Category Archives: education

Case for a History Sleuth

Art, education, For Parents, social commentary, , ,

 

  Family in a Turkish Village 

 Acrylic on Canvas/  Black Frame24” x 48” / $690

The Kurds are an ethnic group that spans Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria. Historically and linguistically they are classified as belonging to the Iranian people. Since the end of the Ottoman Empire they have been separated by boundaries created by foreign interests. During the 20th century the Kurds regained their voice  and instigated a call for Kurdish nationalism. What is the right path for these people? Who is to decide their future?  And who should take responsibility for upheaval and displacements when they occur?               

Case for a History Sleuth

In the New Reformers (1844) Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “We are students of words: we are shut up in schools and colleges and recitation rooms for ten or fifteen years and come out at last with a bag of wind, a memory of words and we do not know a thing.”

Emerson’s sentiment rings true to me.  I had a difficult time studying history and found the required readings had little relevance to my life.  As a teen, anything that occurred before I was born, was unimportant. My focus was on the present moment and what I would do with the rest of my life. 

This myopic view is not uncommon. What occurred  hundreds of years ago doesn’t matter to most children. One of my grandsons is an exception. His interest in history was actually peaked in school by a teacher that did not require him to memorize dates and battles but inspired him through games and play acting. More likely, though, he likes history because he has been fortunate enough to travel abroad with his family and see remnants of the past for himself. Walking grounds where past civilizations tread or reading letters by eye witnesses can make the past come alive.

Yet, despite visiting ruins and reading about the ancient world, I doubt that teens understand how history influences what is going on in the world today. For most children, the past is represented by storybook tales that have nothing to do with computers, YouTube, cell phones or space exploration. They are enthralled by League of Legends, Minecraft, and Tetris.

A grasp of history is imperative for our leaders but also important for the rest of society. It is not the facts, but the values, mistakes, and influences on the direction human civilization that matters most.  Past events provide avenues for contemplation that test our values and contribute to our sense of identity. 

“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it,” said philosopher George Santayana. There is truth in his words. Wars in the United Staes and Europe have often served as breeding grounds for more wars.  After WWII we carved countries into new entities without understanding the ties that previously stabilized the regions. Distrust and ongoing fights within these new borders continue to plague these politically created entities. Men like Napoleon, Stalin, and Mao Tse Tung used war as opportunity for regime change.  Over time their initial good intentions led to dictatorships. When foreign powers intervene in the internal affairs of sovereign states, war becomes protracted. This pattern is repeated time and again throughout the ages. 

How can studying history be made fascinating yet useful? Primitive people used to gather around the fireplace to teach through oral presentations that stimulated emotions. Stories of creation and historical events were combined with moral lessons often animated by dancers and masked actors. Until television, storytellers in were in great demand and commanded respect. Troubadours in the middle ages sang about historical as well as current events. Abraham Lincoln mastered the art of storytelling and spun tales that captured the imagination of his audiences in order to get his point across.  Information is digested more easily when facts  are connected to emotions. Stories help people to remember what is said and provide a way for them to relate to one another.

Another way to teach history is to develop cases that challenge with hidden messages.  Students are asked to become detectives who unravel clues from by gone eras. Facts become illuminated as the past is unravelled and not because it has been presented for memorization. Cases can be entertaining and offer opportunities to observe, interact, and understand human nature. 

Just as forensic experts are scientists who use sleuth-like strategies to solve crimes, case system participants are similarly immersed in the scientific method. They form hypotheses, collect data, analyze it, and report results. The outcome may shed light on a current societal issue and inspire a new hypothesis to be tested that is relevant for today’s.  Using the scientific method as a system for solving  problems can help understand conflicting and confusing data. 

For example, the Supreme Court is often asked to clarify what the signers of the constitution meant when they wrote certain articles. Though it is difficult to put ourselves into a dead person’s mind there are many clues that can help in our analysis. Were the signers religious? Well educated? Family men? What were their professions? Were they wealthy or poor?  And a topic I find most interesting—what happened to the founders later in life because of their earlier involvement? Did you know that that some were considered traitors? Several became bankrupt.  A few had their homes ransacked? 

Change does not happen smoothly as can be seen by many convicts that plague the world today. By studying past revolutions, however, students learn to question and develop insight into the cost of freedom. 

As parents and grandparents it behooves us to help youth become history sleuths. We have an opportunity during vacations to look behind the surface when we take children on trips to parks and historical places. It is our job to teach the next generation how to think.  I do believe we can do a better job of showing them how the past relates to the many conflicts of today.

