Last Blog -- Fashionable Syndromes

So I think this is the last blog and since I would like to end on a good note, I have a list of 'fashionable' syndromes (thought about during my PSYC 245 class when I probably should have been studying) for people who like to jump on the bandwagon.

As Americans, we get so many choices that others living in less pop-culture consumed countries that sometimes we don't know what to choose to make ourselves liked by others. So I'm here to put those eases aside by giving you my complete list of fashionable syndromes to have for 2010 which I derived throughout the year from my Abnormal Psychology Class.

1. Foreign Accent Syndrome
While the method of creating this syndrome is rather unappealing (it results from head trauma, stroke, brain injury or something of the like), it creates the most desirable effect of speaking words in a completely different accent. Plus even if you were not so good at impersonating accents, somehow the brain rewires the language system so you adopt a realistic sounding accent AND use grammatical errors which we Americans associate with other languages. So if you get a British, Irish, Italian, French, Spanish, or basically any sexy romantic language your romantic endeavors are set for life. Or at least until they find a cure.

2. Stendhal Syndrome
This syndrome gets its name from the 19th century French author Henri Beyle's penname Stendhal. The symptoms of the syndrome are not too bad: rapid heartbeat, dizziness, fainting, and even hallucinations. How to get the syndrome? Well it happens sometimes when an individual is present with an incredibly beautiful work of art or immense beauty in the world. Most documented cases are people traveling to Florence Italy. This syndrome is genuinely interesting, if your American is shows culture awareness, doesn't require head trauma or severe pain, and if you tell your girlfriend you got this syndrome when you first saw her once again you are set for life (if you wanted to be set for life, if not I suppose just for the one night stand).

3. Dissociative Fugue
While technically this is not a syndrome, it is a mental illness according to the most recent version of the DSM and in my opinion is a wonderful illness to have. Dissociative Fugue is a dissociative disorder -- disorders which represent extreme experiences in which aspects of people identities split apart. In this disorder, the person moves away and assumes a new identity, with amnesia for the previous identity. The best part: one day you DO realize who you really were and move back. There is no switching among personalities (so thank god people don't think you have dissociative identity disorder). Now some psychologists criticize this disorder because they feel the person just got bored with their life and walked away. However, imagine how wonderful it would be to go take a 3 month vacation to get away from the responsibilities of life. Although everyone would be worried sick and angry at you, you have a mental illness so they can't blame you! This one isn't for getting the girl, its mainly to get away from her if you need it.

4. Conversion Disorder
This disorder is a somatoform disorder in which people lose functioning in a part of their bodies. While the area of the body is risky, people have been known to have blindness, you have no biological problems yet are pain free in some area of the body. Worried that this one might not be for you? Don't be! A fantastic side effect of the disorder is la belle indifference: 'the beautiful indifference' describes the effect that people appear completely unconcerned about the loss of functioning in their limb. So you might be impaired, but you get all the sympathy and no pain AND you don't even care. This disorder is caused by sever psychological stressors, which seems bad but is pretty easy if you just don't study for finals.

So these are in my opinion the top 4 syndromes and disorders for 2010. Sorry for centering the syndromes for guys but I am writing from a guy's point of view. If you have any more questions about how you can get these syndromes just ask! Thanks for reading my last blog, I had a blast with it.

~Joey

Analyzing An Aphorism

So while I would love to have something incredibly interesting to say or comment on current events (anyone hear about the death of the Polish president?), I've decided that I might as well just write about things that interest me rather than pander to a non-existent audience! So anyhoo, I apologize in advance if this is not interesting to you.

One of the most analyzed (an one of my favorite) aphorism of Friedrich Nietzsche is


This in my opinion is primarily an excellent and insightful statement but also gives me an opportunity to illustrate Nietzsche's style and overall philosophy.

The statement itself is rather clear -- Nietzsche is trying to stress the importance of differing opinions in an educational system -- yet has far reaching consequences. It seems amazing that people still do not support teaching differing theories on phenomenon. During my Spring Break, I actually learned that the IB program is taking Freud out of the teaching material for IB Psychology; while I DO think Freud was wrong about sexuality as the primary motivation (I believe largely in his dream work though) I find it horrible that they would not teach such an amazing and influential psychologist's work -- even if it was largely incorrect. It illustrates the foundations of modern psychological work and research. But that differs from my point.

