Fear, and the Science behind it

There are some questions that seem to cross everyone's mind at least once:
Why do we get scared?
Why do we like watching horror movies?
Why is violence appealing to us?

Well fear is a natural emotion, such as joy or anger, and it is induced by a perceived threat. Fear is the ability to recognize danger leading to an urge to confront it or flee from it (fight or flight response). In extreme cases of fear a freeze or paralysis response is also possible.

Why does this happen?

Fear is actually a very good thing, and believe it or not evolved in humans through natural selection over time. The ability to recognize and fear dangerous situations is helpful, and being careful is generally a good way to go about handling situations.

How does it work?

Fear is a natural response by the body and is produced by the amygdala, a region behind the pituitary gland, in the brain. In response to a threatening stimulus the amygdala generates the secretion of hormones that influence fear and aggression, and they put the body in a state of alertness leading to teh fight or flight response. The hormones associated are epinephrine, norepinephrine, and cortisol which all are secreted by the adrenal glands and are commonly referred to as adrenaline After the fear producing situation the amygdala and hippocampus record the event through synaptic plasticity by activating neurons in the region. This plasticity is what generates fear conditioning and promotes a more efficient and effective fear response the next time the body is faced with a similar situation. 

Interestingly, according to Glenn Sparks, a professor at Purdue University, the fear you feel when watching someone being chased by an axe-wielding murderer is no different than the fear you would experience when actually being chased. When people watch horrific images their heartbeat increases as much as 15 beats per minute, their palms sweat, their skin temperature drops several degrees, their muscles tense, and their blood pressure spikes.

But why would we enjoy this feeling?

This question has been asked by many people for many years but the answer lies in the composition of the brain and its response to stimulus. The amygdala is responsible for processing both pleasure and fear in the brain. The beginning of the processes being the same for love, pleasure and fear. As the amygdala begins pumping, the sensory information is sent to the prefrontal cortex where the brain begins to process the situation and determine the relative danger. This means that until your brain makes an evaluation, you are experiencing both pleasant and unpleasant emotions at the same time in response to the stimulus. In the case of watching a horror movie, the apparent danger observed from the screen starts the amygdala working and emotions begin flowing, but as the prefrontal cortex determines that no danger to the body is present in the situation, the spillover from the amygdala is rewarding and not frightening. The pleasant emotions win out and the adrenaline response of the body becomes a positive experience.

So as you can see, even while we are watching a fellow human succumbing to a horrible fate, we are experiencing pleasure and a sort of adrenaline high as a result of an evolutionary undertaking that produced an association between the fear and pleasure responses in the brain. Thank you Evolution! Now I have scientific reasoning for going to see Paranormal Activity!

 

3 Brothers, 2 Football Players, 1 Ninja

As you can see in the lower left hand corner of the image, this is a picture from halloween 2006 of my stepbrothers and I sitting right inside our front door getting ready to go out and collect our insane amount of sugary goods, the leftovers of which that will end up sitting in the cupboard for months before getting thrown away.
I always thought this was a pretty good picture but I have the feeling that I will never look at it the same, and probably not like it as much, after analyzing it for rhetoric. Well first of all, our costumes make the argument that it is cold out as we are all wearing a sweatshirt under our outfits and Drew, left, is wearing gloves. Me, middle, and Ty, left, are dressed up as football players which makes the argument that we like football and dream of being football players. I guess some would argue that football players aren't frightening, but I would beg to differ after playing and watching the game for eight years and more that there are.
You could also say that by dressing up as football players Ty and I are arguing that we play football, but actually only I do. Ty would play football but he can't because he has hemophilia, a blood disease that I am not going to go into at this time. Our costumes make the argument that we are tough and ferocious, a good portrayal for two kids trying to harvest as much candy as possible from strangers.
Now Drew on the other hand is dressed up as a ninja which makes the argument that he is quick, speedy, small, and tough. The first three of those are true but he was also seven years old at the time so we can give him a break.
By looking at this picture you can see how even costumes thrown together the day of halloween can have rhetoric and make an argument if you take the time to search for hidden meaning and pick out the details. Now i'm probably going to end up doing that for my costume this year too...

A Weekend in Ann Arbor

This weekend I drove to Ann Arbor with my dad to visit the University of Michigan. I really liked the school and the atmosphere of Ann Arbor. The whole town revolves around the college and the three campuses spread across basically the whole city. It was also the weekend of the Michigan and Michigan State football game so the town and campus were hopping. The Michigan football stadium is absolutely gigantic, holding more than 100,000 people. It’s incredible how they can draw such a large crowd, but Ann Arbor isn't very close to any other large towns so it’s the main event in the area.

