My Good Pal Scooter

This blog post excites me so much because well, I love puppies. Particularly my own little fella named Scooter, a German Shepherd I got when I was 11. He is a wonderfully peculiar kind of dog, he understands both English and Chinese (whenever I say "walk" or "eat" in Chinese he goes crazy), and he behaves a lot like a cat (he loves to rub himself against people's legs and he loves being clean). When he was a puppy, he used to sleep on his back. When I would kneel beside him, he would put his paw on my knee. Simply put, he is the best dog ever. The best thing about having Scooter was watching him grow from a puppy. I think he displays a remarkable amount of emotion, and while many would dispute the suggestion that dogs have emotions, I believe they have a large capacity to feel and express them. Scooter is very particular about what he wags his tail to, he's not like a Yellow Lab whose tail muscles are so strong from wagging they could probably take out a small child. When we used to punish him when he did something like steal the knobs off of our stove, we would put him in his kennel. When we let him out, he would creep out, head lowered and tail between the legs. Of course after seeing this, all was forgiven. Like any other dog, he becomes ecstatic at the prospect of a game of tug of war or catch. This happiness becomes exponentially greater when he gets a treat, and he has figured out that since I always ask for his paw when I give him a treat, he's decided it would be better to give me two at once. All of these little habits and unique expressions make me believe that dogs, while perhaps not as 'intelligent' as humans, are more similar than we allow them to be.

My Favorite Philosopher

I have to be honest, I know of many philosophers but don't know many specifics about what they believe. The only philosopher whom I know more about is Confucius, because of my interest in history. Confucius had several beliefs that the world should be more aware of. Filial piety is something that has fallen by the wayside, and I believe it has a place in modern society. His emphasis on focusing on the self and strengthening one's own beliefs and morals above all else is a very intriguing and important belief. Self reflection and meditation should be more prevalent in today's society. Now I don't believe in ancestor worship, but the teachings of Confucius should be applied more liberally to thought today. Although it may not be considered philosophy, Confucius espoused norms for social etiquette that encouraged self control and reflection. 

A Puzzling Dilemma

Going back to my first blog post I ever did for this class, I mentioned that I was particularly interested in the link between public policy and neuroscience. Economic games happened to be my favorite part of the intro public policy course I am so this module of our neuroscience course is particularly interesting to me as well. My favorite economic game is prisoner's dilemma, not only the outcome of both defections is particularly interesting and counter intuitive, but of how prevalent it is in politics, economics, and neuroscience. The most interesting example my public policy professor brought up was the application of this game to the fact that sometimes, contrary to the belief of people who believe that the the economy will naturally provide for the needs of society. The example was a multi-party prisoner's dilemma, in which one society had to decide whether to put in streetlights. You would think that everybody would want to chip in for lights, but it is actually in each individual's personal interest to not contribute and hope to freeride on others. Therefore, without government intervention, the lights would never be put in place. Prisoner's dilemma is not just a hypothetical theory that is rambled on about in textbooks, it has a place in everyday policymaking and political strategy. 

Violating Social Norms

My experience with violating social norms was a bit anticlimactic; I expected a lot of chiding to which I would apologize profusely for my rudeness. I have also realized that my confidence in approaching strangers is not exactly very high. Since I am on the bus every other day for class, I decided to wait until the largest bus was at its fullest to ask the poor fellow next to me who had snagged a hard-earned seat if I could have his seat. He looked a bit startled before awkwardly saying "Um...sure" while looking very confused. Other people around me seemed to give me dirty looks and thus, I vowed never to break a social norm again. I think I was lucky that the person I asked was a guy, because it is definitely more acceptable for a guy to give up a seat to a girl. If I had asked a girl, I think she would have denied me the seat. This made me reflect upon how much control we humans have over establishing social norms, yet seem to shy away from attempting to make efforts to change them. This made me wonder exactly how and when these norms were established, and I think it's truly remarkable that we humans abide by these rigid laws that when broken, are actually unpunishable.

