news reviews « Littlecreatureofgd's Weblog

news reviews

See Me

Student: Jesica Suparo -English Language IV

Review of: See Me,
Yours for the Peeping.
Author: PENELOPE GREEN
Published: November 4, 2007
Source: NEY WORK TIMES
Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/04/weekinreview/04green.html?_r=1&ref=technology&oref=slogin

JEREMY FLETCHER and Alejandra Lillo, designers of an architecture and design firm based in Berlin, Beijing and Los Angeles, were working out a dialogue between voyeurism, solitude and exhibitionism, when they designed the shiny white interiors of the W Downtown, a glass-walled condominium tower to be built in Manhattan’s financial district. This architectural trend is another brick on the wall that keep on building the solitude among crowded places; but, ironically, these types of buildings do not only allow the residents to see out but also to be seen by passers-by. The designers say that they are creating stages for people which actually become displays for the others. We are having the need to be seen and too see every aspect of people’s lives; we can check YouTube where we will find thousands of home-made videos where people of all ages and social status videotape themselves just talking or showing themselves to the world. Websites such as Facebook where friends virtually meet; and the now so-called Twitters – a variation of a blog that works through mobile phones, so the posts get to every phone instantly- are proofs that the need for connection is so strong that we use any device to achieve it. There is nothing wrong with self-expression and the exhibition of our inner thoughts. But we should be able to notice when we are trespassing the limits of exhibitionism at one point, and, on the extreme point of the spectrum, the deliberate isolation. Why do we need to be seen all the time? And why the constant need of approval that carries this self-exposure? For many psychologists and professionals this has to do with a global sense of anxiety. We look carefully around us; everything is tainted with some kind of anxiety.

Sherry Turkle, a psychologist of the M.I.T. Program in Science, Technology and Society, explains this phenomenon of the glass towers and expands it: “There is real confusion about intimacy and solitude,” says Professor Turkle, who for more than two decades has been studying computers and the people who love them. “Are we alone in these buildings, facing the anonymity of the city, or are we connected to the city? What do we show and what do we hide?”

Accurately, he states:

“…That (intimacy and solitude) mirrors what happens when we’re on the computer, on our networks in Facebook. We are no longer able to distinguish when we are together and nurtured and when we are alone and isolated. I can be in intimate contact with 300 people on e-mail, but when I look up from my computer I feel bereft. I haven’t heard a voice, touched a hand, for hours or days. I think people are no longer certain where the self resides.”

Monday, November 5, 2007

In the Dreamscape of Nightmares, Clues to Why We Dream at All

Student: Jesica Suparo -English Language IV

Review of: In the Dreamscape of Nightmares, Clues to Why We Dream at All.

Source: New York Times.

Author: By NATALIE ANGIER
Published: October 23, 2007.

Link:http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/23/science/23angi.html?em&ex=1193976000&en=13afc1dbae85aae1&ei=5087%0A

The original definition of Nightmare was codified by Dr Johnson in his A Dictionary of the English Language (1755) and was thus understood to include a “morbid oppression in the night, resembling the pressure of weight upon the breast.” This is a beautiful definition to illustrate the mental daily activities which we can not express; but which in sleep time becomes real in perception. Day by day and through our experiences most of our thoughts stay hidden and unknown to us. This intersects with our dreams, taking the lead of our consciousness. We dream whether we remember it or not. We have what we considered good dreams and bad dreams, and also we have nightmares; but the truth behind sleep research is that most of our dreams are bad. Dreams show the worst of our fears; nightmares which make our repressed fears and phobias real. Not all of us remember every dream that we have but we can always recall a nightmare.

According to Dr. Nielsen who is a sleep researcher there are two kinds of nightmares, the ones which leads us to an extreme unpleasant situation but from which we can wake up, and the ones from which we can not wake up when we want. The second type sounds traumatic, and actually it works in that way, while we fight and suffer the nightmare itself takes the leadership of our mind, and when we think it is over, it begins again. People who have suffered from physical abuse and mistreating tend to have persistent nightmares and demand professional treatment. But these kinds of dreams are not restricted only to them. Nightmares are universal and they change according to age, gender – women have more nightmares owed to their higher rates of anxiety and mood disorders- even according to social and cultural backgrounds. Behaviors which are not allowed in certain cultures become terrible nightmares for the members of that particular community. The concept of nightmare extends to social conventions too -for a priest to dream about sex is considered a nightmare that threatens his particular viewpoint of life and clerical principles-. There are nightmares of every shape and color; children may have nightmares related to their daily life, whether if they have been reprimanded by their parents, as a result of a fight with a classmate, or after watching a movie which scared them. In adolescents, nightmares have the shape of insecurity of growing up, and sometimes have the remains of a late childhood. As we become young adults, nightmares and fears may become recurrent; like dreaming of falling or running without going anywhere, or being chased. The answer to the question of why we construct nightmares at all is simple and yet disturbing: “The brain learns quickly what to be afraid of” Dr. Nielsen said. “But if there isn’t a check on the process, we’d fear things in adulthood we feared in childhood.”

