The Impact of a Single Act of Kindness, as Told by a Holocaust Survivor

The upcoming documentary called Human is “a collection of stories about and images of our world, offering an immersion to the core of what it means to be human. Through these stories full of love and happiness, as well as hatred and violence, HUMAN brings us face to face with the Other, making us reflect on our lives. From stories of everyday experiences to accounts of the most unbelievable lives, these poignant encounters share a rare sincerity and underline who we are – our darker side, but also what is most noble in us, and what is universal.”

One of the people feature in the documentary is 83-year-old Francine Christophe. Christophe is a French writer and poet, and she is also a Jewish survivor of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in northern Germany which was liberated in 1944. Christophe was asked to be a part of Human to tell her story of the impact of kindness in light of terrible circumstances. More importantly, how those impacts last much longer than the moment in time in which they occurred.

Take a minute to hear Christophe’s amazing story, and prepare to have your faith in humanity restored.

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Study Shows Cellphone Use Can Lead To Damaged Relationships And Depression

There is a (not-so) surprising trend going on in the world and it can cause damage in relationships and lead to depression. Society might just be overly-connected to their phones and not-connected-enough to the people in their lives.

Have you ever been out with your significant other and instead of talking to them, you are on your phone, messaging someone else or responding to an email etc? I know you’ve had it done to you because I have had it done to me- countless times. I usually feel like throwing whatever is close at hand in the other person’s face but violence doesn’t solve anything. This act of choosing your phone over your partner of friend is called “phubbing.” A combination of “phone” and “snubbing” has brought forth this portmanteau, and in case you have never heard that word before, a portmanteau is basically the smooshing of two words to create a new one.

James A. Roberts and Meredith David conducted research at Baylor University on this subject. What they found was the use of cell phones is damaging to romantic relationships and leads to higher levels of depression. Roberts and David administered two separate surveys which had a total of 453 participants to determine the effects of “phubbing.”

Roberts explained, “What we discovered was that when someone perceived that their partner phubbed them, this created conflict and led to lower levels of reported relationship satisfaction. These lower levels of relationship satisfaction, in turn, led to lower levels of life satisfaction and, ultimately, higher levels of depression.”

The initial survey of 308 adults gave Roberts and David the information needed to create a “Partner Phubbing Scale”. This scale included common smartphone behaviours which the participants regarded as snubbing. The scale includes statements like:

• My partner places his or her cellphone where they can see it when we are together.

• My partner keeps his or her cellphone in their hand when he or she is with me.

• My partner glances at his/her cellphone when talking to me.

• If there is a lull in our conversation, my partner will check his or her cellphone.

“Phubbing is conceptually and empirically different from attitude toward cellphones, partner’s cellphone involvement, cellphone conflict and cellphone addiction,” Roberts says of his study.

The second survey measured 145 romantic couples with their involvement and reaction to phubbing. This was partly done by asking those involved to respond to the 9-item scale created from information from the first survey. The results from the second survey indicated that:

• 46.3 percent of the respondents reported being phubbed by their partner

• 22.6 percent said this phubbing caused conflict in their relationships

• 36.6 percent reported feeling depressed at least some of the time

“In everyday interactions with significant others, people often assume that momentary distractions by their cell phones are not a big deal,” David said. “However, our findings suggest that the more often a couple’s time spent together is interrupted by one individual attending to his/her cellphone, the less likely it is that the other individual is satisfied in the overall relationship.

“Specifically, momentary distractions by one’s cellphone during time spent with a significant other likely lowers the significant other’s satisfaction with their relationship, and could lead to enhanced feelings of depression and lower well-being of that individual. Thus, when spending time with one’s significant other, we encourage individuals to be cognizant of the interruptions caused by their cellphones, as these may well be harmful to their relationship.”

To explain this a bit more, Roberts added that those who had tendencies to be less secure in their relationships, also known as anxious attachment styles, reported higher levels of cellphone conflict than those who were more secure in their relationships. Also, having a decreased level in relationship satisfaction (partly from being phubbed) led to lower life satisfaction, which led to increased levels of depression.

