Monday 21 March 2016

Individualism – the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Individualism – the good, the bad, and the ugly.

The concept of freedom is that individuals be allowed to do whatever they want. Over the past two hundred years individualism and capitalism rose together. In last three decades of the 20th century, people expressed their individuality through exercising choice. Individualism supports self-interest in business organizations, and is responsible for many of the possibilities available to society. Capitalism’s merit has been the goods it has been able to deliver. Each generation could count on seeing its children enjoy a host of new products. The luxuries of one generation became the necessities of the next.
It is necessary to strike a balance a balance between the ethics of the individual and the ethics of common good. Common good is associated with such things as environmental pollution, public education and the safety net for the poor. Something counts as a common good only to the extent that it is a good to which all have access. This gave economic inequality its justification – as the best chance for advancing the living conditions of all, but is no longer functioning. In the case of individualism its rewards are not spread evenly throughout society.  No longer can social inequalities be justified on the grounds that the poor will one day have what the rich now enjoy.
Bad individualism creates negative influences and is associated with underemployment and unemployment, a shrinking middle class and increasing wage gap between the rich and the poor. Individualism and self-interest have been accompanied by an unhinging of social norms and religious obligations needed as a basis for social cooperation. Individualism reinforces the person who thinks that he should not have to contribute to the community’s common good, but should be left free to pursue their own personal ends. More and more people competing in the system are falling behind their start point, and will never exceed their parent’s (financial) success. Those at the bottom of the economic pyramid become increasingly frustrated with the growing realization that the path to their advance has been substantially blocked by the advantages enjoyed by the already prosperous.  (Jack Buchanin) The Occupy Wall Street protesters identified the middle class as being taken advantage of by the financial system.
The focus on individualism and self-centeredness in society has led to the increase in narcissism while the sense of entitlement became pervasive. Another aspect of self-centeredness is self-tolerance. Such individuals learn to tolerate their errors and personal flaws and come to accept themselves as okay. They feel justified in asserting themselves, defending their perceived rights, believe rules do not apply to them, lack respect for authority, and habitually lie to people. It is impossible to distinguish pathological narcissists from self-confident, self-promoting, highly individualistic individuals.
An energy trading company called Enron, established in 1985, developed a unique hiring format. They brought in a stream of the best college MBA graduates they could find, who became star performers, who did whatever they wanted. This created a climate for extreme individualism and narcissism. Narcissists typically make judgements with greater confidence than other people, and the decisions are rendered with such conviction that narcissists become disproportionately more influential in-group situations. Enron became a narcissistic company in which workers did not need to acknowledge their faults and deception, and a declining sense of responsibility became a major part of the culture.
The culture of extreme individualism that ushered in the narcissism that influenced decision-making and accountability became widespread. Following three decades of the cult of self-esteem, individuals in the financial services industry, with self-tolerance and a sense of entitlement, leveraged the market and plunged the world into economic chaos. This was one example of the ugly side of individualism.
It is necessary to understand that both good individualism that is responsible for many of the possibilities available to society and bad individualism which contributed greatly to the instability in opportunities today, exist. In the 18th century, with the establishment of the  Copernican theory of the Earth rotating around the sun, the individual was placed at the center of the universe. Individualism was established as a Western value during the Enlightenment. By the last quarter of the 20th century, individualism, happiness, and capitalism were part of the core values of Western culture. The individualism associated with the lack of opportunities is linked to the extreme inequality and the growing income gap between the very wealthy and the rest of society that has occurred in North America over the last 35 years.
http://questioningandskepticism.com/2012/08/31/individualism-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly/

9 Sure Ways to Tell if You’re Really Bi-Curious

9 Sure Ways to Tell if You’re Really Bi-Curious

Have you ever been attracted to someone of the same sex? It’s completely natural, and acceptable, to be bi-curious. Use these 9 signs to find out more!

