All of this talk about TED Talks in class made me look back on the many that I have watched over the years. I was reminded of my favorite TED Talk--one that has been pretty influential in my life. It is a lecture by Andy Puddicombe on the nature of mindfulness meditation.
In middle and high school, I was your typical attentionally-challenged kid. I was lost in thought for most, if not all, of the day, and my grades suffered. I didn't know that this was somewhat of a bad thing until, one day, I got a 0 out of 16 on an algebra quiz because I didn't pay one bit of attention to the lecture. After that, I made it a point to pay attention in class more often, but telling myself to pay attention wasn't going to make it happen immediately.
Coincidentally, my friend and I started becoming interested in Buddhism and its many facets around the same time period. He and I would always have phases of interest, and this was one of those phases. However, in my research of Buddhism, I found out about mindfulness meditation. While mainly helping with those that are stressed and anxious, it also addresses the problem of wandering thoughts. Seeing this, I definitely wanted to start trying it. My friend and I would tell our cross-country coach that we were going on a run, head to the woods, and meditate for a while. Each time after these sessions, I noticed that I was much calmer. Also, my senses seemed to be heightened, Of course, since I was only a beginner, I wasn't using the most efficient meditative techniques possible, but even these baby steps had a noticeable effect. The mindfulness meditation sort of wrenched my focus away from my wandering mind and toward the real world.
Nowadays, when I have the time, or if I feel that I especially need it, I will sit down and meditate--sit upright, take deep, regular breaths, and practice my focus. Whenever a distracting thought pops up, you aren't supposed to freak out and try to suppress it--this will stress you out more. Calmly acknowledge all of your thoughts and emotions, take note of them, and then let them pass. Stress is a reactive state of mind; things don't stress you out, you stress yourself out over things by reacting in a negative way.
All in all, this talk had about as much an effect on my life as a TED talk could. It only lasts around ten minutes, but in it, Andy Puddicombe covers a very intriguing and influential topic. I would recommend anyone to watch this video and, if you have the time, to try out mindfulness meditation. I still find myself lost in thought much of the time, as this isn't some sort of miracle cure that works after a week or two, but there is no question of its positive effects.
Thursday, October 30, 2014
Thursday, October 23, 2014
Intro to Paradigm Shift Essay
Mental illness has always been one of the more controversial aspects of health and healthcare research. For a very long time, ancient peoples thought that mental illnesses were the products of demonic possessions, angry gods, or even witches. Even after they were understood to have actual health problems, the mentally ill were often times just shoved into an asylum and institutionalized; they rarely received any therapeutic care, unless you count electric shocks or bloodletting as "therapeutic". It wasn't until the Civil War that the general public started showing great interest in mental care--soldiers were coming home with what we now know as PTSD. Now, obviously, we know much more about mental illness than we did in the 19th century. We've named many more disorders, and have developed therapeutic techniques and pharmaceuticals to help treat them.
As our knowledge of these diseases progressed, as did the number of those diagnosed. Of those diagnosed, over half have started taking medication--either coupled with talk therapy or instead of it. A question that many have been asking is: why are more people getting diagnosed with mental disorders? Could it be that our knowledge is progressing, and therefore we know more about the symptoms of these diseases, or could it be something more? There has been some research that suggests something more. Societal changes, as well as environmental, could have an impact on our mental health as a whole. This notable and sudden increase in the diagnosis of mental illnesses can possibly be ascribed to changes in our way of lives, such as occupations, environment, and technology.
As our knowledge of these diseases progressed, as did the number of those diagnosed. Of those diagnosed, over half have started taking medication--either coupled with talk therapy or instead of it. A question that many have been asking is: why are more people getting diagnosed with mental disorders? Could it be that our knowledge is progressing, and therefore we know more about the symptoms of these diseases, or could it be something more? There has been some research that suggests something more. Societal changes, as well as environmental, could have an impact on our mental health as a whole. This notable and sudden increase in the diagnosis of mental illnesses can possibly be ascribed to changes in our way of lives, such as occupations, environment, and technology.
