You Have a Brain

If you are a human and you are reading this, you probably have a well functioning brain. Brains are so important in our lives, yet often times they are thought about so little. Have you ever noticed that your brain often contradicts itself? Sometimes when I mess up, my brain tells my mouth to say," My brain is so stupid today. It seriously has some problems," and there I go again, my brain is calling itself unintelligent.

It's so fascinating how just a three pound mass can control almost the entire body. It's so hard to imagine that the brain doesn't even notice it's magnificence. In fact, we often don't notice that the brain is doing all the work to keep our bodies alive, 'we' as in the brain. Rarely have I ever thought about the brain regulating digestion, letting me breathe, my personality, the words I say, and the actions I do. But these are all the things our brain does spontaneously. So for once, let's just say we're all professionals at multitasking. Now you can brag to your friends that you're such a good multitasker because you're doing it every second you are alive. The brain is always regulating different parts of your body at the same time. It's controlling the peristalsis in your esophagus and intestines, it's pumping that rich, oxygen filled blood throughout your body, inflating or deflating your lungs with oxygen or carbon dioxide, and more all, at the same time.

Isn't it hard to believe that the brain is utterly alien to us, but it in fact controls our personality, our fears, the ability to sense what's in our surroundings, and everything we will do every day for the rest of our lives? As much as we want to separate the mind from the body, they are actually two things that cannot exist without each other. It's quite frightening how almost any function in our body or the way we think can be altered by just a tumor, trauma, disease, drugs, and stroke. The most famous patient of neuroscience gives us a clear example of this. This is the story of Phineas Gage.

In 1848, Gage, 25, was the foreman of a crew cutting a railroad bed in Cavendish, Vermont. On September 13, as he was using a tamping iron to pack explosive powder into a hole, the powder detonated. The tamping iron—43 inches long, 1.25 inches in diameter and weighing 13.25 pounds—shot skyward, penetrated Gage’s left cheek, ripped into his brain and exited through his skull, landing several dozen feet away. Though blinded in his left eye, he might not even have lost consciousness, and he remained savvy enough to tell a doctor that day, “Here is business enough for you.”

(http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/phineas-gage-neurosciences-most-famous-patient-11390067/?no-ist)

Phineas Gage

Gage, a man who was quite respectful and had an effective work ethic, turned into a man who uttered "the grossest profanity", a person who could not put his plans into action, and somewhat of a rude and arrogant jerk. Even the company he worked in who once considered him a model foreman didn't take him back after he recovered.

Phineas Gage's case is so important because it is the first case to ever involve personality change from trauma.The rod went through and destroyed his whole frontal lobe, allowing neuroscientists to discover its functions, which are to regulate personality, decision making, problem solving, control of purposeful behaviors, consciousness, and emotions. It let scientists realize the effects of trauma on a brain and how it affected the different parts.

Phineas Gage's story is just one of the intriguing tales in neuroscience. It was the story that actually pulled me into the field of neuroscience and learning about behavior or how the brain works. The brain is such an amazing object, with humans knowing more about the universe than the human brain, and that's part of the reason why the brain is so incredible and intricate. You have a brain, so love it and appreciate that you're here because of it.

One of the biggest mysteries in the universe lies in the head. 

realizing the right rights.

We live in a society in which individuals usually, but not always, put themselves first. Most peoples’ times are consumed by making sure their own needs are met before even thinking about the consequences of their actions, or how they would affect the others around them. This results in people with needs being neglected. However, if we only focus on the rights of the society, some people may be assigned to do something they had no intentions of doing in the first place, or forced into something where they have no idea what to do. Something we need now is balance. Without individual rights, we wouldn’t all be able to pursue our goals or passions which helps the society; and without social rights, there would be no equality among individuals. Clearly this shows us that both kinds of rights are dependent on each other, and neither one should be ignored.

With individual rights, people can create safer communities by reducing the amount of rebellion and conflict. Individual rights allow us to pursue life and goals without the interference from the government or community. We have the freedom for anything we do. The Bill of Rights was created because the writer James Madison believed individual rights came first. Individual rights provide us with freedom and opportunities to achieve all goals in life, however they may also cause violence if we misuse the rights. Because we can do whatever we want in life, crimes may not count as crimes. People could kill and rob each other causing a society that has no coordination or organization. It could also lead us have actions that negatively benefit the community. Let’s say you want to plant a big tree in your yard. You could plant the tree because you had your own rights, but planting this tree would make the area look hideous to everyone else but you, and no one could go against you because of your rights. This leads us to find out that social rights are necessary to create an equal environment and to maintain a safe community.

