Friday, September 25, 2009
Childhood Insecurities Lead to Obesity
Kanpur, India, September 25, 2009: If you are tired of being obese and have tried all methods to shed weight but have failed, it's time to stop going to gym or dietician. It is time to pay visit to your psychiatrist.
According to a new scientific study conducted at University of Theory and Hypothesis (UTH), childhood insecurities often lead to obesity and this state stays with the person throughout life - at least till these insecurities are addressed and removed from the person's psyche.
"Obesity acts like a defense mechanism," said Vipin Arora, lead researcher at UTH, who conducted the study. "It could be result of some incidents of violence or sexual misdemeanor that the child faced in childhood or adolescence that makes him obese."
"Several animals, for example, cats make themselves appear more impressive and threatening by raising their fur and arching their backs, thus increasing their apparent size. Humans also tend to increase their body size, albeit gradually, as a defense mechanism against unresolved emotional threats and insecurities."
Conducting the research on the basis of questionnaires submitted to over 50 obese males and females and based on their emotional history, the researchers at UTH concluded that those who had been obese since childhood or adolescence had certain 'bad' experiences immediately before they started turning obese.
"Obesity can be checked as soon it appears in your child if you carefully examine, address and resolve the core emotional issues behind it," advised Mr. Arora
Disclaimer: As the name suggests, University of Theory and Hypothesis, is a sham, but its purpose is not to mislead. The study mentioned above is based entirely on personal observation. But I sincerely believe it to be true. I welcome scientists and social researchers to take up this study and more such studies that will appear on this blog in future. I am sure most of them would prove to be true. - Vipin Arora
Monday, September 7, 2009
Men Who Respect Their Wives Produce Girls
Kanpur, India, September 8, 2009: The sex of your unborn child is predetermined by your attitude towards your wife at the time of conception. According to a new scientific study conducted at University of Theory and Hypothesis (UTH), men who generally respect their wives and consider them superior produce girls.
"Social behavior has a direct bearing on the conjugal relationship between husband and wife," said Vipin Arora, lead researcher at UTH, who conducted the study. "Men who respect their wives are often soft in their sexual approach and that perhaps is the reason that they produce girls."
Conducting the research on the basis of questionnaires submitted to a hundred parents, the researchers at UTH concluded that social background, education level and emotional strength were the key parameters on which men considered their spouses superior or inferior to them.
Even in cases of parents of both boys and girls, their attitude towards their spouses at the time of each conception differed, resulting in mixed progeny. For parents of two or more boys or girls, the attitude was clearly defined and the important sex determining factor.
"A mother of girls can certainly feel proud of the fact that her husband respects her and feels her to be superior," Mr. Arora added.
Disclaimer: As the name suggests, University of Theory and Hypothesis, is a sham, but its purpose is not to mislead. The study mentioned above is based entirely on personal observation. But I sincerely believe it to be true. I welcome scientists and social researchers to take up this study and more such studies that will appear on this blog in future. I am sure most of them would prove to be true. - Vipin Arora
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Darwin and Evolution: The Missing Link-Critique-Part III
When Darwin published his famous work “Origin of Species”, little did he realize that his work would make people jump to too many conclusions too soon on the issue of evolution. When Darwin suggested that humans evolved from primates, his studies were dubbed as heretical. But as paleontologists began searching and studying human fossils, they shared Darwinian zeal to prove that humans evolved from a bunch of primates and grew more intelligent with each successive stage (as evident from the larger brain size).
As some contradictory finds were made like Lucy or the little China man, they were termed as aberration in the seemingly straight chain of fossil finds that showed the trend of evolving humans with larger brain sizes. As paleontology could never be an absolute science that depended solely on absolute results, the story of human evolution is considered to be complete with lots of gumption, assumption and deduction providing fillers in the gaps of evolution sequence.
One such gross assumption is that human intelligence was part of human evolution. While Darwin studied evolution, he noted how certain species evolved different traits in a different environment and how the most adaptive survived the longest. Similarly, while studying human evolution, we assume that humans evolved with a given set of intelligence parameters and these continued to grow to the present day.
We study Australopithecus, Neanderthals and the so-called modern human beings and we assume that they all were evolving intellectually at the same time. We never tried to separate intelligence from the physical evolution of the humans. Modern theories of evolution suggest that human evolution began some 1.5 million years ago and several sub-species evolved before the emergence of modern humans some 30-40K years ago. They also suggest how modern humans emerged first in Africa and spread across Europe and other continents, causing perhaps the extinction of their counterparts in Europe, the Neanderthals, along the way.
