.. do it this way!
Friday, May 28, 2010
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
My favorite optical illusions.
Pesc's post inspired me to post some of my favorite optical illusions. Here...
1) Same Color Illusion.
Look at the image above. Which of the squares A and B do you think is the darker shade of gray? A? Well, as it turns out in every such optical illusion, the answer is - None. They are the same shade. Exactly the same shade. :) The brain interprets the intensity based on the context. Ever wondered why sunspots are dark? As in, it's not as if those regions aren't bright and hot themselves, so why do they appear dark? It's because they are embedded in much hotter and brighter regions of the Sun. This is exactly what is happening here. A seems darker because it has light squares around it. B seems light because it is surrounded by dark squares. I feel that the strength of this particular image is in the fuzzy boundary of the cylinder's shadow. This means that B's shade merges into the light square's shade seamlessly fooling the brain into expecting that B must actually be the same shade as the light squares, only that they are slightly darker due to the shadow. But same as A? No way! well, it is. :) Perhaps the image below will help in visualizing it.
2) Blue or Green?
You know what's coming. But you can't believe it, can you? The spirals that are clearly blue and green are actually neither blue nor green, but a combination (RGB=0,255,150). i.e. they are EXACTLY the same color. unbelievable? I know. This one actually makes one forget the first illusion entirely. I mean, it was difficult to believe that one, but surely this is simply impossible? Well, copy it to paint/photoshop and see the RGB values. Or, just crop some pixels from the blue and green spirals without their pink/orange context and juxtapose them. Or, if you don't really have to do it yourself to believe it, just head on to this article at the badastronomy blog and see for yourself. This really is stunning.
3) Ok, this one is fun. Look at this one. Which direction is the (apparently nude, but I digress... ) spinning? Clockwise? Counter-clockwise?
No idea about copyright, but I found it here. Anyway, once you know your initial answer, look again. Perhaps looking at the shadow of the feet will do it the first time. The spinning direction flips instantly! It is actually much easier to flip the interpretation in your mind after you succeed in seeing it once. I can do it within 5-10 seconds now, and yet it is such a rush everytime it happens! :) Specially when I focus on her face. Suddenly the hair jumps from front to the back. :) I think this is essentially the same thing as flipping the 3-D interpretation of the Necker Cube in your mind. But, somehow this spinning girl makes it much more fun! :)
4) And now, the killer. Hollow mask illusion. I don't need to say anything as they say it all in the video.
Incredible, no? I have always wanted to have one of these masks at home. Specially this next one, with einstein. But it is definitely not worth 60 dollars....
Do you have any favorite illusions? Do share in comments.
1) Same Color Illusion.
copyright: Edward H Adelson and web.mit.edu
copyright: Edward H. Adelson and web.mit.edu
2) Blue or Green?
Copyright Akiyoshi Kitaoka
You know what's coming. But you can't believe it, can you? The spirals that are clearly blue and green are actually neither blue nor green, but a combination (RGB=0,255,150). i.e. they are EXACTLY the same color. unbelievable? I know. This one actually makes one forget the first illusion entirely. I mean, it was difficult to believe that one, but surely this is simply impossible? Well, copy it to paint/photoshop and see the RGB values. Or, just crop some pixels from the blue and green spirals without their pink/orange context and juxtapose them. Or, if you don't really have to do it yourself to believe it, just head on to this article at the badastronomy blog and see for yourself. This really is stunning.
3) Ok, this one is fun. Look at this one. Which direction is the (apparently nude, but I digress... ) spinning? Clockwise? Counter-clockwise?
No idea about copyright, but I found it here. Anyway, once you know your initial answer, look again. Perhaps looking at the shadow of the feet will do it the first time. The spinning direction flips instantly! It is actually much easier to flip the interpretation in your mind after you succeed in seeing it once. I can do it within 5-10 seconds now, and yet it is such a rush everytime it happens! :) Specially when I focus on her face. Suddenly the hair jumps from front to the back. :) I think this is essentially the same thing as flipping the 3-D interpretation of the Necker Cube in your mind. But, somehow this spinning girl makes it much more fun! :)
4) And now, the killer. Hollow mask illusion. I don't need to say anything as they say it all in the video.
Incredible, no? I have always wanted to have one of these masks at home. Specially this next one, with einstein. But it is definitely not worth 60 dollars....
Do you have any favorite illusions? Do share in comments.