Social rights are held by the community, facilitating individual rights, and giving everyone equal rights at the same time. These rights are centered around net benefits, meaning we are providing the greater amount of good for the greatest amount of people. When all people are treated with the same respect and offered the same rights as everyone else, it benefits society. In a way, there would be less arguments about what each person can do, since everyone can do the same, if they use their rights correctly. Social rights bring unity among one group. This brings me back to the simulation of living on the isolated island in Lord of the Flies. Without the group working together to keep ourselves alive, it became extremely hard to accept each others’ ideas and coordinate. Even the runaway group of two people were able to “survive” better on their own. After we assigned roles to certain people, or made social rights on how the society should function, the class survived very well altogether. Though social rights can bring people together, it can also drag people apart. When you are assigned a role, or forced to do something that isn’t your will, it could cause rage and rebellions, which may make the community fall apart. When you have no community to live in, it’s very hard to survive or accomplish anything. This brings us back to the importance of individual rights, and with them, we can still do what our passions bring us to do. 

“To deny people their human rights is to challenge their very humanity.” (Nelson Mandela) Without rights, an individual cannot function, and neither can a society. Both social and individual rights are equally important and both exist because of each other. Social rights allow us to have equality, and individual rights provide opportunities to reach our goals. When there is unity and passion, the society will be in order due to both the rights working together.

-felita

Prompt: What is more important? The rights of the individual or the rights of the society?

the great reason why.

Ideas flow through my mind, and sometimes, I want to achieve everything that I am thinking of at that moment. However, hardly ever has the thought, “Why am I doing this,” come into my head. Without knowing the purpose of an action, it is nearly impossible for me to actually achieve anything or do greatly because I don’t have a goal, or a reason of why I am doing what I am doing. 

My desires and wants are countless. My mind is an unplugged sink and my dreams are water, swirling down the drain, never being able to be reached again. Without goals on how to reach these dreams and acquire what I am longing for, nothing will be accomplished. All that I have done in that time will at best be good, but it would be hopeless for it to be great. A few months back, my parents and I had a conversation and asked what my dreams were or what I wanted to achieve. My response was a simple, “All I need are some straight A’s, and hello to Stanford or Berkeley.” There was no reason behind what was stated, because all that was wanted was to become accepted by a world class university. My mother replied, “Universities do not matter, what you really need is to find something meaningful to you, and know why you want to do it. Your passion will bring you to where you belong.” This leads me to the next step to becoming great at doing something, and that is to find my passion and do what I truly love.

My goal for right now is to follow my heart and do even what others may consider crazy. As long as I love it, I'll do it, and won’t let anyone stop me. That’s what finding my passion is all about. But yes, when trying to find a passion or talent, “it’s challenging, it’s hard. Most people go through life never discovering what their talents are. Most people never develop their talents.” (Mindshift- Motivational Video) Too many factors are holding us back from what we believe in as great. It’s like I’ve been given a bag of 10,000 grains of sand, with 9,999 grains of white sand and one grain of yellow sand, and I need to pick out that oddly colored piece. The grains of white sand are the many things that limit us from finding that piece of yellow sand, which we can see as our passions. 

Once my passion has been found, going from good to great will actually be possible for me. The reason for doing what is right or setting a goal will be clear in my mind, because my passion will show me what I truly want to achieve and answer my question of why I want to accomplish what I want to accomplish in life.

-felita
The prompt: What can you do better, and how can you go from good to great?

(Here's the video I cited. It doesn't relate too much with what I was writing, but it has really deep meaning to it, and created a lasting impression in my mind.)

thoughts and goals about speech and debate.

So lately I've been thinking about why I joined speech and debate. The officer elections have passed now, and hearing the candidates' speeches really made me think- What have I done this year? What have I learned? How have I improved? What is my goal in this club?