References:

Clairmont, N. (2017) “Those Who Do Not Learn History are doomed to repeat it. Really? Big Think. retrieved from http://bigthink.com/the-proverbial-skeptic/those-who-do-not-learn-history-doomed-to-repeat-it-really

Do comment below. Your thoughts are meaningful.

Questioning Life

Art, education, Psychology, social commentary

On Top Of It All
20” by 19”, Mixed media, $399.
Questioning how to give meaning and purpose to life is ongoing. Answers evolve and change with age and circumstance.

Winter holidays usher in a joyful bustle of activities with family and friends but since it is the end of one year and start of another, they are also a time to pause for reflection.

When I was sixteen my boyfriend asked, “which is better a life of love or a life devoted to a quest of knowledge and its application to living?” Without hesitation we both chose love, but as years passed, there were times when the quest for knowledge and career ambitions made us rethink our answer. Today I would respond by saying both.

My memory was stirred by an article I read this week on BBC’s news website. Educated Indian women were forced to give up doctoral ambitions to improve people’s health care in order to be full time mothers taking care of their families. Married women “are not expected to want the privilege of thinking and doing research,” said one of homemakers interviewed. Yet, in India, woman are starting to speak up and not give in to custom. They are finding ways to continue their research through online virtual laboratories and participation in conferences conducted through Skype. Instead of being confined solely to housework, these highly educated women have options never before imagined.

Many other questions were raised during my college years. What is the meaning of life and what idoes it mean to live well? Is there a God? What ethical system should I embrace? How will my activities and choice of profession contribute to society? These questions became buried when raising five children and beginning a career. But every once in a while, a decision had to be made that gave me pause to think. Should I choose advancement, money and accompanying stress over family harmony? Do I go on a business trip rather than stay home with a sick child? Is what I do more important than my husband or children’s ambitions?

From time to time these basic questions suddenly pop up and demand an answer.
As an elder, I am once more reflecting on life’s meaning. When I hear friends saying, “I’ve done enough for others. Now it is time to complete my bucket list,” Is that the best way to conclude my years? But somehow this remark doesn’t make sense. What difference does a trip to Bora Bora, sky diving, or snow shoeing in the mountains make?” These activities can’t be the purpose of living. They can only be a way to pass idle time while waiting to die. Why spend the money? Why change the way I find purpose in life? Then again, why not?

Deciding how to live is not just a quest of the young but it is a multi-year process that twists and turns with experience and circumstance. My answers have been challenged many times  as I developed a deeper understanding of the environment and the earth’s far flung inhabitants. Today when I ask what type of person I want to be and what makes life meaningful, I continue to look to the future— not of mine, but of those who will follow me. I still hope that the world will be a better place for my children and grandchildren to live in and would like to share my mistakes and achievements so they can move on from where I leave off. My ongoing quest for knowledge is pleasurable and gives me much do, but I am less focused on a need to achieve and more interested than ever in educating. Helping young adults known as the “me generation”  overcome this stigma seems like a fulfilling mission. Inspiring them to embrace a life of love and giving to others is a gift I would like to leave behind.

Merry Christmas to all.

Positive Psychology

education, For Parents, Psychology

Bursting Forth
Acrylic on Canvas/ gold frame/ 37” by 31” / 459
Flowers make me happy. I love visiting fragrant gardens and also enjoy bringing vibrancy home.

Positive Psychology

It may sound elusive, but being happy is primarily under under your own control. I have always thought so, which is not surprising, since I characterize myself as a glass is a half-full person. Born in a protective bubble, perhaps I am happy because of loving parents who had few expectations for me other than to be a good wife and mother. Without stress, I was free to study whatever I wanted and encouraged to take classes and get involved in activities of interest rather than for practical reasons. My university education was broad based, centering on ideas and concepts that expanded my understanding of the world. Increased curiosity made me thirst for new experiences that I anticipated would be joyful. I never imagined the bubble bursting to unveil tragedy. It was only with maturity that I learned that misfortune and adversity are part of most people’s lives, and mine was no exception.

And so, I was coerced to grow from struggles and develop coping mechanisms. There are times affliction made me stronger, so rather than complain, I explored how to emotionally benefit from what happened. I had to learn how to greet divorce, death and illness and transform the confusion and sadness they created into enabling energy. When my son was ill, I painted my grief on canvas and then researched every avenue for making him well again. As I did this, I noticed that planning ways to improve the future is enjoyable in itself. The process of engaging in possibilities provided motivation with feelings of hope and contentment. I said yes to life.