If evolution is all about the survival of the fittest, could it be possible that modern humans were more intelligent than their predecessors were? Could it also be possible that they were really the first and the only truly intelligent beings on earth? After all, what proof do we have of intelligent activities before the emergence of modern humans? The earliest expressions of human intelligence are perhaps cave paintings, pottery making, development of special tools and the modicum of social interaction that led to settlement of humans in colonies and groups. And all this evidence dates back to perhaps 40-30,000 years or even less. The use of languages is perhaps as late as 15-10,000 years old or less. The written scripts came about 5500-3000 years ago. Earliest civilizations are also about 10-5,000 years or so old. All this evidence amply suggests that human intelligence 'suddenly' appeared some 40-30,000 years ago and made humans the most advanced species on this planet within a relatively short period of time.
As some contradictory finds were made like Lucy or the little China man, they were termed as aberration in the seemingly straight chain of fossil finds that showed the trend of evolving humans with larger brain sizes. As paleontology could never be an absolute science that depended solely on absolute results, the story of human evolution is considered to be complete with lots of gumption, assumption and deduction providing fillers in the gaps of evolution sequence.
One such gross assumption is that human intelligence was part of human evolution. While Darwin studied evolution, he noted how certain species evolved different traits in a different environment and how the most adaptive survived the longest. Similarly, while studying human evolution, we assume that humans evolved with a given set of intelligence parameters and these continued to grow to the present day.
We study Australopithecus, Neanderthals and the so-called modern human beings and we assume that they all were evolving intellectually at the same time. We never tried to separate intelligence from the physical evolution of the humans. Modern theories of evolution suggest that human evolution began some 1.5 million years ago and several sub-species evolved before the emergence of modern humans some 30-40K years ago. They also suggest how modern humans emerged first in Africa and spread across Europe and other continents, causing perhaps the extinction of their counterparts in Europe, the Neanderthals, along the way.
If evolution is all about the survival of the fittest, could it be possible that modern humans were more intelligent than their predecessors were? Could it also be possible that they were really the first and the only truly intelligent beings on earth? After all, what proof do we have of intelligent activities before the emergence of modern humans? The earliest expressions of human intelligence are perhaps cave paintings, pottery making, development of special tools and the modicum of social interaction that led to settlement of humans in colonies and groups. And all this evidence dates back to perhaps 40-30,000 years or even less. The use of languages is perhaps as late as 15-10,000 years old or less. The written scripts came about 5500-3000 years ago. Earliest civilizations are also about 10-5,000 years or so old. All this evidence amply suggests that human intelligence 'suddenly' appeared some 40-30,000 years ago and made humans the most advanced species on this planet within a relatively short period of time.
The Fallacy of Freud: Critique Part II
Another individual who made a remarkable contribution to humanity was Sigmund Freud. Freud studied psychology and discovered a latent mind, which he named “sub-conscious”. Freud and Carl G. Jung were the most respected and recognized psychologists of all times who spent almost their entire academic careers explaining the human mind.
Freud and Jung were friends and co-workers until they had a falling out. They met in 1907 and worked together until about 1912 when Jung decided to start his own school of psychology in Zurich. Jung's emphasis in the field in psychology had to do with dreams. Jung developed many theories about dreams, a lot of them disagreeing with Freud.
Unfortunately, not much original research has been done into the field of psychoanalysis after Jung and Freud. Their word on the subject has been treated as the final testimony and all studies in psychology and dream-analysis today is mere homage paying to those two great thinkers. There is another reason why dream-analysis became almost a taboo subject over the next few decades since Jung and Freud. There is an interesting story behind this great debacle of dream-analysis.
The friction between Jung and Freud was much deeper than simple arguments about their differing theories on dreams. In some ways they were just too smart for each other. They would often disagree with each other’s theories, however this was not the true source of their problems. When they worked together they took turns analyzing each other's dreams. Jung was getting suspicious about some of the things that Freud was telling him about his unconscious. Jung dug deeper and deeper only to find out that Freud was sleeping with Jung's wife. But while telling each other their dreams in their unconscious, Freud found out something about Jung also. Freud found out that Jung was sleeping with one of his younger female patients. Freud used this information against Jung, saying that if Jung told anyone about Freud and Jung's wife, Freud would also make his secret public. After all this the two went their separate ways.
When it came to the study of dreams, Freud and Jung had different ideas. Freud claimed that dreams were all about sex. No matter what the dream was, he could relate it to a sexual feeling or fantasy. Jung thought that dreams were a tool to help us grow, not just to release extreme sexual desires. Jung felt that dreams were more than about sex, they were about life. Jung said that sexual drive doesn't even motivate us as much as the fear of death. The theories of Jung and Freud continue to influence the dominant thought in the fields of psychology and psychiatry even today.
