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Edwynn -> RE: Mental Illness (7/27/2012 6:57:09 PM)
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ORIGINAL: kalikshama
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I am somewhat bothered by the increasingly incessant and inescapable noise in the world. One cannot visit a store of any sort, a mall, a public place, the public transportation, or even a parking lot, not even the uni library!, without hearing some sort of 'loud conversation with a remote party,' noise of infinite variety, or 'music,' in the process. I was born with sensitive ears, pitch memory, a sharp ear for music, etc., but now that society has chosen to beleaguer us with incessant noise, -I- am the one who needs to take a pill?, if this "new 'normal'" bothers me to the point of distraction concerning what is expected of me elsewhere? At school, at work? When I get home and deal with others there?
I'm sensitive to environmental noises and was just reading about this as a factor in autism in "The Brain that Changes Itself," which I can't copy/paste, but this will give you a sense:
http://www.healingtalkradio.com/2012/04/04/new-insights-into-autism/
Autism rates have been rising dramatically for several decades. A recent report published by the CDC shows a 78 % increase over just 8 years, with autism now affecting 1 in every 88 children. (Prevalence in Autism Studies) Utah has the highest autism rate in the nation: In Utah the rate is estimated at 1 in 47 children. (Utah at High End for Autism) Current rates indicate a 1000% increase (ten-fold increase) in the last forty years. (Troubling CDC Report on Autism) Boys are 5 times more likely to develop autism than girls.
A variety of factors have been suggested as the cause of the increase, most of them based on correlational studies. Correlational studies suggest a relationship, but do not prove a cause of the disease. To prove causality, the causative agent must be shown to create the disease. Although it would be unethical to “prove” causality in humans, it can be done in animals. Recently a prominent neuroplasticity researcher, Dr. Michael Merzenich, has done just that.
After reviewing research showing that closer proximity to loud, erratic noise centers (airports, busy freeways) corresponded with decreases in the IQ of children, Dr. Merzenich began to suspect that early brain development could be overloaded and derailed by bombardment with “white noise” (noises that is disorganized and covers many frequencies). In laboratory experiments, Merzenich exposed baby rats to pulses of white noise. He found that the brain development of the rats was “devastated” by the exposure. The rats developed symptoms that paralleled human autistic spectrum disorders—including a high rate of seizure activity, which could be triggered just by exposure to normal human speech. (Progressive Degradation and Subsequent Refinement of Acoustic Representations in the Adult Auditory Cortex)
All fine and well, but it only furthers the point; Why is it that when the world decides to make itself ever more obnoxious are those indisposed to keep up with such obnoxiousness then expected to "take a pill" in consequence?
All fine and well, but I can avoid this crap sometimes, except that it is part of the uni classroom experience now. And we wonder why high-tech is being off-shored in droves, so to speak. They still teach subject matter as subject matter, whatever it is, in India.
In the US unis, all they care about is making everybody "team players," as in imagined emulation of the desolate PhDs in China and India. Good gosh, they keep making kids have to figure out what has just been presented in class, to each other, not heard of anytime before. It's bonkers, now. There is some quite conspicuous "Work Together" program at the unis, now. As my backdoor neighbor Nurse Instructor at Emory University says (as this is apparently going on everywhere), "it's the blind leading the blind." But that's what they are instructed to do, and are expected to do.
The Chinese and Indian kids in my classes could not help but think that we have gone bonkers over here.
My International Finance instructor wanted to be in a Korean dance troupe (where she is from), and it shows in class, but she is terrible at teaching anything economics. My American-born (Ohio) German instructor is intent on making it known to her class that German culture can be every bit as demeaning to humanity as Hollywood can be, and she wants to share her delight in that perception to the whole class, for an entire semester. Oh, what joy!
I just wanted to learn economics and German, what am I on about, here? Their method of teaching international exchange rates and teaching me nothing of what I wanted to know about German literature meant nothing to them, but they made themselves happy in the venture, which is all that matters, apparently. These two being the only instructors I ever had that actually took this "work together" crap seriously, and actually marked points off when not doing what they forced you to, and that being a patent priority of their class. They had nothing else going on for them. They both got actively livid, if the class did not do the "work together" thing to their satisfaction. A totally bizarre experience, both classes. Other Professors were not nearly so adamant or, so wacko. They were too busy in their own world to understand the blatant manipulation or ultimate purpose. They were both just born "good students," those being the type who just do, never question, and hate those who question.
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Having our own mind about anything is costing the US, so they tell us. But that stuff is actually ongoing in China, now. A first for them. Just hold on, folks, we ain't sunk just yet.
But I am at a uni (as in fact, as it turns out, ALL unis) where the mantra is that of proper deployment of third-world workers (pay attention, folks! That's us!, They want everybody to be third-world, grateful, humble, team-player PhDs, and that is what ALL this is about!). That is the effort and the so-called mindset here. Here in the US, while China and India move forward, even as Western dimwit psychology tries to keep not up, but behind.
Darwinism at its best, on display.
US education is all about dumbing down, and the vending machines for sodas and candy bars never could have existed in times past, but we see the scores dive while other country's scores hold steady, and never notice the vending machines discrepancy there. Never.
Vending machines are here to stay, in every school, but at least we can throw more money at "education" to make up for it, no?
Who needs a pill, here?
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