Jessica Watkins's blog

Introduction

Reaction to 'Neurobiology and Behavior' Papers

Educational Experience--"Where We Went Wrong: A True Story"

The Sudoku Experiment

Comments on "The Three Doors of Serendip"

Commentary on Neurobiology and Behavior's Syllabus and Structure

Religion=Science?

If you asked me four months ago what I would be doing this summer, chances are you would receive one of three responses:

1) "It's only January! There's two feet of snow on the ground and you're asking me about summer?"

2) "I'm not sure yet, but ideally I would like a paid internship in Philly."

3) "Well I applied for a bunch of journalism internships..."

Note that what I'm actually doing is not found in any of the above responses. Go figure. However, I'm more excited about this summer's current potential than any other plans I could have made. 

You are about to watch the “final” episode of House, M.D. Perhaps “watch” is not the best term to describe what you are about to do as you fix your eyes and attention on your computer screen—“read” might work a little better. But in the hope of transcending the boundaries of genre that define “watching a television show,” you might want to do the following:

            "All great works of literature either dissolve a genre or invent one .... Genre is a minimum-security prison."-- David Shields, Reality Hunger: A Manifesto, 2010

            What do we want from life? Houses are nice, and so are BMWs, but material things have proven to last only so long before succumbing to the fate that befalls everything tangible. Flowers wither, bugs get smushed, the pages of books turn yellow and humans enter the realm of the dust from which they came—in short, we better enjoy life while it lasts.

To all teachers, teacher assistants and professors: I feel for you.

     As social creatures, human beings inevitably possess the drive to learn new things through collective interaction. Oral and written communication is essential in the development and nurturing of the human mind throughout its growth and even after it has “matured.” Realistically, learning is a process that never slows down but exponentially increases thanks to constant brain stimulation found in daily life. The brain is the one organ that arguably becomes “better” with age because it is capable of processing a never-ending stream of information from the outside world.