On Being Quiet - Susan Cain's book (Review)

When I first listened to Susan Cain's talk on TED in March 2012, I realised that my confused childhood now has a meaning of its own.  Pieces of the puzzle is starting to come together now as I reconcile my childhood and teenage struggles in school to 'fit in' and understand why I failed terribly to do so.   


Susan Cain's Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can't Stop Talking, is written in four main parts.  Her book opens to an Introduction chapter that focuses on the story of Rosa Parks, that sparked the bus boycott of Montgomery, Alabama in 1955, which ignited the spark of human rights movement of Martin Luther King Jr. 


In the first part of her book, 'The Extrovert Ideal', Cain starts off the chapter with a walk through of Dale Carnegie's life from his humble beginnings in a pig farm, poverty stricken and demoralised to becoming America's most successful motivational and public speaking icon, which also the story of the rise of the Extrovert Ideal.


The author then goes on to argue that in the past, the Culture of Character was the ideal way of life that focuses on the self that was serious, disciplined, and honorable.  The word personality didn't exist in English until the eighteenth century, and having a "good personality" was not widespread until the twentieth.  


However, with the rise of the Extrovert Ideal, the personality superceeds all course of action by men.  Those with the charisma and confidence were revered as the way of life and abundance of opportunity is showered upon them.  


Her argument then builds on with meticulous research to back her motion that being extroverted is not necessarily the needed recipe for success.


In the second part of the book, 'Your Biology, Your Self?', Cain went on to state that being an introvert is very much embedded in our DNA.  She derived research done by Kagan, Jay Belsky and David Dobbs that found out that a specific gene known as the serotonin-transporter (SERT) gene, helps to regulate the processing of serotonin, a neurotransmitter that affects mood.  According to these scientists, a particular short allele, a 'short allele', is thought to be associated with high reactivity and introversion.  


Cain continues to build her argument towards cultural experiences and influences that could influence a person's extroversion or introversion.  She expounded on the possibility of culture and up bringing influencing someone's introversion and extroversion. 


In the last part of her book, she propagated useful and pragmatic solutions to encourage introverted co-workers and children to shine in their own way at work and in school.  Again, this chapter is laced with detailed synthesis of numerous research to put her point across.


Not only is her book well argued and well researched, she was able to laced it with honest and raw personal experiences and opinion to 'fight' for the less caustic society.  


What did I think?  I think that if only she has written this book years ago, it would definitely have made a marked difference in how I viewed my personal introversion and I would have been able to deal and plan my life much better.  Nevertheless, no one says it's ever too late to be who you really are. 






   

The Iron Lady - Movie Review

As I unwind after a long day of teaching, I decided to flick on my DVD player (of which is way underutilised), and pop in the movie "The Iron Lady", the latest role carried almost flawlessly by the great dame, Meryl Streep.


Being a big fan of anything non-fiction, this biopic movie did not let me down.  Meryl Streep's performance has always been awe inspiring and it is no doubt that she is one of the greatest actors of her time.  Her performance gave the plot a strength and substance in which the movie itself, did not need to do much to portray the story of Lady Margaret.  

The director, Phyllida Lloyd, brings us through the eyes of an elderly Lady Thatcher that imagines the presence of her late husband, Denis, while she struggles to mourn his grief.  During these imaginary interactions with her deceased husband, Lady Thatcher is bombarded by flashbacks of her young life and her rise to power in Britain's political arena.


There has been criticism on this movie about the depths of the plot.  Many has criticised that the movie failed to portray the significance of Lady Thatcher's time in parliament and focused more instead to her dementia and depression for her dead husband.  There were also criticism  that the movie depended too much on documented historical footage to bring out the story of it.  

To a certain extent, some of the criticism does hold water but Streep's performance outweighed them.  Undoubtedly, it is true that the movie does lack substance and did somewhat of unjustice in portraying Lady Thatcher, however, it is to be reminded that this movie was written and directed to fit the palate of the general masses, just showing enough, but not too much, that it would bore.  The movie honestly wanted to show the 'softer' side of 'The Iron Lady', that even through the big things that she has done in her life, a woman's core is her family and the movie showed Lady's Thatcher's feminine side perfectly, to remind those who respected her as well as those who appalled her, that she is not only a woman of determination and strength to her country and people, but also to her family.


For more information about Lady Margaret Thatcher, click on the link below:
http://www.margaretthatcher.org/


       

Major Laws of Physics

Physics is the study of nature, where it is a field of science that that treats the laws and properties of matter and the forces acting upon them (light, magnetism, heat and gravitation, to name a few).  To be put simply, physics is the study to find out how the universe behaves.  Physics is one of the oldest academic disciplines, perhaps the oldest after the inclusion of Astronomy.  It has been the catalyst to many modern innovations in mechanical engineering, quantum physics, chemical physics, thermodynamics and industrialisation.  

Throughout the years, physicists start to see that nature is more complex than we give it credit for.  The following laws of physics are considered fundamental in the study of physics but there has been alterations throughout the years by physicists in the objective of trying to be less idealistic and less rigid.  However, in many instances, physics still remains a very closed system with idealistic concepts, which are hard to find in the real world.  Nevertheless, the following laws of physics are fundamental and in many ways, valid in most cases that you'll run into.

Law 1:  Newton's Three Laws of Motion

Newton's Three Laws of Motion describes the basic rules of how the motion of objects change.  He was able to explain the fundamental relationship between the acceleration of an object and the total forces acting upon it.  

Law 2:  Law of Gravity

Newton developed his "Law of Gravity" to explain the attractive force between a pair of masses. In the twentieth century, it became clear that this is not the whole story, as Einstein's theory of general relativity has provided a more comprehensive explanation for the phenomenon of gravity. Still, Newton's law of gravity is an accurate low-energy approximation that works for most of the cases that you'll explore in physics.

