Blog-Surfing might be a Habit

According to a research upon some unsuspecting rats in MIT, habits don't die, in accordance with the well known phrase 'Old habits die hard':

A new study in the Oct. 20 issue of Nature, led by Ann Graybiel of MIT's McGovern Institute, now shows why. Important neural activity patterns in a specific region of the brain change when habits are formed, change again when habits are broken, but quickly re-emerge when something rekindles an extinguished habit -- routines that originally took great effort to learn.

The full article can be read here
That can be an explanation why I can't stop reading blogs. And no, before you jump to conclusion, I didn't mean I was a rat.

It might not be your fault that you lie

Next time when you lie, just think it's in your genes. Atleast one research suggests so:

A USC study published in the October issue of the British Journal of Psychiatry suggests that the talent for compulsive deception is embedded in the structure of the brain.

People who habitually lie and cheat — pathological liars — appear to have much more white matter, which speeds communication between neurons, in the prefrontal cortex than normal people, the researchers found. They also have fewer actual neurons.

Read the full article here (I discovered the story at boingboing).
I wonder if the talent for lying "to avoid hurting others" is also due a genetic disorder, or order. And that reminds me of the innumerable times I and others have appreciated food cooked by someone, even though it was horrible, like this once when everybody exclaimed how different and good the tea tasted, only to be embarrased, when the host sipped and realized: "Jeez ! I put salt in this tea".

Music

Their hearts were tied with the strings of melodies
With the songs of the dusk and the beats of the dawn
Carefully, they held their love
Until their violins broke one day
and their voices died
But their songs live on
To tell the the tale of the hearts
that beat for music
that beat for love
And their songs, live on

Color of Pride

My friend navin has an interesting post upon certain mails that have been circulating among desis, which include a mail from a supposed Dean from IIT Madras, about national pride. To quote:

It took just 40 years. Last week THE day arrived. When Indian ambassador in Washington DC handed over a cheque of US$ 50 million to the US govt, two plane loads of food, medical aid and other relief materials were waiting to fly to the USA. Time to break the fast? With no bad feeling about the USA, and good wishes for the Katrina victims, this humble Indian feels proud of the distance India has covered in 40 years. Let's celebrate a New India!"

- Vijay Kranti.
Dean - IIT Madras
"
This and the previous mails that compared the Mumbai floods and the Katrina hurricane have taken Indian nationalism to a ridiculously laughable level. To be frank, this is the kind of jingoistic nationalism we might be well served to avoid. What is it about us that makes us want to shout it out so loud from the rooftops and tell people that "look, we are so good, look!". Or are we so insecure about our little realities inside that the fact that there were lesser casualties in Mumbai as compared to New Orleans or that our streets were not flooded as much as those in New Orleans becomes a nationally circulating email!

To me, technically, this is yet another spam playing upon my prejudices, my willingness, to feel good about myself, with any reason imaginable, any way possible.
I have something to say about pride, though.
People detest you if they cannot share it with you.
So if you display pride in your achievements, you'll be branded a snob. But give others a chance to share your pride, example, talk about how great your community is, or how great your culture is, and you'll be welcomed all hands.
Pride, you know, comes in many colors. All you need to do is, wear the right color.
And why do people wear pride ? Well, I can come up with many superficial reasons, like it motivates you, or it is your birth-right, or it lies in the genes.
However, if you look a little more, underlying every pride, you'll find a deep-rooted insecurity, arising from the commonality and mortality of beings.

Home ?

I think of earth as my home. But then home is a place of permanent residence isn't it ?
I was born here, I will live here for a while, I will die.
Surely then, this is not my home is it ?

Loss of Kindness

The loss of kindly feeling oft
From slightest things shall grow
Where all the fare is dry and spare
Resentments fierce may glow

I found it here