Welcome to week seven! Are you still fighting for your exams or papers? Throw your books away for a couple of minutes and enjoy another culture shock!
I hope you guys liked the Traditional Chinese Medicine articles I wrote the past two weeks. There is still lots stuff to talk about, but due to my knowledge limitation I have to stop there for now. Traditional Chinese Medicine is still a developing technology and it is borrowing knowledge from Western medicine. We do have some medicines that combine Chinese and western medicines together. They work efficiently on your body and don’t have many side effects to other organs.
Before starting this week’s topic, we need take a quiz first. Have you guys ever noticed that there are two words very similar to each other? China and china. Do you know how this came to be? In ancient China, China was famous for china and silk. They were exported by enormous amounts every year. Because of they are so popular and the way to make them is so unique, mid-eastern merchants named china from the country that made it. However, the Chinese meaning for my country is not just a kind of porcelain. In Chinese, it means the “the center of the world”. Maybe it sounds arrogant, but it does tell something about China 600 hundreds year ago.
During the 14th and 15th century, when North America was still a mysterious land, China was the most powerful country in the world. It was the economic center of East Asia and its products were shipped to the entire world. After a couple hundred golden years, the leaders of the Chinese empire were too self-confident to learn new technology from other countries. When western countries were having an industrial revolution, China was still making handmade silk and china.
The efficiency of machines made a huge challenge for Chinese traditional manufacturing. Compared to western advanced technology, our own technology seems to be falling behind and the production speed is much slower than machines. Many of the manufacturing business went bankrupt and lots of traditional manufacturing skills were lost. My grandma was a tailor, but she lost her job after companies imported machines. When she lost her job, her fantastic sewing skill was also lost and didn’t get a chance to be passed to others.
As China becomes more and more involved in worldwide business, the Chinese culture is changing slowly year by year. At the beginning of 21st century, China began to worry about losing her traditional culture. Nobody wanted to learn old-school stuff anymore. The Life style has changed and the culture is becoming more and more westernized.
Culture shock is everywhere and it is somehow changing the world. People from different cultural backgrounds respect each other and make their life better by taking benefits from other living styles. I think the diversity of culture is the key to making the world colorful. Do you agree with me?

Quantum theory opens a whole new avenue of thought and a way to view the universe. We can play with ideas concerning our existence. On a subatomic level, matter does not exist absolutely but it shows tendencies to exist. Gloria Alvino said, “Physicists found that particles can simultaneously be both waves and particles. In effect, they are saying there is really no such thing as a thing. What they used to call things, are really events or paths that might become events. The universe is thus defined as a world of wave-like patterns of interconnectedness, a dynamic web of inseparable energy patterns, a dynamic, inseparable whole that always includes the observer.
We are not separate from the whole. We are the whole”. I interpret this as an idea that there is essential one form or energy from which we all materially manifest in a fashion that appears separate. Here is Michael Faraday and James Clerk Maxwell’s Electromagnetic Waves Field theory, which is “the concept of the universe filled with fields that create forces that interact with one another”. After reading the two previous quotes, one can begin to view that we could all be connected quite intimately. To enrich our understanding of how we would exist as energy, I suggest you think of the Holographic Theory theorized by Pribram and Bohm which states that, “Our brains mathematically construct ‘concrete’ reality by interpreting frequencies from another dimension, a realm of meaningful, patterned primary reality that transcends time and space. The brain is a hologram, interpreting a holographic universe”.
We are as unsure as ever of what we really are, where we came from, and why we are here. We have abandoned the absolute theories of Newton and began a new search for truth and reality. It is obvious however, that we have simply ignored valid information that has been evident to people throughout human history. Two interesting examples are the ancient practices of Yoga and Qigong. To me, these are obvious examples of how our bodies have energy and our lives are dependent upon the balance of that energy. Once we think of ourselves as a network of paths for energy to flow through, we can begin to feel ourselves radiate. It begins to make sense that we are all connected. When one person is angry, it can act as a trigger and make others angry. This could be viewed realistically or metaphorically as a fluctuation in the energy flow that disrupts others. Through this mentality a sense of respect and appreciation for others can be gained simply because the energy in one person’s body is the same energy as in other living things. Whether or not the concepts are completely grasped, this ideology can change life experiences for the better. One can then give and know they will receive because of the positive energy one puts out into the larger whole.
