25 days until Christmas, my Birthday tomorrow and snow already!
I was meant to be shooting in London today but due to the weather it has cancelled, shame. Every shoot I get booked at the moment seems to get cancelled for one reason or another. But it has given me a nice excuse to stay in and watch the winter wonderland unfurl around me from warmth and comfort of my front room.
It's also given me the chance to do some Christmas shopping online, during which I fall in love with silly things like these!
And via twitter I've found out a load of random stuffs. Here are some mental experiement that have taken place in the past
by Megan Wilde
1. The Real World: Mental Hospital Edition
This is the true story of three schizophrenics, who all believed they were Jesus Christ. It wasnt long before they stopped being polite and started getting real crazy. In 1959, social psychologist Milton Rokeach wanted to test the strength of self-delusion. So, he gathered three patients, all of whom identified themselves as Jesus Christ, and made them live together in the same mental hospital in Michigan for two years.
Rokeach hoped the Christs would give up their delusional identities after confronting others who claimed to be the same person. But thats not what happened. At first, the three men quarreled constantly over who was holier. According to Rokeach, one Christ yelled, You oughta worship me! To which another responded, I will not worship you! Youre a creature! You better live your own life and wake up to the facts!
Unable to turn the other cheek, the three Christs often argued until punches were thrown. Eventually, however, they each explained away their conflicting identities. One believed, correctly, that the other two were mental patients. Another rationalized the presence of his companions by claiming that they were dead and being operated by machines.
But the behavior of the schizophrenics isnt even the most bizarre part. Far stranger was the way Rokeach tried to manipulate his subjects. As part of the experiment, the psychologist wanted to see just how entrenched each mans delusions were. For example, one of the Christs, Leon, believed he was married to a person he called Madame Yeti Woman, a 7-ft.-tall, 200-lb. descendant of an Indian and a jerboa rat. So, Rokeach wrote love letters to Leon from Madame Yeti Woman. They contained instructions, requesting that Leon sing Onward Christian Soldiers during group meetings and smoke a certain brand of cigarettes. Leon was so touched by the attention from his make-believe wife that he broke into tears upon receiving the letters. But when the Yeti Woman asked him to change his name, Leon felt as though his identity was being challenged. He was on the verge of divorcing his fantasy spouse when Rokeach finally dropped that part of the experiment.
At the end of their two-year stay, each man still believed he was the one and only son of God. In fact, Rokeach concluded that their Jesus identities may have become more embedded after being confronted with other Christs. Twenty years later, he renounced his methods, writing, I really had no right, even in the name of science, to play God and interfere around the clock with their daily lives.
2. Raging Bull
In 1963, Dr. Jose Delgado stepped into a bullring in Cordova, Spain, with a 550-lb. charging bull named Lucero. The Yale University neurophysiologist was no bullfighter, but he had a plan: to control the bulls mind.
Delgado was among a small group of researchers developing a new type of electroshock therapy. Heres how it worked: First, the researchers would implant tiny wires and electrodes into the skull. Then, theyd send electrical surges to different parts of the brain, sparking emotions and triggering movements in the body. The goal was to change the patients mental state, perking up the depressed and calming the agitated. But Delgado took this science to a new level when he developed the stimoceiver. The chip, which was about the size of a quarter, could be inserted inside a patients head and operated by remote control. Delgado envisioned the technology eventually leading to a psychocivilized society, in which everyone could temper their self-destructive tendencies at the press of a button.
For several years, Delgado experimented on monkeys and cats, making them yawn, fight, play, mate, and sleepall by remote control. He was particularly interested in managing anger. In one experiment, he implanted a stimoceiver into a hostile monkey. Delgado gave the remote control to the monkeys cage mate, who quickly figured out that pressing the button calmed down his hotheaded friend.