Kata kata
raising my head from the posting-less abyss all of us seem to have been roaming in (except Pesc, of course.. who is keeping the every flavor flag flying high)...
New trailer for Raavan. This is actually surprisingly good. Surprisingly, because I was apprehensive about this song picturization.I was thinking something on the lines of "Ek lo ek muft", but this is actually pretty well done.
New trailer for Raavan. This is actually surprisingly good. Surprisingly, because I was apprehensive about this song picturization.I was thinking something on the lines of "Ek lo ek muft", but this is actually pretty well done.
Cheeky program in controversial soup
Freshmen of the College of Letters and Science at University of California, Berkeley have a unique thing in their welcome kit this year....a cotton swab!
The Same Page program of this college gives new students something to talk about and discuss, say something like a book or a movie or an idea. This year, they’ll be exploring the theme of Personalized Medicine—the set of emerging technologies that promises to transform our ability to predict, diagnose, and treat human disease. Therefore, the cotton swab. Students can choose to return a sample of their cheek cells to be analyzed for three genes that are identified as "useful" for daily lives......the genes that help regulate the ability to absorb folic acid, tolerate lactose, and metabolize alcohol. Results of this nutritional genomic study will be confidential, however the sample donors through secret codes can access results of their samples.
Professor Jasper Rine, in-charge of this project, says “We want to get people to appreciate that there are things you can do that enhance your health based on the genes you have. There are concrete, actionable, specific steps that do enhance quality of life. This is the message of the post-genomic era.” Students will also get the chance to enter contests of creativity and talent and winners will be offered a more complete genetic analysis of their ancestry and health, with compliments from the personal genomics company 23andMe.
Medical science and biotechnology post the "Human Genome Project" is aiming towards better health care and effective clinical solutions. Though today, personalized medicine seems like a Utopian dream, hopefully someday it will be cost-effective and bring therapeutics suited to individual needs and responses.
This project, however, is not without it's share of controversies. Following a ban by FDA on retail selling of personal-genome-testing kit by Walgreens ( a US based drugstore chain), a Berkeley-based public interest organization is calling for the suspension of the UC project. They say "If selling genetic tests directly to consumers is a problem in the eyes of federal regulators, how can the University justify pushing them on thousands of eighteen-year-olds?"
The kit with the swab includes a consent form and details of the study to be undertaken, the advantages of the program and a confidentiality statement assuring prevention of misuse of genetic information. Where is the abuse??? If the donors consent to give samples for research, understanding what they are signing-up for....then why not?? Surveys and sample collections anyway take place for various research programs across the world...then why not this?? People can, for a minimal fee, send their DNA samples to laboratories for testing and genetic analysis, so why not allow the sale of these kits? Is it not up to the customer to think what they want, need, require and find useful??
The Same Page program of this college gives new students something to talk about and discuss, say something like a book or a movie or an idea. This year, they’ll be exploring the theme of Personalized Medicine—the set of emerging technologies that promises to transform our ability to predict, diagnose, and treat human disease. Therefore, the cotton swab. Students can choose to return a sample of their cheek cells to be analyzed for three genes that are identified as "useful" for daily lives......the genes that help regulate the ability to absorb folic acid, tolerate lactose, and metabolize alcohol. Results of this nutritional genomic study will be confidential, however the sample donors through secret codes can access results of their samples.
Professor Jasper Rine, in-charge of this project, says “We want to get people to appreciate that there are things you can do that enhance your health based on the genes you have. There are concrete, actionable, specific steps that do enhance quality of life. This is the message of the post-genomic era.” Students will also get the chance to enter contests of creativity and talent and winners will be offered a more complete genetic analysis of their ancestry and health, with compliments from the personal genomics company 23andMe.
Medical science and biotechnology post the "Human Genome Project" is aiming towards better health care and effective clinical solutions. Though today, personalized medicine seems like a Utopian dream, hopefully someday it will be cost-effective and bring therapeutics suited to individual needs and responses.
This project, however, is not without it's share of controversies. Following a ban by FDA on retail selling of personal-genome-testing kit by Walgreens ( a US based drugstore chain), a Berkeley-based public interest organization is calling for the suspension of the UC project. They say "If selling genetic tests directly to consumers is a problem in the eyes of federal regulators, how can the University justify pushing them on thousands of eighteen-year-olds?"
