The brain is like a computer with cell processor. You got like a 100TB Hard drive.The stuff you learned are the software you installed. Your senses are the input devices screaming at the brain about this and that. The opposite sex is a virus that will always try to infect your system. Anything you do is obsolete since anti-virus/firewall never works, but you should be fine as long as you don't toss your computer out the window.
Why does it seem like life is so typical nowadays, and so boring? Where have our dreams and aspirations gone?
"One word frees us of all the weight and pain of life:
That word is love."
-Sophocles
I think love is a religious concept. I'm not referring to the generic pleasure kind of love, but the selfless, unconditional love. The willingness to sacrifice everything, the complete faith and trust, the utter acceptance and support. .. these concepts are not humanly possible no matter how hard we try. We are born as selfish individuals and selfishness is the opposite of love, not hate.
Many religions teach us how to love. Through pain and suffering, we learn how to love more perfectly.
post deleted.
(Guys, Jake wasn't lying when he said that this post wasn't written by him haha! It was actually written by me. Since I'm actually becoming a part of the community, I figured I would repost this as myself. I'm excited to join the Idea Shop and look forward to contributing and reading insightful articles from other posters. :] )
We all have had this experience. You’re just minding your own business, secure in the knowledge that you know where everyone in your social circle stands. You know, you have certain people in your social circle who are “just friends”, certain others who you’ll casually flirt with while not expecting any sort of relationship ever, and certain others who you just want to shove up against a wall, preferably in broad daylight in a public place in front of your lousy ex. Everyone’s categorized and stays in their social niches, and life goes on perfectly.
Until someone in your friend zone causes you to have second thoughts about every aspect of your relationship.
You know how it happens. They go out of their way to do something for you which you consider to be really sweet, but of course it’s platonic! Except all your friends, who don’t even know this person, are convinced it’s a sign that that person is madly in love with you and wants to have your babies that very instant.
And then you begin to wonder. Of course, it doesn’t help that you’re oblivious anyway, and perhaps that person does like you and you’re just too dense to see it? And what sort of offspring would your combined genetics produce anyway? Come to think of it, they would turn out rather attractive…
But focus!
You had a crush on this person a long long time ago. But it was a moment of weakness, and it’s over now. But then all of a sudden you see this person after a long time and one thing leads to another…
And somehow you aren’t friends anymore. That safe green zone is now red (red with a mutual blaze of passion that is).
Oh and did I mention you’re not going to see this person again for a long time?
In keeping with the previous posts about what girls look for in guys and vice versa, here’s an important question: when you find your previously platonic relationship changed, how have you responded? How often has this happened? And what are your craziest stories?
Putting the spotlight on just the girls wouldn't be fair...soo, guys this is your chance to prove that you don't just look for hmmm... looks. What traits do you find most attractive (and yes looks can be in there) in a girl? These traits...prbbly like the girls' won't be the same as what our parents' generation was looking for. No longer is the story of the princess and the frog a story for just girls...maybe guys are now looking for good looking frogs too!
So, let's also shoot for a top 10 list! I hope we don't disgrace ourselves and just stop at the two that came first to my mind (and i'm sure is repeated in many guys here)...brains and brawn. hehe
People should leave their 10 items in the comment section, if you do not want your identity revealed please posted under No ID. I will eventually tally up the comments and stick it up for the guys...girls are just more controlled =P. And finally...results are out!
Top 10 List
1.) Trustworthy/Committed is our most voted for quality!...no playas plz, leaf that to the people who dunno how to spel
2.) Smart...we want the girls who can spell!
3.) Artistic...dunno, they voted for it so i'm putting it up
4.) Playful...not as in poking...virtual or otherwise, but genuinely fun to be around.
5.) Funny...Everybody's a comedian...
6.) Self-Confident/Self-Respect...if you dunno what this is go listen to arethra franklin
7.) Pretty/Beautiful...Odd, not hot but pretty or beautiful
8.) Creativity...Add some spice into everyday Life
9.) Caring...A hint of softness under that creatively decorated, funny, good-looking exterior
10.) And our number 10 (it was tied with many other ones) is Social...so you can ask us out on the first date (at least that's what i think the boys voting for it were thinking...)