Wednesday, October 15, 2014
PSU Commonplaces Pt. II
Time to riff on another set of commonplaces that I have noticed in Happy Valley. As I have noted countless times in my blogs, Penn State is a school noted for its strong sense of tradition. Here are three more of these traditional views/commonplaces that I have noticed throughout my short time here:
1. BIGGER is better
This one is huge (no pun intended) on our campus. This may be a commonplace of American culture in general, but I feel that it especially holds true here in State College. Here are some examples of typical conversation at Penn State :
"Bro, that party that we threw last night was HUGE"
"Dude, I drank, like, about a million beers last night haha"
"Oh my god, bruh, I hooked up with so many girls this weekend, they could fill a LECTURE HALL"
"Yo Dylan, you'll never believe how much I just squatted....wait, how did you know it was 700 pounds? Were you watching me, bro?.......... You were at the gym with me? Oh well I drank an entire handle of Jack right before so I was probably too WASTED to remember huhuhu"
"Our frat house is bigger than yours"
You probably get my point by now. This extra-large commonplace is especially common among males, where every dude feels like he has to out-dude all of his bros in order to gain acceptance within his group of dude-bros. Even our university supports this cause. We have one of the biggest stadiums in the entire country, as well as one of the largest student bodies. Overall, this is one of the most prominent commonplaces out there.
2. Don't be a try-hard, but make sure you try hard
I remember getting called a try-hard in middle school. Back then, it was the worst insult anyone could throw your way. Nobody wanted to seem like they cared about anything; apparently the ideal human being to these middle-school pseudo-bullies was an unresponsive sack of meat. I was surprised when I found this commonplace here at Penn State as well, but now it comes with a new clause: don't ever become a try-hard, but make sure you get all of your work done. succeed, get good grades and land internships every summer, plus a job in your field of choice after school. This Catch-22 of a commonplace leaves most people no choice but to be ridiculed by at least someone. Some people can find great success without doing any work, however, and to those people I say, "I admire you very much as a human being. Do you want to get married". For the rest of us mortals, we need to subject ourselves to a little stigmatization in order to get what we want.
Again, if you have any ideas, if you disagree with me, or if you want to comment on the style of this disconnected rant, hit me up in the comment section.
1. BIGGER is better
This one is huge (no pun intended) on our campus. This may be a commonplace of American culture in general, but I feel that it especially holds true here in State College. Here are some examples of typical conversation at Penn State :
"Bro, that party that we threw last night was HUGE"
"Dude, I drank, like, about a million beers last night haha"
"Oh my god, bruh, I hooked up with so many girls this weekend, they could fill a LECTURE HALL"
"Yo Dylan, you'll never believe how much I just squatted....wait, how did you know it was 700 pounds? Were you watching me, bro?.......... You were at the gym with me? Oh well I drank an entire handle of Jack right before so I was probably too WASTED to remember huhuhu"
"Our frat house is bigger than yours"
You probably get my point by now. This extra-large commonplace is especially common among males, where every dude feels like he has to out-dude all of his bros in order to gain acceptance within his group of dude-bros. Even our university supports this cause. We have one of the biggest stadiums in the entire country, as well as one of the largest student bodies. Overall, this is one of the most prominent commonplaces out there.
2. Don't be a try-hard, but make sure you try hard
I remember getting called a try-hard in middle school. Back then, it was the worst insult anyone could throw your way. Nobody wanted to seem like they cared about anything; apparently the ideal human being to these middle-school pseudo-bullies was an unresponsive sack of meat. I was surprised when I found this commonplace here at Penn State as well, but now it comes with a new clause: don't ever become a try-hard, but make sure you get all of your work done. succeed, get good grades and land internships every summer, plus a job in your field of choice after school. This Catch-22 of a commonplace leaves most people no choice but to be ridiculed by at least someone. Some people can find great success without doing any work, however, and to those people I say, "I admire you very much as a human being. Do you want to get married". For the rest of us mortals, we need to subject ourselves to a little stigmatization in order to get what we want.