The kit with the swab includes a consent form and details of the study to be undertaken, the advantages of the program and a confidentiality statement assuring prevention of misuse of genetic information. Where is the abuse??? If the donors consent to give samples for research, understanding what they are signing-up for....then why not?? Surveys and sample collections anyway take place for various research programs across the world...then why not this?? People can, for a minimal fee, send their DNA samples to laboratories for testing and genetic analysis, so why not allow the sale of these kits? Is it not up to the customer to think what they want, need, require and find useful??
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Gravity defying ramp
Found this in a news article in Nature where they talk about the Best Optical Illusion of the Year. The winning illusion makes downward-sloping ramps appear to run uphill :)
Watch it here:
The competition, hosted by the Neural Correlate Society, is the "Oscars of perception," says society president Susana Martinez-Conde. The trophies are themselves visual illusions — wooden sculptures that look vastly different depending on the observer's point of view.
Now, isn't that cool!!!
I like what one finalist says..... "Illusions are cool and fun, but they're important because they are mistakes of the visual system that give us clues about how the underlying processes work when they're functioning properly."
Funny workings of the brain!
Watch it here:
The competition, hosted by the Neural Correlate Society, is the "Oscars of perception," says society president Susana Martinez-Conde. The trophies are themselves visual illusions — wooden sculptures that look vastly different depending on the observer's point of view.
Now, isn't that cool!!!
I like what one finalist says..... "Illusions are cool and fun, but they're important because they are mistakes of the visual system that give us clues about how the underlying processes work when they're functioning properly."
Funny workings of the brain!
ISS-Atlantis transit over Sun
Image of the solar transit of the International Space Station (ISS) and Space Shuttle Atlantis 50 minutes before docking, taken from the area of Madrid (Spain) on May 16th 2010 at 13h 28min 55s UT.
Photolink via : Discover blogs and Thierry Legault
Click on image to view enlarged version.
Photolink via : Discover blogs and Thierry Legault
Click on image to view enlarged version.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Hrithik on Fire
Just watched this song promo on TV from the movie Kites.
Love the feel of the music and Hrithik's dance moves are awesome. He has always been a good dancer; this video re-affirms it!!
Take a look:
Looking forward to the complete dance sequence :)
and here's the full song if anyone's interested:
Love the feel of the music and Hrithik's dance moves are awesome. He has always been a good dancer; this video re-affirms it!!
Take a look:
Looking forward to the complete dance sequence :)
and here's the full song if anyone's interested:
You got to be joking....!
Seriously, would someone please assess the science reporters of Times of India before hiring them! or maybe just hire editors who make sure that the news reaching out to masses is not a distorted truth!!??
Here's an article from today's paper:
"Eat breakfast to have a baby boy"
The article boldly claims "Want a baby boy? Well, then eat full breakfast and fatty diet during early pregnancy, suggests a new study ", but very conveniently forgets to mention that what the scientist is actually saying is that their hypothesis is that diet, either directly or indirectly (e.g. through hormonal changes in the mother), influences the nutrient conditions within the reproductive tract of an early pregnant female. These changes in turn could alter the relative abilities of either X- or Y-sperm to effect fertilization. Alternatively, an altered uterine environment might lead to preferential survival of embryos of one sex over the other. Also, that these preliminary studies have been carried out only in mice! and several experiments need to be done to decipher the actual mechanism!
Normally I would have brushed away articles such as these labeling them as "preposterous" or search articles giving scientific evidence for their claims (if there is any tiny curiosity as to what the original claimant really wants to say). But, a conversation with a non-science/biology background person involving discussion on the various "health" articles led me to wonder how much such "half-truths" influence people's thinking.
Eat breakfast and high fat diet for a baby boy!! Maybe we should leak this news to television mom-in-laws, their bahus will have a good time eating! :P
Here's an article from today's paper:
"Eat breakfast to have a baby boy"
The article boldly claims "Want a baby boy? Well, then eat full breakfast and fatty diet during early pregnancy, suggests a new study ", but very conveniently forgets to mention that what the scientist is actually saying is that their hypothesis is that diet, either directly or indirectly (e.g. through hormonal changes in the mother), influences the nutrient conditions within the reproductive tract of an early pregnant female. These changes in turn could alter the relative abilities of either X- or Y-sperm to effect fertilization. Alternatively, an altered uterine environment might lead to preferential survival of embryos of one sex over the other. Also, that these preliminary studies have been carried out only in mice! and several experiments need to be done to decipher the actual mechanism!
