The Marshmallow Test: Can Children be “better at life” than others?

Children can be difficult to understand, whether it’s trying to understand why they did something they knew they were not supposed to, or trying to know what they are thinking at an exact moment in time.  A study was performed on nursery students involving a marshmallow and other treats.  They were told to wait fifteen minutes and they will receive another.  So how does a test involving a marshmallow dictate which student will “be better at life” than others?

A study has been conducted at the Brain and Spine Institute in Paris involving the brain’s memory and how memory can help to resist temptations. There have been countless studies on children delaying gratification, but there has never been an answer as to why some can delay gratification and resist temptations over other children.  A part of the answer lies in the hippocampus, which is part of the brain’s memory which is located in the temporal lobe of the brain.

Working Hypothesis 1

More and more specialists, scientists, teachers, and even parents are trying to grasp the concept of what goes through a child’s mind right before they are about to put the marshmallow in their mouth, or if they will stare at it intensely  and aggressively for the fifteen minutes they must wait.  By having children wait those 15 minutes that they believe are the longest in their life, in the long run it can make them have the ability to last in relationships better, become more successful, and more healthier than those children who did not wait.  The child must have strong willpower to sit in the chair waiting for their second treat without eating the first. The “hot and cool” system explains why willpower does not always succeed.

Working Hypothesis 2

A child’s environment has a major impact on themselves and their entire life.  It impacts their decision-making, their willpower, and their expectations for what life has to offer.  Children who come from impoverished neighborhoods and surroundings, do not expect as much as a child from a well-off and wealthier neighborhood and environment.  When children do not have the materialistic or basic needs in life, they do not expect them.  If their parents tell the that it will all get better and they are trying to give them a better life, and the family is still found to be living off of food stamps, and living day by day, the child loses trust.  Children who live in poorer communities, usually act without thinking; they will take immediately what is given to them, which can explain the marshmallow test.

Topics for smaller papers

What does this mean for their future paths in life? 

For the children who participated in the Marshmallow Test when they were nursery students, showed that they have the ability to sustain a relationship and last longer in them.  From the participants, it also shows that they are able to live a healthier and more successful life.

What neurologically goes through a child’s mind when making impulsive decisions?

Not many people realize how important the memory systems in a brain are.  They do not only store and retrieve memories, they have a lot more abilities that can help people make decisions.  The hippocampus is apart of the limbic system, which regulates emotions.  It is manly associated with long term memory but also plays a role in spatial navigation.  The hippocampus also helps in resisting temptations and delaying gratification.

Current State of the Research Paper

This paper is interesting since we can choose our own topic but it all too much at once.  I’m feeling overwhelmed finding “smaller topics” within my actual topic and having all these resources and forcing them to be contributed into my paper. I also am confused with the directions since I feel like it is not explained thoroughly.  I am not completely set on my topic but I feel as though it is too late to consider a new one.  I feel as though I am somewhat behind on everything for this paper and I am intimidated with all the due dates and work I have to complete.

Is the Dominican Republic Violating its Own Constitution?

Waking up in the only place known our entire life, but  jobs, education, health insurance, getting married, the right of ownership are privileges taken away. Moreover, being labeled as a foreigner because our parent’s documentation problems don’t guarantee a citizenship in the country we were born. Many Dominicans of international descendent, which parents without documents thought that giving birth in the Dominican Republic automatically provided Dominican citizenship to their children, now are being considered “stateless” individuals by the law TC 0168-13 in the country. Now, those denationalized citizens face lack of opportunities and deportation to their ancestral native country. The most prejudiced citizens by the law are the Dominican of Haitian decent, who without knowing anyone in Haiti, many not even the Haitian creole, are being deported to Haiti.

