Thursday 19 May 2011

Procrastination...

Procrastination is the biggest bugger of school and further education study. In lamens terms, its the act of putting something off that you should do but don't enjoy.

For example an everyday situation would be the battle to get out of bed. It is essentially two parts of you brain battling it out for control of your actions.

In the red corner is your prefrontal cortex which is the part thinking:

"I really need to get out of bed now my alarms gone off, I have a lot of work to do and if I don't do it my boss is gonna go sick on my ass"

And in the blue corner is the part of your brain called the limbic system, located in the more primitive part of the brain near the spinal cord that is thinking:

"Nah, go on, you can sleep for as long as you like you can get the work done before you go to bed don't worry about it"

Now to break this  down, the prefrontal lobe, basically acts as a form of good conscience, that focuses more on long term goals, and future preservation.The chances are, if this part of you brain always dominated; your life would be incredibly boring, as everything you would do, would not be for pleasure, but for future pleasure.
but of course when you get to that "future pleasure" you won't indulge in it as that would find yourself working for even more long term goals etc etc etc..

The Limbic system on the other hand, is a a part of your brain focused on gaining immediate satisfaction and pleasure. so effectively, short term goals. Another example being:

"The deadline for this work is due in tomorrow i better crank it up and get it done". This is the prefrontal cortex.

"but I'll check my E-mail only once, just so it doesn't bug me, and then I'll have a fag and make a coffee and watch that show i recorded last night...Then I'll do my homework"

This is the Limbic system, you can tell by the immediate satisfaction gained by checking social sites and getting something to eat/drink.

The problem we have here is that the prefrontal Lobe gets tired much easier than the Limbic system, which is incredibly strong, always focused on making us happy. This is the main reason things don't get done, and maybe why the Human race hasn't advanced to a much higher technological level...Too many scientists playing CoD4 instead of researching that "super vaccine" their working on.

Now, you may be sitting at your despair thinking so how can I solve this procrastination troubling the natio? Well, to get all sciency on your ass, the Limbic system becomes MUCH more powerful , when any temptations you want become more tangible, so when you can see it, hear it or smell it. A Good example of this would be the notification sound when you receive an E-mail. When this sound goes off your brain finds it much more irresistible to ignore the E-mail as it become smore tangible though the sound you hear.

Taking this into account, a suitable way of negating the temptation would be to turn your sound off, just like being distracted by the T.V is resolved by moving away from the T.V, I hope it makes sense.

I wouldn't be surprised if you are procrastinating yourself, by reading this articale on procrastination.

Much love =)

Wednesday 18 May 2011

I've just starting taking up drawing again and I'm trying to establish my own cartoon style.
It took me about an hour to draw (including drafts), and when my Examinations are over I plan to upload more. Tell me what you think ;)

The pit of Death and disease, (and riches).

Just outside Butte, Montana lies a pit of greenish poison a mile and a half wide and over a third of a mile deep. It hasn’t always been so – it was once a thriving copper mine appropriately dubbed “The Richest Hill in the World.” Over a billion tons of copper ore, silver, gold, and other metals were extracted from the rock of southwestern Montana, making the mining town of Butte one of the richest communities in the country, as well as feeding America’s industrial might for nearly a hundred years. By the middle of the twentieth century, the Anaconda Mining Company was in charge of virtually all the mining operations.

When running underground mines became too costly in the 1950’s, Anaconda switched to the drastic but effective methods of “mountaintop removal” and open pit mining. Huge amounts of copper were needed to satisfy the growing demand for radios, televisions, telephones, automobiles, computers, and all the other equipment of America’s post-war boom. As more and more rock was excavated, groundwater began to seep into the pit, and pumps had to be installed to keep it from slowly flooding. By 1983, the hill was so exhausted that the Anaconda Mining Company was no longer able to extract minerals in profitable amounts. They packed up all the equipment that they could move, shut down the water pumps, and moved on to more lucrative scraps of Earth. Without the pumps, rain and groundwater gradually began to collect in the pit, leaching out the metals and minerals in the surrounding rock. The water became as acidic as lemon juice, creating a toxic brew of heavy metal poisons including arsenic, lead, and zinc. No fish live there, and no plants line the shores. There aren’t even any insects buzzing about. The Berkeley Pit had become one of the deadliest places on earth, too toxic even for microorganisms.

All said, not many people have heard of this truly magnificent spectacle.

Monday 16 May 2011

My first post...

In the video below is a guy called Tim Minchin. Someone who not only has great comedic abilities but, unparralel capabilities when it comes to writing lyrics and performing them in song. This skill is what seperates him from the Michael Macintyre or Lee Evans, and projects him to not only a comedian but an artist as well. I don't feel this guy gets the attention he deserves.

It could be down to the fact that his athiest views which he projects through his work could be seen as off-putting to the religous out there, but hey! It's a free world and I dont think his views should negate his raw talent.


The video below is called 'Storm' and is a beat poem, that only recently has been animated. If you like this I would strongly recommend his other songs, easily found over YouTube.

Enjoy!