Thank you for participating, I am sure it has dramatically changed the lives of many women...
So, for the guys out there, ever wonder what girls are looking for in a guy? Well here's your chance to find out...if the girls will step up =P.
Why don't we shoot for a top-10 list of what girls are looking for the most in their "prince of shining armor" or maybe their looking for just a Matt Damon...who knows...
If you have a suggestion (and you're a girl...please just go right ahead and add your suggestions to this article, don't bother commenting...that's for the enlightened guys =P)
Top 11 List
1.) loyal/faithful
2.) confident, but not cocky!
3.) intelligent/talented (not in video games!)
4.) witty, but not a smartass!
5.) caring/thoughtful
6.) ambitious/adventurous
7.) mature/respectful
8.) athletic/fit
9.) romantic/sweet
10.) good looking/cute
11.) not possessive, but a little jealousy is cute
Hello everyone!
Last night Ann Pan invited me to join this blog (This is John Li) so here I am!
I am really impressed by the level of collaboration and activity present on this blog.
Now that I should actually post some content:
Over the summer, while learning how to cook for myself, I stumbled upon a bunch of interesting recipes for various dishes. The one that I have loved the most is The Simple Dollar's Homemade Bread Recipe. Quote the introduction:
Over the last year, I’ve gradually moved more and more towards making my own food at home. There are several reasons for this: it tastes better, it reduces preservative intake, it’s more nutritious, and it’s often substantially cheaper than what you find in the store. It does take time, but once you get used to it, most food preparation doesn’t take much more time than going to the store, buying it, taking it home, popping it out of the package, and following the directions.
Breadmaking is a prime example of this phenomenon. Homemade bread is substantially tastier than store-purchased bread, isn’t laden with preservatives, is very inexpensive to make, and doesn’t take all that much time, either.
I've baked so many variations of this bread that kneading by hand is almost second nature for me now. The post includes clear instructions and photos. I highly recommend giving it a shot over the weekend.
Right now my dough is rising in the oven...
by Mark A. Minit
To my devoted readers:
It has been far too long since I last penned an essay dealing with the social troubles of our time. I must apologize for the lack of correspondence. I will endeavor to appease my readers’ massive hunger for intellectually stimulating discourse with a topic close to my heart: that of sexism.
I began contemplating this issue when talking to a dear friend of mine. The double standard inherent in dress codes had caught her attention, and her fiery temperament (truly a thing to fear, if you be a misogynic lout with little or no manners) had immediately erupted. “What the hell? I am sick of the tan lines on my upper body. Guys get it easy. If they want to get rid of their farmer’s tan, they can just walk around without a shirt.” The grim line of her lips informed me that this was a situation that did not agree with her. She immediately expanded on her thoughts. “Also, what’s with the dress codes at schools? Like the schools that have their own uniforms. Guys wear slacks and a white shirt with tie. Girls are given skirts that either go down to the ankles or barely cover the thighs. Who designs these things?”
Well, being the helpful and understanding friend I am, I suggested that my friend show the world that she was a free woman by stripping off her shirt (as well as everything underneath it). She threw me a glare that would have rendered most men impotent. “You,” she stated. “Are a pig.”
Let us examine this issue from a different perspective. Why exactly is it that we forbid full or partial nudity in women but only full nudity in men? What are the social pressures that force us to avoid nudity when our European cousins have much laxer rules on the subject? What exactly is responsible for this disjoint, the simultaneous aversion and attraction to breasts?
Why exactly am I focusing on breasts? Because of all the paradoxical feelings about nudity and female organs, this seems the most problematic. One could say that in polite society we ought not to wave around sexual organs. However, even if we accept this as true, there seems no reason for us to ban bare breasted females. Mammary glands produce milk for our young. They serve no “natural” sexual function, and do not constitute sexual organs.
A biologist with an affinity for relational studies might propose that men find the mammary glands attractive because firm, fairly large breasts suggest that a woman would have no problem feeding a child, thus protecting the well being of our as of yet unborn offspring. A Freudian might imply that our subconscious memories of feeding on our mother’s breast lead us (in an odd twist on the Oedipus complex) to find breasts that imitate our mother’s attractive. A boor might intimate (between slurps of beer) that breasts are “God’s gifts to men’s hands.”
