:p 3 blogs at one go to compensate for the 'deadness' on my blog for the past month.
I just finished reading 'Freud for Beginners' today. Hooray, one thing to tick of my 'to do list' this holiday. I thought I needed to get in touch with this man, who's ideas most people think is fundamental in psychology, but is actually De-NouNced in the psychology education I had. The book has not really changed how I feel about Freud.
Psychology has greatly criticized Freud as unscientific. His theories are thought to be un-falsifiable (It says A is B, but when A is not B, it explains why A is not B too). It is also based on research on a relatively small and specific group of clients (for the conclusions he makes). The clients that he has are mostly upper/middle class Jewish women with neurotic/ hysteric tendencies. He has no objective measure of what he was finding out. He was the person writing the notes and they were usually done at the end of the day when he as seen many clients throughout the day.
Based on the above, it may be pretty amazing how his ideas became so famous, and have started a psychoanalysis as a form of therapy of the psychologically ill. Still they are ideas (notwithstanding 'fluffy' as a friend would call it) that revolutionalized how we thought about ourselves and how we think. What is the 'unconscious' and could it affect the way we behave and interpret the information we receive about the world? (I must admit I do not fully understand Freud's works... this is just off the top of my head)
Freud's theories do not account for all instances of psychological behaviour and is essentially male-dominated. His 'Oedipal complex', talks about the boy when growing up, falls in love with his mother, but because of fear of his father suppresses this sexual desire. The girl is described as 'a boy with a little bit less' as she is said to have a similar complex which is based on having 'penis envy'. His 'oedipal complex' theory does not also talk much about in other situations where the children are not cared for by the parents; neither does it say anything about sibling rivalry. His idea of dreams as a product of unfulfilled wishes also does not really explain nightmares, although he often explains nightmares in symbols in which is turns out to be unfulfilled wishes.
Still, Freud has many lessons to offer. :) Thought/Ideas can never be bad or useless unless people who recieve them do not make appropriate use of them. Freud's work made people want to explore the psyche more. If not to study his ideas, but to refute them too. It also can be interpreted as a reflection of the time that he was in and how his growing environment and living period affected his work. It also provided us with a strong caveat on how to conduct systematic enquiries on the human mind. I'm sure there are more of Freud's contributions to the understanding of the human mind...
Thursday, June 28, 2007
I love Singapore :)
I forgot that I've been away for 9 months. There have been some positive changes in my neighbourhood that I feel really happy to be in Singapore. :)
1) My complaints about the lack of accessible re-cycling facilities a few years ago, have totally been 'squashed'. They were already in abundance in the city area. Now, within 10 minutes of walking in the Bukit Gombak area, you would see an average of 1.5 sets of yellow, green and blue bins. They are literally everywhere. It does not guarantee that people will use them and that the re-cycling culture in Singapore will improve, but the efforts made to remind people is impressive.
2) There is also an average of 2 fitness areas for the elderly within 10 minute walking distance. There are at least 6 different 'excercises in each area' and are not your conventional excercise equipment. Some mimick gym equipments like the 'ski-walker' and others requires users to specialized movements like taii-chi palm circles. They are not adjustable so I was slightly worried about the possibility of injury if users are not suited to use them. Lack of guidance means users may not use them appropriately too. Still, I think its a great idea. They do encourage retirees to use them and move parts of their bodies that they would not normally use.
There is always space for exercise in Singapore... I've never really valued that until now (I guess). People can use the running tracks freely, there are nice parks with good exercise facilities, the weather is generally good, it's safe to jog at night... what more can one ask for... I'm so going to good and start excercising again this month...
but then... you get really good tasting (not good in the health sense) and cheap food everywhere... hmmm let's see what happens.
1) My complaints about the lack of accessible re-cycling facilities a few years ago, have totally been 'squashed'. They were already in abundance in the city area. Now, within 10 minutes of walking in the Bukit Gombak area, you would see an average of 1.5 sets of yellow, green and blue bins. They are literally everywhere. It does not guarantee that people will use them and that the re-cycling culture in Singapore will improve, but the efforts made to remind people is impressive.
