Kids Lose Creativity to Technology

One of the major threats in society today is the loss of creativity in our youth. This fear was first created by the motion by states and local governments to remove many of the more artistic programs from their school curriculum. However, the cause runs far deeper and is built off of the entire structure of our society today.

The first major cause for concern about youth and creativity came when local and state governments pushed to remove artistic programs from the schools. Art and music were either removed entirely or significantly reduced in scope in the schools, in an effort to save money by removing what many people considered optional programs. However, in removing these programs, children lost one of the few times during the school day in which they were allowed to think freely and to express themselves in their own unique manners.

However, where this loss of creativity runs deeper is in children's activities after school. Where kids used to play outside regularly and use their imagination to supplement their games, kids today now have video games, cell phones and laptops to keep them occupied. As a result, kids now spend more time in a controlled environment where their actions are predefined and their thoughts limited. By entertaining these practices, children are thinking less for themselves and losing much of their creative thoughts.

Overall, we can't stem technology but we can try and promote a broader array of activities for our children. Try and get kids involved in more activities that require free thinking in addition to having them play their games and use their computers. In the end, we will have a more creative society that is better at expressing itself freely.

So people what do you think?????

Three last wishes!

Alexander, the great Greek king, after conquering many kingdoms, was returning home. On the way, he fell ill and it took him to his death bed. So, the mighty conqueror lay prostrate and pale, helplessly waiting to breathe his last. 

He called his generals and said, "I will depart from this world soon, I have three wishes, please carry them out without fail." With tears flowing down their cheeks, the generals agreed to abide by their king's last wishes. "My first desire is that," said Alexander, "My physicians alone must carry my coffin." After a pause, he continued, "Secondly, I desire that when my coffin is being carried to the grave, the path leading to the graveyard be strewn with gold, silver and precious stones which I have collected in my treasury." The king felt exhausted after saying this. He took a minute's rest and continued. "My third and last wish is that both my hands be kept dangling out of my coffin." Alexander's favorite general kissed his hand and pressed them to his heart. "

O king, we assure you that your wishes will all be fulfilled. But tell us why do you make such strange wishes." At this Alexander took a deep breath and said: "I would like the world to know of the three lessons I have just learnt. I want my physicians to carry my coffin because people should realize that no doctor can really cure any body. They are powerless and cannot save a person from the clutches of death. So let not people take life for granted. The second wish of strewing gold, silver and other riches on the way to the graveyard is to tell people that not even a fraction of gold will come with me. I spent all my life earning riches but cannot take anything with me. Let people realize that it is a sheer waste of time to chase wealth. And about my third wish of having my hands dangling out of the coffin, I wish people to know that I came empty handed into this world and empty handed I go out of this world." With these words, the king closed his eyes. Soon he let death conquer him and breathed his last.

Emotion Affects Your Performance - Be On Alert..

Emotional intelligence is the ability to perceive emotions in oneself and in others. (It is) awareness of body language, for example. It's also the ability to control and handle frustration and other emotions.

You know the type: coworkers who never have anything positive to say, whether at the weekly staff meeting or in the cafeteria line. They can suck the energy from a brainstorming session with a few choice comments. Their bad mood frequently puts others in one, too. Their negativity can contaminate even good news.

Emotions as Valuable Data

Emotional intelligence -- buzz words already familiar in psychology and education -- is now talked about in business circles as well. Business schools are teaching executives how to be emotionally intelligent, and how to manage the emotions of their employees.

The idea behind emotional intelligence in the workplace is that it is a skill through which employees treat emotions as valuable data in navigating a situation. Let's say a sales manager has come up with an amazing idea that will increase corporate revenues by up to 200%, but knows his boss tends to be irritable and short-tempered in the morning. Having emotional intelligence means that the manager will first recognize and consider this emotional fact about his boss. Despite the stunning nature of his idea -- and his own excitement -- he will regulate his own emotions, curb his enthusiasm and wait until the afternoon to approach his boss.

Emotions influence the task on which an employee is working, the efforts he puts and how he influences other employees around him. In other words, what employees feel and how they express their emotions affects their performance.

Effect on decision making : Studies have shown that positive mood leads to better and efficient decision making. However, this doesn't mean that decisions taken in a bad mood are disruptive. Studies have also found that negative emotions can lead to more effective decision making. Negative emotions, sometimes, may lead to more concentrated, detailed, and analytic processing of the facts.

Emotions and absenteeism: Positive mood is associated with reduced absence and intention to quit the job while negative mood increase absenteeism, intention to turnover, and actual turnover.

Effects on creativity: Positive emotions influence creativity positively as it creates a content state of mind which is open to all ideas. It also leads to a more complex and flexible thinking.

Interpersonal relations: Positive feelings induce helping behaviors while feelings of jealousy of hatred lead to poor relations with colleagues.

So, whats your call....plz share your views..

'Gender-bending' chemical used in plastic bottles linked to low sperm count in men for first time

Bisphenol-A is used to harden plastics and mimics the female sex hormone oestrogen

A 'gender-bending' chemical used in food containers, baby bottles and baked bean tins has been linked to male infertility.

Bisphenol-A is used to harden plastics and is found in baby bottles, CD cases, plastic knives and forks and the lining of food and drink cans.

Because the chemical mimics the female sex hormone oestrogen, scientists had long feared it would interfere with the way hormones are processed by the body.

Now U.S researchers have linked the BPA chemical to poor semen quality in humans for the first time.

They reported in the journal Fertility and Sterility that Chinese factory workers exposed to high levels of the plastics chemical had low sperm counts.

Dr De-Kun Li, at the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research in Oakland, California, said the troubling findings echoed studies in animals that linked the chemical with reproductive problems.

It follows his previous research in the same men that linked BPA exposure with sexual problems. His latest study was funded by The National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health.

Andrea Gore, a toxicology professor at the University of Texas who was not involved in the research, called it an important but preliminary study.

She said the results 'are at least suggestive of the possibility that BPA may be one of the compounds that are causing some of these changes' in sperm.

The study involved 130 Chinese factory employees who worked directly with materials containing BPA and 88 workers who didn't handle it and whose exposure was similar to that of typical western men.

Low sperm counts were found in workers who had detectable levels of bisphenol-A in their urine. Poor sperm quality was two to four times more prevalent among these men than among workers whose urine showed no sign of BPA.

The lowest sperm counts were in men with the highest levels of BPA.

BPA in urine was linked with lower-quality semen even in men who didn't work with the chemical, although their average BPA levels were much lower than in the other group.

It comes just months after Professor David Melzer from Exeter University called for an urgent review into the safety of bisphenol A (BPA ).

The leading academic also urged manufacturers to cut down on BPA in food packaging and containers.

Lear to love the pricks in your life

 

Fable of the porcupine It was the coldest winter ever. -  Many animals died because of the cold. The porcupines, realizing the situation, decided to group together.  This way they covered and protected themselves; but the quills of each one wounded their closest companions even though they gave off heat to each other. After awhile, they decided to distance themselves one from the other and they began to die, alone and frozen. So they had to make a choice: either accept the quills of their companions or disappear from the Earth. Wisely, they decided to go back to being together. This way they learned to live with the little wounds that were caused by the close relationship with their companion, but the most important part of it, was the heat that came from the others. This way they were able to survive.

 

The best relationship is not the one that brings together perfect people, but the best is when each individual learns to live with the imperfections of others and can admire the other person's good qualities.

The Moral of the story..........LEARN TO LOVE THE PRICKS IN YOUR LIFE