Okay girls, let’s admit it, many of us have thought about what it would be like to at least kiss another girl, and some of us probably have at some point, but does that mean you are bi-curious? Not necessarily.
Nearly all of us can appreciate a girl with a nice body or fantastic boobs, but do your thoughts wander a bit further than how nice she looks?
What is bi-curiosity?
Bi-curiosity is described as a phenomenon in which a person who identifies as heterosexual would consider taking part in sexual activity with a member of the same sex. It is not the same as being bisexual.
A person of a bi-curious nature will have very limited or no experience of sexual activity with a member of the same sex. On the other hand, a person who identifies as bisexual will have had relationships with members of the same sex and are aware that they find both men and women equally attractive.
9 ways to tell if you’re really bi-curious
Let’s take a look at these signs that might suggest you are bi-curious and not just simply appreciating that God has been kind in the looks department to a fellow female.
#1 I kissed a girl and I liked it. In the words of that wise singer, Katy Perry, kissing a girl and enjoying it could be a sign that you are bi-curious, especially if you didn’t want the kiss to stop and the kissing turned you on.
Kissing a woman can be an erotic experience as women’s lips are a lot softer than a man’s, so it’s not surprising you might have enjoyed the experience. But if the kiss stayed in your mind and you often think back to it, that could be an indicator that you would consider taking the kiss to a fumble and a fumble to the panties… and so forth.
#2 You wonder what it would be like to date/have sex with a woman. We all wonder about other people’s relationships and question what it might be like to be with a particular person, but if you find yourself wondering what it would be like to date a woman, it might be time to listen to that inner voice.
People are often fascinated by things they are not familiar with, such as homosexual sex acts or same sex relationships, and that’s acceptable. You might be curious from a totally rational viewpoint such as questioning what it could be like having two women together who both act possessed when they are menstruating at the same time. But if you are more interested in what two women get up to between the sheets, or want to know what it’s like to go out on a date with a woman, it could mean something a little bit more.
#3 You are crushing on a woman. Many of us get crushes on members of the same sex, believe it or not, and it can’t be taken as a sure sign you are bi-curious. However, if you think about this woman a lot and you love her figure/hair/boobs/total awesomeness, it might mean something.
Do you try to spend as much time as you can with her *providing she isn’t a famous star, of course!* and enjoy her company? Of course, most of us like spending time with people we like but if you also have thoughts about her in a sexual nature or you do try to get sneaky peeks of her semi-naked body, then there is a good chance this means you could be bi-curious.
#4 You enjoy woman-on-woman porn or erotica. If you and your partner enjoy watching porn together, or you if like watching it alone, you might get more enjoyment watching women making out than you do seeing a man and a woman having sex.
To be honest, this could simply be because most porn is targeted for the man’s enjoyment and not all women like seeing another woman being treated like a sex object. But, when you watch two women having sex, if your mind starts to wander and you imagine yourself in that scenario, it may be your subconscious trying to tell you something.
#5 You fantasise about having sex with a woman. Again, fantasies are completely normal either when you are having sex with your partner or masturbating. Many women admit to fantasizing about sex with another woman and many men get aroused by the thought of two women together, and this may help fuel your fantasy.
However, if your fantasies only involve other women and the desire to sleep with a female, it could be another sign that you are open to experimentation with a member of the same sex. This is especially true if you are having this fantasy when you are alone and not just while having sex with your partner.
#6 You like seeing other woman naked. Come on, admit it, we all like to suss out the competition and look at other women’s bodies, either in communal changing rooms or at pictures in magazines. Women can’t help themselves from being critical or slightly envious. It’s in our genetic make-up!
But if you find your eyes lingering on her boobs and your thoughts wander to what it might be like to run your tongue over her nipples, then this could be a sure-fire sign you might be bi-curious.
#7 You find yourself drawn to websites about sexual orientation. Sometimes, our sub-conscious tells us more than our daily thoughts, so if you have been looking at websites about sexuality, or in particular, bi-curiosity, it might be time to listen to that inner voice. Very often, people find a need to label themselves in order to understand their thoughts and feelings in more detail, and researching what you are thinking about deep down could be a big clue that you are curious about having sex with a woman.
#8 You know what you find attractive in a woman. If you ask yourself what you find attractive in a man, there is a good chance you can reel off a list of physical and emotional qualities. Good body, tall, funny, attractive, caring, etc. If you find you could answer the same when looking for qualities in a women, then that may suggest you are curious about dating one.
But this may be a bit different to answering what men find attractive in a woman, we all have preconceived perceptions about that. If you know personally what you find attractive in a woman, then your curiosity about dating one may have peaked.
#9 You become intrigued when you meet an attractive woman. Meeting new people can often bring on intrigue, that doesn’t mean a great deal on its own. However, if you start to question what she likes to do and where she hangs out, you might have feelings that are a little stronger than simple curiosity about her life.
If you discover that whenever you meet an attractive woman, you question what she looks like in her underwear, whether she has thought about kissing another woman, or more importantly, kissing you, then it might be time to acknowledge your bi-curiosity.
So are you a bi-curious woman?
If you can identify with a few or all of the points above, there is a good chance you may be bi-curious. But a women’s sexuality is very fluid. It changes and evolves all the time. Even if you realise you are bi-curious, it doesn’t mean to say you have to act on it, unless you want to.
Some women simply acknowledge they are attracted to the same sex and just leave it as a fun fantasy. Others decide to act on their curiosity and explore their sexuality a bit more. Society no longer demands we all have to label ourselves. We are free to be who we want to be. Being bi-curious doesn’t mean anything other than you have thoughts about having a physical experience with a member of the same sex. It won’t change who you are as a person and it won’t mean you will necessarily become bisexual.
http://www.lovepanky.com/women/how-to-tips-and-guide-for-women/sure-ways-to-tell-if-youre-really-bi-curious

