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The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is located a short distance from Geneva underneath a large circle of countryside and villages. This incredible work of engineering will be able to accelerate very large groups of protons (100 billion) at energies of close to a trillion electron volts, a new dimension in physics that move up to the Terascale.

We live in a world where the laws of chemistry apply and allow us to control part of nature and make certain predictions based on this science. At very high energies our laws of chemistry will vanish and so will the laws of physics apply at that energy level. The interactions that will produce the Large Hadron Collider with energies of a trillion electrons volts will take us to a world of new physics.

Smashing protons at such a high energy level is close to seven times the energy produced by the Tevatron Collider at the Fermi National accelerator laboratory in Batavia, Illinois.

These incredible new particle physics experiments might enable us to solve existing problems in nuclear physics that so far have been unanswerable, and that have been waiting for an advanced technology such as the one reached by the Large Hadron Collider.

Questions related to the composition of matter and the Higgs particle--a particle that is suppose to give other particles their mass--will probably be resolved by the incredible energy power generated by the Large Hydron Collider and its close to 7,000 super-conducting magnets.

The Higgs particle owes its name to Peter Higgs, who in the 1960s proposed a mechanism that explained the broken symmetry in the electro-weak theory, which lead to the explanation of the origin of mass in elementary particles in general. Higgs' work predicted the existence of a new particle--the Higgs-Boson--often considered by researchers to be the most important sought particle in modern physics.

July 18, 2008

 

Psychology and you

 

Trance

 

Many of us have often felt as if we removed ourselves mentally from our day-to-day surroundings, and caught ourselves “starting off into space” or “in another world”. These are small everyday instance of entering a mild trance state. Trance includes a variety of processes, techniques, and states of mind, awareness and consciousness. Trance state may occur involuntary and without notice. The term “trance” may be associated with meditation, magic, flow and player.

 

There are many nature sounds, such as birds, frogs, crickets which fundamentally repeat, but which contain slight variations within each repetition. The fundamental repetition is the trance generating loop (TGL) and the variations in each repetition results in the modulation of the dissociated trance plane. It is for this reason that the sounds of nature tend to produce trance.

 

All forms of meditation practice involve the repetition of cognitive objects of varying degrees of complexity. The relatively simple meditation of watching the breath will induce a mediation trance. More complex forms such as are practiced by Tibetan Buddhists or Sufis may consist of combinations of meditation and hypnotic trance. Visualizations and physical movements can be combined with mantra yoga produce multiple dissociated trance planes. 

 

Music consists of repeating rhythms and melodies. From a trance theory point of view, music consists of multiple trances, one for each repeating rhythm or melody. Most of these musical loops repeat only a few times and there is a minimum number of repetitions needs before a dissociated trance plane will be created. Musical trance can be described as the creation of multiple trances followed by their collapse. However, another cognitive loop is precisely this repeated creation and collapsing of dissociated trance planes.

 

Certain types of music are more trance-inducing, generally, than others. Musical loops which are sustained, such as in shamanistic or so-called trance-drumming, have at least the critical element of high repetition. Thus, the high repetition of the musical loop is more likely to produce a single dissociated trance plane. Religious and military marching music also has a higher likelihood of inducing trance because of the high repetition of the musical loop.

 

Certain sports such as jogging, swimming, basketball, etc. require repetition of action and therefore a repetition of cognitive objects. These sports all create dissociated trance planes and therefore trance.

 

Certain things known for inducing trance states are generally regarded as negative. Watching television or a movie also generates trance because of the attention loop between the viewer and the images viewed. This cognitive loop is very short and simple. You look, you integrate the image, and you look again. The processing of the content of the images takes place in the dissociated trance plane in which a variety of cognitive functions are disabled.   

Second part

 

In turn, another message that travels through nerves from the hypothalamus to the adrenal medulla created an active secretion of adrenaline. These hormones are responsible for the organic reaction throughout the body.

 

2. State resistance:

when an indivual is subjected to prolonged factors such as the threat of damaging physical, chemical, biological or social agents, while continuing its adaptation to such claims in a progressive manner, it may happen that diminish their ability to respond, because of the fatigue that occurs in the glands of stress. During this phase usually a dynamic equilibrium or homeostasis happens between the internal and external environment of the individual.

 

Thus, if the body has the ability to withstand this stress a long time, there is no problem; if not, the stress will undoubtedly advance to the next stage.