Freud and Jung were friends and co-workers until they had a falling out. They met in 1907 and worked together until about 1912 when Jung decided to start his own school of psychology in Zurich. Jung's emphasis in the field in psychology had to do with dreams. Jung developed many theories about dreams, a lot of them disagreeing with Freud.
Unfortunately, not much original research has been done into the field of psychoanalysis after Jung and Freud. Their word on the subject has been treated as the final testimony and all studies in psychology and dream-analysis today is mere homage paying to those two great thinkers. There is another reason why dream-analysis became almost a taboo subject over the next few decades since Jung and Freud. There is an interesting story behind this great debacle of dream-analysis.
The friction between Jung and Freud was much deeper than simple arguments about their differing theories on dreams. In some ways they were just too smart for each other. They would often disagree with each other’s theories, however this was not the true source of their problems. When they worked together they took turns analyzing each other's dreams. Jung was getting suspicious about some of the things that Freud was telling him about his unconscious. Jung dug deeper and deeper only to find out that Freud was sleeping with Jung's wife. But while telling each other their dreams in their unconscious, Freud found out something about Jung also. Freud found out that Jung was sleeping with one of his younger female patients. Freud used this information against Jung, saying that if Jung told anyone about Freud and Jung's wife, Freud would also make his secret public. After all this the two went their separate ways.
When it came to the study of dreams, Freud and Jung had different ideas. Freud claimed that dreams were all about sex. No matter what the dream was, he could relate it to a sexual feeling or fantasy. Jung thought that dreams were a tool to help us grow, not just to release extreme sexual desires. Jung felt that dreams were more than about sex, they were about life. Jung said that sexual drive doesn't even motivate us as much as the fear of death. The theories of Jung and Freud continue to influence the dominant thought in the fields of psychology and psychiatry even today.
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
Marx, Darwin and Freud: A Critique-Part 1
We all know that Marxism failed. It's political application in Soviet Union and Eastern Europe met with catastrophic failure. Communism failed as it created classes within class, some higher than the others, and led to financial crises, political chaos and breakdown.
There is another important reason why Marxism failed. Marx propounded his theories in late 19th Century, when the entire Europe was teeming with industrial activity. Among the people of Europe, Marx identified a class: that of workers, millions of them. Similarly, he saw a class of peasants in the hinterland. He believed that both these classes could join forces, and overthrow the whole of bourgeois economic system.
Marx failed to realize that the class comprised of individuals. That each individual was a human entity, born and trained to be different than others. Even in a homogenous environment, each human was likely to show some competitive individualistic traits and attempt to break out of the monolithic institutions. Marx failed because he failed to take his lessons in human psychology.
There is another important reason why Marxism failed. Marx propounded his theories in late 19th Century, when the entire Europe was teeming with industrial activity. Among the people of Europe, Marx identified a class: that of workers, millions of them. Similarly, he saw a class of peasants in the hinterland. He believed that both these classes could join forces, and overthrow the whole of bourgeois economic system.
Marx failed to realize that the class comprised of individuals. That each individual was a human entity, born and trained to be different than others. Even in a homogenous environment, each human was likely to show some competitive individualistic traits and attempt to break out of the monolithic institutions. Marx failed because he failed to take his lessons in human psychology.
Sunday, December 10, 2006
The Three Mysteries of 21st Century
The 20th Century was driven by the thoughts and ideas of three visionaries: Charles Darwin, Sigmund Freud and Karl Marx. Each one of them helped us understand more about ourselves, though in entirely different ways. Darwin described how we evolved physically, Freud psychologically and Marx materially. The idea may sound cynical but each one of them contributed to the creation of the biggest holocaust of our times: The Second World-War.
Unfortunately, the War caused another silent casualty: that of abstract ideas, thoughts and philosophy. The War accelerated scientific discoveries to such an extent that post-War, each idea, thought or postulate was put to rigorous scientific tests to prove its veracity. Those, which passed the tests, were quickly incorporated in mainstream science. The unproven ideas or beliefs were quickly relegated to the dustbins. The ideas that remained outside the realm of science were vehemently abhorred and denied recognition.
It's time we brought those abstract ideas and theories back. Because, we are headed towards another emerging trio--three ideas that will shape the 21st Century and the future of mankind:
- How human cells regenerate/reproduce themselves?
- How human DNA replicates itself?
- How human intelligence can demystify/recreate itself?
These ideas will decide which way we are headed and how far we are likely to go till science finally catches up with mankind and takes over.
I have working knowledge about the first two ideas but can provide detailed information regarding the third. But I need to interact and get feedback from like-minded people who are interested in these and similar ideas.
So, please keep in touch and keep me informed that others are as interested in these ideas as I am. Keep posting your critical ideas so that I could also improve upon myself.
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