Tag: People

Mind over matter

Takotsubo cardiomyopathy – commonly known as ‘broken heart syndrome’ is a weakening of the heart muscle due to severe emotional stress. Our mind controls everything and our brain gives off magnitudes of electromagnetic waves triggered by the constant firing of neurons. All these signals are received and interpreted by the brain and the appropriate response occurs, from blinking our eyes to breathing to playing sports. I’m sure everyone knows this. What intrigues me is not the physical aspect of our body but the mental aspect. The physical can be seen, has been proven and there are certain natural laws and rules to it. The mental or emotional, however, does not follow any kind of rules.

True, there are studies and statistics but these only apply to that set of subjects and should not be used to generalize and make the same assumptions on others. Two patients have the same sickness, one has a reason to live, and the other does not. Both are given the same treatment, but more than likely, the one who doesn’t want to live will die. We’ve seen and heard about these instances from news to TV shows to our friends. Ultimately, it comes down to a person’s will to live, to survive, to persevere. Hence, ‘Mind over matter’.

Science is based on theories proven by evidence over and over. Whether we choose to believe it or not, everything is made out of atoms, The Moon rotates around the Earth, the Earth rotates around the Sun, and everything that we feel or think are chemical reactions within our cells tissues, and veins. Many people would beg to differ. Many people want to believe that there is something more, something more than just plain old scientific facts. Einstein said it best: “Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind.”

I read this book a few years ago titled The God Gene: How Faith is Hardwired into our Genes by Dean H. Hamer. It was very interesting because Hamer hypothesized that religion and faith have a genetic component to it which we human beings inherit from our predecessors. Faith is a tricky concept that has different meanings to different people. Some put their faith in the government (insert sarcasm here), some in science, some in themselves, but others put their faith in ‘God’. I put that in quotation marks because I don’t believe there’s some sort of supreme being out there guiding us (no offense), but what I do believe is that this ‘God’ is more of an abstract concept that’s universal even though it’s interpreted differently in every religion (Jesus, Buddha, Krishna, etc). It represents an idea; it gives people hope; it lends us an invisible shoulder to lean on if you may, and believe me, many of us need that comfort.

So, after all that, what’s the point? I mean, there’s probably an answer out there but it will most likely be something that’s beyond our capacity of understanding. In the end, the only thing we do know is to believe in whatever we choose to believe and stick with it. Despite the myriad amount of clichés, there are of what I’m about to say, I’m still gonna say it: Just be yourself and everything will fall into place.

Good day.

I like Jello damnit!

McCain and his wittiness are funny I have to admit, I wonder how he comes up with them on the spot. I laughed out loud when he said: “nailing down Senator Obama’s various tax proposals is like nailing Jello to the wall.” Then Obama attacked back at McCain on tax policy saying: “the ‘Straight Talk Express’ lost a wheel on that one” (Referring to the Social Security problem). And, after all the back and forth, my favorite moment is when McCain shot back, pointing at Obama, and said “You know who voted for it? You might never know. That one” (Referring to the Energy Bill vote). Btw, I ain’t “your friend” McCain!

Full Transcript here

(FYI, I supported Obama from the start of the campaign) I agree with him that health care is a “right” for everyone. I agree with him that alternative energy is essential in reducing our energy consumption. I agree with him that we need to seek diplomatic solutions first working with our allies in dealing with foreign threats like Iran and North Korea. Most importantly, I agree with him in providing 95% of the middle-class tax cuts because they suffer the most and they are crucial to our economy.

The only thing I agree with McCain is his policy of providing “moral support” for Georgia and other post-Soviet Union countries.

Update: That One 08

Any-who, enough politics, I don’t really care that much. I was in downtown San Jose today again (and will be for days to come due to the necessary commute to Santa Ana), and when I was walking, I heard many conversations in Cantonese, which was very interesting because I only heard it once at a store down my street. This is why I LOVE languages, I can understand so many people without them knowing. There’s an inner urge to connect with people who speak the language we speak in a foreign country. I see this a lot, and it happens everywhere, even right here at the Casa, both of my French housemates hang out with French friends (haha…sounded like French Fries) studying or working here (If you’re reading this Cecile or Anne-Laure, just want you to know I love it). This occurs mostly by meeting friends through friends but it is true. For me, on the other hand, I only really “connected” with a few of my Cantonese friends. Most of the time when I meet someone and learn that they speak Cantonese or Mandarin I still use English, unless they ask me specifically. Just like when I’m asked where I’m from, I just say California and leave it as that. And when they ask me specifically my origin, then I would say Hong Kong. I do that to avoid all the stereotypical questions that (some) people ask, not that I care or am offended by it, it just annoys me. Well, that’s that.

On another note, commuting to Santa Ana SUCKS, it takes 2 hours to get there without traffic and 3 hours with. The seats on the buses are damn tiny and it gets hot as hell when it’s raining and all the windows are closed. The only good thing about commuting is the walk down Avenida Central (sometimes Avenida 1 depending on my mood at the time), and occasionally a pretty Tica sits next to me on the bus to and from Santa Ana (Yes I’m shallow, deal with it). After next week though I won’t need to go to Santa Ana since the new location of my school will be opened in Barrio California.

Oh, and uh, listen to Brett Dennen, he’s great.

Cheers!