Normally I would have brushed away articles such as these labeling them as "preposterous" or search articles giving scientific evidence for their claims (if there is any tiny curiosity as to what the original claimant really wants to say). But, a conversation with a non-science/biology background person involving discussion on the various "health" articles led me to wonder how much such "half-truths" influence people's thinking.
Eat breakfast and high fat diet for a baby boy!! Maybe we should leak this news to television mom-in-laws, their bahus will have a good time eating! :P
Monday, May 17, 2010
Cannes via Ebert
Roger Ebert has been tweeting (and blogging) from Cannes, and I'm reading every word that he types, trying to fool myself into thinking that I am at Cannes myself. :) This (and hopefully some other upcoming posts on my own blog, if not here) post is to suggest everyone else who might be interested and lukkha enough that following Ebert might be a pretty good way of keeping an eye on Cannes.
For those, who are interested but not lukkha, this post and others in the series will point to whatever I find interesting. If I am able to pique your curiosity about any particular movie etc, you can always head on to Ebert's blog later.
So far he has talked about a possible animated movie nomination for next year's oscar, a french movie by the maker of "The Triplets of Belleville" called The Illusionist; an english movie with a rather intriguing concept directed by Hideo Nakata, the director of "The Ring", called Chatroom; the "Wall Street" sequel by Oliver Stone, called Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps; and a korean movie called The Housemaid.
Out of these The Housemaid seemed pretty interesting to me. Ebert mentions that some people are already speculating that it might be a frontrunner for Palme d'Or, though it is still quite early in the festival. Ebert's synopsis -
The trailer is pretty exciting too. Thrilling, as the movie promises to be, with some pretty good music and interesting look.It takes place almost entirely within the huge modern house of a very rich man, and centers on the young woman he has hired as a nanny. It involves the man, his wife, his daughter, the older woman who runs his household, and the mothers of the wife and the nanny.This is a house where living is an expensive form of art. The couple are smooth, calm, sophisticated. They value themselves very highly. The nanny forms a bind with their 7-year-old daughter, and assists the wife during a pregnancy with twins. More than that I choose not to specify.But look at the mastery of the film's construction. The nuanced performances. The implacable deliberation of the plot. The way the house acts as a hothouse to force the growth of anger. And the film's unforgiving portrait of people damaged by great wealth. This is a thriller about the ideas people have of themselves.
This is another South Korean movie that seems exciting, after Mother that released earlier in the year and is one of the best movies that I have seen in 2010 so far. Hmmm... I should write about Mother one of these days.. perhaps for my individual blog.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Appropriate Technology
I guess a few of you might have already seen this. But for the benefit of the few ignorant others. Personally, I found this very inspiring. I hope you too.
Saturday, May 8, 2010
Excitement++
whoa!!! Nolan!!!
I started the summer with Inception and Raavan being my top 2 most anticipated movies. But with Raavan trailers decreasing my excitement a little, and with this trailer being so exciting, Inception is now officially the most anticipated movie of the summer for me.
I started the summer with Inception and Raavan being my top 2 most anticipated movies. But with Raavan trailers decreasing my excitement a little, and with this trailer being so exciting, Inception is now officially the most anticipated movie of the summer for me.
Friday, May 7, 2010
Chatting with Chopras
Found a pretty good interview of Vidhu Vinod Chopra and Anupama Chopra. I quite enjoyed reading it. Awesome couple. :)
Here. Read it.
For those who don't recognize the names: VVC is the director of Parinda, 1942-A Love Story and Eklavya, among others.. and produced Munnabhai movies, 3 idiots, Parineeta etc. Anupama Chopra, his wife, is a movie critic/writer who has written some well-reviewed books about hindi movies.
Here. Read it.
For those who don't recognize the names: VVC is the director of Parinda, 1942-A Love Story and Eklavya, among others.. and produced Munnabhai movies, 3 idiots, Parineeta etc. Anupama Chopra, his wife, is a movie critic/writer who has written some well-reviewed books about hindi movies.
De Palma Woos Abrams' Bird?
One of my favorite directors, Brad Bird (based on just 2 great movies and another decent one, but what amazing movies they were!!), is now going to direct Mission: Impossible IV. I don't know what to think. Perhaps that it can only be good for M:I franchise and give them their best movie? After all, this is exactly the situation we were in when it was announced that Christopher Nolan will take on Batman reboot project; and see what HE did there!
