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Apparently we only use ten percent of our brains. Most people find this to be true, blaming the fact that we aren't all savants on the inability to tap into that other 90%. Even Albert Einstein believed we only use ten percent of our brains. Sorry, Al, but you're wrong.
While it would make sense that we only use 10% of the brain while at rest or when thinking, the rest of the brain isn't sitting there twiddling its thumbs and waiting for the active parts to take a nap. We use 100% of our brains all the time; different parts do different things. The other parts are subconsciously keeping you alive. You don't consciously think to yourself One, two, three, BREATHE! but that doesn't mean it isn't happening; coordination of movement and balance, breathing, and heart rate are all unconscious functions performed by the brain. The brain is constantly making sense of the millions of pieces of data that are sent to it from the neurons all over the body. We have self-awareness and understanding of our environment because the brain's regions are active.
If we really didn't use the other 90% of our brains, brain damage would not be an issue but rather a mere inconvenience. Instead, there is no area of the brain that can be damaged without the loss of abilities.
In the years of mapping the brain, there have been no areas found that do not have a function.
The brain requires up to 20% of the energy that our bodies have, especially in terms of oxygen and nutrient consumption. If we didn't need that "extra" 90%, then there would be a huge advantage for humans with smaller, more efficient brains - it would help them survive. If this was true, natural selection would have gotten rid of the inefficient brains.
Inevitably, here we are, brains running at 100 miles per hour to stay up to date. Every part of our brains are active, keeping us alive and functioning. Sorry, Albert Einstein. At least you still have the theory of relativity and E = mc^2.
You would think animal rights would be a topic that most people could agree on; everyone believes animals have the right to a good life. But the authors of the two essays we read had different takes on what really defines the words, "animal rights."
According to Vicki Hearne:
Relationship with mutual trust between animal and owner – suffering + happiness = Animal Rights
Hearne believes that animal rights are not created to prevent unnecessary suffering; they are created to create the possibility of happiness for animals. Happiness is a right, according to Jefferson: "Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness," and all animals have this right and need.
According to Peter Singer:
Treating animals like we treat humans = Animal Rights
Singer argues that we think we are allowed to treat members of different species in a way that is considered unacceptable to treat members of our own species. This is called "speciesism." Abuse of children and other humans is looked down upon, but animals are also abused. People have the right to not be abused, as do animals.
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| Singer relates "speciesism" to racism and sexism, pointing out that it is no different. |
Long story short? Animals rights aren't as cut-and-dried for everyone as you'd think they are. Some people (Hearne) believe that we need to understand the feelings of our animals, giving them a sense of personal achievement by allowing them room to grow and explore. Sounds like kids, right? She also feels that animal rights pertain to achieving happiness, not just ending suffering. Singer, on the other hand, believes that we need to stop the suffering of animals. We treat them in ways that would be considered cruel and unjust if humans were treated that way, and animals suffer like humans. But regardless of their different opinions on animal rights, Hearne and Singer both agree that animal rights are a problem.
In theory, it would be best if our brains always focused on the logical aspects of life. But in truth, our brains are easily distracted by emotions.
Imagery is one of those magical tools of writing. Change the way you phrase a sentence, add some sights, smells, and tastes, and presto! you have yourself an emotional connector. Good, strong, descriptive imagery evokes emotions that change the way we think. Take this situation, for instance:
The car drove toward the cat, unaware that it was not moving out of the road.
versus
The ginormous truck hurtled through the night, passengers bouncing up and down as the vehicle passed over deep potholes and crevices in the road. The riders stared out the window in oblivion, considering the night's events with distaste. How had a night that was supposed to be fun gone so wrong? In the meantime, a kitty was sprawled in the road, mewling for its mother as it shivered in the cold night air. The poor animal had gotten in a fight with another cat and was now unable to walk, laying mutilated and fragile in the road. It cried out in pain and desperation as a vehicle appeared out of the dark, charging toward the helpless animal as a bull toward a red cape. There was nothing the kitty could do as the truck barreled nearer...
Which one makes you feel worse? As sadistic as that sounds, the second piece was far more moving than the first. Under which circumstance would you be more likely to help the poor creature? The second one, of course!
This situation proves that emotion can change the way you think. Most of the time it is a subconscious alteration of your comprehension of the situation. Nobody consciously thinks, Wow, that detailed description of the kitty really made me feel its pain. Now I'm going to consider helping it more than I was before. Nobody does that. Try as we might, this is something happening inside of our brains that we cannot control. There are special people in the world whom are capable of setting aside their emotions in order to be logical, but those people are few and far between. And most of them are male.
