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complexity

Catrina Mueller's picture

Love’s Labor’s Won: A Scientific Look at Love

Love: it’s something we all have experienced, at least in some shape or form. Love has many shapes and forms. Love can grow, dwindle, and change. It can be weak or strong. Just a crush or an infatuation. It can be obsessive, consuming, and above all: unpredictable. One can love objects, ideas, and, of course, other humans. But what the heck is love? Unfortunately, there is no general scientific consensus as to what the phenomenon of “love” is exactly. This makes sense, as love is such a complex emotion. There are, however, many theories that try to bring us closer to the truth of love.

Biodiversity - Week 9

These pages are being generated as part of a senior seminar course directed by Neal Williams at Bryn Mawr College during fall semester, 2007. This week's topic is "Extinction Debt and Extinction Cascades"

Biodiversity - Week 8

These pages are being generated as part of a senior seminar course directed by Neal Williams at Bryn Mawr College during fall semester, 2007. This week's topic is "Biodiversity and Stability"

Reading to be discussed:

  • Ruivjen, van J., Berendse, F. (2007) Contrasting effects of diversity on the temporal stability of plant populations. Oikos 116: 1323-1330.
Paul Grobstein's picture

Learning and the Brain: Workshop Introduction

Brain and Education


IMSA sponsored workshop

20 October 2007
Introduction - Paul Grobstein

 

Biodiversity - Week 6

These pages are being generated as part of a senior seminar course directed by Neal Williams at Bryn Mawr College during fall semester, 2007. This week's topic is "Biodiversity hotspots and conservation"

Rhapsodica's picture

Another long one...

First of all, I just wanted to say thank you to Gail for sharing your sculptures with us -- they're wonderful! I think it's interesting to see a visual representation of how ideas can change and grow over the course of just a month. I'm really glad you took the risk of showing us. :)

ctreed's picture

Mnemosyne vs. Lethe

Throughout history and across cultures, the force of memory has always held a prominent position in our concept of humanity and self.  The ancient Greeks embodied memory in a goddess – Mnemosyne, the mother of the nine inspiring Muses.  But what if a person possessed memories so upsetting and intense that they caused him to not be able to function as himself?  If you had the option, would you choose to forget or to distance yourself?  This dilemma is now a source of debate among scientists and medical practitioners.  Propranolol, a drug previously prescribed to people suffering from hypertension, has also

Catrina Mueller's picture

From Behavioral Psychology to Cognitive Psychology: An Ever Changing View of Life

Have you ever stood at the top of a very tall object and shuddered at the thought of looking down? Have you ever noticed that when you give a dog a treat, it tends to repeat the same action for which you praised it? Both of these situations use conditioning, a crux of the behavioral psychology. Two branches of Behaviorism, Classical and Radical Behavioral psychology, use conditioning to explain the actions of humans and animals without ever having to delve into the mind.

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