Formal Fallacy

Resolution

I’ve been thinking about holidays. Every month has one. Some are more glamorous than others. Some have presents, some have fireworks, some candy, all have cards. But for some reason, only New Year’s has resolutions. Why is that? How come no one ever says, “For my Halloween resolution…?” What’s wrong with a Halloween resolution? Or a Valentines Day resolution? Ten loonies says a Valentines Day resolution sticks stickier than a New Year’s resolution.

Further more, what makes a New Year’s resolution more practical than a November 8th resolution? I guess we can’t go around making resolutions everyday. “Today, I resolute to play less video games.” Yeah right. But seriously. Why can’t we? Because resolute isn’t a verb? Hell with that.

So my November 8th resolution is to resume blogging. I don’t know why I have to announce to the world that I will resume blogging instead of just blogging, I guess because the writer in me needs everything to have a beginning, middle, and end (in that order, I’m not Tarantino nor do I wish to be). So this is the re-beginning of Formal Fallacy. A lot has happened since my last post. I finished my novel. Moved to Canada. Both deserve lengthy attention via blog posts. And I have ideas for less serious posts, such as Things I’ve Learned About Writing From Playing Video Games, or Fun Delicious Yummies That Make Awesome Dinners For Two. Or, How to Make Your Life Happier by Listening to a Ferret Named Sean. Only, I couldn’t write all that until I began with a beginning.

So. My November 8th resolution: To Begin.

I have resoluted. I have begun. Read if you dare. In the meantime, check out some of my older blogs. They’re fun, I think…

Chris

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PERCHANCE TO DREAM

I am taking a momentary break from my… break… to share a very powerful dream I had last night. First off, I want to acknowledge that the process of dreaming is not fully understood and that there are dozens if not hundreds of different theories about the purpose of dreams. Still, it is always interesting and fascinating to look at a dream as if it were a riddle posed by our unconscious. So with that in mind, I’m going to share my dream and then attempt to interpret the symbols with the help of an online dream dictionary.

The dream:

I was in a glass house full of mirrors. It was snowing lightly outside. The phone rang. I answered. I don’t remember who was on the other end of the phone call, but they warned me that the winds were going to pick up to hurricane strength. I started to close wooden blinds when the hurricane force winds hit and turned the gentle snow into a blizzard. The snowflakes became the size of baseballs that smashed through the glass walls. The glass house began to crack and implode. The blizzard grew even stronger. More glass broke. The mirrors shattered. Meanwhile, I’m in the middle, and shards of glass and mirror are slicing through me, impaling my arms and face. By the time the snow stops, the entire glass house is destroyed and I’m covered in glass shards and blood. My mouth is full of sharp fragments of glass and mirror. I limp out of the ruins and into the woods, where it is somehow spring. The snow is melting. I see a cracked but intact mirror. I look at myself, bloodied and covered in glass. I open my mouth to speak but my tongue is cut and unable to move. I knelt down in the woods and died. Then I was reborn and back in the glass house again.

That’s when I woke up. It was 1:15 am. I knew immediately that the dream was something powerful, and the proof is how vividly I remember it at 8:15 the following morning. At first glance, the dream probably seems incredibly disturbing. I mean, I DIED in my dream. That can’t be good, right? Well, before we cast hasty judgments, let’s see what the dream dictionary says about the symbols.

The Interpretation:

• Glass: Passivity and protection. An invisible emotional barrier.
• Mirror: Suggests that I am pondering thoughts about my inner self and contemplating strengthening and changing aspects of my character.
• Snow: Signifies inhibitions, repressed/unexpressed emotions. Watching the snow fall represents a clean start and a fresh, new perspective. It is indicative of spiritual peace and tranquility.
• Phone: A phone call in a dream is a message from the unconscious.
• Hurricane: Sudden or unexpected changes occurring in my life. To be caught in a hurricane represents that both my mental and emotional forces are building up inside and making themselves known.
• Blizzard: Suggests that I am feeling emotionally cold and frigid.
• Broken Glass: Change.
• Broken Mirror: Suggests that I am breaking an old image of myself. Putting an end to old habits and ways.
• Blood: Represents life, love, and passion as well as disappointments.
• Woods: Life, fertility, rejuvenation, and spring. Also symbolizes the unknown and the unconscious. Dreams of walking through the woods signifies a return to an aspect of oneself that is innocent and spiritual.
• Death: Inner changes, transformation, self-discovery, and positive development that is happening within oneself or in one’s life. Although such dreams bring about feelings of fear and anxiety, to die in one’s dream is actually considered a positive symbol. Dreams of experiencing your own death usually means that big changes are ahead. Moving on to new beginnings and leaving the past behind.
• Rebirth: Entering a new stage in life. Looking toward the future without dwelling on the past.

Wow. So a dream that initially seemed so negative and borderline nightmare was actually a massively positive message about inner growth, self-discovery, and change. I could talk more about what this dream means to me, but I think I’ve made it pretty clear.

If any of you are interested in interpreting your dreams, you can check out www.dreammoods.com, which is where I found most of my information.

Chris

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Thermal Excercise

So…

I’m trying to do things that make me feel good. Make my body feel good. Make my mind feel good. I’ve been doing things like working out and writing in my blog (sort of an online journal). I read that journal writing is especially helpful for men because we have fewer methods of expressing and dealing with our emotions. I gave it a shot yesterday and was surprised at how well I felt afterwards.

