Nick Worthey won the grand prize in Atom Film’s Intel Indies Film Contest for this animated story of the universal nature of power and greed. The film poses some interesting questions about the use of power, and also about the karma we create with our actions. (more…)
Thanks Ryan, this video was really eye opening and scary at the same time! I watched the rest of the programs. Mr. Rushkoff has a few other programs I plan to watch—all seem interesting.
I shared some of the information with my teenager and we had a nice conversation. The new generation is being raised with a weak set of values making them very vulnerable to the marketing by people who don’t care about their well being. The more aware we are of the tricks being played, the more capable we are of resisting and giving them the tools they need at a young age not to be vulnerable to this kind of marketing.
Thanks again for sharing such thought provoking topics.
Trina
Student
Ashworth University School Of Health Care
The insights of cultural/media theorist Douglas Rushkoff are always contemporary and often prescient. He was deciphering the social codes of the virtual psyche, lifestyle, and marketplace before such concepts were formally identified by the so-called “machine.” The Merchants Of Cool is a brilliant analysis of the incorporation of youth pop-culture that Ruskhoff created while working as a correspondent for PBS Frontline. This is a very entertaining documentary. You’ll learn a lot too. Let me know what you think in the comments section.
Ryan Rode
Interactive Services Manager
Ashworth University
Thanks to auntyevil for permission to use this Photo.
One concept that’s particularly influential in contemporary culture is that of social currency, an abstract exchange value that we’re all unconsciously aware of and have perhaps unknowingly utilized as a tool to gain interactive access to others on a social level. Content is essentially seen as a medium for interaction, not an end in itself, but more importantly a basis for human interaction. A new study was recently published on the “psychology of social networks” and the researchers do an admirable job of piecing together the social puzzle without drawing too many predetermined conclusions. In other words, within an Internet-oriented context, they accept that the network model of human communication can not be studied from a static perspective. The behavior of humans in an online environment does not parallel that of monkeys in a cage, perhaps less due to the complexity of humans than the fact that the virtual cage is always unlocked, permitting us to come and go as we please—as long as we’re never alone of course. Check out this interesting study and please share your perspectives with the Ashworth student community.
Ryan Rode
Interactive Services Manager
Ashworth University
Thanks to Gaetan Lee for permission to use this Photo.
Renowned as one of the most gifted, original, and charismatic thinkers in the world; V.S. Ramachandran is a neurologist with an almost preternatural understanding of the brain’s deepest mechanisms and the nature of consciousness.
Ramachandran’s insights into such facinating enigmas as phantom limb syndrome, synesthesia, and capgras delusion continue to both inspire and puzzle the psycho-scientific community, while his entertaining presentations always promise to dazzle even the most cynical of audiences. Check out the following video from the TED conference. Lose your mind.
Ryan Rode
Interactive Services Manager
Ashworth University
Are we on this again?
“Study doubts the effectiveness of antidepressant drugs.” Or, even better, as per The Independent: “Antidepressant drugs don’t work– official study.“
I don’t know what passes for official nowadays. The data is the exact same data that has existed for 30 years. Yes, these authors are acting like they FOIA-ed the second Zapruder film, but let me assure you it’s the same old data. These authors did the exact same study in 2002. So have twenty other groups. This is not new.
But it is news. The question is why.
I have a side question. Why is it that when an article says something works, people are suspicious of bias, but when an article says something doesn’t work, everyone thinks it’s objective science? IT’S ALL BIAS.
People are completely missing the point of this paper and all the other recent re-investigations, the true social and clinical consequences of them. For example: they’re saying antidepressants are no good. Ok. What do you think doctors are going to use instead? Psychoanalysis? Nothing? They’re going to prescribe antipsychotics. Are you listening to me? I’m not even saying this is clinically wrong to do, but do you not see the setup? Abre los ojos, man. (more…)
Image courtesy of storyspinn.
Recently I was contacted by an associate producer from the Dr. Phil show. Are they seeing if I’d be a good guest? It certainly appears like that’s a possibility. So, in addition to getting some very desperately needed help from Dr. Phil and his team, I may one day soon be able to give my bastion of loyal readers a quasi-insider’s view of the show and its’ process. All I can say is, pray for me, and, for now, enjoy this correspondence, edited, of course, for privacy reasons: (more…)
Thanks to Robras for permission to use this Photo.