The Ruling TC 0168-13

The Constitutional Court of the Dominican Republic issued a ruling on September 23 that reaffirms who is Dominican, in accordance with a legal tradition that dates back to 1929. In order to be considered a Dominican the parents of Dominican born children need a Dominican nationality. Therefore, children of foreigners born in the Dominican Republic are not considered Dominicans, even if their parents were in the process of becoming legally Dominicans. However, any one born outside the country of Dominican descendent is considered to be a Dominican. The ruling TC was not directed for the Haitian foreigners, but to everyone without Dominican documentation. Indeed, 80% of all countries do not provide automatic citizenship to born children of international parents; Haiti is one of those countries. Only one parent needs legal Dominican documentation in order to be considered a Dominican. About 53,847 foreigners will be affected with the ruling, of which 24, 392 are not eligible to get Dominican nationality, and out of this, only 13,672 are Haitian nationals. Nevertheless, not all those Haitians will be deported because the cases will be looked with humanitarian perspective during six months.

Denationalization is not part of the ruling because children of undocumented parents were never Dominican. Nonetheless, Haitians decedents are considered Haitians no matter where they born, according to the Haitian constitution. The ruling TC/ 0168-13 is not to discriminate because is prohibit by the Dominican Constitution, but to regulate the undocumented aliens. Therefore, everyone has free access to health, pre-university education and access to the courts, particularly the labor courts, to claim their rights, without even the need to present identification.

How TC/ 0168-13 Started

The Dominican Republic used to give nationality to children born in the Dominican Republic, except those who were passing by the country for less than ten days. In 2004, a new migration law added that not only the children of transit foreigners were not Dominicans, but the ones of undocumented parents regardless how long the children have been in the country. In 2007, the Dominican Central Electoral Council (JCE) stopped giving citizenship to all children born from undocumented parents. In 2010, the Constitution changed to not recognize as Dominicans children born from undocumented parents only after 2010; however, on September 23 2013, through Resolution TC 0168-13 denied nationality to anyone born after 1929 who does not have at least one parent with Dominican citizenship.

Who is Affected by the Ruling

The Dominican Republic government has change the Constitution several times during the last decade with the intention of determine who is Dominican and who is not. However, the Constitutional changes are directed to affect the Haitian decedent Dominicans, which are the minority more affected by getting the rights educational, freedom of movement, political participation, and marriage denied.

As a response to the pressure from the international human rights organizations the Dominican government now intends to withdraw from the international court that has consistently found it in violation of international human rights norms.

Reactions of support and rejection towards TC 0168-13 have been produced in the Dominican Republic. An environment against who criticize and defend the affected by ruling have been created in the Dominican country. Statements directed against journalists, intellectuals, lawyers, politicians, legislators, human rights defenders, and public figures that have criticized the ruling have become alarmingly aggressive, according to the Inter-American Commission. Some of the threats and descriptions towards the ones against the court decision are “traitors to the homeland” and “death to the traitors.”

Constitutional Court Justices Isabel Bonilla Hernandez and Katia Miguelina Jimenez Martinez, who vote against the ruling, were accused of being “traitors to the work of Duarte.” A group of community organizations in the Santiago area held a ceremony in which they burned Mario Vargas Llosa’s book The Feast of the Goat and declared his son, Gonzalo Vargas Llosa, representative of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Santo Domingo, as a person without gratitude, along with former Haitian consul Edwin Paraison and the NGO Red Fronteriza Jano Siksé (RFJS).

Journalists Luis Eduardo (Huchi) Lora and Juan Bolívar Diaz filed a complaint with the Federal District Prosecutor’s Office in which they asked for an investigation to be opened into those responsible for threats made against them because of their criticism of the court’s decision. Other cases have been reported in which human rights defenders and members of the media have been stigmatized and have received threats. Among those are the journalists Marino Zapete, Fausto Rosario Adames, Ramon Emilio Colombo, and Javier Cabreja.

Working Hypothesis 1

The method of stoping the undocumented immigration to the Dominican Republic is taking a counter-progressive path, which violates the human rights of the citizens and produces a mass-hysteria at a national level.

