Humanity’s Stairway

Think about the mind as being like a house with many rooms, most of which we’re very familiar with. But sometimes it’s as though a doorway appears from out of nowhere and it opens onto a staircase. We climb the staircase and experience a state of altered consciousness. The world’s many religions have found so many ways to help people climb the staircase. Some shut down the self using meditation. Others use psychedelic drugs. There is a 16th century Aztec scroll showing a man about to eat a psilocybin mushroom and at the same moment get yanked up the staircase by a god. Others use dancing, spinning and circling to promote self-transcendence. But you don’t need a religion to get you through the staircase. Lots of people find self-transcendence in nature. Others overcome their self at raves. So what all of these cases have in common is that the self seems to thin out, or melt away, and it feels good, it feels really good, in a way totally unlike anything we feel in our normal lives. It feels somehow uplifting. This idea that we move up was central in the writing of the great French sociologist Emile Durkheim. Durkheim even called us Homo duplex, or two-level man. The lower level he called the level of the profane. Now profane is the opposite of sacred. It just means ordinary or common. And in our ordinary lives we exist as individuals. We want to satisfy our individual desires. We pursue our individual goals. But sometimes something happens that triggers a phase change. Individuals unite into a team, a movement or a nation, which is far more than the sum of its parts. Durkheim called this level the level of the sacred because he believed that the function of religion was to unite people into a group, into a moral community. Durkheim believed that anything that unites us takes on an air of sacredness. And once people circle around some sacred object or value, they’ll then work as a team and fight to defend it. Durkheim wrote about a set of intense collective emotions that accomplish this miracle of E pluribus unum, of making a group out of individuals. I’m saying that the capacity for self-transcendence is just a basic part of being human. I’m offering the metaphor of a staircase in the mind. I’m saying we are Homo duplex and this staircase takes us up from the profane level to the level of the sacred. When we climb that staircase, self-interest fades away, we become just much less self-interested, and we feel as though we are better, nobler and somehow uplifted. So here’s the million-dollar question for social scientists like me: Is the staircase a feature of our evolutionary design? Is it a product of natural selection, like our hands? Or is it a bug, a mistake in the system –this religious stuff is just something that happens when the wires cross in the brain– Jill has a stroke and she has this religious experience, it’s just a mistake? Watch the complete TED Talk here: www.ted.com/talks/jonathan_haidt_humanity_s_stairway_to_self_transcendence?language=en

The Teenage Brain

Drawing on her research, knowledge, and clinical experience, internationally respected neurologist –and mother of two boys– Frances E. Jensen, MD, offers a revolutionary look at the adolescent brain, providing remarkable insights that translate into practical advice both for parents and teenagers. Driven by the assumption that brain growth was almost complete by the time a child reached puberty, scientists believed for many years that the adolescent brain was essentially an adult one –only with fewer miles on it.

Over the last decade, however, neurology and neuroscience have revealed that the teen years encompass vitally important stages of brain development. Motivated by her experience of parenting two teenagers, renowned neurologist Dr. Jensen gathers what we’ve discovered about adolescent brain functioning and wiring, and in this groundbreaking, accessible book, explains how these eyeopening findings not only dispel commonly held myths about teens but also yield practical suggestions for adults and teenagers negotiating the mysterious and magical world of adolescent biology.

Examining data connecting substance use to lingering memory issues and, sometimes, a lower adult IQ, The Teenage Brain explains why teenagers are not as resilient to the effects of drugs as we previously thought; reveals how multitasking impacts learning ability and concentration; and examines the consequences of stress on mental health during and beyond adolescence. www.harpercollins.com

For Peaceful Coexistance

Up until recently, the village of Ramdegi was a bustling farming community in central India’s Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve. Today, the village’s human population stands at exactly zero, though its streets and fields are now teeming with a different kind of life. As part of an ongoing effort to reduce human conflict with wildlife, the Indian government has been encouraging communities living in and around nature reserves to relocate for the sake of peaceful coexistence –and last month, everyone in Ramdegi did just that. Around 200 families agreed to accept incentive packages to move beyond the reserve’s borders, freeing the land to be reclaimed by the surrounding biodiversity.

It didn’t take long before the village, now completely void of people, to be filled anew. A little over four weeks after the last human departed, Ramdegi is now home to herds of bisons, deer, antelope, and boars –grazing on the budding meadows that were once cropland and cattle farms.

Predators too, once reviled by villagers for killing their livestock, are returning to Ramdegi. According to the Times of India, even a tiger has been spotted prowling the grounds of the empty village, free from dangerous and often deadly conflicts with humans that have driven the species to ‘endangered’ status. This is not the first time an entire village has moved out so nature could move in. Across India, nearly a hundred communities have already voluntarily relocated to widen tiger reserves, and dozens more are expected to follow suit in the years to come. Human ingenuity may be unmatched in its ability to tame wild landscapes for our own ends –but as Earth’s other inhabitants struggle in the resulting wake, human capacity for compassion in making room for nature just might prove to be the greatest quality of all.
Source: Entire village volunteers to leave their homes so wildlife can flourish www.treehugger.com Image: RobRyb

Polluted Everest

Mount Everest, once imagined to be a pristine and foreboding emblem of nature, is now full of human waste, and that waste is causing pollution issues and spreading disease, according to officials in Nepal. The chief of Nepal’s mountaineering association, Ang Tshering, recently said that the 700 annual visitors to the mountain are leaving behind special treats that the Nepalese aren’t down for. The human feces and urine can be found in such great amounts that no one’s quite sure what to do with them.

