery these days of the West from that long-invading superstition.
A totally unrelated other thought: I was also reminded of the fad for blue lipstick. This was popular with some of my trendy young friends when I was at university some decades ago; I saw a couple of articles on it recently, so perhaps it's enjoying a return to faddishness, like the Rubik's Cube, which was also all the rage for a few months when I was at university. Blue lipstick in a dim, sparse nightclub playing industrial music seems just the place for blue wine, except perhaps for that annoying sweetness. Eugh! The final mouthful of fresh morning coffee should wash that away.
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