There's still a little disappointment because his dream project 1906 seems to be on hold forever. But perhaps directing an M:I movie will help him get the enormous funding he needs for 1906. We'll see how things turn out next year.
news via empireonline.
There's still a little disappointment because his dream project 1906 seems to be on hold forever. But perhaps directing an M:I movie will help him get the enormous funding he needs for 1906. We'll see how things turn out next year.
news via empireonline.
Google Chrome
Following changed appearance of Google search, the next thing I read today was the release of the new beta version of Google Chrome which boasts of highly improved browsing speed besides other new features.
Here's the link for the original blogpost and here's the video for the crazy experiments they did to showcase the (literally) lightning fast Chrome:
Enjoy!!!
Here's the link for the original blogpost and here's the video for the crazy experiments they did to showcase the (literally) lightning fast Chrome:
Enjoy!!!
Your mind is the Scene of the Crime.
New poster for Inception is here, along with a pretty intriguing synopsis.
"In the film, Dom Cobb (DiCaprio) is a skilled thief, the absolute best in the dangerous art of extraction, stealing valuable secrets from deep within the subconscious during the dream state, when the mind is at its most vulnerable. Cobb's rare ability has made him a coveted player in this treacherous new world of corporate espionage, but it has also made him an international fugitive and cost him everything he has ever loved. Now Cobb is being offered a chance at redemption. One last job could give him his life back but only if he can accomplish the impossible—inception. Instead of the perfect heist, Cobb and his team of specialists have to pull off the reverse: their task is not to steal an idea but to plant one. If they succeed, it could be the perfect crime. But no amount of careful planning or expertise can prepare the team for the dangerous enemy that seems to predict their every move. An enemy that only Cobb could have seen coming."
"In the film, Dom Cobb (DiCaprio) is a skilled thief, the absolute best in the dangerous art of extraction, stealing valuable secrets from deep within the subconscious during the dream state, when the mind is at its most vulnerable. Cobb's rare ability has made him a coveted player in this treacherous new world of corporate espionage, but it has also made him an international fugitive and cost him everything he has ever loved. Now Cobb is being offered a chance at redemption. One last job could give him his life back but only if he can accomplish the impossible—inception. Instead of the perfect heist, Cobb and his team of specialists have to pull off the reverse: their task is not to steal an idea but to plant one. If they succeed, it could be the perfect crime. But no amount of careful planning or expertise can prepare the team for the dangerous enemy that seems to predict their every move. An enemy that only Cobb could have seen coming."
Courtesy: Comingsoon.net
Thursday, May 6, 2010
"The Empire on which the sun never sets"
As you know, the title phrase of this post refers to the global empires set up by Europeans between the 15th and the 19th centuries.Imperialism or European colonisation was heralded by the Spanish and Portuguese explorers in the early 15th century, a period known as the "Age of Discovery". We have all heard of Columbus and Magellan; there were many many more of them who spread out to discover "new lands"...the Americas, African coast, Middle east, India, eastern Asia and even Australia. Soon after, they were joined by the British, the French and the Dutch in direct competition in exploration (they actually started as pirate attacks on Spanish fleets loaded with riches obtained from the new lands...but soon they developed their own expeditions and settlements).
The Spanish colonialization was primarily for bolstering their economic status by trade and religious conversions; on the other hand, the British colonization was mainly aimed at "making new societies" as per the whims of the colonists and then began the enslavement of "native savages". British Imperialism, as it turned out, flourished over all others especially after Napolean's downfall and its span across the globe ensured that the sun was always shining on at least one of its numerous territories.....!!
Decolonization began in earnest only in the 20th century. This interesting animated link here shows the rise and fall of British Empire. Over the hundreds of years of colonization, millions of people moved to and from the British colonies. There have been pros and cons of this Imperialization; on one hand spread of technology early on was one of the advantages, on the other, tension and discontent between the native and non-native settlers continues till date.
So now you may ask...why this discussion on the history of colonization, especially British Imperialism :)
Well, yesterday I watched this movie called Pocahontas (animated Disney movie) where the story backdrop is an English governor who is seeking gold and riches in the "new land" and is ready to sacrifice the savages inhabiting the land which is now "His".