“Given the ever-increasing use of smartphones to communicate between romantic partners, the study helps to understand how the use of smartphones can impact not only satisfaction with romantic relationships, but also personal well-being,” Roberts said.

“When you think about the results, they are astounding. Something as common as cellphone use can undermine the bedrock of our happiness – our relationships with our romantic partners.”

Now that you know what phubbing is, will you try to curb your phone use while you are with your loved ones? We are distancing ourselves from the things that really matter in life, and honestly, it’s saddening. Next time you are out with your partner or even your friend, leave your phone in the car, in your bag, anywhere but in front of the person whose company you are sharing. I promise you it will benefit the both of you more than you know.

Written by Raven Fon

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18 Surprisingly Inspirational Quotes from Some Very Unlikely Sources

I think that at some point, everyone on this planet will have said something wonderfully inspirational or poignant. It’s just a matter of time. That’s the awesome thing about words, there is always a combination of words that has never been put together in he same way that you put them together. Words are like an infinite pile of legos that you can use to build anything you want. That being said, throughout history even some of the most infamous people in the world have said some pretty profound things. I mean, after all, it was Adolf Hitler who once said “words build bridges into unexplored regions.” The fact that he also used tanks to explore regions while killing everyone along the way might have something to do with the fact that no one really puts “Hitler” and “motivational quotes” in the same sentence. Here is a collection of equally profound quotes from some equally unlikely sources:

“The writer is the engineer of the human soul.”
-Joseph Stalin

“Courage is like love; it must have hope for nourishment.”
-Napoleon Bonaparte

“Peace secured by slavish submission is not peace.”
-Kim Il-Sung

“I have sworn to only live free. Even if I find bitter the taste of death, I don’t want to die humiliated or deceived.”
-Osama Bin Laden

“Inactivity is death.”
-Benito Mussolini

“An action committed in anger is an action doomed to failure.”
-Genghis Khan

“A man’s gotta make at least one bet a day, else he could be walking around lucky and never know it.”
-Reverend Jim Jones

“He who stops being better stops being good.”
-Oliver Cromwell

“It takes less courage to criticize the decisions of others than to stand by your own.”
-Attila the Hun

“If we knew the meaning to everything that is happening to us, then there would be no meaning.”
-Idi Amin

“Faith moves mountains, but only knowledge moves them to the right place.”
-Joseph Goebbels

“Women hold up the sky.”
-Mao Zedong

“I call on you not to hate, because hate does not leave space for a person to be fair, and it makes you blind and closes all doors of thinking.”
-Saddam Hussein

“As long as you have love in your heart, you’ll never be alone.”
-Charles Manson

“When you work hard to do something right, you don’t want to forget it.”
-Ted Bundy

“Can a nation be free if it oppresses other nations? It cannot.”
-Vladamir Lenin

“My honor is my loyalty.”
-Heinrich Himmler

“There are things one must do for oneself.”
-Robert Mugabe

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Is a Can of Soda Really That Bad for You?

A few months ago, someone named the Renegade Pharmacist wrote an article about how a single can of soda reacts in your body within the first hour that it is consumed. The article went viral with thousands of shares on Facebook, Twitter and other social media outlets.

I admit that I’m not much of a soda drinker, but I usually don’t feel too guilty when I decide to have one or two. Reading the article was somewhat of an eye-opener, but then I got to thinking about the other uses for soda that I’ve experienced. The dramatic article by the Renegade Pharmacist is interesting, and science probably proves a lot of what was written to be true. The health risks are widely known, but I’m going to look at soda in a couple of different ways with a less-than-scientific approach.

1. Soda can be used to Clean Battery Acid
When I learned this, I really started thinking twice every time I wanted to pop open a can. I was having battery problems in my truck, which caused some corrosion. I was told to open a can of soda and pour it slowly over the battery terminals and it would clean off the corrosion.