2) There is also an average of 2 fitness areas for the elderly within 10 minute walking distance. There are at least 6 different 'excercises in each area' and are not your conventional excercise equipment. Some mimick gym equipments like the 'ski-walker' and others requires users to specialized movements like taii-chi palm circles. They are not adjustable so I was slightly worried about the possibility of injury if users are not suited to use them. Lack of guidance means users may not use them appropriately too. Still, I think its a great idea. They do encourage retirees to use them and move parts of their bodies that they would not normally use.
There is always space for exercise in Singapore... I've never really valued that until now (I guess). People can use the running tracks freely, there are nice parks with good exercise facilities, the weather is generally good, it's safe to jog at night... what more can one ask for... I'm so going to good and start excercising again this month...
but then... you get really good tasting (not good in the health sense) and cheap food everywhere... hmmm let's see what happens.
Rest... Home...
That the last blog was about 1 month ago and about Inuyasha shows how 'engaged' I have been the show...
I touched down in Singapore on the 26th of June, Tuesday :>. That's 4 days ago. And I have not felt so rested in months :p. My last week in Sheffield was filled with 'leaving anxiety' (making sure I had all the work I needed before I left), last days at work and volunteering, and my really short-term comitment to spreading the word about the GLO-Ball (a ball/night club specially for adults with disabilities). It was great just spending time at home... with my parents... and starting to get in touch with my friends :). I managed to push myself to do at least 3km the past 3 days... I cooked dinner last night... and I finished reading 'Freud for Beginners' :p Is that accomplishment enough?
I left Sheffield just as the skies poured a whole summer of rain on it... It feels really odd seeing Sheffield as a disaster zone in the Singapore papers. It rained really badly 2 weeks ago, and I knew the meadowhall area was flooded... but I would never think Hillsborough would be hit this time... my friend says that 'I picked the right time to go home'. She did too say that there is a nice show of community spirit as people are talking about what's happening.
I touched down in Singapore on the 26th of June, Tuesday :>. That's 4 days ago. And I have not felt so rested in months :p. My last week in Sheffield was filled with 'leaving anxiety' (making sure I had all the work I needed before I left), last days at work and volunteering, and my really short-term comitment to spreading the word about the GLO-Ball (a ball/night club specially for adults with disabilities). It was great just spending time at home... with my parents... and starting to get in touch with my friends :). I managed to push myself to do at least 3km the past 3 days... I cooked dinner last night... and I finished reading 'Freud for Beginners' :p Is that accomplishment enough?
I left Sheffield just as the skies poured a whole summer of rain on it... It feels really odd seeing Sheffield as a disaster zone in the Singapore papers. It rained really badly 2 weeks ago, and I knew the meadowhall area was flooded... but I would never think Hillsborough would be hit this time... my friend says that 'I picked the right time to go home'. She did too say that there is a nice show of community spirit as people are talking about what's happening.
Thursday, June 7, 2007
INUYASHA
Yes... Hwan Cui likes shows that have to do with inter-dimension/ time travel/communication...
e.g. Dr Who, TOrchWood, Sliders, X-men, Butterfly effect, Frequency
and stories of females with extra-ordinary lives
e.g. Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Charmed
That is why she has a fascination with INUYASHA since she first saw the cartoon on Arts Central, Singapore, in 2005.
[INUYASHA is a Japanese Anime about a 15 year old girl, Kagome, who accidentally travels back in time to Feudal Japan, and meets the half-demon Inuyasha. She finds out that she possesses a jewel of power that many demons and humans are after. The jewel endows its owner with great power, so should never fall into the hands of evil. When the jewel was broken into pieces and strewn all over Feudal Japan, she joined forces with Inuyasha to retreive them. They meet many friends along the way who have the same purpose of defeating a BIG BAD Naraku and toe retrive the jewel shards. The pair reluctant at first to cooperate, also ends up falling in love. Things are never simple though... as Inuyasha has a tragic past with an brave demon hunting priestess... who is likely to have reincarnated as Kagome]
It has been a painful relationship for Hwan Cui with INUYASHA... (the cartoon... not the boy :p)
1. She could not watch it anymore after she came back to Sheffield
2. She could not afford the Comics or the DVDs...
but now... after 2 years of missing out on the story... She has found it on....