Delgados next challenge was to experiment with bulls in Spain. He began by implanting stimoceivers into several bulls and testing the equipment by making them lift their legs, turn their heads, walk in circles, and moo 100 times in a row. Then came the moment of truth. In 1965, Delgado entered the ring with a fighting bull named Luceroa ferocious animal famous for his temper. When Lucero barreled towards him, Delgado tapped his remote control and brought the animal to a screeching halt. He tapped his remote control again, and the bull started wandering in circles.
The demonstration was hailed as a success on the front page of The New York Times, but some neuroscientists were skeptical. They suggested that, rather than quelling Luceros aggression, Delgado had simply confused the bull by shocking his brain and prompting him to give up his attack. Meanwhile, total strangers began accusing Delgado of secretly implanting stimoceivers into their brains and controlling their thoughts. As public fear of mind-control technology increased during the 1970s, Delgado decided to return to Spain and conduct less-controversial research. But his work on electrical brain stimulation was groundbreaking. It paved the way for present-day neural implants, which help patients manage conditions ranging from Parkinsons disease and epilepsy to depression and chronic pain.
3. For the Love of Dolphins
Perhaps the most troubling experiment in recent history is the dolphin-intelligence study conducted by neuroscientist John C. Lilly in 1958. While working at the Communication Research Institute, a state-of-the-art laboratory in the Virgin Islands, Lilly wanted to find out if dolphins could talk to people. At the time, the dominant theory of human language development posited that children learn to talk through constant, close contact with their mothers. So, Lilly tried to apply the same idea to dolphins.
For 10 weeks in 1965, Lillys young, female research associate, Margaret Howe, live with a dolphin named Peter. The two shared a partially flooded, two-room house. The water was just shallow enough for Margaret to wade through the rooms and just deep enough for Peter to swim. Margaret and Peter were constantly interacting with each other, eating, sleeping, working, and playing together. Margaret slept on a bed soaked in saltwater and worked on a floating desk, so that her dolphin roommate could interrupt her whenever he wanted. She also spent hours playing ball with Peter, encouraging his more humanoid noises and trying to teach him simple words.
As time passed, it became clear that Peter didnt want a mom; he wanted a girlfriend. The dolphin became uninterested in his lessons, and he started wooing Margaret by nibbling at her feet and legs. When his advances werent reciprocated, Peter got violent. He started using his nose and flippers to hit Margarets shins, which quickly became bruised. For a while, she wore rubber boots and carried a broom to fight off Peters advances. When that didnt work, she started sending him out for conjugal visits with other dolphins. But the research team grew worried that if Peter spent too much time with his kind, hed forget what hed learned about being human.
Before long, Peter was back in the house with Margaret, still attempting to woo her. But this time, he changed his tactics. Instead of biting his lady friend, he started courting her by gently rubbing his teeth up and down her leg and showing off his genitals. Shockingly, this final strategy worked, and Margaret began rubbing the dolphins erection. Unsurprisingly, he became a lot more cooperative with his language lessons.
Discovering that a human could satisfy a dolphins sexual needs was the experiments biggest interspecies breakthrough. Dr. Lilly still believed that dolphins could learn to talk if given enough time, and he hoped to conduct a year-long study with Margaret and another dolphin. When the plans turned out to be too expensive, Lilly tried to get the dolphins to talk another wayby giving them LSD. And although Lilly reported that they all had very good trips, the scientists reputation in the academic community deteriorated. Before long, hed lost federal funding for his research.
I've also become aware of creatures I never knew existed! The Telmatobius coleus...otherwise known as the aquatic scrotum!
They're found in Lake Titicaca in the South American Andes and have evolved all these flaps of skin to aid the intake of oxygen from the water.
I've also been admiring the art of Miss Led since Del posted about her a while ago.
I've watched graffiti videos such as:
I've been listening to this song, even though it's not my normal kind of style at all!
[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/watch?v=y40TsOIpuEU[/YOUTUBE]
And fallen for this bed!
Follow me on Twitter for my everyday randomnes
Thank you to suispud1 for pointing out my wishlist link was broken, all sorted now!
