Diane Ackerman's An Alchemy Of Mind

Since birth, a little girl by the name of Melody was diagnosed with cerebral palsy. That is a disorder that affects movement, muscle tone, and motor skills. It causes reflex movements that the person can’t control and it causes muscle tightness that can affect a part of the body if not the whole body. Ever since she was born, she was loved and cared for but she wasn’t able to say a single word. The book’s title is “Out of My Mind,” by Sharon M. Draper. It focuses on a disabled girl and her thoughts. Most fiction books have author’s purposes and this book’s author’s purpose is to entertain and inform.

Hannah Arendt presents in her novel, The Life of the Mind, a theory she refers to as the “two-in-one.” She builds her theory off of a Socratic proposition. Socrates stated that it would be better for a group of men to be out of tune with each other than for him to be out of tune with himself. Here, however, lies a paradox. How can one be out of tune with itself? Arendt states that “you always need at least two tones to produce a harmonious sound” (183). Yet when you appear to others, you are one, otherwise you would be unrecognizable. But Arendt points out that you do not only appear to others, you also exist and appear for yourself. In doing so, you become more than one. As Arendt paradoxically states, “A difference is inserted into my Oneness” (183).

“The Human Brain”, by myPerspectives, is an informative article that claims that the brain is a complex organ that is truly impressive. The brain is a key part of the central nervous system, that controls the entire body’s activities, to simple things such as breathing. These actions are fired through neurons, that quickly travel through the spinal cord. Surprisingly, the brain transmits these messages at an unimaginable rate, at 150 miles per hour, through 85 billion cells, called neurons. These neurons can form up to 10,000 synapses, or connections to each other. By itself, the brain can create billions of synapses, which change the structure of the brain every time new information is learned. However, there is still much that scientists

In the article titled, “Secrets of the Brain” published in the February 2014 issue of National Geographic, we learn that there have been many advances in understanding the inner workings of our brains. One of the leading scentists, Van Weeden, is working hard to understand the connections that occur within our heads.

Armstrong begins his paper with a question for the reader of what it means to have a mind. It is well understood that man has the ability to perceive, to think, to feel, and so on, but what does it mean to perceive, to think, and to feel? The answer, he believes, lies in science. Seeing that science is constantly and rapidly gaining ground, he asserts that “...we can give a complete account of man in purely physico-chemical terms” (295?) Pointing out the fact that this view has been accepted by various scientists throughout time, he explains it is the most reliable way to approach the mind-body problem.

The portrait I choose is the Faces by Nancy Burson, 1992 (figure, 22.7). The portrait is the picture of two boys, and they are twins. In the description, Nancy used a cheap plastic camera for their look. The plastic camera creates a blurry effect on the subject, which is the two boys. The twins have the same shirt with the same pattern on them, and their hairstyle is similar as well. Their face features are almost identical consider they are twins. Looks closely, their face structure seems unusual for them compared to other children of their age. For example, the size of their nose is bigger and wider than the usual size. And their eyebrow bone is more arch. According to the textbook, the unusual facial structure might cause by genetic conditions, accident or disease. The twin may or may not born like this, and there are some other unknown factors decide how they look. However, this picture shows the characteristics of the children, such as pure, kind, optimistic, curious.

Although CHEER may seem hard and overwhelming to students, they have to push themselves to achieve an A in both courses. Establishing a growth mindset in summer school is key to being successful in the classes that are being taken. Students should take advantage of tutoring and lab time that is offered. Wisely using both opportunities, CHEER students have the ability to obtain an A in both courses. In order to do so, students have to keep a healthy brain by getting rest, exercising and living a healthy lifestyle. By doing such things, students will be prompt and ready for class.