 

3. Phase of exhaustion:

 

The progressive decline of the body facing a situation of prolonged stress leads to a high state of  deterioration, with the loss of important physiological capacities and thereby activates the phase of exhaustion, in which the subject succumbs to the demands and bodily reactions are minimized because their capacity to adapt and interact with the environment diminish. 

July, 2008, psychology

 

Stress

 

The concept of stress goes back to the 1930’s, when a young 20-years-old Austrian second year student of the school of medicine at the University of Prague, Hans Selye, the son of Austrian surgeon Hugo Selye, noted that all patients who studied, regardless of the disease itself, showed common symptoms. These generally included: fatigue, loss of appetite, weight loss, etc. this drew much attention to Selye, who called stress the “syndrome of being ill.”

 

Selye felt then that several unknown diseases such as cardiac illnesses, hypertension and mental or emotional disorders are simply the result of physiological changes resulting from a prolonged stress in the bodies of these students, and mentioned that these genetic alterations may be predetermined or constitutionally. However, to continue their investigations, others elaborated upon his ideas, which concluded that not only harmful physical agents acting directly on the body are producers of animal stress, but are also in the cases of men. They found that demands of social and threats individual environments that require adaptability cause stress disorder.

 

In the description of the disease, he identified at least the following three stages in the production mode of stress:

 

1. Alarm reaction:

the body, threatened by the stress inducing circumstances, were altered physiologically by activating a series of glands, especially in the hypothalamus and the pituitary gland, which is located at the bottom of the brain, and the adrenal glands, located on the kidneys in the area in back of the abdominal cavity,

 

the brain, to detect the threat or risk, stimulates the hypothalamus, which produces “liberating factors” that are specific substances that act as messengers for corporal and specific areas. One such substance is a hormone called ACTH (Adrenal cortico Trophic Hormone) which serves as a physiological messenger that travels the bloodstream until it reaches the crust of the adrenal gland, where under the influence of such a message produces cortisone and other hormones called corticosteroids.

 

To be continue….

                                    Work Exploitation

 

 Mr. Ball: I’ am getting old and so do you so who is going to take care of us in a few years?

 

Mrs. Ball: well I don’t know how to call her; nanny, housekeeper or caregiver because she will probably have to play all those roles

 

 

Mr. Ball: yes one of those women that work for many hours and puts up with verbal harassment and even sometimes physical and sexual abuse, an invisible worker

 

Mr. Ball: when we get back to New York City we need to advocated for the passage in Albany of the Domestic Workers Bill of Rights which will insure they get health benefits, paid time off, overtime and cost of living raises besides of other benefits

 

 

 

 Mrs. Ball: wow I didn’t know it was so important to you

 

Mr. Ball: well my grandmother was a German immigrant and she worked as a caregiver for the elderly since she couldn’t find any other job. She used to talk about her feeling mistreated and belittled and said that she lacked at work the essential dignity a human being should have had. We should give these people a minimum of human dignity by improving their working conditions.

 

 

 

Do you know how to discipline your small child when he misbehave? Let’s assume that your child has bitten someone. Here is a simple, highly effective way of discouraging this behavior: Say to him: “we do not bite.” Say nothing more than this give no further description of the behavior, no explanation of what you are doing. Say nothing except, “we do not bite.” Take him by the hand and seat him in a small chair facing a blank wall. Stand close enough so that if he attempts to leave the chair you can immediately return him to it. Keep him in the chair for three minutes. (Do not tell him how long he will be in the chair. Say nothing.) If he screams, kicks the wall, asks questions or says he has to go to the bathroom, ignore him. It is absolutely essential that you say nothing. At the end of the three minutes, keep him in the chair until he has been quiet and well behaved for five more seconds. When he does so, tell him he has been good and may now leave the chair. Never let him leave until he has been well behaved for at least a few seconds. Following time out, say nothing about it. Do not discuss the punished behavior or the fairness of the punishment. Say nothing except, “we do not bite.” Once the child realizes that you mean business, that he cannot manipulate you into providing attention for bad behavior, time out will proceed more smoothly and quickly and there will be far fewer times when you need to use it.

Psychology

I practice every morning Yoga because I think it helps me attain peace and happiness through out the day. I recommend it to my patients as a form of exercise because it helps them develop inner feelings of wholeness and also their spiritual self and wellbeing.  

Yoga is a practical subject. It gives ethical guidance, improves physical and psychological health, and is a tool for spiritual development. That spiritual development starts with a desire for happiness and harmony. Essential to achieving this is being good to yourself, friendly to others, and strengthening the ability to direct your attention where you want it. Feeling good is an important indication that you’re headed in the right direction.

