TOW #24 - A General Theory of Love - IRB pt. 2

I finished the second half of this book, and there were a lot of concepts that the authors addressed that I found to be interesting. It primarily addressed interactions and relationships between people, which is primarily what love is. It focused on where attachments form in the brain, and how the way the brain functions is conducive to learning new things in a particular way, and it's very difficult to "unlearn" something when you become an adult, which the authors described as one of the problems that therapists face. This is because certain neural pathways become strengthened due to being used a lot and this can often lead to faulty assumptions like the illusion of a triangle in this image. 

It described how certain strengthened neural pathways (called Attractors by the authors) can sometimes overwhelm signals from less used pathways. The book described different ways the brain works and what causes some people to be attracted to each other - a common the me is that because they are similar. It explained why changing the way the brain thinks is very difficult, because of the power of the Attractors. The authors used numerous examples of the concepts they were describing, such as the example with the H and the much simpler neural network, and the example with drug abuse and the most effective ways to deal with the problem. The book explains emotions from a largely biological standpoint, which is interesting, because most of the time people don't think of relationships are regulating each other, but the book approaches it much in this way. It explains how people in a truly meaningful relationship make each other better and change each other. The examples made it easier to understand a potentially abstract concept. It explained how the mind is not shaped only by genetics but also by interactions with people and the nurturing a child receives. I thought it was definitely unique and interesting.

TOW #23 - The Search for Marvin Gardens - Written

This is an interesting essay from the 100 best essays of the century book, and I thought it would be nice for a change from my usual topics. This essay was written by John McPhee, an American writer who is considered to be a pioneer of creative nonfiction, which is definitely shown in this essay. The essay primarily features two people playing multiple rounds of the game Monopoly, along with descriptions of the realities in the places that are mentioned on the Monopoly board. I found it interesting because most people who play the game probably aren't thinking about the actual places that they see on their game board - they're more concerned with the actual game itself. I found the juxtaposition between the status of the game and the descriptions of many of the places to be really interesting, especially the descriptions of the jail and the people there. Throughout the essay, the game is described almost as simplistic, and hardly any attention is given to the actual locations in the parts of the essay describing gameplay. It was a pretty big contrast between the players in the game and their thoughts about the properties, to collect them for their own personal gain, as compared to the descriptions of the actual locations and the poor condition most of them are in, like with the description of St. Charles Place as being completely abandoned with barely recognizable sidewalks and vacant buildings. The essay is not about the game - it's about the reality in the country and how many of these things that are happening and real and can't be ignored. These are conditions that actually exist, and they won't just disappear. I did find the description of Monopoly as "chess at a Wall Street level" to be interesting, because it seems to be a pretty accurate summary, because there is definitely an amount of strategy involved, and it was actually an interesting analogy for actual development. The essay did seem a bit hard to follow at times, because it jumped around between different locations that were being described, and I was a bit confused as to the person who was actually seeking Marvin Gardens and why no one knew where it was. It was a unique essay, and I thought it was definitely an interesting glimpse into the actual places behind the game.

TOW #22 - Still Waiting in Selma - Written

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/07/opinion/still-waiting-in-selma.html?ref=opinion

This was an interesting article from the New York Times about African American rights, a theme that I've chosen after tumblr's #blackout on Friday, promoting equality and the end of racism. The article itself was about the voting process and African American citizens, primarily in the town of Selma, known from the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. It details the racism and restrictions for voting that exist, and the fact that African Americans do not receive the equal treatment that they've been promised in the past. It also emphasizes how slow progress has been, especially with all the current events with police brutality and discriminatory practices. The article describes some of the discrimination that exists to this day, such as with the changes to the voting laws, with the new voter ID law that would discriminate against minorities and poor people who don't have government ID, which the authors claim is similar to the literacy test and poll tax tactics that were used in the past. They also describe the lack of representation in the government and the essential segregation that exists in the school system. They use statistics as well as personal experience in order to support the argument - the number of African American representatives, the number of voters, and poverty levels. For personal experiences, they use the example of the segregated school. They also used the examples of all the different forms of legislation relating to voting rights, and voting equality that's been a goal for a very long time. The article was really interesting in highlighting the progress that has been made, but also the progress that will still need to be made, and how causing change will not be an easy process. It reminds us where we started from, where we are now, and where we need to be in order to achieve the equal treatment promised to everyone.

TOW #21 - Hunger Games Poster - Visual

This week, I thought it would be nice to do something different than my usual types of posts. This is an advertisement for one of the Hunger Games movies, and I found it interesting because although this is actually promoting the movie, it's presented as a propaganda poster for the Capitol. The artist used the strategy of making the image simple, with only one main thing to focus on - the child in the center. Under the District 12 logo is a message that says "The Capitol salutes its citizens of the mining district". This is an interesting choice because this would a time at which the citizens of the District would be angry with the Capitol and they often feel out of favor, both in the Hunger Games and in other things. This message would be meant to make them feel appreciated. It's also interesting to see the child dirty and in a miner's outfit, which isn't something you would expect. It is also ironic how the child has an apple which appears to be a reward for doing work, while canonically in the series, almost everyone in District 12 is starving and wouldn't have enough food. This child looks healthy and fairly happy, which may not necessarily actually be the best representation of the District itself but might have been useful in inspiring hope. However, it seems to be a bit contrary to the purpose, since the child is shown as dirty and messy, which contrasts with the innocence of the child and their face. It doesn't seem like a positive thing to allow children to be supporting manual labor, especially considering how dangerous the job of mining is. I don't feel like this ad would have been effective had it actually been used as propaganda, because the District would not have taken the message seriously, and they most likely would not have approved of the miner child, because they all risk their lives in the mines and the Capitol would be trying to trivialize that. As a movie poster, it's completely different. It makes the viewer think about the advertisement and think about it in relation to the movie, which would probably be more effective than just the actors' faces.