The Idea Shop

Researchers at Harvard University have discovered that our experience of pain depends on whether we think someone caused the pain intentionally. In their study, participants who believed they were getting an electrical shock from another person on purpose, rather than accidentally, rated the very same shock as more painful. Participants seemed to get used to shocks that were delivered unintentionally, but those given on purpose had a fresh sting every time.

Read the full article: Pain Hurts More If Person Hurting You Means It

My comment on this article:

It just goes to show you, pain is all in your head!  Actually, almost everything in life is all in your head.  I truly believe that if you simply learn to control your emotions, you can achieve anything you want.  The thing is, most people psych themselves out, instead of using their self-awareness to their advantage.

I am trying to pay for my own way through college. Does anyone have advice on how I can do this as cheaply and easily as possible? I know a lot of people here are probably taking out loans or have government aid. Since I'm past 18, if I wish to support my own way through college although my parents have the means of helping me, is it possible for me to qualify for financial aid? Thanks very much for everybody's help.

Well... this all spurred with my roommate telling me the school is offering rides to the Inauguration. And I said that it'll prolly be boring... who would want to go.

He was absolutely dumbfounded. Telling me how I don't get it and that i'm being absolutely ignorant to how monumental the new president is. (He is white btw... from a majority white small town in Pennsylvania... dunno if that'll effect your opinion or anything)

I was confused at this statement. I told him that I wasn't into politics and do not care about it. He goes into a tangent about how I am a minority and how this new president should be a huge step for the country. Telling me... now people (minorities) can truly mean it when they tell their children that they can be anything they want to be. So I should be joyful in this event...

I told him... yes, he is the first African-American President of the United States... but hes gonna run the country like hes any ole democrat... so I do not see it being that important to me. If there was a white obama... hes gonna run the country the same way obama is gonna run the country... and isn't the job he runs more important than his race... that's what I think about when Obama becomes president.

This was my thought process during the discussion. But he still called me being ignorant and tryin to ignore the fact that he's African-American. Telling me how it should be more important to me than him cuz I'm a minority.

It's just something I don't worry about when I think of things... and I thought the country was in the same boat.... perhaps I'm being idealistic? or perhaps ignorant? What do you guys think? Do you still consider race to be a big factor in decisions? Any other thoughts?

PS - I gave him the argument that the country has progressed for quite some time in this area... it's just now there's some proof of it. Either way... I still consider the progress itself more important than the proof cuz my own thoughts display the progress. And it's good enough for me. It wasn't enough for him.

How happy you are may depend on how happy your friends' friends' friends are, even if you don't know them at all.

And a cheery next-door neighbor has more effect on your happiness than your spouse's mood.

So says a new study that followed a large group of people for 20 years - happiness is more contagious than previously thought.

"Your happiness depends not just on your choices and actions, but also on the choices and actions of people you don't even know who are one, two and three degrees removed from you," said Nicholas Christakis, a physician and social scientist at Harvard Medical School and an author of the study, to be published Friday in BMJ, a British journal. "There's kind of an emotional quiet riot that occurs and takes on a life of its own, that people themselves may be unaware of. Emotions have a collective existence - they are not just an individual phenomenon."

Interesting stuff! You can read more here.

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.

Well, Christmas is nearly upon us and for me at least, it feels like ole saint Nick has accidentally come a few weeks in advance. But this is the season that is so often dominated by two mentalities: one of giving/receiving and one just of love/caring/compassion.

Love/Care/Compassion:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/barackobama/2460299/Barack-Obama-does-not-give-birthday-presents-to-children.html

Although this is most likely a political move, albeit a smart one, it might be the type of thing that most of us are forgetting. Obama does not buy his children presents (i think this might really turn his kids against him...and since they're hosting sleepovers, things might turn into a complete revolt...with a throng of little, angry, presentless children). Anyhoo, we are so concentrated on making people happy with a gift that we forget WE are the things that are supposed to make them happy...not the new toaster. So what can we do during this holiday season that shows kindness/compassion and love for another person (parents, friends, siblings) that inspire them beyond the disappointment of not getting a gift? If you have a good idea on this...completely ignore the next paragraph =P.

Giving and Receiving:
Many times the holiday season turns into a splurge of shopping for others and oneself. Even those concentrated on giving are often concentrating on giving gifts! Unfortunately, this is the reality of our world though. So, in order to help a few of us out here who have younger, older, ancient siblings (gosh somebody older than john seo...impossible) I wish to make a list that you often see online but is never good and certainly not Asian-appropriate. How many Asian fathers really want that grill-marinating kit as bad as his neighbor? Anyhoo, my problem is a teenage sister (12) who doesn't seem to want anything that doesn't involve high price-tags and dead animals (i'm not talking about beef). Help please! (not just for my sister...but for the general sister, brother, mother...just seeds for present ideas) I will also help anybody who has a teenage brother :). At that age, they love books....yup books and nightstands to put the books on.

"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.