The application of this information is significant because it affects everyone’s life. As stated by Dr. Don Glassey, all of the body systems are composed of cells, which consist of molecules. The molecules are always in motion and this movement creates an electromagnetic energy field of various frequencies that emanates from within the body that can be seen with Kirlian photography. Glassey says that in order for the body to physically heal and regenerate itself, the cells must be “charged” with life energy. He goes on to explain in his article “The Nerve, Meridian and Chakra systems and the CSF connection” that healing arts, such as chiropractic and acupuncture, are not about an individual healing you but an individual opening up paths so your life energy can flow and self-healing may take place.
The current ‘Yoga’ that many are familiar with is the Americanized version of a 5,000 year old tradition of India. They used the word prana to describe energy as the universal source of all life. Those who did not have technology and lived spiritually lead lives made the realization of energy as a life-giver. So, through scientific experiments and spiritual realizations, humans have discovered that we are surrounded by energy and that we are energy. Ultimately, we are all the same energy.
Dr. Don Glassey is proposing that what we call cerebrospinal fluid is the physical manifestation of prana. Count Von Reichenbach showed that the right side of the body is a positive pole and the left side is the negative pole, which agrees with the Chinese principles of yin and yang used in Qigong. Rosalyn Bruyere saw that auric colors correlate with the same frequency wave patterns in her experiments. Indian chakras are assigned certain colors and are said to control certain aspects of the human body.
New types of medical treatment can be derived from the location of meridians, chakras and other maps of energy activity of the body. There are numerous studies done on the relationship between health and energy. Past research can broaden our horizons so that we may begin to grasp the concept of energy in our own lives today. This concept of life energy and a universe centered on energy is an old field of study renewed. The leaps that individuals have made and the experiments performed thus far are amazing and make your mind jump.
The goal, however, is to be a happy person. It is in my opinion that keeping the idea in mind that positive energy breeds more positive energy is a key fact to gaining success and happiness as well as influencing others. It is an interesting notion to offer for thought and perhaps it is something each of us has just forgot.

For the past two weeks, the Tech Theater Company has performed a rather different style of play. Theater of the Absurd was the theme as the Company put on two of the Romanian-French playwright Eugène Ionesco’s one-act plays: The Bald Soprano and The Lesson. The Company had been rehearsing the plays since the first week of school, according to actress Lauren Dedow, who played the part of the maid in The Lesson. The plays attracted a fair amount of interest: as of the third performance over one hundred people had attended, and even more attended the remaining performances.
The Bald Soprano was the first play to be performed. One of the most-performed plays in France, and holding a record for the greatest number of interpretations, The Bald Soprano showcases an evening of a stylized British couple and their guests for the night. The play is notable for its non-sequiturs and nonsensical dialogue, including a line how the characters “ate our British salad” and “drank our British water,” and an infamous scene in which the characters discuss multiple individuals named Bobby Watson, without ever seeming to notice the absurdity of having so many people all named Bobby Watson. The play also took the interesting step of displaying certain stage directions on a screen above the stage, which allowed the audience to see how the stage directions further tied into the theme (“The clock strikes seventeen British strokes”).
Following a ten-minute intermission, the performance resumed with The Lesson. In contrast to The Bald Soprano, which primarily focuses on the humor in absurdity, The Lesson explores the dark side of the absurd. The story of a professor taking on an eager new pupil, the play initially seems to be another absurd-humor play as the gaps in the student’s education become apparent. Yet, as the play goes on, the professor’s reactions become increasingly disturbed, and the play becomes increasingly dark, until the very end, which results in a twist ending that exemplifies the concept of the Theater of the Absurd.
Overall, the performances went fairly well. There were certainly a few minor issues, such as the fake English accents of the actors’ in The Bald Soprano occasionally slipping, but they did not generally detract too much from the quality of the performance.
The Tech Theater Company’s next performance will be Vaster than Empires, a collection of stories by science-fiction writer Ursula K LeGuin. It will be shown Nov. 12-14.