Under the Influence

There are so many instances of people under the influence of hormones, it is quite a concerning phenomenon. I must admit to it as well, why just last night my cortisol levels must have been through the roof with the stress and excitement for studying for my last midterm! They are a subtle part of every one of our actions and since they are constantly coursing through our veins it is difficult to write about one instance where someone's actions were influenced by hormones. Somebody quite close to me (name kept private for confidentiality purposes) experiences alarming mood swings due to the hormone activity prior to menstruation. It is quite frightening sometimes, so if any of you chance upon this person during this period of time, I advise you to get out of the swing zone. Need I mention the numerous arguments I have had as a moody teenager with my parents? Let's just say my oxytocin was very active that day, my mother can induce fear responses in me that I'm sure a lot of people can related to. 

What is Emotion?

This is a question worthy of a place on the philosophical mantlepiece next to "What is the meaning of life?". I have been sitting here for about a half an hour trying to come up with a definition; I keep picturing the emotions of anger, sadness, joy, or disgust but it is extremely difficult to quantify. As cheesy as it sounds, I believe there are two types of emotion; one is an immediate reaction to a stimulus that requires an instinctive, almost survival-type response. For example, when someone feels fearful, it usually means that they are in a position that they deem harmful and dangerous to themselves. If they fear disgust, it could similarly mean that they are in a position they deem unsafe, unsanitary, or dangerous to them. The other type of emotion is something that I cannot better describe than it being one's soul, if one chooses to believe we have souls, reacting as a means to rid the body of reactions to stimuli that if not let out, might be harmful to the body and mind. Sorrow, for example, can be a reaction to something tragic that has happened in our lives, a death in the family for instance. I believe the outpouring of grief is the soul's way of releasing the stress of such an unfortunate occurrence so that the body does not retain it. In this way the person is able to avoid prolonged distress that has detrimental effects on the body and mind. This might be applicable to positive emotion as well; when we see someone, a close friend or family member, for the first time after a long period of time, we experience joy. Is it possible that happiness is detrimental to the body and mind? I hope not, but one may see it as the body must return to an equilibrium, an emotional neutrality. Experiencing joy is one way to return the body to the "status quo". Is emotion this scientific and biological? I don't believe that it is. For all I know this is completely off the mark, but again, it is nearly impossible for me to express in words what emotion means to me. The quality about emotion that amazes me and truly lets me appreciate my humanity is that it escapes definition.

Fun With EEG!

Contrary to the title, I did not particularly enjoy my experience participating in an EEG study. There is a common misconception that the world of EEG is glamorous but alas, behind the scenes one can see the discomfort and boredom that is the sad truth. The study I participated in was for the Woldorff Lab dealing with neuroeconomics. The whole study took about 2.5 hours, about half of which was spent prepping the EEG cap and making sure that the skin on my scalp was clear enough so the electrodes would be able to receive information properly. This was accomplished through "twizzling", where the two research assistants who ran the study used thin wooden sticks, set one end against my scalp, and twisted it back and forth between their fingers until the area was clear enough. This was the most uncomfortable part of the study; it felt like they were trying to bore through my skull.  It was also unfortunately the longest part of the experience because of the number of electrodes on my head. After finally getting the cap properly prepped, they sat me down in a soundproof, dark room (that had the perfect sleep-inducing ambience) in front of a computer where I was given a task to choose between two situations that would give me a better monetary payoff. For each of the tasks, there were two bars divided in different proportions into red and green. The area of the red or green block represented the amount of money involved, and the number inside represented the probability of winning (green) or losing (red) that amount. I had to guess which of the two bars would give me the highest payoff by pressing "F" on a keyboard for the top bar and "J" for the bottom. I had either 3 or .4 seconds to make a decision. Interestingly enough I think I performed better on the .4 second trials because I was forced to perk up and really pay attention to the bars. I got very sleepy sitting there in a dark, warm room for an hour doing a monotonous task, so I think I could've performed better. Overall, I do have to admit it was interesting in that I had never participated in an EEG study before and it was cool to see my brain waves on a screen. It was much too uncomfortable, long, and boring for me to consider doing it again, however. I plan to participate in an fMRI study in late October, which is apparently also uncomfortable, but I look forward to the experience!