When told that a museum could not be built in Michigan, I was determined to ignore nay sayers and find ways to achieve my goal. The process was often fearful for I was forced to leave my comfort zone and do things, like fundraising and public speaking, that I never thought I could. As I succeeded I began more confident and stepped forward further.

I often wonder why so many people focus on negative events, digging trenches into sadness, and becoming frozen in the believe that they can not overcome adversity. The media takes advantage of this fascination with tragedy, showing grim images far more often than celebratory ones. By spotlighting negativity they contribute to a stressed, unhappy nation of people who view their glasses as half-empty.

I decided to do a bit of investigation on the subject of happiness and began by looking at wealth, since that seems to be an area of major discontent. I discovered that money is only important to the point that it provides freedom from worry about the basics. Once housing, safety, food, clothing and health care are provided the happiness that separates a billionaire from a family earning $50,000 is small. People in every socio-economic group, whether in tribal compounds, on family farms, or in senior citizen communities, can be found with positive, joyful outlooks. More important factors than money control mood and a positive outlook, though researchers have been slow in investigating (Treadmill, 2017).

It is only since the 1990s that psychiatrists turned their attention to positive psychology (Srinvasan, 2015). Previously, most researchers focused on abnormal behaviors like depression and schizophrenia, subjects they believed could be quantified. But, “Why not measure happiness?” thought Martin Seligman after his 5 year old daughter chastised him for being a grouch? He decided then and there, that rather than fixate on what was wrong, he would focus on what was right. Since contemporary living gives us time for play, why not understand what can be done to enhance feelings of joy?

Happiness is commonly defined as a state of well-being that comes from living a life with meaning, one that provides a deep sense of satisfaction. It results from both intentional and strategic planing though DNA also plays a role. Dutch researchers recently isolated three genetic variants of happiness (Woollaston, 2016). It is now thought that a large part of cheerfulness comes from the very structure of the human genome and is inherited. But, lest we be complacent, genetic makeup is only part of the story. Life circumstances, achievements, marital status, and social relationships are also important factors. Feeling happy is contagious and having family and friends nearby are major contributors to a sunny outlook.

Happy people do things in a slightly different way than unhappy ones, for they are willing to move out of their comfort zone and take risks (Biswas-Diener, 2013). Though they start with a set-point of contentedness they periodically move out in order to get a boost of joy before returning to their natural set-point. By continuing to engage in new behaviors, over time habits and choices begin to push the needle forward, providing an increased sense of well-being. I can attest to this growth in my own life. For years I was uncomfortable traveling abroad on my own until I finally decided to try going to Kenya on my own. The trip was exhilarating. Other people I met were often coupled in their home life, but traveled solo when they went on adventures. I enjoyed creating my own schedule, talking to someone as long as I liked, and not being asked if I was ready to leave. The next time an opportunity for travel presented itself I looked forward to the opportunity, anticipating a good time.

Happy people also spend quite a bit of time nourishing small pleasures. They indulge themselves by watching birds splash in a backyard fountains or sitting glued to a park bench as the sky turned rainbow colors at sunset. These small diversions provide entertainment and can give great satisfaction. Absorption in work, exercise, a good book, artistic challenges, enjoyment in setting and meeting goals, and getting in the flow give me a great deal of contentment.

Over the past 20 years, a series of interventions to promote positivity have been tested in labs. They may sound simple, but they work. Certain drills do bring about feelings of well-being. Two of the most documented activities are kindness and gratitude exercises devised by Keiko Otake (2006). Volunteers were asked to jot down and then meditate on facts of kindness (or gratitude) they engaged in during the week. They found that happy people become more kind and grateful simply by counting and acknowledging their actions. Regular practice in recognizing kindness and gratitude increases happy memories and improves the quality and quantity of happy moments. Over the course of a few weeks, as feelings of well-being increase, permanent changes are visible on brain scans.

A brain imaging study published in Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience explains why self-affirmation works (Jarrett, 2015). Subjects asked to focus on values and situations that gave them the pleasure showed increased activity in the part of the cortex known to be involved in expecting and receiving rewards. When directed to think of a time in the future when they anticipate having fun with family or friends, scans show even greater positive activity.

Each of us has the ability to cultivate what is best within ourselves and to enhance experiences of love, work, and play. Life is a see-saw that needs to adjusted and continuously put in balanced. There is no need to dwell on all of the negative garbage the media throws at us when happiness can be increased by practicing positive thinking and embracing the good in life.