So I looked up more things about how to make your body feel good, and I came across one that is amazing for several reasons.

Taking a cold shower.

Seems simple enough, but there is a problem. The term “cold shower” has become cliché. Everyone has heard of it, mostly as a way to curb sexual cravings, but that’s myth. Since it is such a stereotype, we will no longer call it a cold shower. Instead, think of it as Thermal Exercise.

There is a scientific study going on right now at the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine that hypothesizes that human depression may be caused by “a lifestyle that lacks certain physiological stressors that have been experienced by primates through millions of years of evolution, such as brief changes in body temperature (e.g. cold swim), and this lack of “thermal exercise” may cause inadequate functioning of the brain.”

Another quote says: “Exposure to cold is known to activate the sympathetic nervous system and increase the blood level of beta-endorphin and noradrenaline and to increase synaptic release of noradrenaline in the brain as well. Additionally, due to the high density of cold receptors in the skin, a cold shower is expected to send an overwhelming amount of electrical impulses from peripheral nerve endings to the brain, which could result in an anti-depressive effect.”

So I looked up beta-endorphin. Turns out the stuff has approximately 80 times the analgesic potency of morphine! It is believed to boost the immune system, slow the growth of cancer cells, promote a feeling of well being (you would think so if it is 80 times as powerful as morphine), and increase relaxation.

Then I looked up noradrenaline: Noradrenaline is synthesized from dopamine. It affects the part of the brain that governs attention and responding actions. It also increases heart rate, triggers the release of glucose from energy stores, increases blood flow to the skeletal muscle, and directly underlies the flight-or-fight response. It is one of the primary ingredients in many ADD/ADHD medications such as Ritalin and Adderal. It is also used in antidepressants as well as in medication for hypotension.

So the way I see it, after millions of years of evolving, humans learned how to survive through ice ages by not only adapting to the cold weather, but by using it to release natural chemicals in the brain that are very, very powerful drugs. Then we invented the hot shower, hot chocolate, blankets, fire places, central heating, and all sorts of other things to keep us at a comfortable temperature while preventing our bodies from releasing the very chemicals that make us feel good.

I think this is one of the reasons people like cold weather sports so much. Skiing, Ice Skating, Sledding. It is why kids love to go outside and play in the snow. So the question is, have you had your thermal exercise today? I know I have.

Chris

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Is this really happening?

Remember that saying, a picture is worth a thousand words?  Is that still true in the age of Photoshop?  Once, in the not too distant past, people could trust what they see with their own eyes.  Or, at least they thought they could.

My dad emailed me a video today.  If it is real, it is one of the most amazing things I’ve ever seen.  My initial reaction to the video was, “that’s not real.”  I’m sure most people had the same reaction.

Is the video real?  I don’t know.  Quite possibly, but that doesn’t mean I believe it.  Was it Photoshopped?

Photo manipulation is as old as photography itself.   Joseph Stalin would frequently alter photographs to remove unwanted faces, mostly for political and propaganda purposes.  This is something completely different than the video above.  The video above is intended to impress, while these photographs were intended to PROVE. 

In 2005, when Martha Stewart was released from prison, photographs of her were altered to make her appear slimmer, as though she lost weight while behind bars.  Time magazine changed the color saturation of OJ Simpson’s mug shot to make his skin appear darker.  National Geographic moved the Pyramids closer together so they could get all three to fit on the cover of their magazine.

While the plane video was intended to impress, the Stalin photographs to prove, these last three examples were presented as FACT.  People had no reason to question them, and the effects were mostly subliminal. 

All examples of photo manipulation are harmful in one way or another.  The photographs presented as fact are dangerous because people don’t question them.  A doctored mug shot of OJ with darker skin only heightens racial stereotypes.  Same goes for the Stalin photographs, where he was able to remove people who disagreed with him to present a unified front. 

The plane video, if false, is dangerous for a different reason.  Okay, let’s assume the video is real.  Videos LIKE the one above that ARE doctored are dangerous specifically because people are so used to them that they don’t believe video evidence.

All three examples are dangerous because some people can’t tell which is the real and which is the fake.  Some Stalin supporters believed the original photographs were fakes.  Another example is a couple of Frenchmen who took the 911 videos of the planes crashing into the Trade Center and removed the planes, leaving only the explosions.  Conspiracy Theorists then saw these videos, believed them, and then went on to believe that the videos that DO show the planes were the ones that were doctored.

Now, I don’t know if this post fits the new direction I talked about yesterday, but it is something that has been on my mind for a while.

Belief.

What do we believe in, what do we base that belief on, and how do we know that belief is grounded in reality when reality is so easily manipulated?  Substitute reality with truth and the question works just as well.

Take the political elections as an example.  Emails have been floating around claiming Obama is a Muslim.  Some people actually believe a chain email over physical evidence.  They’ll even believe that chain letter over their own Presidential nominee.  Or take this video.  One that is NOT real.  One that is not only ridiculous, but absolutely disgusting.  Yet, as we all know, some people will believe it is real.

Has perceptive reality become actual reality?  The surreal become real?  Fiction become truth ?  Vice become Versa?

Chris

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