http://annularclipse.tumblr.com/post/100162686172
I think putting tumblr on a blogger is sort of redundant but it had to be done. I found this photo (click on link) and I thought it was so beautiful and interesting, I had to share it. It looks like its a long exposure of the inside of a bus and the city is going by. I love all the colors and motion blur in this photograph. I do not know who took it, but I wish I could complement them.
After a long day, this is what i envision things being like. It's as if you are aware but at the same time, you are not paying attention.
http://annularclipse.tumblr.com/post/100162686172
Sunday, January 11, 2015
Wednesday, January 7, 2015
#TrainTakeOver
Sunday, January 4, 2015
A Study on Loneliness
I found a book titled Loneliness: Human Nature and the Need for Social Connection by John T. Cacioppo and William Patrick
It's a sociological/neuroscience-based study that tries to make sense of what loneliness is and what its role is within our society.
Since it is a publication of their findings and I think it sort of relates to what I am studying, I decided to compile some quotes that I thought the most interesting.
"the need for meaningful social connection and the pain we feel without it, are defining characteristics of our species. "
"social pain, also known as loneliness, evolved for a similar reason (like physical pain protects from physical dangers): because it protected the individual from the danger of remaining isolated."
"Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) shows us that the emotional region of the brain that is activated when we experience rejection is, in fact, the same region that registers emotional responses to physical pain." (8)
"Most neuroscientists now agree that, over a period of tens and thousands of years, it was the need to send and receive, interpret and relay increasingly complex social cues that drove the expansion of, and greater interconnectedness within, the cortical mantle of the human brain." (11)
"The social environment affects the neural and hormonal signals that govern our behavior" (11) and vise versa
"each of us inherits from our parents a certain level of need for social inclusion, just as we inherit a certain basic body type and basic level of intelligence." (14)
"the importance we assign to our place within a network of family and social relationships began to erode with the dawn of the industrial revolution." (53)
I definitely plan to read a little more and make time for a more in-depth blog post that connects their findings and my own hypotheses.
It's a sociological/neuroscience-based study that tries to make sense of what loneliness is and what its role is within our society.
Since it is a publication of their findings and I think it sort of relates to what I am studying, I decided to compile some quotes that I thought the most interesting.
"the need for meaningful social connection and the pain we feel without it, are defining characteristics of our species. "
"social pain, also known as loneliness, evolved for a similar reason (like physical pain protects from physical dangers): because it protected the individual from the danger of remaining isolated."
"Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) shows us that the emotional region of the brain that is activated when we experience rejection is, in fact, the same region that registers emotional responses to physical pain." (8)
"Most neuroscientists now agree that, over a period of tens and thousands of years, it was the need to send and receive, interpret and relay increasingly complex social cues that drove the expansion of, and greater interconnectedness within, the cortical mantle of the human brain." (11)
"The social environment affects the neural and hormonal signals that govern our behavior" (11) and vise versa
"each of us inherits from our parents a certain level of need for social inclusion, just as we inherit a certain basic body type and basic level of intelligence." (14)
"the importance we assign to our place within a network of family and social relationships began to erode with the dawn of the industrial revolution." (53)
I definitely plan to read a little more and make time for a more in-depth blog post that connects their findings and my own hypotheses.
Sometimes Silence is Necessary
Happy 2015!!! (sorry it's been so long since my last post.)
In case you haven't noticed yet, it has been getting pretty cold these days, and the Sun has been setting pretty early, making it dark longer. Makes sense- its winter. Sadly, this natural change of weather has also meant that my ability to go out and interact with the people of Chicago has lessened. Taking the CTA is not the warmest way to travel, especially not if you have a lot of walking to do in between or if you have to transfer a few times. Despite this, during my winter break, I made a commitment to trying to take the train or bus everywhere I went. Of course, this commitment was limited by time (since my parents didn't want me out on the CTA after it got dark) and weather conditions (my parents insisted I layer up and even then, preferred to give me rides when it was too cold). Yet, I did manage to ride it quite a few times, more than I am accustomed to during the winter. In fact, I started the new year by riding both the bus and the train! It was weird because of how empty the city seemed to be. I guess it must have had something to do with Chicagoans and their visitors celebrating the change from 2014 to 2015 and needing their sleep the next day. I, unlike most of the city, was up at 8 am and after getting some coffee, hopped onto a bus at 9am that would take me to the nearest train stop– the Paulina Brown line. The streets were completely deserted. I saw only a couple dozen cars moving through the streets and spotted less than 13 people walking around or on the CTA. On the train cart, there were only three other people, all of which were asleep or falling asleep.