Wednesday 29 April 2015

Rubik's Cube World Record 5.25 sec Collin Burns

Watch this teen break the world record for solving a Rubik’s Cube – in just 5.25 seconds 

 

Collin Burns completed the puzzle in 5.25 seconds. Lucky for us, someone caught the moment on video.
Burns was participating in an official World Cube Association competition at a high school in Doylestown, Pa., on Saturday. The previous record, set by Mats Valk from the Netherlands, was 5.5 seconds. A WCA representative confirmed to Mashable that Burns is indeed the new record holder.
“Although this result has not been uploaded to the WCA database just yet, we can confirm that this is (or will be soon) the new official WCA world record for the 3x3x3 single solve category. To our best knowledge, it has been performed in an official competition, with all the rules being followed, even the scramble has been checked for its correctness,” the spokesperson said.
Want some tips from the new world record holder on how to solve the puzzle? He’s got them on his YouTube page.


Collin Burns - US Rubik's Cube Champion 2014 (Table Cam)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tmgm5j9dNfA

 

Collin Burns - 5.93 Official Rubik's Cube Solve 

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIVN0SOYwwU

 

Rubik's Cube World Record 5.25 sec Collin Burns Slow Motion

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gz8sYIN78kM

 

 

Saturday 18 April 2015

What Constant Exposure To Negative News Is Doing To Our Mental Health

What Constant Exposure To Negative News Is Doing To Our Mental Health

It's nearly impossible to turn on the TV, open up a web browser, or scroll through Twitter without being assaulted with notifications of a new world disaster (or two, or three...). Thanks to the 24-hour news cycle, alerts of shootings, plane crashes, ISIS beheadings, crime, war and human rights violations are constant -- and this incessant news of violence and destruction may be messing with our heads.