Again, if you have any ideas, if you disagree with me, or if you want to comment on the style of this disconnected rant, hit me up in the comment section.
Thursday, October 9, 2014
I'm Shifting Between These Two Topics
So, for this assignment we are doing in this class, we have to discuss a paradigm shift that has happened over time in society. There are many, many options to choose from, since society is so free-flowing and ever-changing. Society hasn't remained at a standstill for a very long time; there are always aspects of our culture that are changing as we learn and progress. There are two paradigm shifts, however that stick out to me:
1) Today's youth are obviously very different from past generations. One thing that is different about today's youth, in my opinion, is that we are less rebellious. Past generations of teens actively went against anything their parents said, going out and getting in fights, getting drunker than today's kids, and getting pregnant at MUCH higher rates than our generation. Today's kids obviously rebel, but at lower rates than other decades and generations. Just look at social movements: the 60s had the hippie counterculture, the 70s had punks and anti-war activists, the 80s were notorious for casual cocaine use, and the 90s had the grunge and alt-rock movements. Often coinciding with music movements, countercultures such as those haven't sprung up among millenials. While radical social changes are happening in our lifetime, they are being facilitated by business leaders and politicians of our parents' generation and older. We haven't really done anything as a youth that has changed anything on a large scale, nor have we really had large movements of rebelling against society, or our parents. This idea would need more work, but it is something I could go on about.
2) This is one that I talked about in class. The advent of the Internet has caused many things, but one that I have noticed is the proliferation of underground culture among anyone and everyone. Anyone nowadays can research and experience any part of an "underground" culture in our country. In past generations, you would have to find the right people or stumble upon the right clubs in order to find people as weird as you and create culture. Nowadays, anyone can let out their inner "weird" and listen to alternative music, watch hipster movies, and read bohemian literature. This allowed for "hipster" things to become cool in mainstream culture. This is a very interesting paradigm shift to me because I like things that are traditionally underground.
1) Today's youth are obviously very different from past generations. One thing that is different about today's youth, in my opinion, is that we are less rebellious. Past generations of teens actively went against anything their parents said, going out and getting in fights, getting drunker than today's kids, and getting pregnant at MUCH higher rates than our generation. Today's kids obviously rebel, but at lower rates than other decades and generations. Just look at social movements: the 60s had the hippie counterculture, the 70s had punks and anti-war activists, the 80s were notorious for casual cocaine use, and the 90s had the grunge and alt-rock movements. Often coinciding with music movements, countercultures such as those haven't sprung up among millenials. While radical social changes are happening in our lifetime, they are being facilitated by business leaders and politicians of our parents' generation and older. We haven't really done anything as a youth that has changed anything on a large scale, nor have we really had large movements of rebelling against society, or our parents. This idea would need more work, but it is something I could go on about.
2) This is one that I talked about in class. The advent of the Internet has caused many things, but one that I have noticed is the proliferation of underground culture among anyone and everyone. Anyone nowadays can research and experience any part of an "underground" culture in our country. In past generations, you would have to find the right people or stumble upon the right clubs in order to find people as weird as you and create culture. Nowadays, anyone can let out their inner "weird" and listen to alternative music, watch hipster movies, and read bohemian literature. This allowed for "hipster" things to become cool in mainstream culture. This is a very interesting paradigm shift to me because I like things that are traditionally underground.
Thursday, October 2, 2014
PSU Commonplaces
Here at Penn State, we have one of the most tight-knit student bodies in the entire country. We unite in times of triumph and in times of loss. Like, our main chant is "We are Penn State". If that doesn't show unity, I don't know what does. Because of how tight-knit we are as a school, our culture is one of long-standing tradition and, in turn, many different commonplaces. As a freshman, I've caught onto a decent amount of these commonplaces, and will attempt to list some of them here:
1. Football is life.
My dad was not a large watcher of sports. At home, we would turn on ESPN to see the Olympics and the World Cup; nothing else. This ended up being my general outlook on watching sports as well. I would go to high school football games when possible, but it wasn't the end of the world whenever I missed one. Here, things are much different.On the first day of classes, I tossed a football around with some of the kids on my floor. I definitely grew up in a soccer household, so my football-throwing skills are decently sub-par. When my floormates witnessed my inability, I could feel the seething disdain hitting me in the temple like a gamma ray. Also, I never knew how much of a big deal Sunday Night Football was to the general male population until I spent my first weekend here. I could hear people screaming from my open window every time. Do I even need to venture into the realm of PSU gamedays?