Get over your fears by facing them

Review of: Get over your fears by facing them
Ducking what scares you only aggravates your anxiety

Student: Jesica Suparo, English Language IV

Author: By Maureen Farrell

Published: Oct. 26, 2007

Source: Forbes.

Link: http://www.forbes.com/home/index.html?partner=msnbc

We all suffer from some kind of fear: fear of being on stage, fear of certain animals or fear of overcrowded places. But sometimes, these mere fears which seem natural become a paralyzing state of phobia. Feeling paralyzed from a simple thought is not normal at all; and our body responds to these fears in several ways: sweat, palpitations, dizziness and even heart attacks. In the last years, these consequences exist under a new label: Anxiety Disorders. AD is provoked by specific phobias, obsessive-compulsive disorder and post-traumatic stress disorders. With this explanation, we can think that only a small amount of the world’s population may suffer from this; but in fact, everyone experiences some kind of anxiety in some level.
The article explains how the most common fears -fear of flying, giving a speech or even going to a party- are treated through Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), a form of psychotherapy that involves changing behaviors and thoughts to overcome depression, self-loathing and fear. It is valuable to highlight to characteristics of CBT: first; this therapy is not based on the notion that fear bubbles up from repressed childhood memories; CBT focuses on treating fears in the here and now by rewiring our perceptions of them. Second, CBT do not administrate pills to its patients. The trouble with taking pills is that, while they may mitigate anxiety for a short time, they don’t really address the fear long term; worst case, they lead to dependency. The other problem, says Greenberger: “Anti-anxiety medicines can limit the effectiveness of exposure-therapy (such as CBT) by altering the “phobic conditions.”
We should think about the origin of our anxieties: are they provoked by real, tangible episodes and inconveniences or are they the dramatic result of our thoughts? We should be able to separate the real from the unreal. If we are afraid of something real, for example, the fear of being trapped in an elevator, you should start by staying in a closed room for a while, and then, little by little, you may come to the point of taking as many elevators as possible; always bearing in mind why you do it and that the purpose of it is to overcome a fear by facing it. On the other hand, if the fear is unreal and has no real motive, we should be more careful; because the only thought of a situation which is not likely to happen but symbolizes a potential risk for us, produces anxiety. Of this, Dr. Greenberger says: “Catastrophic thoughts lead to fear, which leads to avoidance, which leads to more catastrophic thoughts,”…”It’s a vicious cycle that exacerbates the fear over time.” The most effective way to get over your fears is by facing them.

Sunday, December 9, 2007

Absinthe Returns in a Glass Half Full of Mystique and Misery

Review of: Absinthe Returns in a Glass Half Full of Mystique and Misery

Student: Jesica Suparo, English Language IV

Author: EDWARD ROTHSTEIN

Published: November 12, 2007, New York Times.

Artists have a different perception of the world and the aspects of it. It is widely known that, through history, some well-known artists have used stimulants such as drugs and alcohol which “helped” them in producing stunning pieces of work. But there is one that had an outstanding role from the rest: Absinthe. A brief description of it would be that it is a highly alcoholic berverage (usually 68 to 80 percent) anise-flavored spirit derived from herbs including the flowers and leaves of the medicinal plant Artemisia absinthium, also called Grand Wormwood or Absinth Wormwood; together with anise, fennel, coriander, mint and other herbs. Absinthe originated in Switzerland as an elixir/tincture. In the 17th century it was used to treat venereal disease, intestinal worms and drunkenness. By the 19th century absinthe was used by French soldiers in Africa as an antiseptic, to ward off insects and to treat dysentery. Despite this, it was better known for its popularity in late 19th and early 20th century France, particularly among Parisian artists and writers. At the end of the 19th century absinthe was portrayed as a dangerously addictive, psychoactive drug. After connecting violent crimes supposedly committed under its influence, absinthe was banned in 1906 in Switzerland, and by 1915, it was prohibited in a number of European countries and the United States. The revival of absinthe distelleries took place in 2000, along with regulations and controlls over it.
But the controversy began much earlier along with its preparation rituals and myths that grew around it; when artists which consumed it began to feel the effects of this drink: such was the powerful effects that led Hemingway’s character Robert Jordan, in “For Whom the Bell Tolls,” to describe it as “(…) an opaque, bitter, tongue-numbing, brain-warming, stomach-warming, idea-changing liquid alchemy(…)”. This is, for sure, not just another drink. It has a special place in the history of modern culture. Poems were written about it under the names of: the green fairy, the green goddess, the green muse, the glaucous witch and the queen of poisons. Skip to next paragraphPicasso, Van Gogh, Manet, and Degas painted about it. It seems that absinthe raises an awakening of the consciousness along with the lulling, inevitable dumbness of drunkenness. As Oscar Wilde said: “After the first glass, you see things as you wish they were. After the second, you see them as they are not. Finally you see things as they really are, and that is the most horrible thing in the world.”

Sources:
www.nytimes.com/2007/11/12/arts/12conn.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2&ref=arts
http://www.wikipedia.com/