References:
Biswas-Diener, R. & Kashdan, T. (2013) What Happy People Do Differently, Psychology Today. retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/201307/what-happy-people-do-differently

Jarrett,C. (2015) Brain Scans Can Help Explain Why Self-Affirmation Works. Science of Us. retrieved from http://nymag.com/scienceofus/2015/11/why-self-affirmation-works.html.

Otake,K. (2006) Happy People Become Happier Through Kindness: A Counting Kindness Intervention, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. retrieved from
https://uncch.pure.elsevier.com/en/publications/happy-people-become-happier-through-kindness-a-counting-kindnesse

Srinivasan,T. (2015).THe 5 Founding Fathers and A History of Positive Psychology.
Positive Psychology Program. retrieved from https://positivepsychologyprogram.com/founding-fathers/

Treadmill,H. (2017). The Art of Happiness. Psychology Today. retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com/basics/happiness

Woollaston, V.(2016) Is Happiness in Your DNA? Daily Mail. retrieved from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3559114/Is-happiness-DNA-Study-finds-genes-affect-mood-prone-depression-neuroticism.html.

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Do share your happy experiences below.

Genetic Advantage

Art, education, social commentary

Malheur Sunset
The Swallows resting in the tree are considered to be genetically distinct. In evoloutionary terms, they have been evolving for 500,000 to 1 million years. Homo Sapiens are only at the beginning of their genetic journey.

Genetic Advantage
Thousands of people gathered recently in downtown Portland, Oregon representing both the right and left side of the political divide. In general, tempers were civil, though the crowd was on edge and there were moments of disruption. Several religious groups in the pro-Trump camp had posters with slogans proclaiming their adversity to racial mixing. They carried signs that said, “Diversity is Death for White Race.” I decided to do a bit of exploring and find out if there was merit to their claim. I wanted to know if there are there genetic advantages to having a mixed race species and if there was such a thing as a pure race?

According to a UK documentary about the subject, the uncontroversial answer is that mixed species are stronger than monocultures. The program claimed that if Hitler had had his way by genetically designing a purebred Aryan race, the results would not have been superior. The reverse would most likely have occurred, with a weaker biological stock emerging.

For more than a century, biologists have known that mixing diverse strains of plant or animal results in more vigorous offspring. An unrelated partner from a different stock or population can produce what scientists call, Hybrid Vigor? They identify situations where interbreeding in a particularly small community is common. The offspring tend to be unfit with a tendency to die young.

Human beings have 23 pairs of Chromosomes carrying about 30,000 genes. Every once in a while a gene may be bad or broken even though it will not cause a problem in the host organism. However, If two broken genes combine during procreation, they create an unhealthy situation for the descendent. Hybrid Vigor, the result of breeding occurring between unrelated people, avoids the problem of having two broken copies of the same gene likely to meet. 
 It is somewhat difficult to measure the effect of interbreeding because environmental effects are also play a role in the human condition. Being killed in a car accident or having damaged lungs because of smoking overrides the benefits that may occur from selecting a biologically strong mate. Though not a scientific claim, it is interesting to note that in the United Kingdom, mixed race people make up only 3% of the population, yet make up t30% of soccer players. Brazil, with a very mixed race population, has won the World Cup more than any other country.

In America, laws forbidding marriage between people of different races were common until the middle of the 20th century. Writers like Madison Grant, a leading eugenicist, warned that racial mixing was “a social and racial crime” that would lead toward “racial suicide” and the eventual disappearance of white civilization. For instance, he said that the cross between higher (white) racial types with Indians will produce Indians and with Negroes, will produce a Negro child, both unhealthy outcomes. Grant called for purity of blood inheritance. His writings, among others, led to 16 states developing legislation such as Virginia’s Racial Integrity Act . It spurred the growth of Anglo Saxon Clubs and the Ku Klux Klan. Virginia’s original law stated that a person was not white if he or she had 1/64 of Native Ancestry. Interestingly, 16 members of the Virginia General Assembly proudly claimed to be descendants of Pocahontas and objected to the law that was eventually passed. It wasn’t until 1967 that the Supreme Court struck down the Racial Integrity Act and 15 similar ones in other states.

According to a 2017 Pew Research Center report, 1 out of 10 married people in the U.S. has a spouse of a different race or ethnicity. Part of this accelerating condition is due to mass immigration which is making Americans more tolerant toward interracial marriage. Among women, Asians are the most likely to marry someone of a different race while among men, Hispanic and Black men are the most likely to intermarry.