I read the article, “Secrets of the Brain”, found in the February 2014 issue of National Geographic written by Carl Zimmer. I chose this subject because I have been fascinated with the brain and how it works. The research of the brain has been ongoing for many centuries now. The history in this article is interesting. It explained how scientists used to understand the brain and its inner workings. For example, “in the ancient world physicians believed that the brain was made of phlegm. Aristotle looked on it as a refrigerator, cooling of the fiery heart. From his time through the Renaissance, anatomists declared with great authority that our perceptions, emotions, reasoning, and actions were all the result of “animal spirits”—mysterious, unknowable vapors that swirled through cavities in our head and traveled through our bodies.” (Zimmer, p. 38)

In the introduction of the book, Levitt and Dubner use scenarios from history and everyday events that explain how in many of them, generally accepted beliefs, known as conventional wisdom, are wrong. For example, they mention a scenario in which crime rates in the 1990’s were expected to rise greatly; however, they dropped to its lowest level in 35 years. Due to conventional wisdom, people predicted the increase in crime rates, crime was deemed unstoppable.

After reading the article, “The Maker’s Eye” by Donal Murray, I agree with the author on how writing isn’t a one step process to becoming a strong writer. Murray mentions when writers write and pause to look at others’ point of views, they go back and change their own writing. It’s true when he says that most writers are harsh on themselves. Reflecting upon myself in high school, I believe that looking at other students’ point of views would help me get new ideas because I knew my writing wasn’t the best. For instance, what my tenth grade English teacher did was a “walk through gallery” which allowed students to read other students’ responses towards the assignment and mention one good and bad part of their work. Therefore, being able to view other styles of writing caused me to change bits and pieces within my essay.

“In 2009, 33 million people in the United States were second generation immigrants, representing 11% of the national population. The children of such immigrants in the U.S., also known as "second generation immigrants," experience a cultural conflict between that of their parents and that of mainstream U.S. society” (Wikipedia 1). Amy Tan the author of “Two Kinds”, and the young character in the story both are a second generation immigrants, who have struggled in their life with parents, about the culture they assimilating and their real culture.

The novel “An Unquiet Mind” starts off describing the life of a young girl, Kay. Early off in Kay’s life she is experiencing traumatizing life events. One of those events is a very close encounter with a plane that flew over the elementary playground very low and “It flew into the trees, exploding directly in front of us” (12). Early on it seems much easier to see how she developed the mental illness, manic-depressive (bipolar) illness. Also, her father showed signs of a bipolar illness and maybe it could be heredity. Another traumatizing event was when Kay and her family moved to California and the complete shock from the change in background. This switch also leads to Kay drinking before she attends classes for high school. Just at the age of 16, Kay is beginning to see just how much her mood swings are affecting her friends and how the bipolar illness is changing her life.

Learning to create music or a speech spontaneously is not an easy task. Any professional musician will say that improvisation is not as easy as just making it up as one goes along. In fact, the musicians that make improvisation look simple are the ones who have put in countless hours of time and study to make it look effortless. The Improvisational Brain by Amanda Martinez tells about a neuroscientist that studied the science behind how the brain works in order to improvise. In order to be able to be a good improviser, one must learn to shut down the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and let the creativity and skill take over. What about those that have limited ability? Should they learn to improvise as well? One would argue that it is not important to learn to improvise, whether it be music or otherwise. However, improvising can give a person a sense of freedom from the ordinary. “This notion of trying to tell your own story, without the constraints of caring how well it’s going as you’re saying it, was really pretty intriguing” (Martinez p. 7). Although many struggle being able to shut down the part of your brain that allows one to improvise, it is important to teach children and adults alike how to improvise because it teaches creativity, divergent thinking, and encourages better communication skills.

However, the most memorable thing I was able to see that day was the human brain. Looking at it, it didn’t look much different than models we had used in class. The student in charge of that section went over the fundamental parts of the brain, things I had studied for class. Though it was interesting, the moment that made it really real for me was the moment I was able to hold it. Holding it is my hand, the basic anatomy of the brain went away. I stood in an awed silence as I tried to imagine the things it had seen, had heard, the life it had lived. This was the motor to human existence. Though brains may look similar on the outside, on the inside they were so unique, so different, each like a snowflake, only ever occurring once. It was in that moment that I knew I wanted to learn all I could about this fascinating object that is the mind, unlock doors that had previously been closed, and leave the world a better place than I found it.

     One of the most complex and fascinating things in the human body is the brain. The body is “capable of almost everything, but it would not be possible, without the brain receiving information, and analyzing the information.”