YOUTUBE!!!
Hwan Cui is officially on holiday now... haha she is spending all her after work hours watching the cartoon from episode 1.
e.g. Dr Who, TOrchWood, Sliders, X-men, Butterfly effect, Frequency
and stories of females with extra-ordinary lives
e.g. Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Charmed
That is why she has a fascination with INUYASHA since she first saw the cartoon on Arts Central, Singapore, in 2005.
[INUYASHA is a Japanese Anime about a 15 year old girl, Kagome, who accidentally travels back in time to Feudal Japan, and meets the half-demon Inuyasha. She finds out that she possesses a jewel of power that many demons and humans are after. The jewel endows its owner with great power, so should never fall into the hands of evil. When the jewel was broken into pieces and strewn all over Feudal Japan, she joined forces with Inuyasha to retreive them. They meet many friends along the way who have the same purpose of defeating a BIG BAD Naraku and toe retrive the jewel shards. The pair reluctant at first to cooperate, also ends up falling in love. Things are never simple though... as Inuyasha has a tragic past with an brave demon hunting priestess... who is likely to have reincarnated as Kagome]
It has been a painful relationship for Hwan Cui with INUYASHA... (the cartoon... not the boy :p)
1. She could not watch it anymore after she came back to Sheffield
2. She could not afford the Comics or the DVDs...
but now... after 2 years of missing out on the story... She has found it on....
YOUTUBE!!!
Hwan Cui is officially on holiday now... haha she is spending all her after work hours watching the cartoon from episode 1.
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
I'm just ranting...
I've been trying to set up a UK and Singapore study investigating effects of culture of perceptual influences (i.e. how we see the world) in children. I hope to start with typically developing children, then go on to compared differences in children with autism in the 2 countries. I've been filling in forms to get approval to do the study in Singapore and to see if I can get some money for the research. I am quite positive about the study and have been working hard to put it all together. But there is always a line or two in the application forms that make me less confident about how it would work out. Most of them go alongst the lines of the relevance to inteventions and education... i.e. applied research...
My research is rather theoretical. Its about how autism develops and how perception might have a role to play in the developing of the social difficulties observed. I usually try to be conservative and not make wild speculations about how it can be applied to the real world... Basically because I don't know yet. I see my research filling the niche of building up the foundations of our understanding of autism, in which future interventions and early diagnosistic tools can be based on. How can we not stress the effectiveness of early intervention? and how does early intervention come about... diagnosis at a young age... how can diagnosis be done at a young age? If we understand how autism develops!
I don't know if my line of research will lead me anywhere... but lots of esteemed researchers do think so (or else they wont be spending half their lifes doing it would they?). I would not mind contributing to autism research in that it eventually tells people 'DOn't go down that way... there's nothing there...) That is how scientific knowledge grows is not it?
Why I study vision in autism? Because robust differences have been found in people with autism and people without autism. People with autism have been found to be better at processing details of visual/ auditory information than people without autism. They have been found to be better on the blocks design and better at finding target shapes out of complex designs. There is a difference there... so I study it. to see if that tells me anything about changes in the developmental trajectory of a child that might lead him/her to develop social communication difficulties. If it is possible to translate that strength in detail processing to tasks that the child can excel in and make it easier for the child to learn social skills. Identifying strengths to let the child maximize his potential and to overcome weaknesses.
On another note... I am slightly wary genetics research in autism... specifically if the research aim to eradicate developmental disorders. Is a developmental disorder an 'illness' or variation in the human population. My stance is skewed towards the latter. Many congenitally deaf people believe that that is how they are born and that is who they are. Thus they fight for recognition of sign language as a language and deafness as a culture. Differences amongst people make life colourful. And making those differences disappear might make what makes us human, disappear too (I'm quite sure someone at Autism Research UK said that). What we need to do is to help people whose 'differences' cause distress or limit their potential to excel, in our 'difference' un-friendly society.
(oops... went off course... )
Conclusion:
My research is rather theoretical. Its about how autism develops and how perception might have a role to play in the developing of the social difficulties observed. I usually try to be conservative and not make wild speculations about how it can be applied to the real world... Basically because I don't know yet. I see my research filling the niche of building up the foundations of our understanding of autism, in which future interventions and early diagnosistic tools can be based on. How can we not stress the effectiveness of early intervention? and how does early intervention come about... diagnosis at a young age... how can diagnosis be done at a young age? If we understand how autism develops!
