If you’ve been using social media for some, you might have come across statements like this in the past, ‘yellow makes you happy’, ‘black makes you more confident’ and ‘blue is a calming colour’. How much of these are actually true. Can colours have an effect on our mood or behaviour? If yes, is it universal or culture-specific? And is it innate or learned?
If you’ve been using social media for some, you might have come across statements like this in the past, ‘yellow makes you happy’, what is truly behind our obsession with these demi-gods in colourful suits and capes? How do we explain grown men with respectable jobs go crazy for the humanoid alien who can defy the rules of physics and does it with his brief above his suit?
With the advent of smartphones and affordable internet connections, digital communication has become an inevitable part of our routine life. The invention of the telephone was thought to bring an end to the reign of written communication, and for a while, it did bring down the sheer volume of letters we send and receive. But text messaging platforms like Whatsapp, Snapchat and other social media applications has reinstated the love for words in the new gen. However, this time around, written communication didn’t just comprise of words alone, but also emojis.
Why is it too difficult for us to focus on anything else when we know that we haven’t yet finished that last-minute Social science assignment? Why is it impossible for us to move on without completing that premium chocolate bar once we had a bite? Why does it always bother us that we couldn’t find closure in a relationship? People might have theories of their own. But ask a psychologist and the answer would be in a jiffy- Zeigarnik effect.
The Dark Knight of Gotham City; Batman is my favourite superhero of all time. Unlike the alien whom we call ‘superman’ or the science lab experiment ‘Captain America’, Batman was a total human being with an unquenchable thirst for justice. Hell, he didn’t even have the ‘brains’ like ironman, he just had the money to use someone else’s. But behind the ‘bat with gymnasium membership’ costume and the ‘I am Batman’ voice, does batman aka Bruce Wayne suffer from a mental disorder. The whole of Gotham city accused the joker of having Anti-Social Personality Disorder. Whereas the person they should have been looking into was their dark knight- the psycho case we deserve but not what we need.
You were sitting in the living room, all comfy, watching Netflix. All of a sudden, you felt the urge to take coffee. Pausing the show, you walked to the other room to fetch yourself a cup of coffee. But, when you reached the other room, you just can’t remember why you were there. Has this ever happened to you? If yes, don’t worry- you’re not going mad, it is not the onset of dementia, and you certainly don’t have a memory problem.
Have you ever wondered if there is something contagious about yawning? Suppose you were attending a physics lecture and you saw one of your friends yawn. After a while, without even realizing it, you yawned as well. What could be the reason? Was it because the lecture was boring? Or does it have something to do with your friend’s yawn?
Meditation has been practiced from ancient times. The earliest records come from India, 1500 B.C. But, it stood the test of time and came out victorious. Meditation is still being practiced worldwide. If anything, it has become more popular with time at least in the western world. But how much of the claims of these meditation masters and gurus, that ‘meditation will bring about massive changes in you’ is right? Let us see how meditation, more specifically mindfulness meditation affects our brain.
Facial expressions have been studied for a very long time and surprisingly, the research is still on the go. How come something so common and familiar become a research material for so long? Well, it might be common but don’t be deceived- we still know very little of what happens on our own face.
Communication and language are important features of humanity. And by far, even though other animals communicate with each other in their own ways, we believe that humans are the only beings with the ability to produce and comprehend language in a sophisticated manner. If you have ever been with a pet before, you might claim that this is not true and that animals do have language. But there is a wide gap between what we see as language and the communication techniques that animals use. When the trainer asks a dog to sit and it immediately does, this is not an example of language comprehension, rather it is a simple association with the sound of speech and the action that was learned.
Bojack Horseman is an animated series by Netflix, which just finished its 6-season run. And quite frankly, this series is, by far, my favourite show on T.V, period. There are a lot of reasons that attracted a huge fan following for this series- its brilliant script, creative use of visuals, humour and obviously, the relativity of the characters. If you aren’t familiar with the series, it mainly revolves around the life of Bojack Horseman, a middle-aged, retired actor. And as the name suggests, his character is half man and half horse. I know, it seems stupid. But trust me, this half-horse half-man cartoon is the most realistic portrayal of depression in the history of television.
Human brain is the most complex thing known to mankind. It is ironic to say that we know very little of the one thing that we always had a chance to research upon, but it is true. There are thousands of scientists in various fields like psychology, neurology, robotics, medicine, etc who are working day and night to gain a little more insight on this crown on our head.