You may have recently seen reports on TV recently about a new wave of online dating sites that match people based on genetic traits. Although clinical, this method seems preferable to the reality show formula of trapping 100 degenerate men and women in a rented mansion until a final rose, clock, or beat down is won. There must be a better way to figure out what type of relationship is best for you, right? The following online test takes only five minutes to complete and promises to provide you with a relationship profile suiting your romantic preferences. The test was developed by two prominent psychologists and turns out to be rather accurate. I took it myself before posting this blog. Let’s just say I have some work to do before my black heart turns gold. If anyone wants to share their results, we would love to hear from you in the comments section. This test is fun and insightful. Take it!
Ryan Rode
Ashworth University Psychology Program
Thanks to Eduardo Vedia for permission to use this Photo.
I once worked with an athlete on the U.S. ski team with Olympic aspirations. The problem was that he was “burned out” and unable to perform at his customary high performance level. This athlete had heard about my success as a sports psychologist helping athletes who were going through this difficult stage and contacted me. After hearing his story, I agreed to work with him. My first effort was to help him get in touch with what he was experiencing. He didn’t want to leave the team, but thought he had no other option.
I began by dealing with the issue of time management to see if he could find the extra time he needed for other desired activities. I also recommended that he take about three weeks off from his sport simply to rest his mind and body. Obviously, his coaches did not respond to this strategy with much enthusiasm. Once they realized that the alternative was to remove him from the team, they consented to giving him some time off. We used this hiatus to work on relaxation strategies and stress reduction. I also helped him rediscover why he was skiing in the first place. By the time he returned to his sport, he felt renewed and invigorated. He was back to his old self.
Many athletes who yield to the initial impulse to get away from their sport when burnout symptoms set in are left with a lifelong sense of regret and dissatisfaction. They always wonder what might have been if burnout had not robbed them of the pleasure of competition and the pursuit of victory. For those willing to seek the intervention of a skilled and understanding sport psychology consultant, the result can be quite positive. It really is possible to “have it all”—high-level achievement and a life outside one’s sport.
Take a moment to consider your own athletic experiences and the negative feelings you may have had at times about participating in your sport(s). Ask yourself if the decisions you made at the time were the right ones for you. Would you have made other choices if you knew then what you know now? Whatever your response, never forget that life is ahead of you, not behind. There’s still time to “get it right.”
Nicole Detling Miller, M.S.
Sport Psychology Instructor
Ashworth University
Thanks to Karen Geiger for permission to use this Photo.
I really enjoyed Seth Woolf’s response to Deb’s solid commentary on his previous post. Since we don’t yet have our comments section clearly displayed on this blog, I’ve posted this conversation as an original post for everyone to see and engage. What are your thoughts?
From Deb:
Dear Sir — I believe you have missed the point of what Dr. Phil has been trying to achieve. As young people, typically all of us do not realize the consequences of actions. I can indicate to you that as a owner of a company, these kind of posting would stop me from hiring an individual, no so much as their right to participate in such activity, but in that the judgment of said individual is not who I want representing my company. In short…it is that simple and professionally said individuals are limiting their options later in life, as they age and realize that childhood was not meant for public display.
From Seth:
It is perhaps true that I have “missed the point of what Dr. Phil has been trying to achieve” but, if so, it is because I find his aims pointless. I simply feel the cause and effect of this situation has been confused. If employers look down on such technological behavior and confessionalism, I think it says more about their own bourgeoise biases, and less about the quality of the candidates. More importantly, I would also like to counter your claim that “As young people, typically all of us do not realize the consequences of our actions.” This is a sweeping statement about young people, one which I do not follow. For one, I don’t see “young people” as a definable, homogeneous group. I’m 22, am I a young person? What about a twelve year old in Auswitz? What about an eighty year old with the mental capacities of a person one tenth his or her age? Is it for individuals to decide, society, or who? Similarly, I don’t see how a person, regardless of age, could realize all the consequences of his or her actions. Everyone, again regardless of age, must simply act with what information they have at a given moment. (more…)
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