2. Late-night Dining
Establishments that are open past midnight in State College are treated as a Garden of Eden to socially active college kids. Canyon Pizza is about as legendary as any eatery could possibly be among a group of people. When I Googled "most famous restaurants", next to nothing came up, and that proves how peculiar of a phenomenon this is. Places like Gumby's, DP Dough, and Wings Over all enjoy almost equal amounts of fame as well. This is another example of how strong the sense of tradition is here at Penn State.
3. Greek Life is Amazing/Awful
Greek life is a very polarizing issue at our school. Everyone that I have talked to seems to either love it or hate it with the force of 10 supernovae. Of course, this may just be a product of selection bias (people who feel strongly about it are more inclined to talk about it), but nonetheless I have seen many examples of this trend around campus. Common arguments used by proponents include brotherhood, networking, and social status, whereas GDI radicals (god-damn independents) usually refer to hazing, expensive dues, and all-around personality of your typical "frat star" as reasons to hate the Greeks. I am one of the few that I've met that seem to be on the fence about the whole thing, so this apparent commonplace intrigues me. Now, this commonplace is only applicable to fraternities. I haven't heard much in terms of arguments for or against sororities, so I'm not ready to lump them into this hypothesis.
These are just three of the commonplaces that I have witnessed at this beautiful school. You can expect me to revisit this topic after spending more time with this incomparable student body. If you have noticed any more, feel free to post them in the comments below!
1. Football is life.
My dad was not a large watcher of sports. At home, we would turn on ESPN to see the Olympics and the World Cup; nothing else. This ended up being my general outlook on watching sports as well. I would go to high school football games when possible, but it wasn't the end of the world whenever I missed one. Here, things are much different.On the first day of classes, I tossed a football around with some of the kids on my floor. I definitely grew up in a soccer household, so my football-throwing skills are decently sub-par. When my floormates witnessed my inability, I could feel the seething disdain hitting me in the temple like a gamma ray. Also, I never knew how much of a big deal Sunday Night Football was to the general male population until I spent my first weekend here. I could hear people screaming from my open window every time. Do I even need to venture into the realm of PSU gamedays?
2. Late-night Dining
Establishments that are open past midnight in State College are treated as a Garden of Eden to socially active college kids. Canyon Pizza is about as legendary as any eatery could possibly be among a group of people. When I Googled "most famous restaurants", next to nothing came up, and that proves how peculiar of a phenomenon this is. Places like Gumby's, DP Dough, and Wings Over all enjoy almost equal amounts of fame as well. This is another example of how strong the sense of tradition is here at Penn State.
3. Greek Life is Amazing/Awful
Greek life is a very polarizing issue at our school. Everyone that I have talked to seems to either love it or hate it with the force of 10 supernovae. Of course, this may just be a product of selection bias (people who feel strongly about it are more inclined to talk about it), but nonetheless I have seen many examples of this trend around campus. Common arguments used by proponents include brotherhood, networking, and social status, whereas GDI radicals (god-damn independents) usually refer to hazing, expensive dues, and all-around personality of your typical "frat star" as reasons to hate the Greeks. I am one of the few that I've met that seem to be on the fence about the whole thing, so this apparent commonplace intrigues me. Now, this commonplace is only applicable to fraternities. I haven't heard much in terms of arguments for or against sororities, so I'm not ready to lump them into this hypothesis.
These are just three of the commonplaces that I have witnessed at this beautiful school. You can expect me to revisit this topic after spending more time with this incomparable student body. If you have noticed any more, feel free to post them in the comments below!
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)