Despite all my accomplishments with breaking at almost every tournament (except for three) this year, I am still a bit disappointed with myself. I feel like I could have done even more. I could have used my time more wisely and tried more events other than just interp. I'm not at all impressed with my choice to quit debate after just one meeting, then decide to join it again at the end of the year, then to realize how fun it is, and finally regret dropping out in the beginning. I have learned that self doubt is not something that you should think of often. It holds you back from a lot of things you could have done. For me, it held me back from debate.

I have spent so much of my time, sacrificed so many of my other activities just to do this one. Why has this been such an important club to me? Through all that has passed, whether what I felt was hatred, love, or admiral for others, this club has shown me so much of the world and opened my eyes to allow me to see new things. It has shown me that tournaments are not just meant for us to win, but meant for us to learn. Competitors are not people who you should stay away from or hate. Instead, they are people who we can study and gain knowledge from. Their actions can show us how or how not to act, and can also determine whether they become champion, or have a ranking way down low. We can improve ourselves a lot just by watching what they do in their rounds. We take the good and add it into our own performances (after some slight modifications), and use the bad as a reference on what not to do later on. This doesn't only apply to speech and debate, but so many more activities that we do in our daily lives.

So after thinking about this for quite a while, what I really want to accomplish in this club is simple. I just want to improve myself, change myself, and challenge myself, to become a better person and do the most that I can to make an impact on my life. Something that will leave me as a better person, also a person who can be counted on. And I strongly believe in myself that I can and have the potential to do that.

 As a freshman in high school, I still have so many years to become a better speaker and take my skills to the next level. Through numerous practices, failures, and times of despair, as long as I do the most that I can, no matter what the results end up to be, I will have succeeded and reached my goal. I am doing speech and debate because I love it, and not just to win. To go far in life, you do what you love, and love what you do.

~felita

well, let's just say i'm another homosapien like everyone else.

Announcer: Hello everybody!!! Welcome to tonight's show of 'Felita's very Interesting Introduction to Herself". I'll give her two minutes to speak. NOW HHEEERRREE SHE IS..."

Okay. So. Where do I start? This is my first post. I am lost.
The truth is that I really don't know how to introduce myself and make great first impressions like many others do. Well I guess to start off, let's just say that I'm a homosapien like everyone else.

In normal introductions, many people start out with their names and BASIC information. So, I guess I'll do that.

"Hi, my name is Felita. *knows this is boring but cannot think of anything* I am a person. I am currently a high school student. I like food, so I eat food." *many people start falling asleep and snoring*

Person A: Boo... That was not very cool.
Person B: I expected better than that.
Person A: Yeah. I know right. It was a bit TOO basic.

Okay, okay. I guess that wasn't as good as I expected. I won't give up. *thinks of 'I Won't Give Up' by Jason Mraz and starts humming tune in head* I'll do another introduction to myself. I won't make anyone fall asleep. Promise. 

Hola, me llamo Felita Zhang. 我是一位高中生。Give me a random topic and I'll start a conversation with you. YES, I am muy muy social. *apologizes for bad Spanish grammar and word usage* 我经常说出来的话根本都不会经过大脑。I am pretty fluent in Chinese, I guess, because I moved there for two and a half years. It was a muy intersante experience. People have told me that the more you use a language, the better you can get at it. I tried for Spanish... I'll improve for sure. *Says to Spanish teacher: So Sorry! I won't let you down again......*
Now, on to other things about me. I'll tell you some of my interests, just because many people are just interested in other peoples' interests. Wow that's quite an interesting interest. *Now no one is falling asleep because they're sprinting down the hill full of words, trying to catch up with all the usages of the word 'interest'* A bit redundant wasn't it. It won't be later. It'll be very INTERESTING.

Person A: Hey Person B! Oh god, that irony just then... She said she wouldn't be using the word 'interesting' again, but ends up using it anyway. She should stop. 
Person B: Wait! But I wanna know more. I hardly know anything else except for her awkward 'interests'. 

*BEEEEEEEEEEEP*

Announcer: Well, I guess time is up and that concludes Felita's Introduction to Herself. That was a very intriguing talk. If you want to know more about her, look at her future blogs where she will reveal some very "clever" thoughts to the world.

Hey hey hey. My thoughts are not 'clever', they're INTERESTING. 

(Felita's dialogue in Black)
(Person A/B's dialogue in Blue)
(Announcer's dialogue in Green)