Tshering added that the Nepalese government needs to do a better job making sure climbers clean up after themselves. There are four camps between the base camp and the summit but none of these camps have toilets. Climbers typically dig holes for their waste, but Tshering says they’ve been doing this for years and now the waste has piled up around the camps. At base camp waste is stored in drums which are transported to lower elevations when full. Though there isn’t a plan in place for dealing with the waste at the camps above base camp, the government currently requires each climber to carry out 18 pounds of garbage when they leave, or risk losing a $4000 deposit.
Source: There’s Too Much Human Waste on Mount Everest. www.ryot.org

Living Together

Industrialized countries sure have an off-putting way of treating their elderly citizens. By the time people get old they’re viewed as a burden to society and are separated from the general population. Even if the care for seniors in retirement communities is good, the residents are still likely to experience feelings of isolation. One retirement home in Deventer, Netherlands has helped squash the generational divide though, by inviting six college students to move into the building. The students at Humanitas are not employees, just younger people who live and eat alongside the 160 seniors who reside there. It’s an experiment that has led to plenty of cross-generational interactions. While the Humanitas staff takes care of the typical work of running a retirement community, they’re generally too busy to attend to the residents’ social needs. That’s where the college students come in– they’re there to be friendly faces to the residents and ensure that lonely residents aren’t feeling isolated. For an average of an hour each day, the students socialize with or assist their neighbors at minor tasks. One student, Jurrien, teaches residents how to use the computer so they can better keep in touch via the internet with people outside of the retirement building.

It’s not an entirely selfless act for the students, either. For volunteering their time they pay no rent at Humanitas, easing the financial problems that many young full-time students face. On the whole, the students seem happy with the accommodations at the retirement home, noting that if they were to find their own apartments they would be paying too much for half the space, which they’d have to share with a roommate. Because of the layout at Humanitas, the students each get their own private room, kitchenette, and bathroom. As expected, the generational gap does lead to some differences in lifestyles. The younger residents at Humanitas don’t have to sacrifice relationships with their peers to live in the home, and are permitted to bring friends and romantic partners over for visits.

It’s an unusual partnership, but a mutually beneficial one that should be replicated more often. The closest American example I’ve found that compares to the Netherland’s model is at the Judson Manor in Cleveland, Ohio. The 100-resident home invites three local music students to live on the premises for free in exchange for regularly scheduled music performances. According to interviews, residents and students alike are very happy with this deal, proving it can be success. Though space is sometimes a concern at overcrowded facilities, given how the quality of life improves for seniors in these living arrangements it seems worthwhile to allocate at least a few rooms to people from a younger generation, especially as it can help improve mental wellness amongst retirement home residents. Source: The Smart Plan that Could Benefit Both Students and the Elderly by Kevin Mathews. www.care2.com

Drones & Rhinos

Hundreds of rhinos are butchered each year by poachers who kill them for their valuable horns. “Rhino horns are highly prized in traditional Asian medicine, where it is ground into a fine powder or manufactured into tablets as a treatment for a variety of illnesses such as nosebleeds, strokes, convulsions, and fevers” World Wildlife Fund (WWF) explains.

A large rhino horn can fetch as much as $250,000 in underground markets, according to the BBC. The sad thing is, to poachers, rhinos are worth more dead than alive, even if the only thing they take is its horn. What if there was a way to track poachers without them knowing? But instead of catching them in the act, do so before the act is committed, saving rhinos in the process. Over 130 teams from 29 different countries on six continents are participating in what’s called the Wildlife Conservation Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) Challenge. The goal: to build unmanned aircraft that can scan Kruger National Park for poaching activity and map routes for the rangers to apprehend traffickers. Little tiny computers and sensors on board the drones collect data. If there are poachers in the park, how many are there, where are they located, what types of weapons are they carrying, what’s their proximity to the animals, and also, what’s the best route for a ranger to go there and stop the poachers. Source: How Drones Can Help Nab Poachers and Save Endangered Wildlife,
by Tex Dworkin. www.care2.com

The Game of Creativity

Shimpei Takahashi always dreamed of designing toys. But when he started work as a toy developer, he found that the pressure to use data as a starting point for design quashed his creativity. In this short, funny TED talk, Takahashi describes how he got his ideas flowing again, and shares a simple game anyone can play to generate new ideas.

