Biosphere 2

寒假裡一天的tucson之旅來到一個叫做 Biosphere 2 的地方。這是為了實驗人類是否可以創造出一個自給自足封閉的生態循環圈而建造的。可以說，想要靠著設計來創造一個人工的小型地球生態圈，或許目的是為了太空移民、或是為了將來地球災難時，人得以有居住的空間。目前實驗在這裡已經終止了。過去曾經有兩批科學家進到裡頭去，頭一回八個人住了2年，第二回不曉得幾個人住了6個月。

入口處是一個小小的門，一進去以後看到的是一間廚房還有一些房間以及實驗設備，之後就去參觀他們所建造出來人工的熱帶雨林、沙漠、以及海洋。很可惜沒有能夠參觀他們生產食物的那些農地，我想應該是因為實驗已經終止，不需再生產食物和維繫，那一區荒廢了吧。

第一站來到很熱的雨林，濕氣加上溫度對於身穿毛衣而完全沒有被警告的我們來說，簡直是酷刑，還好外套已經脫在停在停車場的車子上了，心裡想著希望快點離開那區的時候，不幸的隊伍走到一半就停下來了，原來是導覽員要開始說明了。

其實並不會很想要聽甚麼，因為濕熱已經讓有些人的眼鏡霧茫茫，我的相機也都凝水了，有人的額頭還滲出汗來，最重要的是，帶著我們參觀的導覽員，還沒拿起麥克風的時候，講的英文都好好的，結果一拿起麥克風，不知為啥就會轉成怪異的英國腔，好像感覺自己是在錄製導覽錄音帶那樣的怪腔怪調的假正經，有一種偶爾才會聽到一兩個熟悉的字從濕熱的空氣震動中被我的耳朵理解到的感覺。

離開了那個地方以後，我們便進入了所謂的沙漠區，我想是因為本來就在沙漠生活了一年，雖然感覺熱，也感覺還算習慣，終於額頭上的那些汗就在導覽員又在那裡高腔高調的敘述的時候蒸發得差不多了。

接下來又到了地底去看水怎麼循環利用，還有冷卻空氣的設備，這個導覽伯伯就那樣一聲不響的自己拿起綁在腰間的毛衣和大衣穿在身上，這種毫無預警的又冷又熱難道是導覽原故意製造的一些樂趣？總之大家就在那裡後知後覺得穿脫穿脫。

寒冷區的導覽結束以後，這趟旅程戲劇化地在我們毫無心裡準備的之下，忽然被這位導覽伯伯帶出了一個白色小門，剎時就出了這個biosphere然後關上了小白門，那一刻忽然有一種，阿，已經再也不能進去看看的感覺，雖然其實也沒有想再多留戀的。

最後，到了海洋的展示區，實際上是已經出了那人工的生態區，不過展示的區域有透明的玻璃可以看到裡面海洋的生物，以及一些另外建造的展示櫥窗。這一區對我來說印象最深刻的就是珊瑚。我看到了海底有一層地毯珊瑚，他們淺咖啡色一個個小小的擠在一起，連成很大的一片，隨著波浪前後的矮矮的大家一起搖晃，不只是表層，連下面可能是已經死亡的珊瑚或是土壤也會跟著整層晃動起來，表層的珊瑚往左，下面不見得會往左，總之就是軟軟的在那裡一層層左右的晃動，有時候大家還會一起停下來一瞬間，然後繼續擺動。

另外在一個櫥窗裡頭，我第一次看到發著螢光的珊瑚，有一個珊瑚（左下前方）像是岩石，但仔細一看居然還那樣軟軟的動來動去著！最後，還看到了很可愛的史前時代一些珊瑚可能的樣子，模型做的非常的可愛，哈。



寫到這裡，我想起我本來這篇post的主軸，是要記錄一些關於這個biosphere最後實驗失敗的想法，如今已經可愛成這樣，沒辦法轉型了-.-

有一刻我忘了什麼

今天, 我跟一個韓國同學走在走廊上, 聊著天.
當然是用英文因為我不會韓文, 他也不會中文.

我們正說到某一件事情是不是要去找某個秘書,
結果我想了幾秒以後, 居然咕嚕嚕的講說：
「阿 是不是那個短頭髮的那個秘書」,一邊還
比劃著, 這時候我的韓國同學睜大了眼睛一直
看著我. 我還渾然不知地繼續說著, 然後他終
於說話了:「I am korean」，這時候我才驚覺
我完全沒有意識的說著中文呢 ..

我看超人

這是我第二次進到I-MAX的電影院. 上次只不過是看看澳洲的風景影片, 這次很傻的去挑戰超人.

這是一個凹球面狀的白色I-MAX螢幕, 相當優雅,人則是在這個凹面的正前往上一排排的坐著.


電影開始前, 戲院播放了一段相當小巧可愛的展示I-Max的小片段.