This quote illustrates Nietzsche's preferred style of writings -- in short aphorisms which he wanted the reader to pick apart and analyze each bit. Furthermore, it illustrates Nietzsche's pessimism inherited largely from Schopenhauer. Instead of advising the educational system the best way to teach a youth he structures the aphorism to address the worst way.

Lastly, just to end this blog, I want to stress something important about Nietzsche. Many scholars, largely due to his sister changing some of his works to fit her pro-Nazi beliefs, had interpreted Nietzsche as some sort of pro-Nazi after Hitler and the 3rd Reich used much of his philosophy of the "master race" and "superhuman" to justify their actions. While this quote is not addressing Semitic feelings, Nietzsche has numerous points in his philosophy to illustrate his hatred of German nationalism and anti-Semitism. For those of you who didn't know this, this can help if you study Nietzsche and someone tries to claim he was an anti-Semitic.

Well thanks for reading! Time for bed. Cheers

Doctor Who

For those of you don't know or have never heard of the television series "Doctor Who", you have missed our on some of the best British science fiction program ever. And do NOT dismiss this show solely on the basis that it is science fiction -- trust me it is nothing like American science fiction like Battlestar Galactica or something. For this blog, I will essentially give a brief overview of the program and then illustrate why the show has captivated me and I have watched every single recent series.

Doctor Who depicts the incredible adventures of the Doctor, a humanoid alien, as he travels throughout time and space in a little blue policebox known as the TARDIS (an acronym for Time and Relative Dimensions in Space). He gathers companions throughout the series and goes throughout time to fix events due to his extremely generous nature and compassion. His race is known as the Timelords, a superior race known for their ability to travel and manipulate time with advance technology. Much of the recent series involves companions who help the Doctor save the Earth because many other aliens are interested in concurring our planet due to our abundance in lives and resources.

But before the show takes a turn for focusing on science fiction, the reason I love the show is for two main reasons.

1. The show (for me, an American who sadly does not know enough about British culture) is quintessentially British -- the quirky eccentricity and dry humor makes the show completely different from American shows.
My favorite actor as the Doctor, David Tennant, is completely amazing because he depicts a modern British superhero. He doesn’t have incredible superpowers such as super strength or speed, but actually makes numerous mistakes in landing the TARDIS, spends half the time trying to get everyone to find a peaceful solution, and in the end comes through with some brilliant thinking just so he can go home for a nice cup of tea. American television shows center around one thing usually: drama. In order for an American show to take off, either the show centers around incredibly stupid comedy, have classic car chases or fighting scenes, or a dramatic plotline which the audience in unable to relate to (this is a generalization for emphasis, I actual love many shows such as Scrubs, How I Met Your Mother, and Burn Notice). End point: this British television show captures an amazing culture.

2. The show addresses unique philosophical and moral questions about the nature of all life forms, purpose and meaning of life and the universe, and stretching the mind beyond the impossible.
I do not want to tell too much about the brilliance with which the writers create these episodes (because it will be necessary to watch some), but I can tell you as a Philosophy major this show is cleverest and philosophically engaging/questioning show I have ever had the pleasure of watching. It addresses the morality of conquest, the determination of fate on our lives, scientific questions such as time as a fourth dimension and time in flux, the brilliance and inspiring power of mankind, and so much more. Just to give one example, the episode “Blink” featured a race called “Weeping Angels.” Their perfect defense mechanism (inspired by actual physics) was whenever someone viewed them they froze in quantum lock, becoming a statue. They are called “weeping” angels because they cover their eyes so they don’t look at another of their race and become eternally frozen in stone. They destroy their enemies by carrying them away through time in the past and let them die of old age, essentially the person never existed during that time period. Anyway, the Doctor gets trapped in the 1960s and records himself on a series of VHS tapes until a girl in 2006 gets them and follows the instructions to save the Doctor by sending the TARDIS back through time. I realize this must seem really convoluted but just imagine the brilliance and genius it must have taken to create this idea! I would highly recommend watching this episode.
Anyway thanks for reading my comments on my favorite series Doctor Who! Hope it was interesting.

Logorama

So I know that the Oscars is pretty much old news by now, but I'm sick and couldn't think of much to write about so I will write a review on one of my favorite genres: Animated Short Films.

The Best Animated Short Film this year was Logorama, directed by François Alaux, Hervé de Crécy and Ludovic Houplain. The short film is entirely made up of recognizable company logos to invite the audience into a unique, Pulp Fiction inspired world.