I was meant to be shooting in London today but due to the weather it has cancelled, shame. Every shoot I get booked at the moment seems to get cancelled for one reason or another. But it has given me a nice excuse to stay in and watch the winter wonderland unfurl around me from warmth and comfort of my front room.
It's also given me the chance to do some Christmas shopping online, during which I fall in love with silly things like these!
And via twitter I've found out a load of random stuffs. Here are some mental experiement that have taken place in the past
by Megan Wilde
1. The Real World: Mental Hospital Edition
This is the true story of three schizophrenics, who all believed they were Jesus Christ. It wasnt long before they stopped being polite and started getting real crazy. In 1959, social psychologist Milton Rokeach wanted to test the strength of self-delusion. So, he gathered three patients, all of whom identified themselves as Jesus Christ, and made them live together in the same mental hospital in Michigan for two years.
Rokeach hoped the Christs would give up their delusional identities after confronting others who claimed to be the same person. But thats not what happened. At first, the three men quarreled constantly over who was holier. According to Rokeach, one Christ yelled, You oughta worship me! To which another responded, I will not worship you! Youre a creature! You better live your own life and wake up to the facts!
Unable to turn the other cheek, the three Christs often argued until punches were thrown. Eventually, however, they each explained away their conflicting identities. One believed, correctly, that the other two were mental patients. Another rationalized the presence of his companions by claiming that they were dead and being operated by machines.
But the behavior of the schizophrenics isnt even the most bizarre part. Far stranger was the way Rokeach tried to manipulate his subjects. As part of the experiment, the psychologist wanted to see just how entrenched each mans delusions were. For example, one of the Christs, Leon, believed he was married to a person he called Madame Yeti Woman, a 7-ft.-tall, 200-lb. descendant of an Indian and a jerboa rat. So, Rokeach wrote love letters to Leon from Madame Yeti Woman. They contained instructions, requesting that Leon sing Onward Christian Soldiers during group meetings and smoke a certain brand of cigarettes. Leon was so touched by the attention from his make-believe wife that he broke into tears upon receiving the letters. But when the Yeti Woman asked him to change his name, Leon felt as though his identity was being challenged. He was on the verge of divorcing his fantasy spouse when Rokeach finally dropped that part of the experiment.
At the end of their two-year stay, each man still believed he was the one and only son of God. In fact, Rokeach concluded that their Jesus identities may have become more embedded after being confronted with other Christs. Twenty years later, he renounced his methods, writing, I really had no right, even in the name of science, to play God and interfere around the clock with their daily lives.
2. Raging Bull
In 1963, Dr. Jose Delgado stepped into a bullring in Cordova, Spain, with a 550-lb. charging bull named Lucero. The Yale University neurophysiologist was no bullfighter, but he had a plan: to control the bulls mind.
Delgado was among a small group of researchers developing a new type of electroshock therapy. Heres how it worked: First, the researchers would implant tiny wires and electrodes into the skull. Then, theyd send electrical surges to different parts of the brain, sparking emotions and triggering movements in the body. The goal was to change the patients mental state, perking up the depressed and calming the agitated. But Delgado took this science to a new level when he developed the stimoceiver. The chip, which was about the size of a quarter, could be inserted inside a patients head and operated by remote control. Delgado envisioned the technology eventually leading to a psychocivilized society, in which everyone could temper their self-destructive tendencies at the press of a button.
For several years, Delgado experimented on monkeys and cats, making them yawn, fight, play, mate, and sleepall by remote control. He was particularly interested in managing anger. In one experiment, he implanted a stimoceiver into a hostile monkey. Delgado gave the remote control to the monkeys cage mate, who quickly figured out that pressing the button calmed down his hotheaded friend.
Delgados next challenge was to experiment with bulls in Spain. He began by implanting stimoceivers into several bulls and testing the equipment by making them lift their legs, turn their heads, walk in circles, and moo 100 times in a row. Then came the moment of truth. In 1965, Delgado entered the ring with a fighting bull named Luceroa ferocious animal famous for his temper. When Lucero barreled towards him, Delgado tapped his remote control and brought the animal to a screeching halt. He tapped his remote control again, and the bull started wandering in circles.