燈光從螢幕的後方一區區亮起, 螢幕瞬時轉為半透明的白色紗狀, 內部的喇叭以及木條支架的結構們分區若隱若現, 而螢幕上則映出實體白色的箭頭和簡單的字樣指示著各構造, 漂亮簡潔的視覺效果, 配上解說以及音效, 讓現場觀眾眼睛為之一亮, 不時發出此起彼落的小聲驚呼, 甚至有人在demo 完開心的發出呼叫以及鼓掌聲.
接著, 超人就來登場了.

首先看到的, 是一段文字, 靠近整個球面的中間, 嚴格的說, 是好幾條彎彎的排的字們, 你必須來回把頭從最左邊轉到最右邊好幾遍, 才勉強在字消失前的時間內看完超人身世的簡介. 我與朋友們不幸因為太晚進場, 坐在第二排的位置, 也就是說, 在很低的球面前面, 把頭要抬很高那樣...字出現幾秒鐘之後, 在全場忙碌左右擺頭有點不能相信又有點不願認輸的靜默中, 高處有一兩個女人, 笑出了聲, 是在喝采優雅I-MAX不久, 還抱著新奇感卻又體悟到某種荒謬的笑.

然後你完全可以想像, 等一下會有怎麼樣扭曲的星球們飛過來, 尤其是在複雜空間的時候, 可以觀賞到的因為立體凹面所造成的異象.

同一排的觀眾開始往上尋找還有的一兩個空位, 我們也掙扎著到底要不要往上換. 這個當時, 又有兩個人從我們那排的中央走出來, 我們正要商討是否往上走的那一刻, 剛那兩個人居然已經走到走廊並且是往戲院出口的下方, 走去並消失了. 目睹這一幕後, 我們似乎有點沒有考慮的馬上互相點頭起身, 離開的第二排並且往上開始找位置.

Superman Returns 好不好看呢?

在接近戲院最高的地面上, 仍然仰頭觀瞻坐了一個多小時後, 我必須說...還好, 超人真的很可愛, 又很帥.

Lost in Translation

2003
Director: Sofia Coppola

One interesting thing in the movie is about the communication between the Japenese director ane the leading actor. It seems that the director talks a lots to the leading actor. However, the interpreter just repeats the same simplest "gist" for the actor - more passion - again and again. Though the leading actor doesn't know actully what should be done, he still has to complete his performance. Such situation makes me think about my everyday experiences now.

Living abroad, I lose lots of implications of information around me. Translation in my brain is so fragmental. Yet I still have to react to what others talk to me, and have to make decision based on those information. I am so curious that whether I perceive is what it should be. But anyway, you can't think to much and have to view what you perceive as the truth of the world ... Until someday, you may find you are totally wrong... and what others think about you is also far from what you are...Ha

A book about the brain

Some thoughs derived from reading the book "The New Brain: How The Modern Age Is Rewriting Your Mind"


1. It is a little terrified to know that it is today’s media and technology such as TV carrying visual messages varying from minutes to minutes that result in more and more population of ADHD/ADD. By Darwin’s survival of the fittest, I wonder whether the evolution of our brain can catch up with the speed of continuously increasing technologies around us. We have been worried since industrial revolution that one day we may no longer survive on the earth because of our damage to the nature. However now, I am also thinking about whether finally we might kick ourselves out of the survival because of the artificial environment built and persistently “improved” by ourselves.

2. It is interesting to know that an expert has to counteract the natural impulse to gain automated performance as soon as possible when learning and training themselves. The expert definitely does lots of practice. Yet rather than just repeat the same thing again and aging, he does deliberate exercises to adjust each aspect to improve the whole performance. I think this is a powerful discovery because it provides the methodology for people who want to master with something. We might not become an expert or genius, but we definitely can use the strategies to effectively improve ourselves.

3. I think that the discovery that some violent or anti-social behaviors may result from the defective genotypes will impact our moral and lawful considerations for each person, especially criminals in the future. It is clearer than ever that those who have deficiency need helps rather than punishment. One the other hand, we now also have evidence that frequent exposure to graphic scenes of violence will change human brain in harmful ways which may result in the reproduction of violent behaviors. This finding also implies that punishment to people with violent tendency is meaningless. To decrease social violent events and crimes, rather than give punishment or committal, we should focus more on preventing people, especially children from exposure to violence, and we also have to keep in mind that some people might be suffering from the inborn deficiency.

4. The Indian master Osho suggests people to laugh more often for healthier lives – not only laugh when we hear funny things but just consciously move our muscles around the mouth to “laugh”. Osho’s comment is quite reasonable if we consider the so-called “pleasure pathway” mentioned in the book - laughing will result in our brain’s activating the “pleasure pathway,” which give us an inner sense of well-being. As for the exercise of conscious laugh which is controlled by us, I think it also highly possible works because the “happy patterns” stored in our brain must connect with all of our related emotions and behaviors so that the behavior itself could be able to activate the happy patterns, too.

5. New discoveries about the brain have provides us with whole new insights into our behaviors, thinking and feelings. I think this twenty-first century scientific revolution is a little different from the previous scientific revolutions in western history. Before, people were challenged by scientists such as Copernicus and Darwin mainly because those scientific discoveries conflicted with common belief in God. However, nowadays what confuses people may not be the belief in God but the belief in people ourselves. We have known that our daily behaviors are not so dominated by our consciousness as we thought before. This uncertainty really surprises and probability scares us. Will the discoveries push us into introspecting ourselves and being more humble for what we have done and more considerable about what we are going to do?

