What Makes People Tick?

The Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) is a concept I learnt about while studying to be a teacher. The ZPD describes the learning that a student needs to do to get from where they are now and what they know at present to where they can get to and what they will know with help. I found it an interesting concept and enjoyed learning about it and seeing it happening right in front of my eyes while at job placements.  The 'creator' of the concept, Soviet psychologist Lev Vygotsky (1896–1934), describes it much better than I do:  The zone of proximal development (ZPD) is " the distance between the actual developmental level as determined by independent problem solving and the level of potential development as determined through problem solving under adult guidance, or in collaboration with more capable peers "  Lev Vygotsky, 1978 * In my words, Vygotsky thought that children learn better when inspired / helped / assisted by adults or other (sometimes older) childre...

It's a Sunday afternoon. The streets outside are wet - I can hear the cars driving through the rainwater that's left on the road. I should be doing so many things, yet "you should be..." is the last thing I feel like hearing from anyone today, including myself. I'm feeling a bit melancholy today. Feeling a bit over-extended, a bit worn down, washed out, used up. I don't feel like being productive today or doing my best to be great at something. I just want to be . Today I don't want clichés or upbeat statements that really say nothing at all, I want peace and quiet and maybe, just maybe, some positivity. So, I decided to look up some quotes on Goodreads to do with being happy, appreciating what life gives you, smiling through the tears, seeing the silver lining, believing in the positive... And all that even after saying that I wanted nothing to do with clichés today...

Browsing Live Science today, I came across several interesting articles that I wanted to share with our readers. They are from the Human Origins section , or were found using that page as a starting point. My description wouldn't do the complexity of the matters they deal with justice, so I'll let them explain in their own words: "Humans are unique creatures on the planet, though it wasn't always this way. Long ago, some bizarre human relatives, such as Nutcracker Man and a Homo species whose miniature bodies resembled the hobbits on Lord of the Rings, roamed Earth. Scientists are even finding evidence that modern humans crossed paths with some of our relatives, with fossils suggesting Homo sapiens may have had sex with Neanderthals and even a newly discovered species called the Denisovans. In news and features, we will cover human evolution and origins, revealing the mysteries of humanity, details on human ancestors and the evolutionary steps that led to modern h...

When I studied Teaching at University, we learnt about lots of relevant and interesting subjects. Not only did we learn 'basics' like (how to teach) science, mathematics, languages and technology, we also learnt a lot of theories. At first, the theories puzzled us slightly yet after the first year or so, we started seeing the connections between all the different subjects we were studying. "Seeing the connections" was something that happened gradually, yet our entire class of 20-30 women got there around the same time. It was a shared process of discovery in which we learnt from each other and with each other and were able to grow and change our insights together.

"When Personality Traits Match Job, Employees Succeed." It sounds so simple when I read the words, almost like a 'wise saying' that could be attributed to a great leader or philosopher of the past. Yet apparently it's not quite that simple because if it were, this simple statement wouldn't be "new research". A September 2013 article from Business News Daily explains: "Bosses may want to take some more time finding out what drives their employees. New research suggests that matching the motivations and personality traits of workers with their job duties plays a big role in the success of not only those employees, but their companies as well." So - let me get this straight... Research indicates that people are more likely to succeed at work if they do a job that matches their interests, motivation and personality. Wait, what was it that I wrote earlier about attributing a statement like this to a great philosopher of the past? How about ...

"Oh come on, you know you want to share it so Go On!" is exactly what went through my head as I saw this image. So here goes! Another one for Earth Day ! Source: Boomer Muse by Layla Morgan Wilde

Tuesday the 22nd of April 2014. Otherwise known as "today". Facebook and Google tell me that today is Earth Day . Google even created a very nice Doodle to mark the occasion. Maybe it´s just me, but this particular Doodle reminds me a bit of drawings by artist Marjolein Bastin that I simply adore! To honour Earth Day, one of my favourite Facebook pages posted an image that - as happens from time to time ;-) - got me thinking. It seems to me that I fucking love science has a very good point! Photo source: I fucking love science on Facebook "Imagine If Trees Gave Off  Wifi Signals, We Would  Be Planting So Many Trees  And We'd Probably Save  The Planet Too. Too Bad They  Only Produce The  Oxygen We  Breathe." 

Sad but true. Both men and women the world over label and judge others based on how they look, what they wear and how they choose to express themselves.  A recently published study by the Brazilian Institute for Applied Economics ( IPEA ) shows that a stunning 65% of respondents found that a woman who dressed provocatively deserved to be attacked or raped .  "Earlier this week, a study was released that said a startling 65.1 percent of Brazilians either partially or wholly believe that "if dressed provocatively, women deserve to be attacked and raped." In addition, the study revealed a 58.5 percent complacency with the belief that "if women knew how to behave, there would be less rape." ~ Huffington Post

"Imagine there's no countries It isn't hard to do Nothing to kill or die for And no religion too Imagine all the people Living life in peace... You may say I'm a dreamer But I'm not the only one I hope someday you'll join us And the world will be as one"