“Hello. I’m a toy developer. With a dream of creating new toys that have never been seen before, I began working at a toy company nine years ago. When I first started working there, I proposed many new ideas to my boss every day. However, my boss always asked if I had the data to prove it would sell, and asked me to think of product development after analyzing market data. Data, data, data. So I analyzed the market data before thinking of a product. However, I was unable to think of anything new at that moment. (Laughter) My ideas were unoriginal. I wasn’t getting any new ideas and I grew tired of thinking. It was so hard that I became this skinny. (Laughter) It’s true.

(Applause) You’ve all probably had similar experiences and felt this way too. Your boss was being difficult. The data was difficult. You become sick of thinking. Now, I throw out the data. It’s my dream to create new toys. And now, instead of data, I’m using a game called Shiritori to come up with new ideas. I would like to introduce this method today. What is Shiritori? Take apple, elephant and trumpet, for example. It’s a game where you take turns saying words that start with the last letter of the previous word. It’s the same in Japanese and English. You can play Shiritori as you like: “neko, kora, raibu, burashi,” etc, etc. [Cat, cola, concert, brush] Many random words will come out. You force those words to connect to what you want to think of and form ideas. In my case, for example, since I want to think of toys, what could a toy cat be? A cat that lands after doing a somersault from a high place? How about a toy with cola? A toy gun where you shoot cola and get someone soaking wet? (Laughter) Ridiculous ideas are okay. The key is to keep them flowing. The more ideas you produce, you’re sure to come up with some good ones, too.

A brush, for example. Can we make a toothbrush into a toy? We could combine a toothbrush with a guitar and –(Music noises)– you’ve got a toy you can play with while brushing your teeth. (Laughter) (Applause) Kids who don’t like to brush their teeth might begin to like it. Can we make a hat into a toy? How about something like a roulette game, where you try the hat on one by one, and then, when someone puts it on, a scary alien breaks through the top screaming, ‘Ahh!’ I wonder if there would be a demand for this at parties? Ideas that didn’t come out while you stare at the data will start to come out. Actually, this bubble wrap, which is used to pack fragile objects, combined with a toy, made Mugen Pop Pop, a toy where you can pop the bubbles as much as you like. It was a big hit when it reached stores. Data had nothing to do with its success. Although it’s only popping bubbles, it’s a great way to kill time, so please pass this around amongst yourselves today and play with it. (Applause) Anyway, you continue to come up with useless ideas. Think up many trivial ideas, everyone. If you base your ideas on data analysis and know what you’re aiming for, you’ll end up trying too hard, and you can’t produce new ideas. Even if you know what your aim is, think of ideas as freely as if you were throwing darts with your eyes closed. If you do this, you surely will hit somewhere near the center. At least one will. That’s the one you should choose. If you do so, that idea will be in demand and, moreover, it will be brand new. That is how I think of new ideas.

It doesn’t have to be Shiritori; there are many different methods. You just have to choose words at random. You can flip through a dictionary and choose words at random. For example, you could look up two random letters and gather the results or go to the store and connect product names with what you want to think of. The point is to gather random words, not information from the category you’re thinking for. If you do this, the ingredients for the association of ideas are collected and form connections that will produce many ideas. The greatest advantage to this method is the continuous flow of images. Because you’re thinking of one word after another, the image of the previous word is still with you. That image will automatically be related with future words. Unconsciously, a concert will be connected to a brush and a roulette game will be connected to a hat. You wouldn’t even realize it. You can come up with ideas that you wouldn’t have thought of otherwise. This method is, of course, not just for toys. You can collect ideas for books, apps, events, and many other projects. I hope you all try this method. There are futures that are born from data. However, using this silly game called Shiritori, I look forward to the exciting future you will create, a future you couldn’t even imagine. Thank you very much.”

Bachelor of Telecommunications

School of social and human studies

The Bachelor of Telecommunications (BS) program objective is to help students develop the knowledge and skills necessary to design and commission, monitor, optimize and manage both small-scale and complex telecommunication systems. The Bachelor of Telecommunications (BS) program is offered online via distance learning. After evaluating both academic record and life experience, AIU staff working in conjunction with Faculty and Academic Advisors will assist students in setting up a custom-made program, designed on an individual basis. This flexibility to meet student needs is seldom found in other distance learning programs. Our online program does not require all students to take the same subjects/courses, use the same books, or learning materials. Instead, the online Bachelor of Telecommunications (BS) curriculum is designed individually by the student and academic advisor. It specifically addresses strengths and weaknesses with respect to market opportunities in the student’s major and intended field of work. Understanding that industry and geographic factors should influence the content of the curriculum instead of a standardized one-fits-all design is the hallmark of AIU’s unique approach to adult education. This philosophy addresses the dynamic and constantly changing environment of working professionals by helping adult students in reaching their professional and personal goals within the scope of the degree program.

Important:
Below is an example of the topics or areas you may develop and work on during your studies. By no means is it a complete or required list as AIU programs do not follow a standardized curriculum. It is meant solely as a reference point and example. Want to learn more about the curriculum design at AIU? Go ahead and visit our website, especially the Course and Curriculum section: ww.aiu.edu/course-curriculum.html