When faced with imagery that shocks us to the core, gripping our hearts, turning out stomachs inside out, and making us want to cry, we can try to remain in the logical mindset. But boy is it difficult! Imagery strikes us in our weakest part - the heart. Emotions are far more persuasive than logic, easily dragging us away from rational ground, out into the deep sea of emotions, only to be swept back onto rational ground with the tide. I believe that if imagery is intense enough to change your mindset, you should follow your heart. Not the I think I will have Oreos for dinner because that commercial was convincing aspect, but rather the I think it would be better for me to spend my time elsewhere aspect of following your heart. As human beings we are fragile, especially when it comes to emotions, but usually our hearts know what is right.
Lots of authors write about writing, which seems kind of weird. Then again, people write about dancing, about teaching, about anything and everything. So why not write about writing? I'm not going to take the academic approach on this subject; I believe that's far too boring for a blog post. I'm not even going to think about what I'm writing. I'm just going to write.
When I go to write, sometimes it is one heck of a struggle. I can't get into it, my writing is boring, nothing makes sense, and it's turning into an epic fail one sentence at a time. Delightful, right? It takes a while for me to get into the flow of writing. It's like going back to dance after a summer of laying on the beach reading books - it's rough to say the least! Who knows how long it will take me to get into writing today? For all I know this blog won't make sense until the last sentence, but hopefully not. With luck, I can start making sense right about now :)
I love free writing on Fridays, even though we've only done it once. Sure, I don't really write about interesting things except for the daily events of my life, but there is something intriguing about writing. You can't think too much or you're going to stop writing, breaking one of the rules of free write Fridays. There's something about letting your pen flow over the paper until your hand aches and the teacher calls time; it's refreshing, invigorating, exciting, and well...painful.
I've decided that too much thinking is bad for you. As a girl, I naturally over-think EVERYTHING. Should I have worn the other shirt? Did she try to ignore me, or didn't she hear me? Is he smiling at me just to smile, or does it mean something? It's a bad habit, to say the least. As much as teachers may argue that thinking is good for you, too much thinking is bad. Too much of everything is bad; too much food makes you sick, too much love makes you wary and/or feeling suffocated, and too much sleep makes you tired. See my point? The same goes for writing. You can't think too much.
There comes a point when the pen and your mind become one. As a dancer, I know that thinking while dancing can be helpful, but it can also be detrimental to the performance. Teachers and judges alike can tell when you are thinking about the steps instead of enjoying the process. It's in the eyes of the dancer; when your eyes and face do not express the pure joy that should come from dancing, it's clear that your mind is still back at rehearsal, running through the steps at top speed as to not forget them. But there comes a time when the dancer, the movement, and the music fuse as one. The movements flow out of the dancer, in time with the music, and the dancer no longer needs to focus on engaging her abs during the triple en dehors or making sure her bottom foot stays turned out during the dèveloppé. It happens automatically and the dance truly becomes a dance.
It works the same way for writing. Eventually the writer, the words, and the pen become one. The words flow out of the pen and onto the paper without any work. Of course you need to think when you write, otherwise you will end up rambling (much like this!) and your work won't make sense. You should at least appear semi-coherent when you write. The best way I've found to write is to put it all down, then come back and look it over. That way, the ideas are all on the page and you can focus on revising and fixing semantics of. I believe the writing process works this way because you need to do one thing in order to successfully write - free your mind. Let it happen. Don't think. Let the writing come to you as it wants to; do not force the words out of your mind, into the pen, and onto the paper. Just write.
This, right here, is the first blog post I will ever create.
Hopefully I won't bore the world to death.
A decent amount of my friends have blogs, but I've never had one. Same goes for Twitter but I'm not jumping on that bandwagon as fast as I am for blogging. It's the second day of senior year and I'm already pumped to be here. I'm not that one kid that lives is social Siberia because he/she loves going back to school, but this year is going to be different. It's senior year!
This year is about having fun, enjoying life, and prepping for college. It's weird to be on top of the school and be the big kids, but boy are we ready. Well...most of us are. It's strange to think that a year from now I'll be off at college, maybe even blogging from there? To be determined; first I have to live through the college application process and MoPro.
Until then, hang on me. This is going to be an interesting ride :)
http://mrscardona-whs.blogspot.com
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