Working Hypothesis 2

The main target of the ruling TC 0168-13, in the Dominican Republic, is the Haitian Decedents Dominican; As a result, of the ruling the Dominican Republic will suffer by the decisions of the international opposition to the ruling.

Topics for Smaller Papers

The Haitian and Dominican History 

The Dominican Republic and Haiti have been in controversy since the colonial times. Therefore, I will be able to provide explanation to decision of part of the Dominican population in be in favor of the ruling by providing the events that created each ideology from Haiti and the Dominican Republic towards each other.

What is the Position of Religious Forces on the Hispaniola and Internationally towards Ruling 0168-13

The religious perception towards the ruling is important because religions do not have borders. Therefore, the importance of alliance and separation of individuals on the Hispaniola will take a big role in the final outcome to the law.

Current State of the Research

My research is currently starting; nevertheless, the reading about the TC 0168-13 ruling in the Dominican Republic gives me the idea that the Dominican Republic intentions are not as the Dominican Constitution states because there might be discrimination towards the Dominican with Haitians decedents. Nonetheless, I still have a lot of reading ahead, which will provide me the view of the Dominican country and Haitian country towards the topic.

Organized Content Descriptions 

*There’s More to Life Than Being Happy

*The how of Happiness: A Scientific Approach to Getting the Life You Want

*New Developments in the Meaning of Life

*Meaningfulness and Time

*Wealth and Happiness

1. Working Hypothesis 1

Happiness is key in life. Without happiness what do we really have? Many people would agree with the above statement, but what is a happy life if it also has no meaning. Does being happy automatically mean ones life has meaning? Some live lives that have meaning for themselves and some live a life that has meaning because of others. Which is less selfish? Well, a life were the only happiness a person has comes from material things; money, clothes, cars, yes that may be nice, but at the end of the day there is nothing substantial that makes that life worth living. Take away the money, the cars, the material lifestyle and all that is left is a selfish person with nothing to show for it. In life there is so many different things that can have meaning, and it is different for every person. A meaningful life is a happy life, but is a happy life a meaningful one? There is no way to have a genuinely happy life without giving it meaning.

1a. Working Hypothesis 2 

Can someone be happy and not have meaningful aspects in their life? Life is never one sided. People all over the world have different opinions, personalities, and a different definition of what a “happy life is.” Not everyone needs to do things such as volunteer at a soup kitchen to feel like they have lived a happy and successful life. A happy life can be achieved through many different ways, someone can definitely be happy without meaning.

Topics for smaller papers 

What is the meaning of life? 

Does life have a set meaning and set handbook that has to be followed or do we as individuals define life in our own ways, all of them varying but related.

What brings people happiness 

How many different ways are there to make someone happy. Is there a factor that may make people happy that is greater then others. How many different ways can you make someone happy and what makes one person happy, will it make another happy?

Someone can live a happy life on their own terms 

When going through life a person defines on their own what makes them happy. There are no set boundaries as to how a person should gain their happiness. If a materialistic life full of selfishness and objects brings a person the happiness they desire and fulfills there needs then nothing else matters.

Current State of Research Paper 

So far the progress that has been made on my research paper is pleasing. There is a solid ground for a well written paper with a lot of different counterintuitive’s all wrapped into one. There are multiple arguments that are strong and can be used to write a paper for this topic. There has also been a lot of information obtained that will be used as support for my argument.

Elephant Cruelty: What is it and how do we stop it?

Elephants are animals known throughout the world and are important in many different cultures. Elephants are animals with feelings and emotions similar to humans, which is rare for any type of animal. Elephants are also thought of as beautiful creatures which many people all over the globe admire. So why is it that we hurt the things that are most beautiful?

