Genius by Accident

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1043692/Weve-got-wires-crossed-The-bizarre-stories-people-brains-rewired-themselves.html

 We have seen that genius can be born or made but it may happen by accident too. How can someone become a genius in a certain area late in his life after having a stroke or a severe injury? This happens because when a part of our brain is damaged we exploit other parts in our brain we didn’t use that much before. When our left hemisphere is damaged for example we develop our right brain. This is what happens to savants who van be genius in a certain area but lack of other abilities like social skills. We could see the example of Tommy McHugh who after suffering a stroke became obsessed with painting something he had never done before. There is another guy who can memorize the day of any specific date, since childhood however he was diagnosed with autism. They also mentioned a guy who can play a song after hearing it once! I would sure like to have that ability. It is truly amazing what all these savants can do but I guess I wouldn’t quite like to become one by accident, I’m ok the way I am. Still if someday it happens… I hope I get the ability to play song after hearing once! That would be sweet! 

Make Me A Genius

http://susanpolgar.blogspot.com/2009_07_04_archive.html

            Genius can be made. Susan Polgar is the perfect example of this. Since a very early age her father taught her to play chess. He made this as an experiment to prove children could become experts in certain area if trained properly. Susan became one of the best chess players in the world beating many prestigious chess players, when chess was thought to be dominated by men. Something very interesting they mentioned in the video was how practice helps you develop instinct which is how we are able to quickly respond almost without thinking based on past experiences. This is how Susan can play so well. In the video they also talked about memory and featured a waiter called Vicente Santino who can remember different orders without writing them down. He uses chinking which many of use to memorize things like a phone number for example. I think that Susan Polgar shows that if your dedicated and determined you can become a genius in any field.

Born Genius

www.zimbio.com/pictures/K4mLlSBbdxd/San+Remo+Festival+della+Canzione+Italiana/8ELBAzI7w2h/Marc+Yu

Wow! That kid Marc Yu is amazing! I wish I could play piano that well, as a musician I must say it is really fascinating to see this and as him there many other children who can do amazing things like this. It’s evident to me that in these cases some children are born with something extra, it just comes naturally. The brain structure of these kids is different. However Marc’s mother contributed to this as she played classical music when she was pregnant and he put him piano lessons since he was 3 years old. We can see then that nurture is an important factor. Something that highlights this is the girl in the video who was kept inside a room all alone by her father and was not able to interact with anyone. She was never able to communicate properly, not even walk. This proves the theory of use it or lose it, which means that if we don’t use parts of our brain they will no longer be there. Stimulus is essential for a baby. They also showed in the video how  a kid can have a higher IQ and be more successful in life when an early education is given to them. 

Nature Vs. Nurture: Homosexuality

http://www.kingdomagenda.org/?page_id=24

Homosexuality for some reason has always been one of the most controversial topics. So are you born gay or are you made gay? Many people are harsh on homosexuals as there is not one religion which accepts the idea of homosexuality. I must say I don’t consider its right, I have been taught It’s just not natural for people of the same sex However it may be reconsidered when you find out gay people genetically born like that. There has been a lot of research on this. One of the most studied cases is twins as they have identical genes. Regardless of this we have seen cases in which one of the twins is gay and the other is straight. In the video for example they showed two 10 year old boy twins. One had his room filled with action figures and airplanes while the other had dolls and pinkish stuff. This really shocked me, he even had nail polish on! This was called childhood gender nonconformity and abnormality on the childhood’s behavior not typical of his gender. This boy had show signs of it since he was 18 months old when he asked for a Barbie. As we can see since a very early age children can show signs of homosexuality which can lead to think it is genetic. However I believe that it depends on the way your raise, if the parents of that kid for example wouldn’t have given him the Barbie it could be a different story. One very interesting fact was that it is scientifically proven that  if a boy you have older brothers he is more prone to be gay and it only happens of he’s right handed. This video has convinced me genetics may determine your sexual orientation but I still think that nurture may have an influence on some people.

Mind of a Murderer

Next time you see a criminal don’t judge him and say he is purely evil, there might be a psychological explanation for his actions. Criminals are generally formed by their environments as we all develop in it as well which in their case may turn them mentally ill. Some violent criminals could have been exposed to violence very often when they were growing. They were most likely abused in certain ways. We can see the example of the man who killed his family in Kansas, his father abused of him and his brothers in their childhood. He loved his wife so intensely that it all turned into blind fury and hate. He was did that unconsciously without much premeditation. I think it is fair for these criminals who suffer of mental illness have less time in prison than criminals who actually premeditate their crimes with much intention. Some however don’t think it is fair, they think that criminals with mental illness should still be punished severely as that is no excuse for what they have done as other they say people that also have mental illness are not criminals. Yet criminals have different backgrounds that have a great impact on their decisions.  I think it does explain why they have acted in such an atrocious way; their frontal lobe being damaged will be a factor when making bad decisions. We as human beings are not born evil but our surroundings make us who we are. I don’t say criminals should be forgiven for having mental illness but I think that this explains their behavior.  Criminals are sometimes misunderstood and we point at them and see them as entirely evil.  Sometimes they can’t explain why they commit a crime; it’s just something they cannot control because of their sickness. It’s important to understand why some criminals act this way so it can be prevented from the beginning. 

Brain Damage

We think it will never happen to us but we never know. Brain damage could change completely who you are as a person. When we have brain damage due to an accident we may lose a part of our brain responsible for a specific function, losing that as well. It is very likely to for memory, speech, or any physical activity to be affected.  Those were really touching cases. These people forgot how to eat, how to do their work, or do chores. They had to reconstitute their life again. I felt sorry for them specially Brian but I think they are also very inspiring. They keep on with life trying to bring it together. Just think how we complain about everything not appreciating that we have all parts of our brain functioning properly. Brian for example cannot walk and can barely speak but that does not prevent him from being happy. He still loves his children and still has courage to fight against that adversity. Our will and determination is what really matters to overcome great challenges like this. I would not know what I would do if I ever get caught up in some of these situations but a thank God everyday alive.

Mind Reading

It is actually kind of scary how technology is moving forward so quickly. Nothing seems to be impossible to reach by scientists. Mind reading! Who would say this is now possible? So people are put into a brain scanner and are asked to think about a certain object. The interesting thing is that when you think about an object like a pencil you think of it in different places of the brain. You just don’t think pencil but how it looks, how to use it, when to use it, you could also think about any experiences you’ve had with one. The computer then locates the activated parts of the brain and will identify what the object is. This discovery could be used in trails for example. You could read someone else’s mind to see if he is guilty or not. I don’t think this is right however, I think it would be considered to testify against yourself. It’s invading your thoughts and privacy, I personally am not comfortable with this methods, it’s not very ethical. Its against our human rights and principles to do such thing. Soon this technology will end in the wrong hands and will be used for evil purposes.