Browsing my Facebook feed today, I came across a friend's post asking if shops'd be open tomorrow in her area. I'm in Europe, my friend lives Down Under. I assumed there must be a local holiday I didn't know about until reading the comments - It's "Good Friday" tomorrow. Right. Took a while but : Click. When it dawned on me that I couldn't for the life of me remember what the whole Good Friday and Easter thing was about exactly, I checked Wikipedia. While I understand that Wikipedia is not an encyclopaedia or infallible or anything of the sort, the information it provided still surprised me greatly. Source :  Wikipedia "Easter (...) is a festival and holiday celebrated by Christians and non-Christians" So, according to Wikipedia I celebrate Easter? Uh... NO. I really, really don't! I was raised secular in a mainstream 'Christian' country in western Europe. Even though my family didn't care a...

Most people don't think of themselves as actively working to change the world's climate. Yet in today's industrialised plastic-fantastic society, it is something we all do whether we like to face that fact or not. Smithsonian Magazine's April 10 2014 article by Sarah Zielinski entitled " Eight Ways That Climate Change Hurts Humans " looks at ways that the changing climate will influence human life in the future - and how it is already doing so today. Some of the ways mentioned in which humans can be hurt by climate change are through heat waves, droughts and flooding. Climate change is "a long-term change in the earth's climate, especially a change due to an increase in the average atmospheric temperature" ( Dictionary.com ). We've all heard of 'global warming' however climate change is more than just the atmospheric temperature getting warmer - it is the climate of the entire world changing. According to the blog of Roger A. Pi...

Efraim Inbar of the Middle East Forum writes about the latest hiccups in the Israeli-Palestinian Authority (peace?) talks. He raises a number of interesting points that got me thinking, which is exactly why I'm sharing his article with you. http://www.meforum.org/3804/israel-palestinians-diplomacy

While focusing on looks or the 'beautification'of one's exterior is most certainly NOT one of our aim at this blog, we do very much appreciate the weird, the wonderful, the special and the extraordinary.  Which is why we're thrilled to share this  S F Times  article with you all. The article presents drawings that are so amazing and life-like that it is impossible to tell that they are not actual photographs!

The Kingdom of Israel. Established over 3000 years ago. Capital city: Jerusalem. The State of Israel. Established over 60 years ago. Capital city: Jerusalem. In the book of Genesis - the very first book in both the Jewish and Christian scriptures - the story of Abraham is told. The One God makes a covenant with Abraham, the father of Isaac and Ishmael. God promises Abraham, before he has any children, that his son by Sarah whose name will be Isaac, will be the beginning of a chosen people special to God. Isaac's grandson Judah is the person the Jewish people are 'named for'.  It is my personal opinion that both Israelis/Jews and Palestinians/Muslims should make more concessions when it comes to negotiating a peaceful two-state solution. It is also my personal opinion that both sides have very valid interests and concerns that need to be heard, respected and addressed. There are a great deal of issues that stand in the way of a two-state solution. According to a recent Mi...

The University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research has conducted an extensive survey in seven Muslim-majority countries -- Tunisia, Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey -- looking at Tunisia as the birthplace of the Arab Spring and how happenings in Tunisia effect other Arab countries. The study itself is very interesting - read it as a PDF here  - however what caught my eye was a January 2014 article by the Pew Research Center (using UoM's data)  looking at the way MEN prefer women to dress in public places in the above-mentioned countries.

Lately, I've been researching the historical accuracy of and the history 'behind' the Biblical account of creation and early life on earth. This means examining for instance the Biblical account of Creation, the story of Noah's Flood and the story about the Tower of Babel.  The Babylonian  Enuma Elish creation myth is a lot like the one in Genesis; the story of Noah's flood and ark is for instance also told in the Epic of Gilgamesh .

An interesting study by the US-based Pew Research Center’s Religion & Public Life Project takes a look at religious diversity around the world. The study compares religious diversity around the entire world, per region and per individual country. The world's five main religions Buddhism, Christianity,

Today's blog post is going back to the Early Days! Childcare, Education and some Developmental Theories thrown in! Brace yourselves! My cousin who's a working mother of two, sent me a link to a post by blogger Stephanie Metz. Her comment: "Finally someone says what I've been thinking!" This of course got me thinking, and got me curious to read the post. Blogger Stephanie Metz writes about her life as a working mother on her blog The Metz Family . The post I'm talking about is from October 2013 entitled " Why My Kids Are NOT the Center of My World " and as she cautions, it may be a controversial post to read.

This makes me happy!  Interactive maps that are easy to use and compare! Want to see what war, climate change or a forest fire do to a geographical region - Google Maps can show you! Daily Mail article here

The Bible is full of stories of ancient prophets, famous leaders and inspiring kings. Stories of courage and loss, conviction and faith, hope and betrayal. Fantastic-sounding stories about men named Adam, Noah, Moses, David, Solomon, Judah... Men who form the backbone (the forefathers) of the Jewish people and have inspired millions with their words, their wisdom or their inspiring deeds.