Elephants are being poached for their tusks, abused for entertainment through circuses and zoos. The way elephants are being trained for circuses and zoos is inhuman and includes chaining their legs together, leaving them in a confined pen for extended periods of time, and beating them with bull hooks. This particular topic is a sensitive one that could result badly for these zoo and circus owners, this is why these cruel acts are trying to be hidden from the public. This is why we need to bring all the attention to it that it can get to end these horrible crimes.

Working Hypothesis 1

Elephant abuse is something that happens every day in multiple countries across the globe. Elephants are being abused in circuses and zoos. They are also being hunted and killed for their beautiful tusks. This crime has been hidden from the public and needs to be addressed.

Working Hypothesis 2

A possibility is the poachers may harvest the tusks without killing or injuring the elephant. Or how elephant’s participation in zoos and circuses could be changed so that they are trained in a more docile humane way.

Topics for smaller papers

Why elephant tusks are being hunted?

What makes the tusks so valuable, what really goes into retrieving them, and how it injures the animal

The “training” process 

This topic would involve the process in which elephants are captured and chosen for the circus. How the circuses and zoos go about retrieving them from their habitat, and the methods used in making them docile show animals. Also includes how trainers claim positive reinforcement and how they misconstrue that term.

What makes it different than training a dog? (Rebuttal)

Elephants are not the first animal to be brought from the wild and trained to be docile friendly animals. We do it all the time with dogs, birds, lizards, and plenty more. If the owner of the elephant purchases the animal, it should be his or her right to train the animal how he or she pleases.

How does the abuse affect the elephants

This would involve researching the physical pain and injuries that this kind of abuse places on elephants. It would also examine the different emotional characteristics elephants contain and how they are damaged or affected by abuse.

Current State of the Research Paper

I am feeling a bit overwhelmed with this whole research and blog process for my paper. I am not used to doing all these different steps prior to writing my paper so that is why I think it is overwhelming me. In the long run I think this will benefit my paper. I’m also struggling with putting all my resources into one argument. I am very passionate about my topic and eager to research some more and develop my ideas further! I still have a lot of research and reading to do to back up my argument

End of Life Care

• Close call in death ruling of potential organ donor

• How Mom’s Death Changed My Thinking About End-of-Life Care

• Starting the debate on end of life

  Close call in death ruling of potential organ donor

It seems counterintuitive that doctors would rather take organs out of a dying organ donor than possibly extend his life. A California man, John Foster, was pronounced brain-dead by two doctors independent of each other, and the hospital was ready to pull the plug. When the patients daughter saw the 2nd doctor come in, spend no more than 5 minutes with the patient, and pronounced him brain-dead by simply shining a light into his eyes, she knew something fishy was going on.

A third doctor was called in, spend a little less than an hour with the patient, and noticed he still had a gag and cough reflex, both of which are signs a patient is not brain-dead. It must also be noted that the patient was on the organ donation list, and was only two signatures away from donating all of his organs.

The doctors are now suspected of wrongfully declaring the patient brain-dead in order to have his organs removed to be given to patients awaiting them. We now are alarmed that this type of malpractice is a more widespread occurrence than we may think. Doctors may be pronouncing loved-ones legally dead while they really aren’t, just so they can remove their organs and put them inside somebody else.

How Mom’s Death Changed My Thinking About End-of-Life Care

 Charles Orstein’s mother Harriet was sent into a coma after her heart stopped while doctors were inserting a nasogastric tube. She was hooked up to a breathing machine, had a feeding tube inserted,  and was given a constant iv drip of medication to stabilize her blood pressure. Obviously this all costs a whole lot of money, on top of the cost to even be admitted in a hospital room. So Charles started wondering if end of life care is really worth it. He was really skeptical that she wouldn’t make it out of her coma because she had survived several accidents prior, but test after test seemed to solidify the reality that she wasn’t coming back.