I don't know if my line of research will lead me anywhere... but lots of esteemed researchers do think so (or else they wont be spending half their lifes doing it would they?). I would not mind contributing to autism research in that it eventually tells people 'DOn't go down that way... there's nothing there...) That is how scientific knowledge grows is not it?
Why I study vision in autism? Because robust differences have been found in people with autism and people without autism. People with autism have been found to be better at processing details of visual/ auditory information than people without autism. They have been found to be better on the blocks design and better at finding target shapes out of complex designs. There is a difference there... so I study it. to see if that tells me anything about changes in the developmental trajectory of a child that might lead him/her to develop social communication difficulties. If it is possible to translate that strength in detail processing to tasks that the child can excel in and make it easier for the child to learn social skills. Identifying strengths to let the child maximize his potential and to overcome weaknesses.
On another note... I am slightly wary genetics research in autism... specifically if the research aim to eradicate developmental disorders. Is a developmental disorder an 'illness' or variation in the human population. My stance is skewed towards the latter. Many congenitally deaf people believe that that is how they are born and that is who they are. Thus they fight for recognition of sign language as a language and deafness as a culture. Differences amongst people make life colourful. And making those differences disappear might make what makes us human, disappear too (I'm quite sure someone at Autism Research UK said that). What we need to do is to help people whose 'differences' cause distress or limit their potential to excel, in our 'difference' un-friendly society.
(oops... went off course... )
Conclusion:
I have a good product.
I believe my product is good.
I need to know how to sell it in Singapore!!!
Saturday, June 2, 2007
Different ways of making a statement...
1) Dutch television created a huge controversy before the broadcast of a new reality tv show:
A terminally ill lady will choose one of 3 patients as the recipient of her kidney.
There were protests for it not to be broadcast. The Dutch donor authority also condemned the show. The Dutch media went on with the broadcast citing their agenda as to highlight reality of the organ transplant situation - the lack of organ donors. And they did...
And they shocked the world...
The show was a hoax. The terminally ill lady was an actress. STILL, the 3 patients who were 'competing' for the kidney were NOT. They are real people who have been waiting for a chance for a new life.
I guess the main thing was that the message did get across... As part of the show, viewers sent text messages to the 'organ donor' to help her decide who she should give the kidney to. And people responded, emphathizing with the plight that the patients were in.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6714287.stm
2) In my time of boredom... I've been watching TOrchwood on You-tube the past 2 weeks. TOrchwood is a spin-off from Dr Who. Both are sci-fi dramas by bbc. The main character was Captain Jack who was the head of a team of paranormal investigators. Their job was to prevent beings from other dimensions from travelling through a time-drift and causing havoc on Earth. They were given the mandate by Queen Victoria in the 18th century (I think). The team was hardly your typical 'Fantastic Four' super-hero characters. They were un-expectedly dysfunctional and unable to cope with the demands for secrecy in their job, the atrocities they see everyday and to have a supposed 'life' outside of work. How Captain Jack worked did not help either. He was a man who kept to himself. Still, he was a good leader in the sense that he always made sure that if he knows his team members had problems, he will be there to support them through it.
Captain Jack was an interesting character in the sense that he cannot die, and he seems to flirt with every single person he meets... man or woman. He was human (he could still be). but SOmething happened to him and now he cannot die.
The last episode of the season gave me a really odd realization. And it made me wonder if the authors meant it to be a message that homosexuality and Christianity may not be that incompatible (an association that's there, but somehow, also not there). The Earth was in peril as the time rift was splitting. The 'baddie' was persuading the torchwood team members to open the rift, which he says is the only way to save them all. He used images of their loved ones to coaxed them into doing so. Captain Jack was completely against that and asked his team to believe in him. His team was in desperation, so went against him and shot him in the head. They then used his pupil image to activate the mechanism to open the time rift. That was when all hell was set loose. A gigantic demon appeared inthe middle of Cardiff, Wales and was sucking the life out of everyone.
