Physics Week 3

All the evidence I've found for synchronicity tend to come from my own life, and the experiences I've heard of others. I'm one of those people that always knew who was calling, when I was a kid before we had caller ID. There have been too many coincidences in my life for me to believe entirely in linear time, and I think that the ways that we effect each other extend far beyond the realm of the physical. One of my teachers told me to look at the life we have while we're awake as if we're in a dream - for example, if you in a dream talking to someone wearing a bright blue shirt, and then later in the dream you saw a plant that was the exact same color blue, you would likely consider those to be significant details upon waking. But when those kinds of things happen in this reality, we rarely notice. I try to pay attention to my waking life as if I'm in a dream, and notice the ways that everything is linked. I think its possible that this reality is also a dream we're all dreaming.

Biology Week 3

1. I think the fact that our DNA is so closely aligned with chimps has two impacts. One, it shows how similar we are to chimps, and to other animals that we share much of our DNA with. To me it demonstrates that we need to rethink our superiority, and align ourselves more closely with animals. On the other hand, its interesting that such a small amount of DNA would lead to differences that are in some ways so vast. Its wild to me that such tiny tweaks of genes give rise to traits that have allowed a single species to entirely overpopulate and destroy the planet.

2. The article I read (which may not have been the one that was linked to as my link was broken, but was on the same topic) was entirely positive about the new breakthrough. It talked about how further down the line, this work could lead to new drugs and more disease-resistant bodies.

 In terms of making a living organism out of entirely altered DNA, I have mixed feelings. Like all scientific and technological advancements and discoveries, I know this knowledge could get applied in positive ways in the future, such as altering our DNA so we don't develop disastrous diseases. But I know that humans always find a way to use new technology for warfare and cruelty, and I worry about this being used to create superbugs, supertoxins, and supersoldiers.

Chemistry Week 2

I've been thinking about our conversation on antidepressants found in fish brains. I think its alarming that our antidepressant use has increased so much, but I don't think the antidepressants are the issue. I think that our world is becoming less and less bearable for many people. People are isolated by economics, and a social and medical structure lacking in community and compassion. I think we definitely need to create an updated filtration system for our water to directly address the issue of the pollution, and we need to work collectively to make our communities more supportive for those who are most at risk of isolation and sickness.

I'm sure I would be appalled to see my own personal trash heap. Personally, I recycle and compost, but I wonder how much of that recycling and compost is actually missing the landfill. I don't necessarily trust our goverments to but a lot of effort into properly recycling. And I don't personally believe that individual efforts will have a major effect on pollution, unless those efforts are to completely demolish and recreate our governmental and economic systems so they are not so slanted towards those who are becoming rich off destroying the planet.

Physics Week 2

I’m really fascinated by the uncertainty principle. I love the concept that we affect something just by observing it. It makes sense to me, but I can see how it may be very frustrating to many western scientists. Embracing the idea that we could all be impacting each other just by looking, thinking, or feeling is very hard to “quantify” using western scientific methods, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t real. I think in terms of causality, we may need to stretch our understanding beyond what we can “test” for in order to understand what can be a cause and an effect.

Yes, the universe is so weird. Quantum entanglement? What’s up with that? Why did the Big Bang happen? What is the universe expanding into? Why can we explain so much with numbers (what made it so perfect) and why are there things that happen that make the numbers fall apart?

Biology Week 2

The subject of evo-devo is one of those topics where all I can think about is that however much we know, there is so much more we don't. Even when we have new fossil findings, it will always be tip of the iceberg and we'll always be stumbling in the dark to a certain degree. The vast majority of fossils from that time period are unfindable, and even when they are we are just making our best guesses about what everything means. I think its funny that we struggle with the idea of primitive humanoids doing things like traveling by water, and make up pretty wild hypothesis like people surviving being moved from one land mass to another via typhoon. Our egos crop up in funny ways. 

This has been a strange week for sleep on my end. I'm usually the kind of person who falls and stays asleep very easily, and I generally get 7-9 hours a night. This week in particular was full of vivid dreams, especially the night of the full moon. I woke up feeling like I hadn't slept much, because I was so active in the dream realm. I feel pretty connected to the moon phases, as I track them for the sake of spirituality, and I'm not surprised that western scientists have found that we sleep the most fitfully during the full moon. 

Chemistry Week 1

Hey everyone, Bridget here. I had such a bad time with chemistry in high school, I nearly failed it. For a total academic nerd like me, it was humbling and intensely stressful. I couldn't grasp the math - which was basically the entire presentation of the subject. I even had a stress dream about failing chemistry last weekend! I'm relieved to hear that I may not need to memorize complex equations every week to get by, which will probably help me actually engage with the subject.

As for the quiz, I incorrectly guessed that rusting of iron is a physical change, and that table salt is a pure substance. Now I know ;)

I checked out the first two links for the periodic tables, as the other ones weren't working for me for some reason. My strongest impression was remembering how many blank spaces/place holders used to be in the radioactive/manmade portion of the table when I was in high school, and how they're all filled up now.

Physics Week 1

Hi everyone, Bridget here. I'm excited to be in a physics class that will be mostly working with words and concepts rather than math :) I took a 2 physics classes in high school, but its been a long while.

I thought the description of M-time vs P-time was fascinating. As someone whose family lives in the Middle East, it really is remarkable how differently the society is set up, and I think a lot of it has to do with differing perspectives on time. Whenever I visit Iran, its the longest month of my life. Much of it has to do with the difference in pacing - the culture is collectivist rather than capitalist, and leisure/family time/time spent in community are what is centered as the most important things in life, rather than work/material gain/individual achievement. People have very deep connections with multiple generations of their families, and working for money takes up much less of the day. Waking up and going to work for a few hours, coming home for a long lunch and multihour nap, and maybe (or maybe not) going back to work for a couple more hours is common. It was interesting how uncomfortable I sometimes became with doing "nothing" all day. I'm used to a life that is scheduled and jam-packed, and I'm used to feeling a bit uncomfortable if I'm not actively working on "achieving" multiple goals at once. Time is relative, perhaps?

Biology Week 1 2019 Intro

Hey there friends, I'm Bridget. This is my third trimester at ACCHS, and I'm excited about being in this class as I've heard good things. As an herbalist and a healer, I'm always down to learn more about how everything works. 

The article on tetrachromia was really interesting, especially the concept that people who have this extraordinary condition don't know they have it. I wonder what the world looks like when you can see 99 million more colors than everyone else, and wonder if people with this condition are more likely to go into the arts. This also got me thinking about our other senses - are there people who have super-hearing, or super-smelling, or the ability to perceive a much lighter than average touch? Findings like these really touch on the diversity of humans, and how "normal" is so relative, like how there can be people walking around thinking they fall into "normal" categorization but really see 99 million more colors than everyone else.