questions of an accident

so, nobody freak out, but yes, i did get hit by a car as i was biking home tuesday evening. I'm fine, i just have some road rash and soreness, and i went back to school friday. but it got me wondering (as i am prone to do) about what was going through my mind as i was getting hit. obviously there was probably an adrenaline rush, and yes, time did seem to slow a bit as the car was coming toward me, a documented incident caused by the brains vivid remembering of details in a life or death situation. other than that and my wanting to cuss the guy out after it was over, that's all i know. sorry, but it's not like i have a phd or anything. maybe you know someone who does. and that's what i really want you guys to get from these posts, not answers, but questions that you can go out into the world and answer for yourself. just please, please please don't answer this question: "what's the worst that could possibly happen if i don't wear a helmet?" cause the answer will probably suck.

psyched advice

if i could write my own advice column, i'd love to write one like this:

Dear Yasmeen,

I've just met this guy who's super sweet and charming. We talk occasionally, and I'm about average in terms of prettiness, but how do I get him to ask me out? Are there any ways psychology could help me?

Sincerely,

Hopeful in Hoboken

dear hopeful,

there are tons of ways psychology could help you out! we learned in my first year of psychology that attraction between two people are often predicted by four things: similarity, proximity, reciprocity, and physical attractiveness. find things you and your guy have in common for similarity, and for proximity, try to see him regularly. as for reciprocity and physical attractiveness, those two shouldn't be a problem! also, a university of rochester study has shown that men find women wearing red more attractive, so if you feel it necessary, put on that red shirt! and this guy doesn't necessarily have to be the one to ask you out either. if you're too scared to ask him straight out, plan to do something you know he'd like doing, mention it in passing, and invite him along.

hope this helps,

yasmeen

by the way, feel free to take the advice, it really is based on reality, not made up like the letter from hopeful in hoboken.

an interview with jonah lehrer

so guess what?! as you can see by the title, you guys get treated with an interview with jonah lehrer! he's written proust was a neuroscientist, how we decide, his own blog on wired.com, and contributes to radiolab and wired magazine, plus he quotes bob dylan. so an all around very cool guy, and lets all be sure to thank him should we ever meet him.

what journey did you take to become a science writer?
I became a science writer because I couldn't become a scientist. In fact, I was so bad at bench science that the post-doc I was working for (and he remains one of my best friends) used to joke that I "excelled at experimental failure". This ineptitude led me to think about science writing, which struck me as the best of both worlds, since I could continue to think about scientific ideas but didn't have to wear latex gloves, sacrifice mice, or worry about calibrating micropipettes. As Bob Dylan said, "There's no success like failure."

were you different from your peers as a teenager? did you have a hard time because of it?
I was a pretty big nerd. But my best friends were also pretty nerdy, so I didn't mind. Too much.

what advice would you give to teens who want to become science writers?
I'm afraid I don't have any good advice. I'm still learning how to write myself One thing I've learned, though, is that writing is a craft. There are no born writers. One has to practice and practice and practice. (That's why blogging has been so important for me - it's forced deliberate practice, with lots of critical comments!) And maybe, if you're lucky, your sentences will get a little bit better most days, a little bit more transparent and clear and readable. You will say more with fewer words. But there are no short-cuts. I'm convinced that, before you can write a good sentence, you have to write lots of really bad sentences, and then spend lots of time editing those sentences. So the writing process isn't always fun. But the upside is that, as a science writer, you'll get to ask some of the smartest people on the planet a lot of really naive questions. That's the best part of the job.

make an impact

so just the other day my dad was showing me the new yorker article about tavi, the fashion blogger who's my age and gets invited to fashion shows all the time and stuff because she has a huge following. you know, that tavi? and it just got me thinking, what would all the creative youth like tavi (and because i'm vain i like to think myself) have done, say, fifty years ago? now that we're in a culture obessed with youth to such a high degree, are youth listened to more? and how much of an impact (obviously it has had an impact) has the internet made?
i think the answer is yes, but before we all start cheering, lets remember that a voice can be a double edged sword. yes, now kids and teens can put their voices out there, it's important that we remember not to be frivolous with this new power. the less we write about issues that are important to us, the less impact we will make when we do have something important to say. so please, try not to fill the internet with random babble. if you have something you care about, get it out there.
the internet isn't the only form of media around, either. there are great groups like youth radio and youth speaks in the bay area that help young people hone and find a platform for their opinions, and i'm sure there are orginizations like them where you live. so go ahead, make an impact.
p.s. are you a youth who already does this? tell me how!

