Your Hatred of Math...Explained!

     I hate math. I have never liked it, and though I took numerous honors math courses in high school (including calculus), I still do not understand it the majority of the time. But, it is not very strange for me to have such an aversion to the subject, for the majority of students and even adults I encounter share this dislike. Why do people hate math though? It was raised in class that hatred is rooted in, more than anything else, fear. We tend to say, "oh, I hate that..." because it is easier, less personal, and more socially acceptable than to say, "I really have a great fear of that". But what exactly is it that humans fear about math? It certainly is not the symbols on the piece of paper. They are fearful of the embarrassment or frustration that might come out of their interaction with it. It is very similar in fact to the reason why people will say that they "hate" learning languages. The further the symbols appear from English, and therefore, familiarity, the more people fear it. This is evinced by the fact that people are much more likely to attempt to learn Spanish or French which uses mostly the same alphabet as English, rather than to learn Chinese or Russian which employs an entirely unfamiliar alphabet.
     But, are humans helpless in the fact that they will always fear the embarrassment that comes with unfamiliarity? One suggestion was that if you increase an individual's understanding of the subject, they will be less fearful, or as the case may be, less hateful of it. However, I do not agree with this. As aforementioned, I took many high level math classes in high school, and one in college. I also took four years of Spanish in high school. Nevertheless, I still dislike the subjects. Is this because I still do not understand them enough after four years, or because my hatred is truly rooted in something else? Perhaps I will never know, and will just keep trying to further my education in the matters despite all of this. It just leads me to wonder, if humans are the ones who "invented" math, or at least "discovered" most of its concepts, then why is it that the majority of humans claim to hate or fear it? Besides the fear, what is it that humans truly hate about the subject? Also, do you believe there are any other animals who are truly capable of understanding and preforming mathematical problems?

Love, Love, Love!

In response to Jenny Beers' question, "Do you believe in love at first sight? Or lust at first sight? Or neither?"...

     I highly doubt that anyone can fall in love at first sight. Lust however, is a different story. As humans, it is  very easily trick ourselves into thinking we like someone more than we actually do. My friends and I like to call this our "shiny new toy theory." Often, one may meet someone and think that they are incredibly attractive. Ask that same person about a week later after they have gotten to know the person, and chances are that they will not see that person in the same light as they first did. Love though, is enduring. Humans love their families, friends, and pets, and will usually do anything for them. Love takes a long time to develop, and for that reason, it is not something one can have instantly. So, lust at first sight is definitely possible, but as for love at first sight, it may only be very rare. Love at first sight most likely occurs when someone finds another instantly attractive, and then their attraction continues, not diminishes, the more they get to know the person. Do you believe that everyone has a "soulmate"? If so, what do you think the chances are that everyone will meet their soulmate at some point in their life?

Digging in the Past

     Religions have existed for thousands of years, and it just seems that people have always believed in some sort of higher power. But, when did the idea of religion first begin? In "caveman times," I do not think they had a concept of a god, and perhaps this was because their minds had not evolved enough to think of the unknown on that level. Even then, I still wonder how humans came to believe in a god. People claim that they witnessed truly fantastic actions preformed by religious figures who really did exist such as Jesus and Buddha. Sometimes though, many cannot help to wonder if the accounts of the parting of the Red Sea, turning water into wine, and resurrection from the dead actually happened. Historical accounts are often inaccurate, for they become stories passed down through generations of individuals. However, if religions have such a huge following, one must figure that some of these events really did happen. I have expressed before how I want to be an archaeologist once I finish with my schooling. I just find biblical archeology, just as any other type of archeology, incredibly riveting, for it is a way to uncover answers. So much is burried in the past, and by sifting through the dirt, what can be uncovered is almost more incredible and enlightening than any scientific discovery.

Stress and Societal Pressure

In response to Katie Russell's question, "Why do humans put so much pressure on ourselves it makes us sick?"...

     It seems that since this week is midterms, this is quite an appropriate question to answer! This week, my friends and I have truly been feeling the pressure. Homework is piling up, people are getting frustrated and lashing out at each other, and when we finally collapse in bed at night, it is evident we need much more sleep than the few hours we are actually getting. Stress. This seems to be a part of everyones lives, and I will admit that I have never met a person who was not stressed whatsoever. But, as Katie said, why is it that people put so much pressure on themselves? It most certainly has to do with the ideals of the society people are a part of. The United States for instance, is a very individualistic nation. If you mess up, it is your fault and not the fault of any other. Time is money. A constant state of stress is necessary in order to perform efficiently. So, it is clear that when there is no one to blame except for oneself, the pressure can become overwhelming, often resulting in serious health issues. Eastern, or Asian cultures however, have an entirely different view as a nation. They are what one could call collectivist, and have much more group responsibility for the actions of every individual. This takes quite a bit of pressure off of individuals, and results in somewhat less stress.
     Still, these people do get stressed, and I do not quite understand why humans need to push themselves to such limits. Personally, I am what some would consider a hard-worker and an over-achiever. The past few years of my life especially, have been nothing but memories of stress from schooling. I push myself as hard as I can, but why is it that some people are incapable of this? What is it that makes some people work extremely hard and others be extremely lazy? Despite this, it even appears that the lazy ones in society still get stressed, often as a result of their laziness. This leads to the conclusion that it is truly within human nature to "stress out" about things. People worry, and there does not seem to be any method to stop this. What animals are capable of worrying? Does their stress and worry lead to illness, as it does in humans?

