Am I a grapefruit?

Hey there... long time no see!

Today was one of those days that I happened to have a couple of free hours during the morning because one of my professors was going to be absent, and consequently, our class with her was cancelled. So I asked to myself, "what am I going to do with this gap?" My options were quite simple: 1) going to the cafeteria to have a snack and play some table-tennis matches (appealing!); 2) going to the library and 'pretend' I read a book; 3) finish some assignments in advance (less likely to happen). I was about to go for the first option when, suddenly, I was abducted by a group of three girls and violently conducted into their classroom...

"Whether you like it or not, Kiky, you will take Positive Psychology with us today..." The threat had been quite straightforward and struggling against it was a complete waste of time. So I accepted my destiny... I was to take a two-hour class in which 'pink' girls were going to lecture me about how to be happy. How creepy is that!

Then Dr. Elías, the facilitator for the subject, arrived. I made a quick move and managed to ask him whether students who did not sign up for his subject were allowed to be in his class, hoping that he would say 'no'... but he said, "Well, if it is you, then you may stay..." Good grief! He did not help me at all with that comment, and now I had no way out of the situation. But do not get me wrong: It is not that I do not like Positive Psychology, or that I dislike those girls (actually they are amongst my best friends)... but THAT particular class are very, erm, 'pink' (anew), for they believe life to be a wonderful experience at every single minute... and perhaps for them it IS like that... but we, mortal people, do know that life is an everlasting conundrum...

So you may imagine what my position was like during the whole class time: I questioned every single thought and unfounded belief those pinkie girls stated, and I presented my perspective to them as well so as to balance the ideas we were discussing. It was as though no one else would think of happiness as a process and not as a goal. That subject has got a theory on its own, and these people were trying to create a foundation for happiness out of email chain letters! Summarising, you would get diabetes if you took Positive Psychology with that particular group... Fortunately, the class was over and I felt like I made a difference, and Dr. Elías sort of confirmed it... I was invited to attend his lecture anytime I felt like so.

Whilst walking out of the classroom, one of the girls came by and told me, "You are such a grapefruit. Before today, I catalogued you as a lemon, but now I consider you to be a huge grapefruit" She burst in laughter and so did I. I voiced my thoughts about the class and she sort of concurred with me... thankfully she is not a pinkie girl at all... But anyway, everybody else would find out I was a grapefruit and celebrate it... Maybe I am a grapefruit... or a lemon... I do not know for sure... What I do know is that sometimes, being a student of psychology, I feel like a stranger. I am much more rational than the overwhelming majority at my faculty... and we boys represent 6% of the psychology students population at my university... do the numbers...

After all, am I a grapefruit? :D

Cyberpsychology

At the present time, technology is believed to have become one of the most influential factors contributing to the progress of societies around the world, but it has also been blamed for many problems with regard to its tergiversated usage.

From the emergence of the television to the Internet, technology is embedded in the lives of millions around the world, and consequently affects their behaviour and schemata. It has had repercussions in a myriad of activities people do, such as creating relationships, spending their leisure time, getting things done, acquiring goods, communicating with other people, etc.

And since everything that alters or influences human behaviour should be opportunely studied, Cyberpsychology takes on.

Cyberpsychology is the study of the human mind and behaviour in the context of human-technology interaction. It encompasses all psychological phenomena that are associated with or impacted by emerging technology.

Cyberpsychology studies human interactions with other emerging technologies, including the internet, mobile computing, mobile phones, PDAs, games consoles, virtual reality, digital media and any other technology which has demonstrated an ability to alter human behaviours. It considers the impact of evolving trends, such as technological convergence, on individuals. Cyberpsychology also examines human interactions with less ubiquitous technologies, such as cyborgs and artificial intelligence.

Should you happen to be interested in these matters, please leave a comment to get in contact with you and share experiences.

Many things to say... and to do

Greetings everyone!

I am starting to realise that keeping a record of the things you do in a day may help out to change the perspective of your life. What I mean is that, sometimes, I can take good reminiscences from even the simplest events that occur everyday.. discuss them, relive them and analyse them... But oh well, that is part of my reality and it does not mean it will work for you. You should give it a try though...

In terms of my study, today was a striving day... I am not that content with regard to the way one or two of my subjects are being carried out by my facilitators. But everytime I think like that I stop and say, "Hey, who are you to judge someone's way to do things?" Being a teacher and facilitator myself has helped me to understand that the being at the "other side of the coin" is not easy whatsoever. But anyway, I am trying to give my best so far, which means that I will need to dedicate a couple of few more hours to those subjects I am finding monotonous in the classroom...

Believe it or not, in terms of socialising, I did something really good: I spoke to one of the girls who comes from the United States (from Vermont, specifically). Her name is Heather, as far as I am concerned, and she seems to be a very friendly person. I offered her any help she may need whilst studying at our Faculty of Psychology, even though I suspect that they are being treated really well by both our authorities and those from their country. It was interesting to know the reasons why people like she chose to come to Mexico: basically, their priority is to learn our language and our culture, if that is possible. And if I offered my help to her is because I would like to be treated the same way when I travel to either Australia or New Zealand for my educational exchange; it should be a tad difficult to get adapted to a place you have never been to without the assistance of anyone... I hope it will not happen to me! Later on I had the opportunity to greet Samuel, a guy from New York who will be amongst us as well. His Spanish level is neat (six years of instruction have paid off), so I believe he will not experience any problems at all...

I have got so many ideas in my head I would like to put into practice! I will be needing to increase my productive time in order to accomplish them... sounds easy, eh? But it is not. I will post about them once I have settled them down. In the interim, I finally managed to speak to Professor Mariajose, the Academic Coordinator at my Faculty, about a lecture Dr. Muñoz Ubando wants to carry out about Epigenetic Robotics and its applications in Psychology (I just received an email from him with some information I was asked to obtain). It will be a challenge to attract people to that conference, specially when I know that some old-school paradigms reign at my Faculty and do not allow the new and innovative ideas to sprout up... But that is another story...