What the discussion between me and my friend led to was......... human settlements evolved and developed at several places simultaneously across the globe... why was it then that the European settlements progressed and developed much faster than the others?? The civilizations may have arose across several parts of the world and grew too, but technological development was much faster here which empowered them to dominate the world....why was it so? I have not yet been able to find an answer to that yet. So....help!!!! :) and if you think that I have got some points wrong...feel free to point them out.
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Why SSMTWTF
Repetition of a post after four year (OMG!!! dint know that I am blogging since then) from my blog
There are a lot of things in life we take for granted and hardly think about its origin or reason. We rarely think that at some stage of history obvious looking things were a point of research or debate. Sequence of days in a week is one such thing about which I never thought. Why it should be Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and so on? Why not any other sequence? Few days back I was reading a book about Indian astronomy and found the answer.
There are five visible planets in the sky - Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Venus and Mercury, and in older days Sun and Moon were also categorised as planets. So there were total 7 visible planets. (Navgrah concept in Indian astrology includes Rahu and Ketu, which are not physical objects but imaginary points, intersection points of Moon's orbit with the plane of Earth's revolution around Sun.)
Now arrange all the 7 planets in decreasing order of period (time taken to make a complete circle with reference to stars as seen from the earth)- Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Sun, Venus, Mercury and Moon.
Each day has 24 hours. Assume that each hour has one ruler planet. Suppose that today's first hour ruler planet is Saturn, second hour ruler will be Jupiter, Third will be Mars, fourth will be Sun and so on. First hour ruler decides the day. Hence today is Saturday.
Repeating the above mentioned sequence we see that 22nd hour ruler is again Saturn, 23rd is Jupiter, 24th is Mars and 25th will be Sun. Now 25th hour is 1st hour of tomorrow, so it is Sunday tomorrow. Similarly tomorrow's 22nd hour is ruled by Sun, 23rd by Mercury, 24th by Venus and 25th by Moon. So day after tomorrow is Monday.
Wow.... its simply amazing to learn the way sequence of weekday has been setup.
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Monday, May 3, 2010
Smiling lips and singing hearts
I recently finished reading "Musicophilia" by Oliver Sacks, and I thought that a condition mentioned in one of the chapters is worth posting about here. It is called "Williams Syndrome".
In WS, certain anatomical features are underdeveloped or faulty. This includes certain facial features (you'll see them having unusually wide-eyed expressions), certain heart and artery muscles etc. More importantly, perhaps, specific parts of the brain are highly underdeveloped, while others are either overdeveloped or at least unusually dominate because the others parts aren't developed properly. The parts that are underdeveloped are the ones that have an important role in numerical/logical thinking and spatial sense. The parts that are often overdeveloped or seem to dominate are the ones that have roles in linguistic skills, social skills and apparently emotional impact of music (thats where "musicophilia" comes in).
So, people with WS are highly gregarious... extremely friendly and social with everyone.. they almost completely lack any social inhibitions, so that they seem to be completely comfortable in the presence of almost anyone, regardless of whether they are familiar with them. Moreover, they actually seem to enjoy such interactions and seem to be unusually clued-in to the emotional cues in other peoples behavior/facial expressions etc.
Their linguistic skills are almost always highly developed, making them highly articulate. This, along with their friendly/social nature means that you'll always find them having long, extended conversations with almost anyone. On the other hand, they find it extremely difficult to do even the most simple math problems. You could be talking on phone with someone who has WS and probably won't realize that anything is unusual (other than the person being unusually charming and friendly) until you ask him/her to tell you what 3+5 is. Chances are, they'll fumble through the problem and will probably only guess an answer, which will probably be wrong anyway. Lack of a normally developed spatial sense means that they find it hard to work with even simple geometric shapes (like the toys that toddlers play with) and can hardly draw even simple things like a triangle or a circle. In short, as Sacks says, they are almost anti-autistic in their characteristics.
Sacks talks about some people having WS that he has met. There are really interesting stories here. e.g. when one little girl's mom told her not to talk to strangers, she replied with "but there are no strangers, there are only friends"
Another girl he met (she was about 7-8 years of age) was so clued in to other people's facial features and was so completely uninhibited in front of strangers that she surprised him by sensing his slight diffidence and said promptly something like "don't be shy! I'll make some muffins for you". This, from a girl, who had never met Sacks before. Sacks had gone to her home to see her and was probably only about as inhibited as any of us would be when we go to someone's house for the first time (Well, some of us are probably more inhibited than others... my diffidence would probably be easy to sense for almost anyone. :P )
Anyway, so she went ahead and got some muffins for him. In some time, Sacks asked her (perhaps after covering the plate, though I am not sure) to guess how many muffins there were in the plate. She guessed, with some effort, "3". Then he asked her to go ahead and count them. She tried and counted them one by one and came up with 8. There were actually 13.