沙漠中的花

校園附近已經開了很多很多花好一陣子囉.
連洗衣小房間外都出現了令人有點驚艷的花樹.








進學校沿路的黃花樹 及 某種仙人掌紅花.

Piaget & new research on human early brain

Here is my answer to a take-home question of the course "Theoretical view of learning": What connections can you see between the work of piaget and the new research on early brain development?


1. The sequence of children’s qualitative change in cognition structure described by Piaget’s four stages of cognitive development is consistent with the chronological order of development of brain’s different areas concerning specific functions. Brain develops in the order: Brainstem -> Diencephalon ->Limbic -> Neocortex (down to up; back to front; inner to outward). Moving outward towards the Neocortex, complex functions increases: Brainstem controls survival-related functions; Limbic system stores emotional information; and Neocortex developed latest controls abstract thoughts. As Piaget’s observations, children at first use their sense and body (motion) to know and learn about the world, and then the operation become more and more complex and abstract across different stages. The formal operational stage in which children have ability of abstract thinking and hypothesis must be the last stage for each child.

2. In Piaget’s cognitive development theory, cognition and language are closely intertwined. Piaget regarded language development as a part of the children’s cognitive development, and he viewed language as an essentially a development of children’s ability to manipulate symbols, which is the typical characters of preoperational stage one has to reach before entering the next concrete operational stage. The research on the case of one 7-year-old girl discussed in the class last week indeed illustrated such relationship between language and cognitive development by inspecting her brain. This girl cognitive development was much later than other children with the same age. When she was an infant, she spent most time alone without others’ emotionally interacting and talking with her. Research found she can’t speak very well, and through the CT scan, they found the evidence that the areas of language and emotion are obviously under development than normal brain of other 7-year-old children. The early deprived-language experiences results in the lack of language development of brain, which affect her cognitive development.

3. In Piaget’s theory, the child actively organizes his mental system in each stage. Piaget suggested that children should be exposed to enriched environment and activities corresponding to how their schemes work in each stage. For example, in sensorimotor stage, a child will need to see, to touch, to listen, to move, etc. New research that the brain forms actively and uniquely is consistent with Piaget’s theory. Moreover, new brain research especially demonstrates the importance of early development stage because brain growth and development is so profoundly "front loaded" that by age four, a child's brain is 90% adult size. Dr. Bruce Perry indicated that a child is most likely to reach her full potential if he experiences consistent, predictable, enriched, and stimulating interactions in a context of attentive and nurturing relationships with aid by many relational interactions (Dr. Bruce Perry)”. There have been evidences that the sensory-deprivation neglect will make the brain significant smaller and results in abnormal development of cortex, and impede the further cognitive development. Such evidence also supports Piaget’s view that a child’s readiness affects the promotion of cognitive development. On the other hand, in brain research, the emphasis on interaction with other people also supports Piaget’s view that social interaction is essential for cognitive development.

4. In Piaget’s theory, a child developmentally adapts the environment by assimilation and accommodation concerned with adjusting the existing schemes (mental structure). We can find the corresponding biological structure change in the brain. The brain with billions of synapses, which are crucial to the biological computations that underlie perception and thought, pre-wired when the baby in mother’s uterus. After born, our interaction with environment shapes the brain’s biological structure－synapses are use-dependent so only the synapses used will be preserved, and it’s highly probable that the dendritic spine develops different kinds of shape according to different behavior and mental activities. The new brain research provides us how the actual biological structure actually changes corresponding to the change of mental structure conceived by Piaget. New brain research also indicates a new rule－our brain is tend to conserve energy. The less experiences we have in the early child, the less connections and structures we will have. Such observation also Piaget’s suggestion that we should provide enriched environment for children’ learning.

記e點靈停播

這麼直接的停播事件, 逼得我不得不去面對 "自己的某一部分已經成為歷史"的事實. 雖然, bugy的註腳的確是那麼的無敵 [註一], 但是有些東西的確已經消失或正消失. 阿玲說, 這彷彿宣告一個時代的結束. 關於這點, 是我在這裡想要紀錄下來的, 因為過去, 將來, 就要從這裡區隔開來了.

你知道我聯想到的, 居然是電影裡經常處理揮別青春的橋段與畫面, 一堆高中死黨要畢業前那種繽紛喧鬧嘻笑, 一種在某種組合且恰到好處的時空所創造的珍貴.

在現實的青春學生生活中, 我從來沒有經歷過那樣的揮灑以及明確斷裂的轉捩點.

另一個現實是, 我明明已經在形式上畢業於我生命與你們緊密共享的那個階段, 但我還沒好好的跟它說再見.

站在這裡面對著嶄新的開展, 我想說,感謝你們給我的青春, 以及 甘願的告別.2006.2.23


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[註一] "只要我們還在, 就是我們的時代" (我沒記錯吧)