Topic Tuesday - Entry #2

Intelligence

 

   For many years scientists believed that intelligence and our "IQ" was solely based on genes. They believed that everyone was stuck with their own genes and the amount someone could have learned was a set stick. Well thats not the case. Now almost all of the science community stands by the fact that intelligence is something we can work on and improve. And really its all in the neuroscience.

   

 About a year and a half ago I was average. I'm not trying to make that sound bad but I was. I wasn't doing my best in math, I goofed off in biology, and I practically wasted my freshman and sophmore year in high school. Even though all my friends were very smart and all had good grades I was the only one of them who didn't stand out. You know why? Well its because I thought I couldn't get any better.I thought I'd hit my learning capacity so I wasted time playing games and watching T.V. One day one of my best friends, Micheal, and were talking and he brought up the subject about intelligence he told me exactly what I just told you, that intelligence isn't set; it can change. When I look back on it I think he was trying to tell me something, something along the lines of  "Hey, Derin, I know your smart, but your not trying to be. Here take this and grow." That day something sparked I realized that I wasn't to far behind I still had ( still have ) so many years in front of me. A week after that I fell in love with psychology and about 2 months after that I started on the brain. I've learned so much and I don't plan to stop anytime soon. And like I said above its all in the neuroscience.

  

Have you ever wondered why your so good at one thing but can't get the hang of another? Well here's the reason why. Our neurons, small cells in our brain, are made up of dendrites, axons, somas, and something called mylein sheath. Dendrites are where neurons connect to each other, axons are fiberlike bodies that carry an electrical signal, somas which are the nucleus of the neuron and mylein sheath a fatty substance that insulates the axon. If you had to think of one thing that you were really good at and another which you had no idea on how to do, what would conclusion be? Well chances are you probably do the thing your good at way more often then the thing your horrible at. So if we look at your neuron pathway for activity "A"( the practiced activity) versus activity "B" ( little practice) we'll see that on axon pathway for A the mylein sheath is much more thick and abundant and on axon pathway B it might not even be covered. The reason why is because mylein covers the axon in certain areas allowing the electrical current to sort of jump from one end of the mylein to the other increasing response time and reducing energy used. Now if its not covered in mylein or barely covered it take more enegery, concentration and more time. Now you might be wondering, if you haven't gotten it already, How do I increase my mylein sheath? Well here's your answer: Practice. That all it is. So if intelligence is just a matter of practicing shouldn't everyone be smart? Not necessarily. Take for example drawing and Physics. The way you practice in physics is much more different then practing drawing. So at the end of the day all you have to do to increase your intelligence is to practice your brain and certain areas depending on what you want to learn. Simple excercises to increase your IQ is to play with puzzles, write, or even doing a simple maath problem while your on the toliet, anything that keeps you mind active.

 

 

-Derin

 

 

 

This post may have been a little confusing and I'm sorry for that, but I hope you enjoyed none-the-less. I want to apologize for the disorganization. Thats due to something I pressed making it very hard to type. I also would like suggestions on topics if you want to read about something. It could be anything, from the thalmus to art or what have you, I want to hear it all. Be sure to leave a comment because I really enjoy reading all of them. And have fun working your brain.

 

Thursday Throw outs

My Week and Interesting Things I've Been Up To



Well its Thursday,I love Thursdays. Not only is it the hardest day of school but its also the day before Friday, the best day of the week. This week was the start of exams, where everyone is freaking out for the tests they have to take and people are studying like mad. The two exams I have this week are Physics and Biology. I had Physics today and I think I did well ;although, it was quite difficult. I'm not going to worry though because I'm here to learn Spanish and not what the time is after an object is projected horizontally from a height with a certain velocity. I don't think I have a chance with the biology exam though. Biology here is like AP Bio in the states but everythings in Spanish. Even though I love biology I don't want to spend to much time focused on school, Physics and Math take up about 3 hours of my day. School is one of the main reasons I'm here but I don't expect to pass all my classes.

As some of you may know, I absolutely love the brain. I've been into for awhile and I even have a textbook on it (in English of course). So last week during Biology and Psychology I study this wonderful and intricate organ. During one of my classes of Psych I was reading through the spinal nerves and regions and the teacher asked me what I was reading. And it went like this(translated)...

Profe - "Charles what are you reading."

Me - "Oh, just information on the nerves in the spine"

Profe - "Hmm, why don't you wait till the next chapter( about the brain) and teach the class about these nerves and the brain"

 

Class - Trololololololololo

Me - "Umm, Ok?"


Now if you can imagine this you would know exactly how nervous and embarassed I was. And the teacher was serious to. He brought up this topic of me teaching the class again this week and even talked to my Mom about it. The best part though is that I actually want to do it. I would like to teach when I'm older, perferably at Univerisity, and I want to teach this topic to a class. The only problem is that I don't know how to explain the brain that well in English let alone another language. I think I'm just going to ask him if i can teach in English and he's understandable so I think he'll let me. I'm a bit anxious and nervous but also extremely excited for that day, the day where I teach a class.

