Jesse Bridges
Bio
Stories (15/0)
The Truth Revealed
Once upon a time, in a distant corner of the universe, there existed a planet called Zephyria. This world was home to an advanced civilization known as the Elysians, an ancient race of benevolent beings whose understanding of technology and wisdom surpassed the limits of imagination.
By Jesse Bridges11 months ago in Fiction
Do Animals Grieve over a Death
In 2018, an orca called Tahlequah gave birth. But her daughter died within an hour. Tahlequah, however, didn’t leave her body. And over the next 17 days and 1,600 kilometers, she kept it afloat atop her own, diving to retrieve the body whenever it slipped away, even after it began deteriorating. By altering her feeding and travel patterns, Tahlequah’s behavior was certainly unusual. But was she mourning— or just confused? Do non-human animals grieve? This question is tricky. In 1871, Charles Darwin argued that other animals experience a wide range of emotions, including grief. But, especially in the absence of a dependable bridge between our minds and theirs, many scientists have long been wary of projecting human emotions onto other animals. It’s also been thought that they might display irregular behaviors after a death for other adaptive reasons. And, for a while, the paradigm was that humans were exceptional: other animals were reacting and surviving, while we alone were thinking and feeling. This conception was increasingly challenged during the 20th century. In 1985, for example, a gorilla called Koko, who'd been trained to use some signs from American Sign Language, was told that her kitten companion had died. She made distress calls, and several weeks later, looking at a photo of another kitten signed “cry,” “sad,” and “frown.” Now there’s a growing pool of data and observations suggesting that some animals, including mammals and birds, might experience what we call grief. In 2003, Eleanor, an elephant matriarch, collapsed. Within minutes, another matriarch called Grace neared and helped Eleanor stand, only for her to fall again. Grace vocalized, stayed by Eleanor’s side, and tried pushing her back up. When Eleanor died, a female named Maui approached, positioned herself over Eleanor’s body, and rocked back and forth. Over the course of one week, elephants from five different families visited Eleanor’s body. On separate occasions, elephants have been observed carrying the remains of family members, including jawbones and tusks. In 2010, a giraffe was born with a deformed foot and had trouble walking. The calf lived just four weeks. On the day the calf died, 22 other females and four juveniles closely attended and occasionally nuzzled the body. On the third morning, the mother was alone and still not eating, which giraffes usually do constantly. Instead, she stayed by her dead calf, even after hyenas ate away at the body. Scientists have also begun quantitatively assessing other animals’ responses to death. In 2006, researchers analyzed baboon fecal samples for glucocorticoids, stress hormones that spike when humans are bereaved. They compared the samples from females who had lost a close relative in a predator attack with those who hadn’t. And they found that the glucocorticoid levels of baboons who had were significantly higher the month following the death. Those baboons then increased their grooming behavior and the number of their grooming partners, broadening and strengthening their social networks. Within two months, their glucocorticoid levels returned to the baseline. Researchers have also observed primate mothers engaging in apparently contradictory behaviors while carrying their dead children. Like switching between cannibalizing or dragging their child’s corpse and carefully carrying or grooming it, suggesting that the mothers were experiencing conflicting impulses towards the bodies. Our current understanding of the emotional landscapes of other animals is severely limited. To get a better grasp on mourning in the animal kingdom, we need a lot more research. But where does this leave us for now? Conversations around whether non-human animals experience emotions, like grief, can be emotional, in part because their outcomes have very real implications— like determining if orcas should be isolated and kept in captivity, or whether dairy cows should be separated from their newborn calves. Until we do have more data on the subject, should we treat non-human animals like they may have the capacity to grieve? Or assume they don’t? Which belief could cause more harm?
By Jesse Bridges11 months ago in Earth
How To Maximize Your Focus
A tennis participant wins her 2nd immediately set, feeling like she will be able to expect her opponent's subsequent move. A musician works to grasp a chord development, unfazed by way of mistakes as he time and again plays the same four bars. A scientist fails to note her morning alarm blare from the subsequent room, having analyzed information thru the night time. at the same time as every of these human beings is immersed in a unique interest, requiring precise talents and understanding units, all three are experiencing what is referred to as float— a completely unique mental kingdom of effortless engagement. And even as you could not be a scientist or expert athlete, absolutely everyone can discover float. This is a good factor, as those who extra often experience waft record higher levels of advantageous feelings, creativity, and emotions of accomplishment. similarly, studies has related it to elevated productivity, more suitable gaining knowledge of, and academic fulfillment. however what exactly is waft? and how are we able to discover it in our each day lives? glide is greater than just concentrating or paying interest. Psychologists cross so far as to define float as an altered country of consciousness with numerous defining features. First, those in flow have a tendency to sense so effects engaged in a venture that point seems to fly via. they may be now not without difficulty distracted. In comparison with cycles of procrastination, whilst it may sense impossible to start an pastime, for the duration of drift it could sense tough to prevent. float additionally tends to decrease emotions of fear or self-judgment, in flip fostering creativity. and those document experiencing a sense of oneness with what they’re doing, taking into consideration peak performance. in addition, brain imaging research have shown that float is followed by means of modifications in neural activity, significantly in regions that play a role in interest, self-awareness, and self-focus. despite a long time of studies, many questions still continue to be. How do the brains of these in flow examine to those in other states of focus, like meditation? Does waft springing up from physical activities like sports activities recruit the same mind areas as more intellectual obligations like writing or math? And scientists are still running to recognize why sure activities are more likely to elicit waft than others. while we do not know for sure, there are numerous theories. for example, people extra frequently document locating float while doing things they find intrinsically motivating, meaning sports they locate cause, meaning, or amusement in. this will include taking part in a favorite hobby, however also tackling pleasing assignments at paintings, studying topics you discover exciting, or even finishing satisfying chores. Likewise, it could be greater difficult to locate drift in responsibilities you do only due to the fact you need to, not due to the fact you need to. different studies shows balancing non-public skill level with the interest’s mission is key for locating drift. In different words, if a venture is just too smooth, you may get distracted or feel bored. If it’s too tough, you can become discouraged. The classically captivating recreation of Tetris, for instance, keeps skill-mission stages in balance by using growing the fall speed of blocks as players get better at the game. nonetheless, other research advocate that it’s maximum important that activities have clean desires and permit you to verify your progress along the way. as an instance, practising a track lets in you to gauge your performance with every observe. This also can be why human beings discover flow when playing video games of risk, despite the fact that the ones games don't require skill. second-to-moment remarks may be sufficient to inspire deep engagement. whilst no unmarried protocol can guarantee drift, there are steps you may take to boom your possibilities. discover a quiet environment loose from distracting noises or devices. smash your responsibilities into small, particular segments which might be easy to track and research from. Set clean cease desires which might be challenging but no longer frustratingly so. in case you locate the assignment to be tedious, set extra parameters to up the stakes. for example, while cleansing your dishes, strive to complete all of them in a positive amount of time. while strolling, try to hold pace with the beat of a track. most significantly, and perhaps maximum frustratingly, don't focus an excessive amount of on accomplishing go with the flow. That kind of distraction would possibly simply save you you from locating it.
By Jesse Bridges11 months ago in Humans