Von's Bored Brain

Bonobos

2006-10-01T20:43:05Z

The prostitutes of the primate world. They exchange sex for resources.

That's all I have to say for now.

Patriarchal Exploitation

2006-09-21T23:01:22Z

[Highly feminist issues discussed, viewer discretion is advised].

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My friends on my msnpaces have stated that they're tired of reading about my social ideals without providing suggestions to the community. Yes, I'm all about social reform, and I'm not necessarily educated enough to provide ideas for changing our society. I leave that to my more competent readers. I'm sorry I don't talk more about K-Fed and Britney, but I really have no interest in them. So, LJ will now be my outlet for more "controversial" opinions and self reflections.
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I blame religion. Rather, I blame the most common religion: Christianity.

What do I blame it for? I blame it for the oppression of women.

Does gender equality exist yet? No. What do I mean by gender equality?

Here's an example: equal wages for females and males. No, not within the same fields. I mean equal prioritizing of female and male qualities. Males and females are inherently different.

What are general female qualities? Nurturing. Motherly care. Social togetherness.

What are general male qualities? Aggression. Competition.

What gets the most funding? The last two qualities. Looking at the stock trading floor, you'll notice more men than women. Who makes the most money? Competitive and aggressive people (men and women).

Our capitalistic priorities lie in this competitiveness.

Why don't careers like daycare workers, nursing home attendants, teachers and nurses get as much financing? Because those nurturing qualities are undervalued. Heck, even the social sciences are undervalued (i.e. receive less funding) compared to medical health and physical sciences research. Supposedly, being nurturing should be reward enough for those who want to go into those areas. But if it's in our nature, then should competitiveness and aggression be enough reward for males?

Yes, it's probably because no one wants to spend money on the weak. But who will be there to raise your children? The teachers. Who will look after you when you're sick? The nurses.

Oh, you're saying that those jobs don't make money. They can't earn money. But why not? Because male qualities are considered a higher priority. What do we have to blame for what we prioritize? The church, the basis of this western society.

Females are supposed to support their men, relying on them in their traditional roles. Those females that succeed in the corporate world are inherently more competitive and aggressive than other females, and therefore become more like men. A female cannot succeed in the corporate world by being inherently nurturing. (Tax breaks for wealthy people who donate to charities do NOT constitute "nurturing". You'll find the underlying reasons for those contributions are hardly altruistic or caring in nature.)

What would it be like in a society that prioritized nurture and care? Communism would probably have been run differently if females were in power instead. If people paid more for education and health instead of entertainment and fast food, we would have less demand for those competitive businesses, and more demand for businesses that emphasize other qualities. Therefore, health providers and educators would be paid more. If we put emphasis on those areas instead, we would be fostering a more nurturing society.

I can't think of one non-patriarchal society. Only in the non-human primate societies can I see the fairness of it all (because there's no money to reward traits, only evolutionary fitness). Yet, they're all patriarchal. Paganism was once feminine-oriented. But then again, the evolution of society follows the evolution of humans, and hence the inevitable destruction of the pagan society was caused by aggression and competition.

The plight of the "poor"

2006-08-21T16:20:17Z

I just finished reading "A Complicated Kindness" by Miriam Toews. It was slow at first, but once you get past it and start understanding the character predicaments, you become involved and sympathetic to their plight.

Summary? Being a Mennonite sucks, especially if you question the religion itself, and consider dancing as a form of fun and art, not a sin. Being a Mennonite would especially suck if you married into it, or were a teenager. The life they live is monotonous, working in a chicken slaughterhouse or other menial/meaningless jobs for the rest of their lives. Those were the roles that God placed them in until "rapture" would take them up to heaven for a blissful life. Not a thing to enjoy in life. No sex outside of functional reproduction, no dancing, no singing (unless it was of hymns), no exploration of science outside what is taught in bible schools and camps, no computer, no travel outside of the village, with only a bicycle and dirt roads to entertain you, isolated from the world. To top it all off, if you didn't appreciate the life, you were "shunned" and excommunicated. I wonder why the Mennonite community continues to grow when they continue to exclude free-thinkers.

Sounds like forced existentialism.

Sounds like lower class America.

This book reminded me of a "friend".

I met a guy in the US that belonged to this group of Americans. Originally, he had most things to convince me that he was "happy". He had his favourite computer game (World of Warcraft). He met me. He called it love. He convinced me that I thought I wanted a simple life. I really did. I didn't want to always be involved with office politics or academia. I wanted a 9-5 with family and friends outside of work. And never shall the twain meet. I could live simply, humbly, without material wealth, with only love to entertain me. Love, and World and Warcraft. I thought it was "love". It might have been, but I'm sure that his plight helped guilt me into it.

He was forced into the lower class by a dysfunctional family and life. After a bad choice in moving and relocation, he spent his savings and ended up with nothing, not even his computer game. I thought that I could make his life better, and help him live out a life of happiness.

Turned out I just wanted to "save" him. I often confuse my "mother hen" attitude with "love". I thought that with a little pushing and prodding, I'd be able to get him back on his feet and fulfil his dreams. He still states that I call out of love. I tell him I'm concerned. If a person can hit rock bottom, he's there. Well, maybe not. He's not homeless yet. But he's in a "catch 22" situation. Stuck in a town with no transportation, living with oppressive relatives who will NOT do a thing to help, unable to get the necessities to get a job (which include getting a valid ID and a background security check), and with no money to provide himself with the basic communication essentials, the poor boy is living in limbo.

Sounds almost hopeless. I want to help, but I can't do it monetarily. I can't even spare time. Should I even bother? I don't want him living a lonely, existential life. Even Albert Camus would admit there's only so much self that one can reflect on.

Is there help? Can he pull himself out of his own plight? Is my concern unwarranted. Maybe I should get him back on his game, so that depression won't set in for him.

Maybe the simple life is good... for some people. I, on the other hand, want to build up my empire so I can watch it fall.

Rain and Worms and Sun

2006-04-13T17:46:07Z

Do you remember as a child, when you would walk out after a rainfall and find earthworms crawling on the concrete? They were all plump and juicy, filled with rainwater. I would find the largest ones to play with and then set them back on the concrete. Then the sun would come out, and the worms would dry out, until they were little stripes of membrane stuck on the pavement.

While walking from the bus to the school on a morning after a heavy rainfall, I found two very large juicy, dirty worms. They crawled around on the ground, unaware of their sad fate as the sun rose high into the sky.

Panorama Trip

2006-03-07T22:17:45Z

Wow, the trip to Pano was gorgeous. Go to http://spaces.msn.com/vonsroom to see pictures. Don't forget to click the photos tab to see the large scale pictures.

Now, off to study data, the wonderful data of Oz.

New to Livejournal

2006-01-10T02:17:09Z

Hiyas! I'm just another Canadian, moved from west (Alberta) to east (Ontario), and well, I hardly think that anyone's going to read this. But if you are, you can ask me anything about the brain, because that's what I study (and have been studying for a good 7 years now). Mostly behavioural neuroscience, but I can break out Kandel (the Neuroscience bible) to help answer any molecular or genetics questions as well. Don't ask me about concentrations required for any assays or blots... methodology is NOT my strong point, unless it's in functional magnetic resonance imaging.

I've bored you enough. Let's move on. Oh yeah, I'm willing to talk about Harry Potter as well. I personally think that Regulus Black is what "R.A.B." stands for, and I don't think that Snape is ever going back to the good side. I'm not ashamed to admit that I cried when Dumbledore died.