I must disagree with the biologist on several points. Firstly, the image of what is “attractive” varies from generation to generation. There was a time when people thought a full set of curves was the way to go. If I was to judge women based on the “Barbie complex” as set forth by popular television today, however, I might be aroused by women who were so skinny as to be almost skeletal, despite the fact that my unborn offspring would never flourish in the womb of a woman who eats nothing but salad. Secondly, though there might be an attraction to mammary glands, there is no reason that this attraction be sexual. Why can’t we love women with healthy mammary glands platonically? We, as humans, find certain aspects of a person to be “attractive” without being sexual. “Healthy mammary glands” would fit nicely with “nice smile” and “firm handshake.” Though a female may want to have sex with a man who has a “nice smile,” she does not have to see the “nice smile” as sexually arousing.
Freudians have always provoked feelings of disgust in me. Perhaps it is their obsession with sex, or their greasy hair and fat lips. Maybe it is those hands, always sweaty—but I digress. The claim that we find breasts attractive because we sucked on our mother’s breasts when we were a child is utter nonsense. It disregards all sorts of background influences. If a child was to find an issue of Playboy underneath his father’s bed, who knows what he might grow up to desire in a woman. Or maybe a baby was not breast fed. Does that baby grow up to be utterly insensitive to the social pressures that dictate “sexual normality?”
As for the boor, I cannot say that I disagree with his statement. I do, however, disagree with the sentiment. I have always found it odd that even as we anthropomorphize objects like our sexual organs and hair dryers, we continue to objectify women as objects of sexual pleasure.
To get back to the main point, dress codes also attribute to this objectification. The truth of the matter is that it should not matter whether or not mammary glands induce sexual arousal. If men can walk around bare-chested, it is only fair that women be allowed to as well. I might (and this is purely hypothetical) find a man with well formed pectoral muscles to be sexually attractive; this does not prevent him from jogging without a shirt. The fact that women cannot do the same suggests that we have a problem with our own sexuality, and that women with bodies that stimulate should be ashamed to compound on our sexuality. Nothing could be unhealthier. Women are not creatures of pure carnality, wantonly flaunting their assets, and they are not beings that exist purely to please men: women are sacrosanct, vessels of life, and above all women are human.
A final word of advice: sexual intercourse is exactly what it sounds like. It is intercourse, not a singular action by a lone person. Too often men are inconsiderate lovers (if I can even use that word) plunging for the “goal” like a horse who has forgotten that someone is riding him. Men, I promise you, if you listen to a woman, you will learn things that you never thought possible. Don’t let your sex life be another victim of the objectification of women.
[Many thanks to Etienne in convincing me to post this]
Ant commits suicide preemptively to protect colony - first observed case of this behavior
by
Kevin, NeuEve Team
on Tuesday, September 30, 2008
http://sciencenow.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2008/923/1?rss=1
Really cool article, and it definitely has some implications for the study of the evolution of altruism.
Asians believe that the whiter, the prettier and spend huge amounts of money each year on skin products that whiten the skin. Despite the sometimes 95-100 degree weather, Taiwanese women will wear gloves, long-sleeve shirts and the face-masks to keep their skin white. Then they see the Americans on TV lying out on the beaches and have no idea why they would do such a thing. American's with their white skin spend time and money doing the exact opposite thing from most people from Asia: Getting tan.
Hypothetical situation:
A girl who has beautiful skin in Taiwan is suddenly moved to the US. Is her skin still beautiful because it's white? Why should it change, after all she is the same girl...is it evolutionary forces that are forcing humans in two different directions? Now, what about if she moved to Africa, which also favors light skin? Is everybody looking for a perfect color then? Or is it a spectrum thing where you try and just go towards one side? Because the "beautiful" white skinned Asian was born probably lighter than any native African can become, does that count? Is she more beautiful because she's whiter than those around her...or less? Finally...what about guys? If this scenario were girls looking for a guy, what would happen...do girls even care bout skin color in a guy haha?
-jh
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