Upon perusal, I found an entertaining movement dubbed as “Critical Mass”. In such a seemingly unorganized event, a cluster of bike riders gather and ride an almost random bike route through a city to clog traffic and “reclaim” the road. I suppose this might result when riding a bike to work or school becomes too mundane, but perhaps the action of bicycle commuting is not speaking loud enough to the single loaded motor vehicles with capacities of five to seven people. So, more drastic and entertaining measures are taken. A variant of this movement, so charmingly named “Critical Ass”, is carried through in a similar manner, but with only underwear on each biker’s body. Ah, the shock factor to attract attention only makes the uproar better and more effective. You can read more about these happenings at www.criticalmass.wikia.com
There is some possibility that events of this nature may turn people off to bike riders and cause anger, but this is exactly why these sort of “protests” occur. The point is to attract attention to problems that we can fix by taking individual action. Deciding to take time to commute on a bicycle means better planned commutes. Or perhaps not taking our privilege of motor vehicles for granted we would ride with friends instead of having five passenger cars with one individual transported in each.
In a more general sense, extreme movements by mostly younger adults may disgust and appall others in their community and country. But, more activity will spark the change so desired by the so called protestors. Without uproar, there is no change.
Trouble comes in when trying to decide is the change for the better. What is good? How do we define and decide good? Well, having common ethic, principles and values to reflect off of would bring more consensus. Now, being in a state of constant change is more than unhealthy. We cannot try to uproot what makes us human. I am under the impression that such gatherings exhibiting a common idea is attempting to bond those individuals involved and return others to a realization. As we become more transfixed in our technology, we forget we have legs and arms. As Christianity becomes more huddled in a corner so do the ethics we were once founded upon. We cannot blindly shoo away ethic without replacing it.
Actions such as the Critical Mass event speak louder than words. They suggest that we are an ever-changing species. Changes often happen without thought of the repercussions. The gatherings are attempting to gather those of common ethic and strong opinion. These movements create a trend, a feeling of bonding. More of us should be willing to act individually and combine efforts with those like-minded for the common good.
Here we loop back to the question, “What is common good?” This is the point where we should all consider this question very seriously and enlighten ourselves in myths, values, religions, history and self inspection, especially if our education ignores these things as the American education system often does.
And what can we, as college students, teachers, and workers do for the common good? Can we set aside the idea that we are only in a school system to get a degree and make money? There is excellent opportunity in any university or college setting to put forth efforts to enlighten ourselves and others. We have opportunity to try and make the world a better place, one person, one community at a time.

Status. There is a hefty amount of intangible meaning attached to a label. A signature on an e-mail, for example, can include a lengthy list of titles. We are so driven to make something of ourselves in this lifetime that it often becomes clouded with the masks of modern convenience and technology. Who are you? I am this sort of student getting this sort of degree. Engineer? Well that is well-defined. There are many generalizations about the characteristics of an engineer, some for the sake of fun-making. For one, they are not artists and actually stink at math. I suppose after dedicating so much of one’s time to one label, that individual may become the label.
Much like high school propaganda of the Student Council or Homecoming Court there are floods of different titles one can earn in college as well. And geez, let us not stop there. We may go further into self-obliteration by earning titles our whole lives. The idea of being an asset to a community has been stretched and strained into getting a job. That is, many times, the ultimate goal. Of course, there are those whose titles pertain to activities that individual enjoys. But nonetheless, it can’t be helped that we are measured by the titles we have. Certification and verification of some sort is needed to deem one worthy or capable in a area of knowledge.
Of course we need to be educated; we are continually baby-sat until we are out of college. And the premises for our survival is based on how we can deal with money. Of course dealing with money comes in many forms. Better go to college and make sure you get a lot of money so you can spend it wrongly and not perish.
There is a point where a title can no longer suffice a person’s needs. Just because a student passes a class, even with flying colors, doesn’t mean the student retains or understands the material. We only learn as much as we want and to the level at which we can learn. Often we are missing basic building blocks of human understanding and survival innovation. It is satisfying to a large majority to work hard to make advancements in a field, be well off and leave earth happily. I am finding the whole thing quite insufferable: having titles, money and materials own us and the idea of being strapped down to a system of working through our specialization and bondage to money. Somehow our individual specialization is complicating our fabric work and categorizing our issues.
The university setting offers a unique opportunity for community and development, there is a place for everyone. Hopefully in some amusement, I’ve dramatized my statements.