One of the I love about short films, is that they compile the best of an idea and music into a short segment -- Logorama is only about 15 minutes long. In addition, animated movies can do so much more than regular short films because they have less restrictions.

Hopefully without giving too much away about Logorama, I'll give my review on the message and rating of the short film. The film begins with cheerful music singing "Good Morning Life" and the first couple of minutes allows the audience to acclimate themselves to the logo world. I found the beginning highly entertaining while I identified numerous logos such as the Bentley logo, MSN butterfly, AOL person and many more. After this introduction, we are introduced to a basic plotline with the Michelin Tire guys as the police. This scene follows a classic "Pulp Fiction" style of acting, indicated by the dialogue and the car chase scenes. The rest of the short film is devoted to the car chase scene to catch a criminal (won't reveal the name but it's pretty hilarious). Ultimately the audience is kept on their toes with thrilling action and intricate use of logos. The short ends with two characters who survive and the camera paneling over Logorama as it is left in ruins. The credit scene starts with the camera paneling out and more clever uses of logos are introduced like the Mastercard symbol to be indicative of the Sun.

While I don't want to give away anymore than is necessary, I highly recommend this film after seeing it. If you have nothing better to do for 15 minutes, you should watch this highly entertaining and clever film. Logorama

Rant #2

So I'm writing here, pondering all these questions and realizing that either the entire class has forgotten my blog URL or no one is bothering to post anything. Not that I am particularly excited (anymore) to post blogs up simply because I have limited time but I understand that it's necessary for a grade.

Anyhoo, I've already explained most of the things I've found interesting only to have no body post on them. Meaning I wonder if I should blog about things I care about if no one will read them? Sort of like the epic question "If a tree falls and no one is around to hear it does it still make a noise?" Speaking of which the answer is no for everyone who did not know. The fact is that noise is simply our ear drum picking up vibrations in the air due to changes in pressure -- so if no one is around to hear the tree it technically does not make a noise.

Maybe I should make this blog just a random answering site like ChaCha or whatever. Here's a little list of logical fallacies:
1. Opposites cancel each other out
- Jimmy ate something toxic. Therefore, if he wants to live he should ate something non-toxic.
2. Two wrongs make a right
- At the mall, Sally was given an extra $5 on her purchase by accident. She decided to keep it because if the store had overcharged they would have kept the money.
3. Gambler's Fallacy
- Since the changes of flipping heads on a coin are 50%, and we have flipped 5 tails, the next flip will be a head.

Those are the most interesting, the rest are kind of boring and slightly common.

Things I love:
1. Christopher Walken movies -- has anyone ever seen a sexier strip dance than his "Pennies From Heaven" tapdance/strip.
2. Late night photo shots -- because everyone looks their best at 2:00 am
3. People who walk on the stone wall instead of the brick walkway
4. Motown -- because truly everyone wishes they could dance and sing like they did back in the day
5. Sushi -- does this really need an explication?
6. Girls who can hit back
7. Speaking in obscure, made-up languages with my twin brother
8. Re-enacting LOTR -- if you know what the abbreviation means you love it too

Sorry for the random topics but it was all my brain could produce. And hey it's not like anyone reads this anyway!

Narcissism Aphorisms?

Well I'm kind of running out of time here to post blogs on things, partly because I did applications the entire spring break. So here is something I wrote a long time ago just based on my thoughts about Narcissism in my musings.

~ Narcissism does exist within all people as Freud says, or at least they wish some aspect of themself were “better” in their sense in order to be narcissist. What many people misunderstand about a narcissist though, is what they see in a mirror. They do not see themselves, because in reality extreme narcissists are delusional and see another image they project into the mirror. Of course, this in a figurative sense, because the literal sense they do see themselves.

Side note: all mirrors actually show a reversed image – they are all false images to begin with. This whole thing about mirrors reminds me about the quote “Mirror mirror on the wall, who is the most beautiful of them all? Also, Narcissist see a dream, and want everyone else to see what they see – much like Alice’s trip through the looking glass (The N wants to take you into their mirror world) This reminds me, we must talk about how amazing Disney movies are or perhaps I’ll write a journal entry about them in here.