However, there is a growing group of White Americans opposed to the trend to racial mixing. Those expressing their resistance to interracial marriage are most strong in rural areas. I was surprised to learn that 51 percent of Democrats and 72 percent of Republicans do not think intermarriage is good.

Despite negative feelings, the future of society is likely to lead to mixing races as it always has done in the past. In my last blog I mentioned the results of genome testing done with millions of people show that most Homo Sapiens have small traces of Neanderthal their DNA. What has changed from those prehistoric days to now is the speed in which racial mixing occurs. The structure of the human gene pool is dynamically affected by globalization and migration. I am reminded of lessons learned from Darwin’s Survival of the Species, that natural selection requires diversity and that those best suited to their environment will be the best candidates to pass their genes on to the next generation.

Today many of us live in environments that are not biologically well-suited for natural selection. Heating and cooling systems, contemporary agricultural practices and extensive transportation systems make that possible. Movement by mass populations has the advantage of blending genes, providing an opportunity for good traits to make their way into other populations. For example, in Tibet where high altitude creates low oxygen levels Tibetans are well adapted to their environment, but the Han Chinese and Serpas who moved to the area when China occupied the country in were not. When the races started to mix, the beneficial genes of the Tibetans helped the next generation of newcomers become better adapted to the thin air.

When examining dogs to identify genetic disorders, purebreds are found more likely to suffer weaknesses than those of a mixed-breed because same-breed mating can cause unhealthy recessive genes to become dominant. The human condition acts similarly. Studies of Middle Eastern and North African marriages among close relatives show that their children are more likely to have birth defects or genetic disorders than those living in racially mixed countries.

Geneticists explain that we are not as diverse as you might think. New York Times reporter, Natalie Angier, wrote, “Scientists say that while it may be easy to tell at a glance whether a person is Asian, African or Caucasian, the differences dissolve when one looks beyond surface features and scans the human genome for DNA hallmarks of race.” Race is a social construct, not a biological one and accounts for less than .01 of variations in genetic makeup.

It was interesting to learn of the recent discovery in Morocco identifying the skeletons of 300,000 year old Homo Sapiens. However, it was much later that our early ancestors left the content to travel north. “All of us evolved over the last 100,000 years from the same small number of tribes that migrated out of Africa and colonized the world,” says Dr. Craig Venter, head of Celera Genomics Corporation. He, along with others from the National Institutes of Health declare that there is only one race—the human race. There have only been 7,000 generations since the 10,000 or so people who left Africa started migrating north to mix at times with archaic humans. (such as Neanderthals and Homo Erectus). This is not enough time to produce variations of any significance.

The differences in how we are packaged, the visual cues of color, are minuscule when studying the human genome. There is little scientific evidence to support substantial distinctions between groups. Yes, there are genes that control pigmentation and other physical features but the are mostly “skin deep.” Slight variations are caused by the pressure of the environment to carry a certain genes to protect skin against the burning sun. Occasionally an isolated group develops a genetic predisposition due to one ancestor being born with an unusual mutation.

Over time, species either adapt of become extinct. Evolution can not be stopped and as the environment changes so will the need accelerate human adaptations. As sea levels continue to rise, populations will be forced to move and continue to reshape the structure of the gene pool However, it will take hundreds of thousands of generations living in changed and isolated environments before human beings will divide into genetically different groups. You and I will never live to see these differences so I say, let’s stop the racial biases and come together based on our similarities.

References:

Controversial, but True? mixed Race Humans have a Genetic Advantage, 2010,
http://www.ign.com/boards/threads/controversial-but-true-mixed-race-humans-have-a-genetic-advantage.192331120/

Lombardo, Paul, Eugenic Laws Against Race Mixing,University of Virginia, http://www.eugenicsarchive.org/html/eugenics/essay7text.html

Rosetti, Chris, National Vanguard, 2017, Pew Study:Vast Majority of Whites are Resisting Racial Mixing, http://nationalvanguard.org/2017/05/pew-study-vast-majority-of-whites-are-resisting-racial-mixing/

Slomon, Scott, from Future Humans: inside the Science of our Continuing Evolution, 2016, https://aeon.co/essays/the-future-is-mixed-race-and-thats-a-good-thing-for-humanity

Angier, Natalie, Do races Differ? Not really, DNA Shows. The New York Times, 2000
https://partners.nytimes.com/library/national/science/082200sci-genetics-race.html

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Malheur Sunset, 23” by 27”, $425, Acrylic on Canvas, Black wood frame

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