Charles and his family had a decision to make, unplug her and fulfill her wishes, or prolong her treatment at a chance of a recovery. Ultimately they unplugged Harriet and she went very peacefully, but this situation left Charles thinking. End of life care is a very expensive ordeal and Charles was wondering if he had make the wrong decision in keeping her on life support for two extra days while he tried to make a decision about his mother.  Ultimately Charles called an expert and asked him if he made the wrong decision. The expert agreed with his decision and said he would had still backed him if he had left her on life support for several more weeks.

Although I understand it’s extremely hard to part with loved ones, I believe there is a part of everybody who wants to keep somebody ‘alive’ for as long as possible, sending hospital bills through the roof just for the chance to be with the person for a few weeks longer. I believe that it is a much more financially sound choice to listen to the doctors diagnoses and make a choice based upon that diagnosis. If it is not expected of the patient to make it, then don’t prolong the inevitable.

Starting the debate on end of life

This article lays out the foundation for the debate, saying that a vast majority of American’s are senior citizens or quickly approaching that title. With the baby boomers becoming of age, that now leaves us with an important question, Do we have the right to die? Physician assisted suicide is only legal in a few states right now, but it is a topic of major importance. Many believe that a patient should have the right to die, and I do too. Life is something that belongs to the individual, not to a judge, or a doctor, and if I was terminally sick and wanted to end my suffering, then by God I should be able to do just that.

1. Working Hypothesis 1

If  a patient is able to say they want their life to end at any point of terminal disease, they should be able to be put to rest. 

1a. Working Hypothesis 2

There needs to be a point where someone doesn’t have the right state of mind to make a decision regarding something as important as life, that line needs to be drawn before the illness reaches terminal state. 

2. Topics for Smaller Papers

Since as part of the semester’s work, you’ll produce short arguments that stand on their own but contribute to your overall research, begin to identify what those papers might look like.

Explain How a Term or Category is Understood or Misunderstood, Used or Misused, how Related things differ, or how Unrelated things are similar
(Definition/Classification Argument)
See the Model for an example of an argument of this type.

Explore a Causal Relationship Essential to your research
(Cause/Effect Argument)
Again, see the Model for an example.

Reveal a Counterargument to be flawed
(Rebuttal Argument)
There’s no example of this argument type in the Model. If there were, it would be, for example, a stinging attack on the argument that personal freedom to opt out of vaccination trumps the public health necessity of virtually universal vaccination.

3. Current State of the Research Paper

Describe in a brief paragraph how you’re feeling so far about the progress you’ve made, how your opinions have changed (or solidified), and what you anticipate will be your eventual outcome.

Memory

Memory is fascinating and a fundamental component of daily life. We rely on it so heavily, that it is not a stretch to say that life without memory would be close to impossible. Our very survival depends on our ability to remember who we are, who others are, our past experiences, what is dangerous, what is safe, etc. Its importance can’t be understated.

I was a third generation baton twirler.  My mom had a group called the Teddyettes  I was five years old and performed with the group in parades and competition.  We performed  on  a show called “Tony Grant’s Stars of Tomorrow” in Atlantic City, New Jersey.  I remember the diving horse and a glass blower that was part of “Steel Pier.”  I remembered my sequin outfits, curly hair and wearing make-up.  I remembered standing behind the curtains on the far left and, “Tiny Tim,” performed before our group.   He was a very tall man with curly hair, he played a ukulele and he was known for a song called, “Tip Toe through the Tulips.” I remembered my grandmother always talking about Tiny Tim and always giggling when he performed.  I’m doubting the fact that I was actually stage left or  stage right or was I in the audience and audience watching his performance and wishing I was closer.   I want to believe that I was going on after Tiny Tim, but now I’m not sure.  I checked with my mom and found out that we didn’t go on after him, we performed during the day and Tiny Tim was on in the evening and we would go watch.  Crazy….!