The world isn't falling apart, but it can sure feel like it. The news can be violent, depressing and emotionally-charged.
"Terrorism is newsworthy because it is inherently dramatic and threatening," political scientist Shana Gadarian wrote in The Washington Post in October. "Media competition means that journalists and editors have incentives to use emotionally powerful visuals and story lines to gain and maintain ever-shrinking news audiences."This may be driven partly by ournatural negativity bias, which leads us to pay more attention to things that are dangerous or threatening.
According to some psychologists, exposure to negative and violent media may have serious and long-lasting psychological effects beyond simple feelings of pessimism or disapproval. The work of British psychologist Dr. Graham Davey, who specializes in the psychological effects of media violence, suggests that violent media exposure can exacerbate or contribute to the development of stress, anxiety, depression and even post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
"Negative news can significantly change an individual’s mood -- especially if there is a tendency in the news broadcasts to emphasize suffering and also the emotional components of the story," Davey told The Huffington Post. "In particular... negative news can affect your own personal worries. Viewing negative news means that you’re likely to see your own personal worries as more threatening and severe, and when you do start worrying about them, you’re more likely to find your worry difficult to control and more distressing than it would normally be."
According to Davey, the way that negative news affects your mood can also have a larger affect on how you interpret and interact with the world around you. If it makes you more anxious or sad for instance, then you may subconsciously become more attuned to negative or threatening events, and you may be more likely to see ambiguous or neutral events as negative ones.
On a neurological level, when we're confronted with images of violence, we know that images or videos depicting violence are categorically different from actual violence -- so we don't process the input as threatening stimuli. However, we internalize the negative stimuli, which can affect mood and cause one to feel more negatively towards the environment more broadly.
"These images change our overall mood to a more negative one -- more sad or more anxious -- and it is this change in mood that leads to psychological changes in the way we attend to things around us (e.g. we are more likely to pick out things in our environment that are potentially negative or threatening)," Davey explains. "This can have a vicious cycle effect on mood generally for some time."
Some research has even suggested that viewing traumatic images in the media can cause PTSD-like symptoms. A 2001 study found that watching the events of 9/11 on television was enough to trigger PTSD symptoms -- such as worrying about future terrorist attacks and reduced self-confidence -- in some viewers. Severity of symptoms, interestingly, was directly correlated with the amount of time the subjects spent watching television.
A recent study also found that being frequently exposed to graphic, uncensored images of violence is emotionally distressing to many journalists working in newsroom settings. The journalists who were regularly exposed to violent video footage scored higher on indexes of PTSD -- including re-experiencing, avoidance and general anxiety -- as well as increased alcohol consumption, depression, and somatization (physical signs of distress in the body).
The researchers noted that over time, exposure to graphic violence can cause a process of either sensitization, in which the individuals becomes more sensitive to emotional distress upon viewing the images, or desensitization -- a sort of numbing process in which individuals become habituated to what they see -- to occur. This numbing effect, which causes the brain to exhibit less of an emotional response to disturbing stimuli, has been observed in those who have been repeatedly exposed to violent video games.
The diagnostic criteria for PTSD -- which was appended for the DSM-5 to recognize that not only experiencing something traumatic oneself but also witness a life-threatening trauma to another could lead to symptoms of the disorder -- acknowledges this to some degree. Davey notes, however, that the DSM description does say that these events should be witnessed in person.
Of course, it's important to note that exposure to negative news is unlikely to cause depression, anxiety or PTSD in individuals who are not already prone to these conditions. But it can still lead to a pessimism and world-weariness that leads us to perceive the state of the world in an overly negative light -- leading us to ignore and overshadow the many things that are working.
What's clear from this research is that more positive news is needed to outweigh the violence and destruction we're exposed to every day. As psychologist Steven Pinker and international studies professor Andrew Mack write in Slate, the world is not going to hell in a handbasket, despite what the headlines suggest. Violence has actuallydecreased, and quality of life has improved for millions of people. Journalism should reflect these truths.
As Positive News founder Sean Dagan Wood said in a recent TED talk, "A more positive form of journalism will not only benefit our well-being; it will engage us in society, and it will help catalyze potential solutions to the problems that we face."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/19/violent-media-anxiety_n_6671732.html




Posted: 

Tuesday 6 January 2015

Tonino Lamborghini’s $6,000 Android phone



There might be only 1,947 units of the 88 Tauri smartphone ever made, but each and every one of them is ridiculous. That’s the only way to describe Tonino Lamborghini’s $6,000 Android phone. With a stitched leather finish that’s the real deal (unlike a plastic Samsung) and gold-plated stainless steel surrounding this phone, you’re bound to stand out in the crowd if you’re crazy enough to even want to pay $6,000 for pure stupidity.
Tonino Lamborghini had two of the units here at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas today, perfectly matching the city’s passion for excess. Once you get past the raging bull logo, inside there’s a 2.3 GHz quad-core Snapdragon 801 processor, 3G of RAM, and 32GB storage. It’s all part of a 5-inch display running at 1920 x 1080, with a 20-megapixel camera on the back and an 8-megapixel shooter at the front. It’s not exactly a special smartphone inside, but that’s not the point. This phone is as insane and exquisite as a supercar, but it just doesn’t go from 0-60 mph in less than 5 seconds.