Captain Jack, who cannot die, woke up after that. He saw what was happening. This was when his team turned to him again, said their sorries and asked him how to fix the situation. Jack ran out into the city towards the Demon. He figured that since the demon is a destroyer of life forces and full of 'death'. By offering his ever-lasting life force to the demon, it might destroy the demon. So Captain Jack's Life got sucked out of him.
The team mourned Jack. All members of torchwood were cryo-genically preserved when they die. They were about to put him in the cryogenic processor when Gwen, his second in command, and definitely the person with the kindest and emphathic person in the team stopped them. She said to give him a few days to see if he will revive. SO she stood by him and waited for him to wake up... Lo and Be hold he did... all his team members were forgiven... and they were Torchwood again.
An allusion to the bible? there were other torchwood viewers on the web who agreed with me. But in combination with the ambiguous sexual orientation of Captain Jack... It did make me think...
If you are interested to watch the show on Youtube...
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=had437
A terminally ill lady will choose one of 3 patients as the recipient of her kidney.
There were protests for it not to be broadcast. The Dutch donor authority also condemned the show. The Dutch media went on with the broadcast citing their agenda as to highlight reality of the organ transplant situation - the lack of organ donors. And they did...
And they shocked the world...
The show was a hoax. The terminally ill lady was an actress. STILL, the 3 patients who were 'competing' for the kidney were NOT. They are real people who have been waiting for a chance for a new life.
I guess the main thing was that the message did get across... As part of the show, viewers sent text messages to the 'organ donor' to help her decide who she should give the kidney to. And people responded, emphathizing with the plight that the patients were in.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6714287.stm
2) In my time of boredom... I've been watching TOrchwood on You-tube the past 2 weeks. TOrchwood is a spin-off from Dr Who. Both are sci-fi dramas by bbc. The main character was Captain Jack who was the head of a team of paranormal investigators. Their job was to prevent beings from other dimensions from travelling through a time-drift and causing havoc on Earth. They were given the mandate by Queen Victoria in the 18th century (I think). The team was hardly your typical 'Fantastic Four' super-hero characters. They were un-expectedly dysfunctional and unable to cope with the demands for secrecy in their job, the atrocities they see everyday and to have a supposed 'life' outside of work. How Captain Jack worked did not help either. He was a man who kept to himself. Still, he was a good leader in the sense that he always made sure that if he knows his team members had problems, he will be there to support them through it.
Captain Jack was an interesting character in the sense that he cannot die, and he seems to flirt with every single person he meets... man or woman. He was human (he could still be). but SOmething happened to him and now he cannot die.
The last episode of the season gave me a really odd realization. And it made me wonder if the authors meant it to be a message that homosexuality and Christianity may not be that incompatible (an association that's there, but somehow, also not there). The Earth was in peril as the time rift was splitting. The 'baddie' was persuading the torchwood team members to open the rift, which he says is the only way to save them all. He used images of their loved ones to coaxed them into doing so. Captain Jack was completely against that and asked his team to believe in him. His team was in desperation, so went against him and shot him in the head. They then used his pupil image to activate the mechanism to open the time rift. That was when all hell was set loose. A gigantic demon appeared inthe middle of Cardiff, Wales and was sucking the life out of everyone.
Captain Jack, who cannot die, woke up after that. He saw what was happening. This was when his team turned to him again, said their sorries and asked him how to fix the situation. Jack ran out into the city towards the Demon. He figured that since the demon is a destroyer of life forces and full of 'death'. By offering his ever-lasting life force to the demon, it might destroy the demon. So Captain Jack's Life got sucked out of him.
The team mourned Jack. All members of torchwood were cryo-genically preserved when they die. They were about to put him in the cryogenic processor when Gwen, his second in command, and definitely the person with the kindest and emphathic person in the team stopped them. She said to give him a few days to see if he will revive. SO she stood by him and waited for him to wake up... Lo and Be hold he did... all his team members were forgiven... and they were Torchwood again.
An allusion to the bible? there were other torchwood viewers on the web who agreed with me. But in combination with the ambiguous sexual orientation of Captain Jack... It did make me think...
If you are interested to watch the show on Youtube...
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=had437
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