I spent every summer during my childhood performing in Atlantic City and then that spilled over to competing in competitions in the tri-state area. I had the best teachers in the area.  My mother worked two jobs just to make sure I had the best of everything in the “baton” world.   I remember always feeling bad that my mom was working so hard.  I also remember how much I disliked the sport. I was afraid to tell my mom so, I continued to twirl professionally until I was sixteen.   I didn’t have much of a childhood, I went to school, practiced every day and traveled on the weekends.   You can compare my competitions to the Olympics.  You have one chance to present your skills and I did just that.  When I was sixteen I remember traveling for hours to get to the venue to compete.  I performed a perfect routine, no drops, no breaks, all my lines were perfect.  It was an amazing feeling.  What just happened was amazing, the crowd gave me a standing ovation.  As I’m writing about my experience I can feel how proud I was.  We waited for the judges to make their decision my name was called and I was awarded first runner-up.  Really….I worked so hard and deserved first place.  The winner in my category was Tammy Monahane, I will never forget her name.  I was disappointed, I told my teacher and my mom that I was done.  I reached my peek and I knew I couldn’t get any better.  It was time to retire and have a normal life.   The decision to leave the sport was my decision and I remember feeling empowered that I made an important life changing decision.

Content Descriptions

• The Study of Human Memory
• Memory Encoding
• How many of your Memories are Fake?
• How Much of your Memory Is True?
• Brian Williams and the false memory phenomenon
• What Your Most Vivid Memories Say About You
• Types of Memory
• Emotion Affects Memory
• How Do You Know If Memory Is Real
• How The Brain Creates False Memory
• Memory Retrieval
• Dr. Kevin Leman and Randy Carlson: Childhood Memories and Birth Order

Working Hypothesis 1

Prosecutors rely on eyewitness testimony even though many studies show eyewitness testimony is unreliable.  Are prosecutors the reason for so many innocent people be convicted or the lack of reliable eyewitness testimony as it relates to false memory.  accurate

The memory is a fascinating and complex part of our anatomy. We shape our memories into the people we are today. The most important part of the memory process is our “self-defining memories.”   A “self-defining memory,” is easily remembered, and emotionally intense. In some cases, these memories represent ongoing themes that we play out over and over again in our lives.

Working Hypothesis 2

Can we rely on eyewitness testimony?  Psychological studies are casting doubts on the accuracy of my memory.  Is there any truth to the idea of “false memores” that could have been implanted by someone else? Or even by myself, unknowingly?

Topics for Smaller Papers

Memory Retrial

Explain the differences between recall, recollection, recognition and relearning memory and how they play a part in shaping who we are today.

How emotions play a part with memory.

Studies show that emotions can play a part of our memories. Share examples of how and why heightened experiences increase the memory.  Compare to my own personal experiences.

Why some memories are reliable and other are manipulated or false?

Scientific studies done that identify the difference between reliable and unreliable memories.  I will be able write a small paper detailing the difference and share case studies and outcomes.

What part of the brain is memory stored.

I will reference the Human Memory Network and share my findings on how several parts of the brain interconnect to the memory.

Reveal a Counterargument to be flawed

Memories can be unreliable and false; does that mean we are not the same person if we find out the memories have are fake.  It’s counterintuitive to say no, but that is the case.  You would think if your memory is fake, then so are you.  Not the case, we are still the same person we just have a different perception of who we are due to the changes in our memory.

I’m feeling good about my paper so far.  It’s counterintuitive that I am able to identify with my childhood memories.  I’m writing about several of my memories.  This assignment is deep and taking me to places I don’t want to be.  However, after reading about memory this paper may be one of my “self-defining moments”.  It has been a crazy trip  and I find myself calling my mom to validate the events.  It’s been a long time since I sat down and went back to my childhood.  Doing this exercise certainly validates that memory is related to emotions.  I am finding out that I have been through quite a bit and glad I chose this topic.  I’m looking  forward to being able to change a bit and learning how to shape a better future.

Do Multivitamins really work?

What is a multivitamin?