http://www.theverge.com/2015/1/5/7498785/88-tauri-tonino-lamborghini-hands-on

Saturday 1 November 2014

Top 16 Worst selflies

OR, when I saw this video parody, I didn’t stop taking instagram photos

Posted by Krissy Moore
  • http://www.dailyhiit.com/hiit-blog/hiit-life/selfie-addiction-top-16-worst-types-selfies/
I have to be honest with you. RIGHT before I read this post, I had just taken a selfie of my 32 week pregnant belly(#11), standing with my kid (#7), right after working out (#1).
I have a love/hate relationship with the ‘selfie’. It reminds me of how I used to feel about texting. I thought it was the most annoying thing one could do, and I vowed I NEVER would do it. These days, TRY and get me on the phone. It’s impossible. If you can’t tell me in a text, then you are waiting a LONG time for a response. It’s just the way my life is these days. Too busy and too much going on, so I turn to texting to communicate quickly. Just as the ‘selfie’ allows me to post photos of myself to friends and family who may be remotely interested, and/or following me on my FB page.
As I mentioned, I had just came back working out, and was about to post said ‘selfie’, on my Facebook page, when I came across the article below. Listen, am I going to stop taking selflies? No. Just like when I came across this ‘someecard’ online, I didn’t stop posting about my workouts, but STILL gave me a pretty damn good laugh.It’s JUST SO FUNNY to bring to light things we do all the time and don’t think for a second, others MAY find it annoying or ridiculous. It’s the age in which we live. With all this technology, we are each given the opportunity to offer others a glimpse into our lives, no matter how boring or exciting they are. We used to be able to just take the photos. But now, with Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Myspace etc. it makes it that much easier to share these photos so instantly, that sometimes it’s just so hard to pass up! It’s harmless. But, when you come across a post like this, it’s a reminder of just how funny and/or stupid some of these so called ‘selfies’ come off.

I present the Top 16 Worst selflies out there….

Reposted from : http://wittyandpretty.com/2013/11/01/the-16-worst-types-of-selfies/ 


1. The Gym Selfie (Because the checkin isn’t enough.)
hot-fit-girls-0
img_0438
2. The Pet Selfie (If you want to post a picture of your pet, post a picture of your pet.)
rihanna
Unless this happens, then it’s ok:
animal-attack
3. The Car Selfie AKA The Seatbelt Selfie (You LITERALLY got in the car and thought, “I look so good today, I better let everyone know before I put this thing in drive and head to my shift at the Olive Garden.”)
car-selfie-0

car-selfie
If you can combine the Seatbelt Selfie with the beloved Shirtless Selfie like this unattractive fella below, you..are…GOLD.
img_0440
4. The Blurry Selfie (Why?)
edit-1
5. The Just Woke Up Selfie
sleep-selfie
Yeah right you just woke up.

6. Or even worse, the Pretending to Be Asleep Selfie. (We know you’re not asleep, asshole. You took the damn picture.)
edit-2
7. The Add a Kid Selfie (Extra points for a C-section scar.)
selfies-w-kid

8. The Hospital Selfie (A rare gem. The more tubes you have hooked up to you, the better.)
130308_justinbieber

9. The “I’m On Drugs” Selfie (This looker below also qualifies as theLook At My New Haircut Selfie.)
joel-selfie-768x1024
10. The Duck Face Selfie (Hey girls. This doesn’t make you prettier. It makes you look stupid and desperate. If that’s what you’re going for, carry on.)
duck-lips
kim-kardashian

11. The Pregnant Belly Selfie (Send this to your family and friends, not the entire Internet.)
jessica-simpson-pregnant-bikini-pictures
And yes, that’s a pregnant belly duck face selfie. It’s the unicorn of awful selfies.
12. The “I’m a Gigantic Whore” Selfie
mirror-girls-291
Nice phone case, by the way.

13. The “I Have Enough Money to Fly On an Airplane” Selfie (AND I own earbuds.)
img_0439
14. The 3D Selfie. (It takes talent…along with class.)
mirror-girls-93

15. The Say Something That Has Nothing To Do With Anything Selfie(You had a great night? Oh.)
screen-shot-2013-10-30-at-2-41-29-pm

16. The “I Live In Filth” Selfie (We all make messes, but if you’re going to post your living quarters on the World Wide Web, pick up your damn room.)
selfie
There are so many more, but I’m running out of time on my prepaid Wi-Fi at the Internet cafe and I still have to check Youporn and Friendster. In conclusion: If there’s really something on your face or body you HAVE to share (Halloween makeup/costume, fine, whatever), and there is no one around to take a photo, then society will let you slide, but other than that, please try to refrain from letting the world know you think you’re hot in the most douchetastic of ways. And remember, friends don’t let friends selfie.
I miss flip phones,
Selfie Tom
*Photos 12, 14 & 15 from TheChive.com