ouyan045: October 2011 Archives

"Imagine your childhood, events such as seeing Bugs Bunny at Disney World, the time you threw up from eating hard-boiled eggs which now causes your distaste for them, or even something much worse, being sexually abused by a trusted adult in your life. Now imagine all of those memories being completely and utterly false. They seemed so real, right? You distinctly remember touching Bugs Bunny's ear, the disgusting after-taste of the egg. That is the beauty of implanting false memories. The person doing the implanting only has a little amount of work to do before the subject takes that little bit of information and spins it into something completely of their on imagination.

That is what Leonardo DiCaprio did in the movie Inception, he took a thought, the thought of a son not being good enough to his father and implanted it into the mind of Robert Fischer. Robert Fischer then spun that thought into something much bigger which is exactly what Leonardo DiCaprio's character, Cobb, wanted him to do. He wanted Robert Fischer to think his father hated him so that he would in return hate his father and sell the family empire when his father finally died. The only problem was making Fischer think selling the family empire was his own idea which is where the inception came into play. Robert Fischer never thought his father hated him until it was implanted in his mind, just like a person thinking they saw Bugs Bunny at Disney World as a kid never thought they had that memory until they were shown a fake advertisement for Disney World with Bugs Bunny on it.- "

Angela Ouyang's Response:
"Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, or whatever it is that you think you remember?" -- Elizabeth Loftus
I agree with the author of the inception post. Memory is but a constant vague internal rumor more precisely the word captures an aspect of memory perfectly. When we delve backwards, moments never return in their original clarity; they return as rumours of the original event. Faces have been switched, names deleted, words edited - sometimes it's as though we weren't even there. Is it possible for a counterfeit thought to be implanted so firmly into a person's memory that he honestly believes it is real?

In the movie Inception directed by Christopher Nolan, Cyrptomnesia was a constant reoccurring theme. Cyrptomnesia is the failure to recognize that our ideas originated with someone else. ( Chapter 7, 276) The characters in the movie were using suggestive techniques on each other to ignite cyprtomnesia. As a treacherous thief Leonardo DiCaprio implants thoughts into his wife and other characters as their own therefore the character begin to register with cyrptomnesia. Adding on, the concept on planting an idea into the mind displays what the entire movie resolves around. The goal of the team is to plant the idea in convincing the heir to an international conglomerate that he has had a brilliant inspiration -- to dismantle his father's business. Then the idea must evolve on it's own. It's interesting to see how concepts of psychology are brought into pop culture . However, Elizabeth Loftus introduced this concept with the "Lost Mall" embedded into the minds of her participants that the traumatic event actually occurred. The participants responded, some vividly in great detail of the event. Planting the seed of an idea and allowing the mind to inspire and creatively create a story to finishing the memory-thus similar to a rumor.-Angela Ouyang
http://mimg.ugo.com/201007/50179/cillian-murphy-inception.jpg

Diet. It sure sounds scientific -
Dieting sounds easy but the reality is much more difficult. In modern society the media commonly displays images of beautiful slender women to portray success and beauty. As a result the average Joe/Josie is likelier to try a diet, one that is simple and effective. The problem continues as advertisers taunt superficial and extraordinary claims to fix one's image. However, these claims are impossible to fulfill and therefore should be rejected by responsible advertising outlets. Yet another solution may be to recognize the red flags as a consumer in society. Deceptive weight loss often advertises claims such as, "Eat whatever you want and still lose substantial weight". There is no evidence that currently supports this biological mal-absorption of fat. In reality, there is no such truth. Many factors can be associated with either gaining or losing weight and so it's not conclusive to claim things as "simple" without encountering numerous problems or variables. http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=52355
http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/PhonyAds/weightlossfraud.html
In addition, rival hypotheses are another way of scientifically approaching the certain weight loss programs and scams. "Can we know that this subject reason for weight loss was strictly due to a specific diet plan?" In evaluating all claims in open- minded fashion one can begin to think critically. Thinking critically and approaching claims can tip the advantage scale back to consumers. In reading and thinking critically it can found that there is often another explanation for the data. The explanation for why the data came out the way it did, one must ask , was this only possibility?

http://www.google.com/imgres?q=diet&um=1&hl=en&sa=N&biw=667&bih=556&tbm=isch&tbnid=mm0fJYsX-Pr3pM:&imgrefurl=http://fitnessanddefense.com/juice-diet/&docid=1GNMksQfIpl_dM&w=300&h=300&ei=nAaJTrHiPNKisQKM1_TTDw&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=270&vpy=210&dur=77&hovh=225&hovw=225&tx=169&ty=121&page=2&tbnh=164&tbnw=164&start=6&ndsp=6&ved=1t:429,r:1,s:6

Angela Ouyang

Dieting sounds easy but the reality is much more difficult. In modern society the media commonly displays images of beautiful slender women to portray success and beauty. As a result the average Joe/Josie is likelier to try a diet, one that is simple and effective. The problem continues as advertisers taunt superficial and extraordinary claims to fix one's image. However, these claims are impossible to fulfill and therefore should be rejected by responsible advertising outlets. Yet another solution may be to recognize the red flags as a consumer in society. Deceptive weight loss often advertises claims such as, "Eat whatever you want and still lose substantial weight". There is no evidence that currently supports this biological mal-absorption of fat. In reality, there is no such truth. Many factors can be associated with either gaining or losing weight and so it's not conclusive to claim things as "simple" without encountering numerous problems or variables.

http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=52355
http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/PhonyAds/weightlossfraud.html

In addition, rival hypotheses are another way of scientifically approaching the certain weight loss programs and scams. "Can we know that this subject reason for weight loss was strictly due to a specific diet plan?" In evaluating all claims in open- minded fashion one can begin to think critically. Thinking critically and approaching claims can tip the advantage scale back to consumers. In reading and thinking critically it can found that there is often another explanation for the data. The explanation for why the data came out the way it did, one must ask , was this only possibility?

Angela Ouyang
Section 13