Another girl, a 15 year old, had an IQ of 49 - quite typical of people with WS. So, her average mental level was of around a 7-8 year old kid i.e. about a student of 2nd standard. But that doesn't mean, as I said before, that you'd be able to tell that by just talking to her. It's not as if they seem "retarted" in any sense. math/logic/spatial sense don't work properly, but they are exceptional in linguistics. They are highly articulate, which makes things difficult when they are in new company (difficult for them, sure, but also difficult for these new people). After all, none of us expect someone to be that articulate, YET having mental problems
Take this 15 year old girl with IQ 49. They asked her to tell them about what an elephant is. And her response, quoted below, is amazing in its detail. It is almost as if she is telling a story rather than answering a simple question :
"And what an elephant is, it is one of the animals. And what the elephant does, it lives in the jungle. It can also live in the zoo. And what it has, it has long gray ears, fan ears, ears that can blow in the wind. It has a long trunk that can pick up grass, or pick up hay… If they are in a bad mood it can be terrible…If the elephant gets mad it could stomp; it could charge. Sometimes elephants can charge. They have big long tusks. They can damage a car… It could be dangerous. When they're in a pinch, when they're in a bad mood it can be terrible. You don't want an elephant as a pet. You want a cat or a dog or a bird…"
So, to put it mildly, she knows something about what an elephant is. The amazing part is, after this, when they asked her to draw an elephant, this is what she drew -
(The labels were put by someone else to help others see what she might've been trying to make. She only made the figure.) Clearly, she knows about the fan like ears and tusks etc, but she can't draw any of those details at all.
The connection with music is pretty interesting actually.. all of them are strongly sensitive and emotionally attached to music. Now, this doesn't necessarily mean that all of them are very good at playing music or singing (though a lot of them are). This is, as Sacks points out, quite unlike musical savants. Musical savants are almost finished articles. They will dazzle the whole world by their exceptional musical talents, yet, they might not necessarily derive as much pleasure out of music as a normal person around them. WS patients, however, invariably feel very strongly towards music.
This strong emotional connection to music, in combination with their completely uninhibited nature means that you'll find them merrily singing or whistling or playing music or swaying to music a lot of times. if you are walking on the road and they suddenly hear you even humming something they'll just smile broadly and will likely start singing along with joy. Some parents/guardians of a lot of WS patients decided to get a lot of together for a camp. Sacks describes what he saw at one of these camps and it sounds amazing. 15-20 people with WS - most, but not all, very young - sit together and talk to each other as if everyone is part of a close family. Talk about everything under the sun. And then, suddenly, someone starts humming and everyone joins in.. Some play their instruments, while others jump in and harmonize. Some just let their bodies follow the rhythm. I'd say that it is pretty sad to know about this, but it's really difficult to feel that way after reading about their joy in these camps or, indeed, their connection to music.
In WS, certain anatomical features are underdeveloped or faulty. This includes certain facial features (you'll see them having unusually wide-eyed expressions), certain heart and artery muscles etc. More importantly, perhaps, specific parts of the brain are highly underdeveloped, while others are either overdeveloped or at least unusually dominate because the others parts aren't developed properly. The parts that are underdeveloped are the ones that have an important role in numerical/logical thinking and spatial sense. The parts that are often overdeveloped or seem to dominate are the ones that have roles in linguistic skills, social skills and apparently emotional impact of music (thats where "musicophilia" comes in).
So, people with WS are highly gregarious... extremely friendly and social with everyone.. they almost completely lack any social inhibitions, so that they seem to be completely comfortable in the presence of almost anyone, regardless of whether they are familiar with them. Moreover, they actually seem to enjoy such interactions and seem to be unusually clued-in to the emotional cues in other peoples behavior/facial expressions etc.