Law 3:  Conservation of Mass Energy

The basic principle of this law is that the total energy in a closed system is constant, no matter what happens.   Another law is that the total mass in a closed system is constant.  When Einstein discovered the relationship E=mc² (in other words that mass was a manifestation of energy) the law was said to refer to the conservation of mass-energy. The total of both mass and energy is retained, although some may change forms. The ultimate example of this is a nuclear explosion, where mass transforms into energy.

Law 4:  Conservation of Momentum

A principle stating that the total linear momentum of an isolated system remains constant regardless of changes within the system.

Law 5:  Law of Thermodynamics

Thermodynamics is the study of the inter-relation between heat, work and internal energy of a system. 

• The zeroeth law of thermodynamics makes the notion of temperature possible.
• The first law of thermodynamics demonstrates the relationship between internal energy, added heat, and work within a system.
• The second law of thermodynamics relates to the natural flow of heat within a closed system.
• The third law of thermodynamics states that it is impossible to create a thermodynamic process which is perfectly efficient.

The British scientist and author C.P. Snow had an excellent way of remembering the three laws:

1. You cannot win (that is, you cannot get something for nothing, because matter and energy are conserved).
2. You cannot break even (you cannot return to the same energy state, because there is always an increase in disorder; entropy always increases).
3. You cannot get out of the game (because absolute zero is unattainable).

Law 6:  Electrostatic Law

Coulomb's law and Gauss's law are formulations of the relationship between electrically charged particles to create electrostatic force and electrostatic fields. The formulas, it turns out, parallel the laws of universal gravitation in structure. There also exist similar laws relating to magnetism and electromagnetism as a whole.

Law 7:  Invariance of the Speed of Light:

Einstein's major insight, which led him to the Theory of Relativity, was the realization that the speed of light in a vacuum is constant and is not measured differently for observers in different inertial frames of reference, unlike all other forms of motion. Some theoretical physicists have conjectured different variable speed of light (VSL) possibilities, but these are highly speculative. Most physicists believe that Einstein was right and the speed of light is constant.

Law 8:  Modern Physics & Physical Laws:

In the realm of relativity and quantum mechanics, scientists have found that these laws still apply, although their interpretation requires some refinement to be applied, resulting in fields such as quantum electronics and quantum gravity. Care should be taken in applying them in these situations.

Some parts taken from:  http://physics.about.com/od/physics101thebasics/p/PhysicsLaws.htm

  

The Hunger Games - A Story Telling Sensation

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Imagine yourself into a distant future, where you live in a world that is surrounded by stifling guards, watching your every move, waiting to pounce on you at every chance they can, to punish and humiliate you, all in the name of control and power.  Panem is the new country that is governed by the main government called "The Capitol", that controls twelve districts in which, each district plays a role in producing and supplying products and essential supplies such as coal, electricity and soap, so that those who live in the Capital can live a care free life, while the residence of the other twelve districts slave away, by only scraping through with basic necessities.  


This is the setting of the story by Suzanne Collins in her trilogy called The Hunger Games, which is also the title of the first book in the series, with Catching Fire as the second and Mockingjay as the third and final installment.  


The story is weaved through an intricate interconnection between numerous characters that are closely related to the main protagonist of the story, Katniss Everdeen.   Sixteen-year-old Katniss lives in the nation of Panem (a post-apocalyptic North America) with her mother and younger sister, Prim. Her family resides in District 12, the poorest of 12 districts ruled by the wealthy Capitol. Katniss provides for her mother and sister by hunting with her friend Gale in the forbidden woods nearby. 


Every year, The Hunger Games is hosted by the Capitol, to remind the citizens of Panem, that rebellion only brings chaos and suffering, by choosing one boy and one girl, aged between 12-18, to be pushed into a gruesome fight-to-the-death reality television programme in order to re-live the past rebellion that brought down District 13 to ruins.  The ballot is drawn during an event called "The Reaping" and everyone in all the districts have to attend this event to witness themselves, which of their young ones would be chosen for the annual event.  


Eventually, when Katniss' sister, Prim was chosen, she desperately volunteered herself in her sister's place, stumbling forwards towards the stage to be heard, worried that the organisors will not heed her.  Throughout the 74 years of The Reaping, nobody has ever volunteered in District 12 and the action by Katniss, proves a spectacular twist in that year's Reaping.


The other tribute is Peeta Mellark, a baker's son, who saved Katniss and her family from starvation by sneaking bread to her on a rainy day and they are both whisked away by train to the Capitol, with Haymitch Abernathy, the only District 12 victor that has ever won the games as their mentor, who is also, a hopeless drunk.


From here onwards, the story falls into a fast paced roller coaster ride for both Katniss and Peeta, in their preparation for the 74th Annual Hunger Games.  Collins wrote with such precision and ferocity, that grabs the readers to his seat with each page turned, yearning to know what happens next.  She weaves the intricate details of Katniss' and Peeta's training, to  his revelation of secretly loving Katniss since they were kids, right to the gruesome details of how the other 22 tributes from the other eleven districts goes down in the games.  Raw emotions were displayed throughout the book, to show compassion amidst the hatred that Katniss has for the tyrant Capitol.  Collins' writing shows the necessity of showing human compassion as the main virtue in humanity.  


I shall not elaborate further about the plot of the story, as not to ruin the reading pleasure of those who has yet to read these books.  Truly, the film has been a big hit since it's opening and has broken all the records ever held by Harry Potter and Twilight series, being the first sequel of a franchise movie, but, only through reading the books, can one fully appreciate the  fluid and gripping writings of Collins.