It sounded like a great idea since I’m usually all for home remedies. However, when I actually saw the corrosion disappear when the soda hit the battery, I immediately thought about what it would do in my stomach. Of course, some things react differently, and soda is no exception, but the fact that the same can of soda that I drink can remove battery corrosion just made my stomach queasy.

2. Meat Tenderizer
This is a more delicious way of thinking about soda, but it can still make you think. I know several people who inject or marinate meat in soda before they cook it. I’ve heard a lot of reasons why they do it, but one of the common ones is that it breaks down some of the tough parts and enzymes in the meat, which makes it more tender. While that sounds amazing for what you’re about to eat, is that something that you really want in your stomach?

3. Loosening Nuts and Bolts
Finally, a common household use for soda is loosening stubborn nuts and bolts that you try to remove. While this is a good little home remedy, I can’t help but think that soda serves a similar purpose as WD-40. Just the thought of it can make you rethink cracking open your next can of soda.

Now I know I’ve taken some of these points to the extreme, but you can’t help but wonder how bad soda really is for you when it has so many other uses. It’s not even the amount of alternative uses, but rather, what it can be used for. I don’t avoid sodas at all costs because of these reasons, but I do try to stay away from them most of the time. Look at it this way, there isn’t much science that proves that sodas are good for you from a health perspective, but at least they can serve some solid purposes around the house!

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5 Life Lessons Millennials Will Never Learn

A “Millennial” is defined as “a person reaching young adulthood around the year 2000; a Generation Yer.” I’ll never forget the context in which I first heard the term “Millennial” as it was used to describe a group of people: I was talking to a friend that held a management position in the company that she worked for and was talking about how their corporate headquarters was passing down new directives for training and dealing with a generation of workers who fell into the “Millennial” age bracket. At first, I thought the idea of changing how a company operated based on the age of their employees was absurd. As it turns out, the generational gap is more of a gaping chasm, as opposed to a “gap”. The more I have learned about Millenials, the more I see that there are important life lessons that Millennials will never learn, and honestly – it worries me.

The Value of Losing

Gone are the days of winning and losing. I remember the first time I went to one of my nephew’s football games and made the mistake of asking what the score was. “We don’t keep score, that way none of the kids are upset,” said one of the mothers of one of the children while looking at me like I had an arm growing out of my head. Are you serious? What is the point of competing if no one wins? What lesson does that teach for life? Losing is the only way to ever get better. You have to figure out why you lost, address it, and improve. Giving every kid a trophy for participating is like handing out a paycheck just for showing up – no matter how well or terribly you do your job.

Playground Justice

Remember the days when disputes were settled by saying “meet me at the swingset afterschool”? I’m not condoning violence in any way, but there used to be consequences for being a jerk. Millennials have developed the mentality, as adults, that there are no consequences for how you treat other people. Kids that were jerks, typically grow up to be jerks as adults. Kids that are bullies grow up to be bullies as adults because we’ve given up on standing up to them.

Fairness is a Myth

I seriously wish I had a dollar for every time I’ve heard a member of the younger generations say, “but that’s not fair!” You’re right, it’s not fair. Life isn’t fair, and you need to give up on the idea that it ever was. Sometimes things just don’t work out, and you need to pick yourself up and move on. In the Millennial generation, everything has been catered to make everyone happy. Try that out in the real world, and see where it gets you.

Learning the Hard Way

Not to sound like an old man here, but back in my day – we didn’t have google to answer any question we might have. We actually had to learn stuff, retain knowledge, and be able to put it to use. When we took a test in school and failed, we didn’t pass the class. There was an actual emphasis on intelligence instead of an emphasis on making sure that no one’s feelings were hurt by being “less than average.” Learning things, the hard way, extended into every aspect of life, too. Just like losing, sometimes the only way to learn something is to do it and fail.

Boredom is a Tool

As a kid growing up in the “analog era”, boredom wasn’t something that you could just grab your iPad to avoid. Boredom is what lead to discovery. Boredom is what developed your tastes in music, art, and literature. Growing up in a family that liked to take road trips is what developed my love for reading as a kid. Boredom is what got me out of the house and exploring the neighborhood. Millennials have forgotten that we all have this thing called an imagination, and boredom is its fuel.

