My Perspective

Self-control is the ability to regulate one's emotions, thoughts, and behaviour in the face of temptations and impulses. It is an aspect of inhibitory control and classified as an executive function since it is a cognitive process that is necessary for regulating one's behaviour in order to achieve specific goals. However, the lack of self-control or excessive self-control both extremes are deleterious to one's mental health.  On the one hand we have individuals who are into substance abuse who are characterised by their desire for instant gratification in other words their lack of self-control to delay reward. They show greater temporal discounting due to their impulsivity which leads to their addiction to narcotics, gambling, shopping, overeating, pornography etc.  On the other hand we have individuals with Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder (OCPD) - a mental health condition that causes an extensive preoccupation with perfectionism, organization and control over...

I just read the latest review on sleep abnormalities in schizophrenia. Here are some of the key points: Individuals in the early course of schizophrenia experience considerable sleep loss and overall shallower sleep, and hence the higher rates of insomnia in these subjects.  Sleep disruptions in these patients are also likely involved in psychotic symptomatology, where psychotic experiences worsen sleep and sleep disturbances exacerbates psychotic symptoms. A vicious cycle! Altered sleep characteristics shared among First Episode and Chronic patients included increased sleep onset latency, increased wake after sleep onset, and reduced sleep efficiency. Thus difficulties in initiating and maintaining sleep first occur in full-blown psychosis and remain relatively stable throughout the course of the disorder. Reference : [1] Bagautdinova, Joëlle, Ahmad Mayeli, James D. Wilson, Francesco L. Donati, Rebekah M. Colacot, Nicholas Meyer, Paolo Fusar-Poli, and Fabio Ferrarelli. "Sleep...

In the 1968 book entitled "The Pythagorean Proposition" by Elisha Scott Loomis, which has documented 371 distinct proofs of Pythagoras theorem, it is claimed that there is no possible proof using trigonometry since all identities of trigonometry are proved using Pythagoras theorem and hence a trigonometric proof results in a circular logic. However this is not the case. In 2009 Jason Zimba has proved [1] Pythagoras theorem using trigonometry avoiding circular logic. His simple proof involves defining sine and cosine angles using similar right angled triangles and then presenting a geometric proof of sine and cosine of the subtraction angle formula and finally leading to the Pythagoras theorem. Reference: [1] Zimba, J., 2009. On the possibility of trigonometric proofs of the Pythagorean theorem. In Forum geometricorum (Vol. 9, pp. 1-4).  Link:  https://forumgeom.fau.edu/FG2009volume9/FG200925.pdf  

In ancient Indian scriptures, specifically yoga philosophy, OM is considered a sacred syllable or mantra whose repeated prolonged utterance as in a form of meditation is associated with positive and beneficial effects on humans. What is the science behind it? Here are three studies that scientifically investigated the effect of OM chanting.

Once upon a time, was a cat of mine; I called her Pilli, as she was silly; She ate a ball of yarn, found on a big old barn; Then she had kittens, all wearing mittens! ~ yours truly

This Veganuary, please watch Seaspiracy documentary on Netflix to understand the human induced devastating impact on the oceans through fishing, whaling, oil extraction etc. References:  -  https://www.seaspiracy.org/facts

In the name of tradition, people waste lot of food resources - both in the west and in the subcontinent. It is a Halloween tradition to carve a big pumpkin to make it look scary. But then they throw it away afterwards. It leads to a lot of food waste. Instead of throwing away a good Pumpkin, try to make a pumpkin pie or soup instead?  If you insist on carving then there is a better alternative. Try carving a smaller turnip instead of the bigger pumpkin. Turnip carving also happens to be a old tradition in some places in northern England for that matter. Similarly, in the Indian context, I would discuss ash gourds. There is a tradition of hanging ash gourds or breaking those at the entrance of a house during religious ceremonies to ward off evil spirits. It is just a waste of ash gourds. Instead make a sweet dessert? In this regard small lemons are a better alternative to ash gourds. People typically quench lemons under the wheels of an automobile to ward off bad luck. Being sm...