erasing the almost

reading this post's title probably had you thinking "what?" but i promise i'll explain. here was my "about me" yesterday:
almost high school aged girl who loves star wars, gladwell, lehrer, radio lab and indie rock and is too lazy to capitalize when typing.
this is my "about me" today:
high school aged girl who loves star wars, gladwell, lehrer, radio lab and indie rock and is too lazy to capitalize when typing.
are you seeing the missing "almost"? i start high school tomorow! aaaaaaaah! no, hopefully i'll be ok. i can open my combination lock in 12 seconds flat (i've been practicing) and all my awesome friends who love me for being a giant nerd (see last parentheses) are going to the same school. so cross your fingers i don't get egged on freshmen fridays (yah, they do do that, but luckily there are only four) and i'll keep writing! i'm definitely not going anywhere.

referendum day

i am pleased to announce that the next three weeks will have very special blog posts pertaining to non western views of psychology and pop culture because i'm in mombasa, kenya! it's beautiful here, but also sad because of the huge social-economic differences between the different subgroups. however, we might start to see some of that change starting today.

today is referendum day here in kenya, so all citizens have a chance to vote on the countries new constitution, which is looking like it will pass (washington post, 2010). it's so awesome that i get to be here to witness what is essentially history in the making.

this referendum also poses some interesting questions: how would the u.s. be if we did not have the electoral college? our founding fathers designed the electoral college because they worried about the common man not having enough information to make informed decisions in the voting process, however, in today's internet society this is hardly an issue. we all know that the electoral college can be manipulated (he hem, george bush). if we had the chance, how would the u.s. remake it's government? how would you?
PLEASE comment below, i'd love to hear your opinion. you owe me from the last post. read that one and comment too. anything you want me to cover while i'm here? tell me about it and i'll try to get to it. thanks.

what does it mean to be human?

we're going to try something new, okay? this post is more like a forum, i want to hear everyone's opinions. what does it mean to be human to you? and how would you fill the voyager space capsule? read the post to hear my opinion, then write your own in the comments section.

i think that what makes humans different from all other species is that we are the only species that feels a need to alter our environments. we want to grow, to nourish, to create, to love, maybe even to injure, we do all these things because we want to be known. we want to be remembered for having an affect on our world, and i'm sure everyone, even hitler, believes their affect is positive. we know that we are successful human beings when we reach the end of our lives and decide that we added more to the world than we took away. this is part of the lure of religions, they promise to make us eternal, be it in heaven, or reincarnation or what have you. it's no mistake we're called human beings, because that is our goal in life, to always be in at least one form. that's the main goal of evolution too, to keep our genes, a portion of ourselves, in existence. it's why most people believe in some sort of afterlife. it's also why we are fascinated with vampire and other immortals. we love the concept of existing forever, especially in perfection, because we are incredibly vain. that's how we like to think of ourselves, as perfect. this is the reason we say god made us in it's image, because it makes us feel more perfect and human.

how would you reflect what it means to be human? have you ever heard of the voyager space project? they sent two identical gold records into space, with recordings of what the researchers thought reflected what it means to be human. if i were filling that space capsule, i would put things that reflect the joy of being alive and the beauty of human choice. while there will always be dictators and tyrants, there will also always be people who protest their acts. for every slave owner, there were people who marched on washington. for every war criminal, there are people dedicating their lives to helping others. i would use the shuttle to show that although humans vary in their beliefs and attitudes, we have a great potential for good. although it probably wouldn't matter, because aliens would probably find our need to be known and leave a mark on the future baffling.

remember to comment your opinion!