              

  After my trip there I could definitely see myself going to the University. It has really good academic programs all around and there is so much stuff going on all the time being bored is out of the question. My dad and I also ate at Blimpy Burger on campus which was featured on Man v Food on the travel channel. It was insanely good but it was interesting because the workers there were very pushy and kind of rude. It was successful though because the long line moved really fast and according to the locals the workers always act like that.

   

  I also walked past a frat house on my tour in full swing pumping 99 problems on Saturday before the football game but I won't go into the details on the happenings in the yard.

 It was definitely worth the trip and I am definitely going to apply to the University of Michigan, among other schools, because it was a great college atmosphere with great opportunities.

Time For the Jeopardy!

This video is a clip from SNL and it's hilarious. I couldn't find it on youtube so this link is to hulu. Hulu doesn't allow you to convert their videos so I just set up a link to the video.

http://www.hulu.com/watch/12768

This video clip is extremely funny for a number of reasons. It is filmed in an exact replica of the normal jeopardy studio which creates the feeling that it is going to be just like the real show. The similarities stop right about there.

The "contestants" on the show are famous actors who are playing the role of other famous actors and their back and forth banter is comical because they model everything that they say using mannerisms and speech that is eerily similar to the celebrities they are trying to portray. They also try to portray the most humorous parts of each celebrity, keying in on embarrassing or stereotypical doings of the person. They are also celebrities that are generally liked by the intended audience, adults who enjoy adult humor, which appeals to the people watching it.

In addition to playing the role of a celebrity, the contestants are completely clueless toward everything going on around them which is ironic because usually contestants on jeopardy are incredibly smart, and  it is appealing because everyone likes portraying celebrities as unintelligent because it dampens their jealousy of the celebrities lives in a way.

The categories and questions are very humorous also because they have completely obvious answers that the "contestants" can never seem to get. Also, in every episode of celebrity jeopardy Sean Connery "misreads" one of the categories toward a sexual reference and sticks with it which is funny because sexual references in general have no place on a show like jeopardy.

I think that Alex Trebeck (Will Ferrell) makes the show though because the entire time he keeps a straight face and acts like a professional host on a TV show. His monotone voice and condescending remarks toward the contestants and the audience are ironic because it makes it seem like his expectations for the show have fallen so far short and he is dumbfounded by the complete stupidity and obliviousness of the players.

People Watching at Noodles

What better of a place to watch people than their natural habitat, eating food. At Noodles.

Person 1
I saw a white woman who appeared to be in her mid 30s sit down across from a small elderly lady with gray hair. The woman had her hair up in a tight bun, wore an outfit composed entirely of black, gray and white including a black coat, wore black high heels, and had black earrings. Everything about her said uptight business woman. She got up repeatedly to walk out and grab something from her car, or to go to the bathroom, all the meanwhile checking her phone every 10 seconds. She seemed very anxious and chose her phone over talking with her company, the elderly woman across from her. Her face looks quite sullen and very often she takes a long look out the window with a longing look in her eyes. Perhaps something has happened in her life that has made her insecure or saddened and she is trying desperately to hide her feelings. Her mood quickly picks up when the food comes and her muscles loosen with the comfort of her bowl of noodles to snack on.

Person 2
I saw a white woman with blond hair and glasses who appeared to be in her early 40s sit down at a table with two boys who looked like they would fit in well at a middle school. Her hair was messy and frazzled and she couldn't decide whether to pay more attention to her food or to the two boys who only  seemed to care about their food and ignoring her even with her continued attempts to start conversation. She was wearing a peach vest under a green jacket, a bland outfit that could be thrown on very quickly. The wrinkles on her face and bags under her eyes hint of a worn out mother, with a wedding ring, who is trying to make the most out of this relaxing time with her sons as she chews each bite very slowly and often stares into the distance or down at her food. All she can think about is the next time when she will get more than 6 hours of sleep.

Person 3
The last person that I observed at noodles was an asian man in what appeared to be his late 30s with a young boy in grade school. Both wore glasses and the man wore a long sleeve black shirt with a bright yellow vest over the top and faded jeans. He finished his food quicker than anyone I had ever seen and couldn't wait ten seconds without poking at his sons food while the son's focus was elsewhere before he finally decided to just finish it for him. He expects obedience from his son as he makes the decision to leave and puts his arm around the boy before he can get distracted by the colorful menu on the wall. As they leave he stands tapping his foot while holding the door as his son stops to tie his shoe, then puts his arm around him once more as they briskly head towards their car.

In just a snipet of time you can infer many things about a person, and whether they turn out to be true or not, it's always entertaining.