Video, Article, and Experiment

I. Video
In the video on agression, I learned that the hypothalamus controls anger. Depending on howthe hypothalamus is stimulated with electrodes, an animal can become angry and then calm in an instant. Mark Lerabis (or something like that), a man who assaulted his girlfriend's young daughter, proved this is true in humans as well. He actually had a tumor on his brain which put pressure on his amigdala and hypothalamus, triggering severe anger. After this tumor was removed, he was able to control his anger extremely well.

II. Article
I read the article on digital intimacy. It starts by talking about facebook and how it updates you on every little thing your friends change on his/her profile. Many people find it ridiculous and mundane... until they try it. In a new phenomenon called ambient awareness, people feel close to thier friends when they know what's going on every second of their lives. You come to know a person very well by studying their every day activity. A simile in the article explains it very well: "The little snippets coalesce into a surprisingly sophisticated portrait of your friends’ and family members’ lives, like thousands of dots making a pointillist painting."

III. Experiment
I participated in a study comparing a person's preference for masculinity-femininity in faces of different age and sex. Most people preferred feminine women 83% of the time and more feminine men 62% of the time. I had similar results, especially for men, for I preferred feminine women 94% of the time and I preferred feminine men 63% of the time.