 

Therapists who take their power seriously also take the boundaries of therapy seriously. When they bend the therapeutic frame, they do so carefully and explore the ramifications their action has for the client. They recognize that not all meanings may emerge at first, and that clients may be reluctant to acknowledge just how important a seemingly trivial exchange is to them.

 

Good therapist recognize, too, that the intense feeling that surface in sessions often gravitate toward the boundaries. And that touch, and other physical contact, may be the most emotionally laden and controversial boundary of all.

I paint in my leisure time loving every minute of it. My efforts are improvised and I am unaware of the rules. I don’t evaluate the paintings; I just involve myself fully. One doesn’t need any artistic talent for that. After the painting is finished, I analyze it, questioning the psychological significance of the content, style and color. Thus, painting provides an opportunity for engagement and self-awareness.

Some people confuse my enthusiasm for an evaluation. I share my painting nonetheless because this engagement brings me enjoyment, which is readily available to anyone willing to let the process itself take over. Take a risk and find a new passion. It gives you a great sense of fullfilment, teaches you about yourself and, perhaps most important, could be enormous fun.

 

 Whatever the challenges of a male female friendship in order to succeed as friends both genders have to openly and honestly negotiate exactly what their relationship will mean, whether sexual attraction is a factor and how they will deal with it as well as the mutual understanding of agreed boundaries. The friendships that survive and even do very well, after sex and attraction, are those in which the friends extensively discussed the meaning of the sexual activity and feel confident and positive about each other’s feelings. Once they got past that they could enjoy a long lasting relationship. If sex is an important part of the relationship talking about it explicitly is the best strategy for making sure the friendship survives. The issue will deteriorate if the couple try to ignored it. So it can be said that male female friendship does have something in common with romantic relationships and to make it work communication is the key.

Stress sensitization can be extremely harmful it can trigger high blood pressure, diabetes, ulcers, asthma and digestive and lung ailments among others.

We may respond to stress as we do an allergy. That is, we can become sensitized, or acutely sensitive, to stress. Once that happens, even the merest intimation of stress can trigger a cascade of chemical reactions in brain and body that assault us from within. Stress is the psychological equivalent of ragweed. Once the body becomes sensitized to pollen or ragweed, it takes only the slightest bloom in spring or fall to set off the biochemical alarm that results in runny noses, watery eyes, and the general misery of hay fever. But while only some of us are genetically programmed to be plagued with hay fever, all of us have the capacity to become sensitized to stress.

As every therapist knows, addictive behavior cannot be cured by shame, because addicts are already deeply ashamed. Something affirmative and environmentally benign must be found to fill the inner void. Some psychologists believe the joy and pleasure of the natural world can itself provide that emotional gratification. Some therefore, use wilderness, restoration projects, or gardens as a new “outdoor office.”

 

“Nature heals” is one of the oldest therapeutic method. Psychologists are finding new ways to apply that ancient insight. Over a century ago, Emerson lamented that “few adult persons can see nature.” If they could, they would know that “in the woods, we return to reason and faith. There I feel that nothing can befall me in life, no disgrace or calamity… which nature cannot repair.”

 

Why have therapists made so little of this obvious resource? When highly stressed people are asked to visualize a soothing scene, nobody imagines a freeway or a shopping mall. Rather, images of wilderness, forest, seascape, and starry skies invariably emerge. In taking such experiences seriously, psychologists are broadening the context of mental health to include the natural environment. They are hastening the day when calling our bad environmental habits “crazy” will be more than a rhetorical outburst. The word will have behind in the full weight of considered professional consensus.

 

Simply knowing about stress sensitization seems to help some patients. We tell them about stress sensitization and I see a change in them. We explain that they have inappropriate reactions to stress because something has gone wrong with control mechanism in the brain. It is like a light goes on and they can see: “Oh, so that may be the problem”. They do the same mediation and therapy but they are aware of the basis of their problem. There is something for them to focus on. There is a reason for them to say I’m not crazy. This is something real that has a logical and credible cause.

 

Remember that the “Big Bang” achievements are not as important, in terms of life satisfaction, as the sum total of all the little moments. We need to cultivate an appreciation for the little things in life. Being able to recognize the everyday pleasure is every bit as vital as achieving new ones.

In this sense, happy people tend to be more active. They’re not “contend cows”. When you have enormous resource in terms of internal good feeling about yourself, you have an inner sense of buoyancy and are better able to think about doing things to make yourself happier. You tend not to sit back and be content, but identify and achieve what makes you happy.