~ The ironic part is mirrors are in fact empty and hold nothing. If you will, narcissists walk around in their fantasy world with their mirror image of themselves held firmly in their mind. Essentially, it is impossible for narcissists to concentrate on the beauty of the world around them, for they love themselves so much that they ignore others in addition to the fact they constantly try to “prove” the existence and reality of their mirror image to others and hope others see what they see. Interestingly enough, I think that deep down for narcissists who are not mentally ill, that they lack severe self-confidence and overcompensate to make up for it. In a sorts, every rational being cannot delude himself for so long like a narcissist, so my opinion of rational narcissists is that they recognize the falseness of their world yet refuse to acknowledge it and/or reject it.

~ Extreme narcissists are indeed magnificent in themselves, however. They can become magnetic, dynamic, overpowering. In their attempt to trap you in their mirror world, if they succeed you will do what they want, you will act the way they want you to. They want to be your god, your master or mistress. They need you.

~ The Narcissistic Supply – displayed in malignant narcissism is essentially the supply narcissist need to fuel their ego and ideal. The narcissist receives psychological gratification from feelings of power that come from the outside world – you. These come in the form of attention, power -- any positive social cue. Similar to a drug addict, the narcissist needs to feed off other people’s emotions to keep their narcissistic supply or they undergo withdrawal symptoms.

~ The malignant narcissist is inherently weak because they derive their ego functioning ability by constantly feeding off the emotions of other people (to build up their sense of self-worth to higher levels). They proceed to harvest reactions to this projected image of themselves from family, friends, anyone. If the reactions – adulation, admiration, attention, fear, respect – are not forthcoming then the narcissist beings to demand them.

~ Lastly, the narcissist in relationships. If they can find a person to essentially ensnare in their belief of themselves, then the person will fall victim to their whims. If you fall for them, romantically, you feel like you are drowning with no end in sight. Others tell you how wrong your love is, how you are being abused; but you are underwater and it all seems so distant and meaningless. You are captured in the narcissist’s mirror world.

~ I tried to mix in prose to add something more beautiful and interesting to my writing. I hope you enjoyed it and I’m sorry I wrote so extensively on narcissism, I just find the topic so fascinating. Oh well, it's not like anyone reads these anyway.

Shutter Island Review

Considering that I am in PSYC 245: Abnormal Psychology and I already loved movies like Shutter Island, I simply had to see it. But before I begin my review, note that this will be a spoiler.

Given the director creativity and acting, I would definitely recommend this movie but I do not believe it will stand the test of time. While Leonardo DiCaprio fans consider all of his movies excellent (ironically so do I, he truly has talent), he has other monumental films which will outlive this one. Basically, this was a well done version of (but still inferior to) Ron Howard’s A Beautiful Mind.

So the premise of the plot begins in 1954 with U.S. Marshall Ted Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his partner, Chuck Aule (Mark Ruffalo) arriving on Shutter Island -- a mental asylum for the criminally insane -- to figure out the mystery of an escaped patient. Throughout the film, they have brief moments such as an actor’s voice without the actor’s mouth moving, which give mini-clues to suggest that reality is not what it seemed. Although I never noticed this, my mother thought that the beginning looked more like an old-time style movie with the car standing still and the background flying by, which implies that this is all in Ted’s head. Throughout the movie multiple plot twists leads to the audience to believe in a huge government conspiracy to experiment on the patients in the hope of creating the perfect solider. In a well timed scene, the audience begins to question the sanity of Ted Daniels as the psychiatrists attempt to show how Ted Daniels was already a patient in Shutter Island and created an alter ego as a defense mechanism. The audience is not sure which reality to believe: the conspiracy of Ted Daniels or the reality of the psychiatrist. In the end the movie follows the same plotline as A Beautiful Mind and we realize that Ted Daniels the U.S. Marshall never existed.

While the movie is excellent if you have nothing else to watch, on an originality criterion the movie does not impress. For starters the overuse of flashbacks, the similarity of Ted Daniels and the escaped patient, and the melodramatic cinematography gives away the ironic twist -- by the time it finally arrives. While Leonardo plays his part with all of his incredible talent and the film is directed by the credible Martin Scorsese, the movie just loses too many points through its grotesque attempt to create an original psychological thriller. Yet I must give credit to the psychological aspects of the film, the film follows the DSM criterion for Paranoid Schizophrenia to the fine line. Hallucinations, delusions, paranoia, and other parts are excellent displays of Paranoid Schizophrenia. For an psychology student, I appreciated this a lot. Final judgement: 7 out of 10.

If you are bored and this Russell Crowe is an amazing actor (who doesn’t) then I would recommend A Beautiful Mind because that movie is a truly amazing film of this genre.

Blog #(X+1) completed for ENGL 102.