Biology 202 Web Paper 3

Therapeutic Clowns and the Effects They Have on Hospitalized Children

In my last paper I spoke of the collective I-function, and how culture is one of the most enduring examples of the collective I-function. This paper is also about the collective I-function, and how it can go horribly wrong. My thoughts are inspired by the discussions we had in class about color, colorblindness, wavelength and perception, and also by a very recent BBC documentary called Welcome to Lagos.
    Africans, including myself complain bitterly about the way Africa is portrayed in Western Media. Usually, only stories of poverty war and disease are shown. It is so bad that when I am walking on the streets of America and I tell someone I’m African, they are shocked that I “can speak English so well.” It’s ridiculous for two main reasons.

Is There Such a Thing as Personality?

      Does birth order really affect a person’s personality? This question has been looming over the psychology world for a long time, beginning with the research of Alfred Adler in the early 20th century. While the views on Adler’s theories are currently almost as skeptical as Freud’s radical theories, Adler sparked the controversy that scientists still debate today. (1) The majority of psychologists think birth order does not have an effect on personality, but the topic is still a widely debated disagreement that remains unanswered. (3) Despite numerous research projects, scientists are still concluding answers that do not align, leaving the public mystified.

 Sophie Balis-Harris
Web Paper 3
Is There a "God Spot" in the Human Brain?

Herman Marcia

Professor Grobstein

Web Paper 3

03/08/2010         

Literature and The Biology of Dreams

Reading Temple Grandin’s Animals in Translation for my book commentary for this course, I came across an interesting passage in which Grandin notes that on a very basic level, human beings and animals have the same kinds of brain cells—the same neurons—we just use them differently. Grandin concludes, “That means that theoretically we could have extreme perception the way animals do if we figured out how to use the sensory processing cells in our brains the way animals do” (63).

You are what you eat: The Gut as the “second brain”

Culture shaping our perception

            Culture can shape our view of the world. It sounds way to obvious to even be an argument. Many studies have shown that people from different cultures see and perceive things differently and that is probably due to how their culture shaped the way they view the world. While I agree with this idea, I think people often overlook how culture can be different for each individual and therefore affected by it differently. From these previous studies, people have over-generalized the findings to large sum of population under such broadly labeled culture and based on my personal experience, I would like to argue how we should not just label people into culture in terms we often do.

            People strive for many things, whether it is finding a great job or creating a good family. At the center of things, however, the greatest life goal becomes one thing: happiness. The one thing that people want more than anything else in this world, the thing that they strive for, is happiness. But why is happiness so elusive? How is it that people are able to feel happiness? What makes people happy? How people find happiness, or a lack of it, and why are the questions that I will examine and attempt to answer in this essay.