• A supplement that contains multiple vitamins
• Believed to help improve one’s health.

Commonly thought that a multivitamin will pick up where your diet lacks.

• How long have multivitamins been used (Centuries)

Useful or Useless?

• Studies show they have no added benefits. The studies that showed no difference in health from those who didn’t take them.
• Studies show they are actually harmful causing what they are said to prevent
• Compare studies – I will attempt to compare multiple studies both in favor of and against multivitamins
• Analyze where the dispute comes from. Do they help or not?

Why these companies continue to make them

• Not caring about people’s health or lack thereof, just money
• The supplement industry rakes in billions every year. Why cares who develops ailments ?
• FDA does not. Even though their website claims that these multivitamins are ineffective and in many cases detrimental, they still allow these companies to produce and sell them. Why?

Why people continue to take them

• They have become a way of life for some people. 1/3 adults in America take a multivitamin or multiple.
• Force of habit
• Some people just don’t know any better or believe they will help
• Placebo effect. Meaning someone can take them and truly believe they are feeling positive results

Getting vitamins from foods

• Which foods contain which minerals
• Possible vitamin deficiency?
• Briefly elaborate that even though we don’t regularly eat the best foods, the vitamins and minerals we need are still there. The reason these foods are bad is because there is just less of it and more things that are not so good for you

Which minerals do what and what effect can an excess on this mineral cause?

Overdoing Multivitamins

• Since we already get nutrients we need from food, supplements would be an excess.
• Will this have any effect on mankind since a large amount of us partake in this harmful intake
• Is it worth trying to get people to stop taking them?

If multivitamins can actually cause harm to people we should without a doubt discontinue them. However if they are not to harmful, just not effective, would it even be worth the effort to try and get such a large amount of people to change their lifestyle habits.

Exactly which vitamins are needed

• Explain/example of water soluble vitamins
• Explain/example of fat soluble vitamins

What foods have these vitamins we need?

• Is any food ok or just natural foods?
• (Specifically) what foods have what vitamins?

http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2013/12/17/251955878/the-case-against-multivitamins-grows-stronger

http://www.nbcnews.com/id/39616169/ns/health-diet_and_nutrition/t/time-kick-multivitamin-habit-studies-suggest/#.VOdfrfl4pcQ

http://www.fda.gov/ForConsumers/ConsumerUpdates/ucm118079.htm#why

Why Massive-Online Collaboration is the best Collaboration

CAPTCHA and reCAPTCHA

CAPTCHA is the service for website owners that allows them to stifle malicious activity. Essentially, it is the oddly shaped or dis-formed lettering that needs to be entered before a form, like a submission or sign-up form, can be completed. This is used to prove the “authenticity” of a human user. CAPTCHA uses text not intelligible to computer programs. In this way, the common case of ticket-scalpers can’t purchase hundreds upon thousands of tickets at once, since they’d have to enter the CAPTCHA manually for every order. Shortly after it’s widespread use, the creators of CAPTCHA discovered a new application of their software. About 200 million people use CAPTCHA daily, and waste 10 seconds doing so. Instead of those 10 seconds being wasted, they came up with reCAPTCHA. Namely, reCAPTCHA was the same application of CAPTCHA, except it included a second word. Since CAPTCHA used words computers couldn’t read, they added a word that couldn’t be read by the computers that digitize books. In this way, they assembled a task force in the upwards of 200,000,000 people to digitize books for “free”. This might at first seem counter-intuitive, because how would the reCAPTCHA know if the person was correct with the second word or not? Well the trick is, it doesn’t. If the person solves the first word, it assumes that they could have solved the latter word just as well. One might think that then this causes words to be digitized improperly if the second word is wrong, but contrary to that thought, it doesn’t. They don’t take one user’s word for it, they send the same word out to multiple users, and when say 100 users respond the same to a word, it then becomes safe to assume the word has been correctly digitized.

