mold into gold

Wednesday 8•05•19 // 10:08 pm

5.15.19

After the longest break ever, I am back on my bullshit. I’m currently studying for some exams I’ll have to take back in june since I pretty much “failed” both semesters. But it’ll be alright. I’m trying to stay confident although I am exhausted and mentally speaking, I’m probably at lowest point. I’ll try to make a post in the upcoming days about mental health, college and mainly why I haven’t posted ever since the previous semester started.

Today was a little rough, but I somehow managed to get all the work done! I mainly studied my waves class and solved some differential equations. Tomorrow, I should dive back into both my electrokinetics and maths classes, and god, I am so not excited for this.

wait for it…

Frederick is not so keen on the art nouveau pieces, but I love nature. And women. 

have 3 achievable goals a day: having a laundry list of things to do everyday is super unrealistic, and you just end up feeling bad about yourself because you didn’t accomplish your goals for the day.

leave your sundays open: i love sundays because they’re my day to chill out and catch up on school work that i wasn’t able to finish during the week.

recognize when you’re at your emotional limits: forcing yourself to get work done when you are unable to comprehend your study material does not benefit anyone.

learn how to say no: people will ask you for your time and it will stretch you to the limit, whether it be at your job, in your extracurriculars, or in your personal life. know when to step back and say no.

take care of yourself physically: take breaks, go for walks, shower regularly, get enough sleep, eat healthy, see your friends

celebrate your accomplishments: go out to eat with friends after a big exam, indulge in a night off after a busy week with some netflix and wine

make a study plan beforehand: it can be daunting to see how much work you need to put in to a class or task beforehand, but this allows you to spread your work evenly so you don’t become overwhelmed.

learn how to ask for help: it is very rare that people make it through school, whether it be high school or university or any graduate program, without needing the advice of others or just a kind soul to vent to. find that person.

never forget your hobbies: you will need things that keep you sane. if you love to play music, write, play volleyball, or cook, make you sure you don’t lose these things. they will become your escape when times get tough.

CLEANER WRASSE CAN RECOGNIZE ITSELF IN A MIRROR, BUT IS THIS ENOUGH? 

The cleaner wrasse (Labroides dimidiatus) is a small fish, averaging 10 cm long, and has become the first fish ever to pass the mirror test, a behavioural technique to determine whether a non-human animal possesses the ability of visual self-recognition.

Until now, only charismatic mammals and birds have passed the test, also in 2016, two captive manta rays were filmed checking out their reflections in a mirror, suggesting self recognition in fishes.  

The mirror test is bassically a mirror with a dot or a mark, researchers can observe if the animal investigates or interacts with the mark on its own body. Passing the mirror test suggests an animal understands of that the marked reflection is a representation of its own marked body, and not just another member of its species. But, is the mirror test enough to find self-awareness in this small fish?

Self-awareness involves having a working knowledge of your own mental states, like thoughts and emotions, along with an understanding of how you physically appear; self-recognition, in contrast, is limited to knowing the latter. It’s unclear how much self-recognition implies self-awareness and more studies are needed in order to find more prove of cognitive abilities in animals.

Reference (Open Access): Kohda et al., 2018.  Cleaner wrasse pass the mark test. What are the implications for consciousness and self-awareness testing in animals?. Biorxiv

Geneviève Thiroux (1720-1805) was an 18th-century chemist, novelist and translator from France. She was the author of an important study on the chemical process of putrefaction.