I've picked up a few interesting hobbies since I have arrived: a little bit of chess, working out and running, and drawing. Chess just came recently but I'm really enjoying it. Ajdrez (chess) is very easy to learn how to play but extremely difficult to learn how to play well. This amazing game looks so sinple but it is as complicated as the brain or even more so. To be decent you need to be able to read the board, to be good you need to be able to read the bored and predict 4-5 moves ahead of whats actually going on, and to be one of the best you need time. Loads and loads of time. I love playing and its a great brain excercising game as well. I've also started working with weights at a gym. I started as soon as I could and every Mon. Wed. and Fri I've been in and out. Not only is it good for my body but its also a great way to think and pensivate about life. I usually work out for an hour then meditate for 5-10 minutes. I'm loving it as well because it helps me think and I'm gaining strength as a bonus. Drawing is my absolute favorite. I started as soon as I arrived. Since then I practiced shading shapes, continued drawing abstract, and I'm now practicing the face. Its a funny story how I started practicing the face. I was in school one day drawing spheres during break and one of my classmates came up to me and said:

"Oh, you draw. Can you draw me?"
"Oh, no. I can't. I don't have enough practice."
"Come on. Draw me."
"No seriously I can't. I just started drawing speheres. Maybe in a couple months after I practice"
"Ok, How about after winter break?"
"Umm, Ok. In 4 months Ill draw you."

Its been a month and I just fiinished a drawing a picture from a photo I had and its not to bad but man I can't wait for Janurary. I've only truly drawn 2 faces the first was of me from a photo I took here, and the other was a picture of her from last week at a riot/protest(supah long story). The difference between the two are amazing. I definitely beilieve that if I practice a little more everday my future portrait will look decent. The only problem is that this drawing from the photo took about an hour and a half, my classmate wants me to draw her face to face. Thats what I really need practice on, live portrait drawing. Maybe next month. XD

 

Hope you enjoyed this post. I'll see you next week, on my Topic Tuesday post.
-Derin Charles Uras

Tango Topic Tuesday

Lucid Dreaming

Recently I've been interested in the topic of lucid dreams. Simply put, a lucid dream is (if you don't already know) a dream where you can sense, control, and create everything around you. Usually in dreams you can  tell what going on but everything is all fuzzy and you have trouble remembering them in the morning. Well in a lucid dream thats not the case and everything in your dream is vivid and clear.

   First, all of our dreams occur REM, Rapid Eye Movement. Have you ever noticed that in every dream you can remember you can't really tell where you are exactly and if you do theres something off. Well here's the reason why. Our concious mind while sleeping is not working very much but or subconcious mind is. The Subconcious brain takes all the information that we've ever experienced and rapidly creates the location, adds language, and a little bit of emotion as well. Even though our brain is working its not nearly as active as if we were in a lucid dream. Imagine if you had all the activity in a regular dream; location, speech, visuals, now add all of the senses, the ability to control your enviroment, and control your body like if you were in another universe. (Keep in mind all of this isn't cited and I'm not an expert. Just rambling.)

   Now I know that sounds fancy and complicated but really it is. xD. I want to lucid dream for two main reasons. First, like I said, is to really feel a dream and experience it; truly. The other is a bit more complicated but definitely interesting. When you lucid dream your dreaming had in hand with you subconcious and the theory is if your in a nightmare lucid dream you can confront your fear(in the form of anything really), ask it what is represents, and turn it into something good. I have one big problem. Self Esteem. I want to lucid dream to confront this fear (in my head, I'm working on it phsyically) and get rid of it, forever.

This is my first "Topic Tuesday" post. I would appreciate it if you all could comment about something you liked or didn't like maybe a question about this topic or directly to me. Whatever you like, Como Quieres.

-Derin Charles Uras

Zombies

             Well, I've been away from Blogs for awhile now I'm starting anew. Like I said before this blog will be updated every Tuesday and Thursday. There's a lot that has happened since arriving in Spain, like school, and it would take forever to catch up and recall all the awesomeness that has happened. I'll just skip the first weeks and start here.

 I love Spain. Its as simple as that. Everything that I thought it would be it is. The girls are good looking and fun, the food is amazing, and ,Oh, how I LOVE the rain. But what has to be my favorite part so far is the landscape. Mountains, rivers, and Grass! ¡Por Fin!

     One of the main reasons I chose Spain was because of how good there reputation is for having some of the most beautiful and gorgeous people on Earth. Well it holds true, the girls here are great. They're fun, funny, and, most of all, beautiful. Even though I'm in a small city and its not partyhardy, the people here, girls in particular, are still very pretty. From the 42 days I've been here I've met very good looking and very fun (most important) girls.
     The next on my top 3 list is the food. I'm almost 100% sure that I've gained at least 4 kilos(who knows how many pounds xD) and its not stopping anytime soon. Luckily I've been running and working out so all this weight is going to a good cause, building muscle. On a scale 1 to 10 of how good the food is, 1 being McDonalds and 10 being Turkish food (which is great) I would have to give it an 8 or an 8.789 to be exact.¡Me encanta Chorizo!
      I knew it was going to be cold here but I really didn't expect this. It rains at least twice a week and its always a bit chilly out. I'm always freezing and I usually wear warm clothes, clothes I would never wear in Arizona. I would say I miss AZ but I prefer the cold than the schorching heat. Oh and I enjoy breathing and watching my breath, not really used to it.

    Overall my time here has really been splendid. I love my family, I've had the chance to make friends and its coming along well and, the food, golden. Even though the weather isn't my dream weather I love the scenery and watching my breath. Phooooo.



-Derin or Charles (as my classmates call me by)

Post-post
Every tuesday will be a fun interesting topic that I come up with and Ill talk about that for about 5 minutes or one or two paragraphs. And Every thursday will be things that happened on during that week.

Sorry For The Wait

I've had the intention of creating a blog since the begining of the trip. In fact I did create a blog but I forgot allllllll the information to it so I'm going to start from here and I will try to update it every Tuesday an Thursday.