A Few Questions...

     Why are humans so often resistant to believe that which they cannot see? I have discussed this before in my blog, and it only seems fitting to raise this issue again given the recent debates over naturalism and supernaturalism that have taken place recently in our class. For hundreds of years humans have debated whether or not they should believe in the supernatural beings of gods. Some have held firm in their beliefs and do not question the existence of a divine being. Others have been incredibly adament that we can only prove what we can see, and well, there is no way to "see" a god. What makes a person prefer one side over the other? How can some people have such "faith" in the unknown while others have such strong "faith" in science? I simply wonder if there are psychological characteristics that "determine" in a sense, which belief a person will lean towards. For instance, can people be genetically predisposed to having a faith in God? As I mentioned in a previous blog post, there are certain "thrill-seekers" who love chasing the unknown, so this seems entirely possibly. If this is the case, are people who believe in a god more inclined to believe in entities like ghosts? I believe they are, for if a person has the tendency to hold true one invisible being, they most likely do so with others as well. Additionally, is it possible for a person to believe in ghosts and not believe in a god?
     It may seem like I am raising more questions than I am answering, but that is because the world is such a mysterious place. There are so many things we are not meant to understand, and it is questionable if it is even worth our time trying to find the truth. It would be a much different world after all, if humans were simply not that inquisitive. Nevertheless, we are, and we need to learn how to deal with things when we do not find the answers. So, in regards to religion, unlike Thomas Clark, I do not believe supernaturalism and naturalism can coexist peacefully. They never have, and they never will, no matter how much individuals may want them to.

If We Could Turn Back Time...

     One question that always puzzles individuals is, is time a human-constructed concept? I have always heard from others that people "made" time and we need its structure to lead our lives. But, as it was raised in class, time really was not ours to "invent". So, this means that time existed far before humans did, and was simply not given a label until we gave it one. This leads me to wonder, are there any other animals who have a similar conception of time as humans do? If so, how did it affect how they led their lives if they existed before humans evolved? It also seems strange that humans, as a part of nature, need clocks and the concept of time to function. There are no other animals on the planet who have invented clocks, and it therefore seems strange that we needed to. Most animals do not need to think of time in the same way we do, for they have natural instincts that tell them when to wake up, when to migrate, when to return to a certain place to mate, etc. So why is it that humans do not have as many of these natural instincts? It almost seems that humans have evolved to be lazy. We do not live in the "wilderness" as most animals do, and most people do not have very many instincts like sleeping lightly to wake up if there is danger. Instead, humans sleep in, spend so much time being unproductive, and are extremely dependent on the very technology we have invented. It is just puzzling that if you put any animal in a very isolated place in the wilderness, chances are they would be able to survive if they could live in the climate. If you strand a human out in the middle of no-where though, they often cannot sustain themselves. We have invented so much technology, but it has driven us backward in our ability to live independently of these forces. Often I wish I could travel back in time and live as the first settlers of America did, like the people of Medieval Europe, or even as the Ancient Egyptians. It seems that the time we live in right now has so many problems, and so much negativity. But, would living in a different time really be any healthier for the planet or ourselves? What would be the positive and negative aspects of living in another era?

When You Don't Know What to Write...

In response to Brittany Guntor's question, "Is writer's block an actual psychological problem, or just an excuse to turn in sub-par work?"...

     Just before I started writing this post I was searching for questions to respond to, for I felt that in that moment a free post of my own thoughts was too daunting of a task. So, it was pretty coincidental that I stumbled upon this post about writer's block. While some people may use the words "writer's block" as an excuse for poor work, I do not think this happens very frequently. I believe it is usually a legitimate psychological problem that stems out of frustration and the constant distractions that surround us. Today people, teens especially, are surrounded by so much technology that it can be overwhelming. Therefore, when a student sits down to write a paper, they are often periodically checking Facebook, chatting with friends, checking their cell phone for text messages, or playing computer games. It becomes very hard to put away one's phone, shut down the other computer programs, and just leave up the word document they are working on. All of these distractions seem to be causing writer's block, for they fill our minds with so many other thoughts than what we need to be thinking about. So, like we talked about before in class, one may go on Facebook and get into a fight with a friend. When they sign off of the website, they then might be distracted with this anger and sadness. These thoughts obviously will be overwhelming if someone is trying to write something relatively intelligent for class. I do not think that writer's block is an excuse, but rather a psychological problem that has developed in more severity over the past years due to the rise in the amount of things to distract us. Why do you think writer's block occurs? Is it possible to train yourself to not experience writer's block as often?