Google Acquires reCAPTCHA

Google has seemed to have acquired the reCAPTCHA program and has placed it right under their wide-spread wing. Now that Google is an endorser of reCAPTCHA, Google’s reach can allow the reCAPTCHA services to be planted in even the smallest of domains, say a private-owned pizzeria’s website. With an even larger reach, reCAPTCHA’s efficiency goes through the roof.

What reCAPTCHA did is take the average 10 seconds “wasted” by users daily, and put some good-doing behind it by digitizing books. However, now that Google has acquired reCAPTCHA the applications seem to be endless.

Google implements the words entered with reCAPTCHA for several applications. One happens to be for Google Maps. Anyone who uses Google Maps might know that it is a relatively young, and ever-growing, service. To help make their maps more accurate and relevant, Google sometimes throws in words that are on street-signs and business-signs into reCAPTCHA. The applications don’t end there! Google also uses the same image-annotation words to build a database to improve collective progress towards AI(Artificial Intelligence).

Gamers Solving Age-Old Problems

Gamers are hardly recognized for their virtual valor because their achievements and progress can’t possibly help in the real world. Or can they? Recently, games have been developed that use the addictive characteristic to attract and keep gamers playing. But these aren’t just normal addictive games, these games have, sometimes implicit, meaning to them. They use the strategies applied by said gamers in real life in scenarios such as wildlife preservation. Other times it’s more explicitly applicable, like mapping neurons or enzymes in a puzzle game.

Working Hypothesis 1

Utilizing Massive-Online Collaboration on a more global scale would result in the more efficient and profitable completion of common human goals.

Working Hypothesis 2

Topics for Smaller Papers

• CAPTCHA and reCAPTCHA: The story of free book digitization.
• Gamers Solving Age-Old Problems
• Los Alamos National Laboratory uses Massive Collaboration to Defuse Bombs

Current State:

I feel off-track so far with my progress, but I’m hoping the increased time spent on the topic will grant me with more organization of my information. I am having a hard time creating a second hypothesis, however. I feel I am on a one-track mind with the topic of massive-online collaboration. I don’t see how I can spin this in another direction.

BitCoin

It seems counter-intuitive that we can invest our money into other money, but that’s exactly what many of us do. The online virtual currency known as BitCoin is essentially a stock but unlike other stocks, BitCoin owners can make purchases directly with their bitcoins. The price of one coin can both rise and fall very severely and, as with any other cash investment, can pose a big risk for investors.

The risk of losing money turned into gruesome reality during the week prior to April 13th of 2013. BitCoin suffered a huge crash going from $266 per coin on Wednesday, to just $54 on Friday. There were numerous speculations as to the source of the crash. Needless to say the wild price swings are not good for the internet currency. BitCoin is predicted to become much more stable over the next few years. But seeing as the coins aren’t backed by anything, we have to wonder whether the risk is worth the reward.

The Placebo Effect

It seems counter-intuitive that a fake pill filled merely with sugar could have the same effects on someone as a prescription drug. This is what the placebo effect shows us. Your mind knows that you’ve taken a pill, which is supposed to make you feel better, so you actually think you start to feel better.

Many of us like to think that are body and mind are separate. We consider them to be two different parts that make us up as a whole. It seems counter-intuitive to look at them as one, but they truly are.

There’s More To Life Than Being Happy

It seems counter-intuitive that chasing something makes it even harder to obtain but according to Emily Smith: ‘It is the very pursuit of happiness that thwarts happiness‘ The pursuit of happiness is associated with selfish behavior. It can be seen as taking rather than giving.

Instead of collecting material possessions to make us happy, we should look for meaning in life. It goes against our initial instinct because we all do enjoy material possessions. Happiness without meaning characterizes a relatively shallow life, in which things go well, needs and desire are easily satisfied, and difficult or taxing entanglements are avoided. But if we seek to find the meaning if life, we will be genuinely happy.