Riding the CTA on January 1st was by far, the strangest experience I have had with this city and the people. I felt like I could have yelled at the top of my lungs while waiting for the train on the platform, and would have heard the echo bouncing off the whole city with no one so much as stirring in their sleep at the oddity but the leaves that blew, pushed by the chilly January wind. The city felt abandoned, but that was oddly nice. Throughout this whole experiment of mine, I have been pushing the question, why do we refuse to interact with one another? and pushing the idea that we must constantly, as mutual inhabitants of this large city, acknowledge one another and interact. I think I might have been wrong. I'm not saying I don't still wonder this and think we should make an effort to occasionally get to know one another, but I think my focus should have been more on how aware are we of our surroundings? In the strange stillness that was January 1st, I felt far more in touch with the city that I ever had. It was nice. I sat and simply looked out to the city streets as they passed by and acknowledged the beauty of it all, the quietness. I think it is something city-dwellers rarely do. We don't stop and observe because we are often thinking about a timeline, where we must be, what hasn't been done, what needs to be done, etc. I've come to the conclusion that sometimes, silence is needed and it should be entirely appreciated as a welcome pause from the noise of busy and must-do's that are our daily lives, that provides us with the chance to simply be and see.
Heres a little video i made out of boredom that morning while I waited.....
In case you haven't noticed yet, it has been getting pretty cold these days, and the Sun has been setting pretty early, making it dark longer. Makes sense- its winter. Sadly, this natural change of weather has also meant that my ability to go out and interact with the people of Chicago has lessened. Taking the CTA is not the warmest way to travel, especially not if you have a lot of walking to do in between or if you have to transfer a few times. Despite this, during my winter break, I made a commitment to trying to take the train or bus everywhere I went. Of course, this commitment was limited by time (since my parents didn't want me out on the CTA after it got dark) and weather conditions (my parents insisted I layer up and even then, preferred to give me rides when it was too cold). Yet, I did manage to ride it quite a few times, more than I am accustomed to during the winter. In fact, I started the new year by riding both the bus and the train! It was weird because of how empty the city seemed to be. I guess it must have had something to do with Chicagoans and their visitors celebrating the change from 2014 to 2015 and needing their sleep the next day. I, unlike most of the city, was up at 8 am and after getting some coffee, hopped onto a bus at 9am that would take me to the nearest train stop– the Paulina Brown line. The streets were completely deserted. I saw only a couple dozen cars moving through the streets and spotted less than 13 people walking around or on the CTA. On the train cart, there were only three other people, all of which were asleep or falling asleep.
Riding the CTA on January 1st was by far, the strangest experience I have had with this city and the people. I felt like I could have yelled at the top of my lungs while waiting for the train on the platform, and would have heard the echo bouncing off the whole city with no one so much as stirring in their sleep at the oddity but the leaves that blew, pushed by the chilly January wind. The city felt abandoned, but that was oddly nice. Throughout this whole experiment of mine, I have been pushing the question, why do we refuse to interact with one another? and pushing the idea that we must constantly, as mutual inhabitants of this large city, acknowledge one another and interact. I think I might have been wrong. I'm not saying I don't still wonder this and think we should make an effort to occasionally get to know one another, but I think my focus should have been more on how aware are we of our surroundings? In the strange stillness that was January 1st, I felt far more in touch with the city that I ever had. It was nice. I sat and simply looked out to the city streets as they passed by and acknowledged the beauty of it all, the quietness. I think it is something city-dwellers rarely do. We don't stop and observe because we are often thinking about a timeline, where we must be, what hasn't been done, what needs to be done, etc. I've come to the conclusion that sometimes, silence is needed and it should be entirely appreciated as a welcome pause from the noise of busy and must-do's that are our daily lives, that provides us with the chance to simply be and see.
Heres a little video i made out of boredom that morning while I waited.....
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