The demonstration was hailed as a success on the front page of The New York Times, but some neuroscientists were skeptical. They suggested that, rather than quelling Luceros aggression, Delgado had simply confused the bull by shocking his brain and prompting him to give up his attack. Meanwhile, total strangers began accusing Delgado of secretly implanting stimoceivers into their brains and controlling their thoughts. As public fear of mind-control technology increased during the 1970s, Delgado decided to return to Spain and conduct less-controversial research. But his work on electrical brain stimulation was groundbreaking. It paved the way for present-day neural implants, which help patients manage conditions ranging from Parkinsons disease and epilepsy to depression and chronic pain.
3. For the Love of Dolphins
Perhaps the most troubling experiment in recent history is the dolphin-intelligence study conducted by neuroscientist John C. Lilly in 1958. While working at the Communication Research Institute, a state-of-the-art laboratory in the Virgin Islands, Lilly wanted to find out if dolphins could talk to people. At the time, the dominant theory of human language development posited that children learn to talk through constant, close contact with their mothers. So, Lilly tried to apply the same idea to dolphins.
For 10 weeks in 1965, Lillys young, female research associate, Margaret Howe, live with a dolphin named Peter. The two shared a partially flooded, two-room house. The water was just shallow enough for Margaret to wade through the rooms and just deep enough for Peter to swim. Margaret and Peter were constantly interacting with each other, eating, sleeping, working, and playing together. Margaret slept on a bed soaked in saltwater and worked on a floating desk, so that her dolphin roommate could interrupt her whenever he wanted. She also spent hours playing ball with Peter, encouraging his more humanoid noises and trying to teach him simple words.
As time passed, it became clear that Peter didnt want a mom; he wanted a girlfriend. The dolphin became uninterested in his lessons, and he started wooing Margaret by nibbling at her feet and legs. When his advances werent reciprocated, Peter got violent. He started using his nose and flippers to hit Margarets shins, which quickly became bruised. For a while, she wore rubber boots and carried a broom to fight off Peters advances. When that didnt work, she started sending him out for conjugal visits with other dolphins. But the research team grew worried that if Peter spent too much time with his kind, hed forget what hed learned about being human.
Before long, Peter was back in the house with Margaret, still attempting to woo her. But this time, he changed his tactics. Instead of biting his lady friend, he started courting her by gently rubbing his teeth up and down her leg and showing off his genitals. Shockingly, this final strategy worked, and Margaret began rubbing the dolphins erection. Unsurprisingly, he became a lot more cooperative with his language lessons.
Discovering that a human could satisfy a dolphins sexual needs was the experiments biggest interspecies breakthrough. Dr. Lilly still believed that dolphins could learn to talk if given enough time, and he hoped to conduct a year-long study with Margaret and another dolphin. When the plans turned out to be too expensive, Lilly tried to get the dolphins to talk another wayby giving them LSD. And although Lilly reported that they all had very good trips, the scientists reputation in the academic community deteriorated. Before long, hed lost federal funding for his research.
I've also become aware of creatures I never knew existed! The Telmatobius coleus...otherwise known as the aquatic scrotum!
They're found in Lake Titicaca in the South American Andes and have evolved all these flaps of skin to aid the intake of oxygen from the water.
I've also been admiring the art of Miss Led since Del posted about her a while ago.
I've watched graffiti videos such as:
I've been listening to this song, even though it's not my normal kind of style at all!
[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/watch?v=y40TsOIpuEU[/YOUTUBE]
And fallen for this bed!
Follow me on Twitter for my everyday randomnes
Thank you to suispud1 for pointing out my wishlist link was broken, all sorted now!
VIEW 25 of 64 COMMENTS
sharyn:
Fab to meet you finally! :-) xxx
orchid:
i need that bed! 