Their linguistic skills are almost always highly developed, making them highly articulate. This, along with their friendly/social nature means that you'll always find them having long, extended conversations with almost anyone. On the other hand, they find it extremely difficult to do even the most simple math problems. You could be talking on phone with someone who has WS and probably won't realize that anything is unusual (other than the person being unusually charming and friendly) until you ask him/her to tell you what 3+5 is. Chances are, they'll fumble through the problem and will probably only guess an answer, which will probably be wrong anyway. Lack of a normally developed spatial sense means that they find it hard to work with even simple geometric shapes (like the toys that toddlers play with) and can hardly draw even simple things like a triangle or a circle. In short, as Sacks says, they are almost anti-autistic in their characteristics.
Sacks talks about some people having WS that he has met. There are really interesting stories here. e.g. when one little girl's mom told her not to talk to strangers, she replied with "but there are no strangers, there are only friends"
Another girl he met (she was about 7-8 years of age) was so clued in to other people's facial features and was so completely uninhibited in front of strangers that she surprised him by sensing his slight diffidence and said promptly something like "don't be shy! I'll make some muffins for you". This, from a girl, who had never met Sacks before. Sacks had gone to her home to see her and was probably only about as inhibited as any of us would be when we go to someone's house for the first time (Well, some of us are probably more inhibited than others... my diffidence would probably be easy to sense for almost anyone. :P )
Anyway, so she went ahead and got some muffins for him. In some time, Sacks asked her (perhaps after covering the plate, though I am not sure) to guess how many muffins there were in the plate. She guessed, with some effort, "3". Then he asked her to go ahead and count them. She tried and counted them one by one and came up with 8. There were actually 13.
Another girl, a 15 year old, had an IQ of 49 - quite typical of people with WS. So, her average mental level was of around a 7-8 year old kid i.e. about a student of 2nd standard. But that doesn't mean, as I said before, that you'd be able to tell that by just talking to her. It's not as if they seem "retarted" in any sense. math/logic/spatial sense don't work properly, but they are exceptional in linguistics. They are highly articulate, which makes things difficult when they are in new company (difficult for them, sure, but also difficult for these new people). After all, none of us expect someone to be that articulate, YET having mental problems
Take this 15 year old girl with IQ 49. They asked her to tell them about what an elephant is. And her response, quoted below, is amazing in its detail. It is almost as if she is telling a story rather than answering a simple question :
"And what an elephant is, it is one of the animals. And what the elephant does, it lives in the jungle. It can also live in the zoo. And what it has, it has long gray ears, fan ears, ears that can blow in the wind. It has a long trunk that can pick up grass, or pick up hay… If they are in a bad mood it can be terrible…If the elephant gets mad it could stomp; it could charge. Sometimes elephants can charge. They have big long tusks. They can damage a car… It could be dangerous. When they're in a pinch, when they're in a bad mood it can be terrible. You don't want an elephant as a pet. You want a cat or a dog or a bird…"
So, to put it mildly, she knows something about what an elephant is. The amazing part is, after this, when they asked her to draw an elephant, this is what she drew -
copyright: Ursula Bellugi, the Salk Institute
(The labels were put by someone else to help others see what she might've been trying to make. She only made the figure.) Clearly, she knows about the fan like ears and tusks etc, but she can't draw any of those details at all.
The connection with music is pretty interesting actually.. all of them are strongly sensitive and emotionally attached to music. Now, this doesn't necessarily mean that all of them are very good at playing music or singing (though a lot of them are). This is, as Sacks points out, quite unlike musical savants. Musical savants are almost finished articles. They will dazzle the whole world by their exceptional musical talents, yet, they might not necessarily derive as much pleasure out of music as a normal person around them. WS patients, however, invariably feel very strongly towards music.
This strong emotional connection to music, in combination with their completely uninhibited nature means that you'll find them merrily singing or whistling or playing music or swaying to music a lot of times. if you are walking on the road and they suddenly hear you even humming something they'll just smile broadly and will likely start singing along with joy. Some parents/guardians of a lot of WS patients decided to get a lot of together for a camp. Sacks describes what he saw at one of these camps and it sounds amazing. 15-20 people with WS - most, but not all, very young - sit together and talk to each other as if everyone is part of a close family. Talk about everything under the sun. And then, suddenly, someone starts humming and everyone joins in.. Some play their instruments, while others jump in and harmonize. Some just let their bodies follow the rhythm. I'd say that it is pretty sad to know about this, but it's really difficult to feel that way after reading about their joy in these camps or, indeed, their connection to music.
Saturday, May 1, 2010
Panchatantra on the Wall Street
The Weaver, the Princess and Goldman Sachs, for your reading pleasure. :) Funny.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)