Saturday, September 18, 2010
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Aussie news
A mother neglected her three children and let her dogs starve to death because she was so obsessed with a computer game.
She played the Small World game non-stop on the internet while her children were badly neglected for six months. According to the report, the mother had become hooked on the computer game after an invitation to play from a friend on Facebook. She started playing initially for an hour a day in late 2009 but since August of that year it had become an obsession to the point where she was only getting two hours' sleep a night. It was revealed that her home became filthy, with rubbish strewn over the floor, and the bodies of her two dogs were left for two months in the dining room. The horror only came to an end when a neighbour peered through the letterbox and alerted the authorities.
Investigation has been done, and it is found that the woman had been a devoted and competent mother until tragedy struck some years ago with the death of her husband from a heart attack. She retreated into this virtual world and shut herself off from the outside world.
The mother was sentenced to six months' imprisonment, suspended for two years and ordered to do 75 hours of unpaid work. She was banned from keeping animals and using computers. Also, she admitted three charges of child cruelty and two of animal neglect.
She played the Small World game non-stop on the internet while her children were badly neglected for six months. According to the report, the mother had become hooked on the computer game after an invitation to play from a friend on Facebook. She started playing initially for an hour a day in late 2009 but since August of that year it had become an obsession to the point where she was only getting two hours' sleep a night. It was revealed that her home became filthy, with rubbish strewn over the floor, and the bodies of her two dogs were left for two months in the dining room. The horror only came to an end when a neighbour peered through the letterbox and alerted the authorities.
Investigation has been done, and it is found that the woman had been a devoted and competent mother until tragedy struck some years ago with the death of her husband from a heart attack. She retreated into this virtual world and shut herself off from the outside world.
The mother was sentenced to six months' imprisonment, suspended for two years and ordered to do 75 hours of unpaid work. She was banned from keeping animals and using computers. Also, she admitted three charges of child cruelty and two of animal neglect.
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Aussie news
Theories that men's and women's brains are wired differently are a 'myth', say experts
Fellow researchers have come out with their scientific findings, supporting the old prejudice that women are not men’s intellectual equals. This is followed by the publishing of books, saying that there are structural differences between men’s and women’s brain. The arguments are as follow.
1. Female brains are better at empathizing while men’s are wired for analyzing the physical world.
2. Women spend most of their lives on a psychological “roller coaster” controlled mainly by fluctuating hormone levels.
3. In Victorian times scientists suggested women thought with a different part of their brain from men. In the 1950s they came up with the idea that women's 'inferior' thinking was controlled by their hormones.
4. Female brain's propensity for understanding others' feelings makes women more suited to caring occupations.
5. Women spend most of their lives in thrall to hormones generated by their monthly cycles, the birth of children and other factors. It is claimed that only when the children leave home are the mommy brain circuits finally free.
6. Women benefited from housework because it boosted their hormone levels.
7. On average men prefer to deal with things, whereas females like to deal with people.
A leading neuroscientist, Professor Gina Rippon has dismissed the “myth” that women’s brains are wired differently from men’s. He sees all such ideas as “patronising nonsense”. According to his point of view, there may be some very small differences between the genders but the similarities are far greater. Throughout history, biological explanations have been used as weapons to explain and maintain social differences. But there is no real evidence that men and women have different brain structures. This is further supported by Dr. Cordelia Fine. She asserted that those old-fashioned findings have produced “a masterpiece of condescension”. Their concern would be on the fear that neuroscience will be used to justify changes in education policy. Such pressures are already developing. In 2008 Vicky Tuck, the headmistress of Cheltenham ladies' college, mentioned that single-sex schools should make a comeback as boys' brains worked differently from girls'.
Fellow researchers have come out with their scientific findings, supporting the old prejudice that women are not men’s intellectual equals. This is followed by the publishing of books, saying that there are structural differences between men’s and women’s brain. The arguments are as follow.
1. Female brains are better at empathizing while men’s are wired for analyzing the physical world.
2. Women spend most of their lives on a psychological “roller coaster” controlled mainly by fluctuating hormone levels.
3. In Victorian times scientists suggested women thought with a different part of their brain from men. In the 1950s they came up with the idea that women's 'inferior' thinking was controlled by their hormones.
4. Female brain's propensity for understanding others' feelings makes women more suited to caring occupations.
5. Women spend most of their lives in thrall to hormones generated by their monthly cycles, the birth of children and other factors. It is claimed that only when the children leave home are the mommy brain circuits finally free.
6. Women benefited from housework because it boosted their hormone levels.
7. On average men prefer to deal with things, whereas females like to deal with people.
A leading neuroscientist, Professor Gina Rippon has dismissed the “myth” that women’s brains are wired differently from men’s. He sees all such ideas as “patronising nonsense”. According to his point of view, there may be some very small differences between the genders but the similarities are far greater. Throughout history, biological explanations have been used as weapons to explain and maintain social differences. But there is no real evidence that men and women have different brain structures. This is further supported by Dr. Cordelia Fine. She asserted that those old-fashioned findings have produced “a masterpiece of condescension”. Their concern would be on the fear that neuroscience will be used to justify changes in education policy. Such pressures are already developing. In 2008 Vicky Tuck, the headmistress of Cheltenham ladies' college, mentioned that single-sex schools should make a comeback as boys' brains worked differently from girls'.
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