Now, I really don’t want to come off as a grumpy old man here because I remember older people saying the same things about my generation growing up. You know what? They were right. We can learn a lot from our previous generations, instead of doing everything not to be like them.

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4 MORE Types of People that No One Needs in Their Life

It was Booker T. Washington who once said, “Associate yourself with people of good quality, for it is better to be alone than in bad company.” Too often we have people that cling to our lives like barnacles on the bottom of a boat, simply because we don’t pay attention to the impact that they really have on us. As I pointed out in the article 4 People No One Needs in Their Life, I bet that you have at least one of the following people in your life. The question becomes: Why?

Sponge

The Sponge is characterized by their need to suck the life out of everything around them. Often times for the Sponge, they don’t do it consciously, it just kind of happens. At the core of the Sponge is a need for everyone around them to be as miserable as they are, so any chance to for levity, excitement, or enjoyment quickly becomes a chance to ruin the experience for anyone involved. Chances are, if you scroll through your Facebook newsfeed, you can find a Sponge in the first page.

Seeker

The Seeker is very similar to the Sponge, in that their ultimate goal is shared misery. The difference is: with the seeker when they don’t have something to be upset about – they go out and find one. They will even go as far as to make up excuses to be mad or upset, simply for the sake of being mad or upset. The seeker is often very much like a “Cat Person” in their actions, and associated guilt trips.

Expert

The Expert is a person who seeks validation from others by seemingly knowing everything there is to know about a given subject. These are the people that have the google widget displayed predominantly on the home screen of their smartphone in the event that they can highjack a conversation with their “knowledge”. It becomes a display of dominance via an internet connection, or in some cases – pure bullshit. The real defining property of an Expert is their need to dominate conversations, the less significant, the better. Another fun aspect of the Expert is often to give advice on subjects that they have no experience with – to people that don’t need it.

Judge

Again, the Judge is similar to the Expert, in that their actions are ultimately an expression of validation. The Judge takes the opportunity to project their opinions, values, and beliefs on anyone and everything around them in an effort to validate themselves. Judges are often also miserable people, not unlike the Sponge, and carry a lot of the same behaviors. By looking down on everyone and everything from their self-created “pedestal”, the Judge builds a false sense of superiority.

As I pointed out before, I know that no one is perfect. I think we all have some of the characteristics in us to some extent. The difference is being aware of these behaviors in others and in ourselves. We truly are an extension of the company we keep.

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How ‘The Starry Night’ Explains The Scientific Mysteries Of Movement And Light

In 1889, from his bedroom window in the asylum he checked himself into, Vincent Van Gogh created one of the most recognized pieces of art in the history of mankind- and it has a surprising secret.

Van Gogh drew inspiration for The Starry Night from a drawing done by William Parsons in 1845. Parsons, the 3rd Earl of Rosse, was an Anglo-Irish astronomer who managed to view the Whirlpool Galaxy through a massive 6 ton telescope he had installed inside his castle. Parsons then depicted this spiral structure in a drawing, and a print of this was soon circulating all throughout Europe. Van Gogh created a masterpiece with the aid of this depiction of the stars, but he also gave us clues to better understand some of the most complex mysteries of science.

Lord Rosse’s drawing of M51, known today as the Whirlpool Galaxy

Brilliant animator, Natalya St. Clair, and TED-Ed have brought us a helpful explanation of how Van Gogh’s painting incorporates turbulent flow in fluid dynamics- one of the most complicated mathematical ideas to explain, and also one of the most difficult for the human mind to grasp. This mind-bending interpretation mixes together art, science, and mental health for an astounding interplay amid physical and psychic turbulence.

“Van Gogh and other Impressionists represented light in a different way than their predecessors, seeming to capture its motion, for instance, across sun-dappled waters, or here in star light that twinkles and melts through milky waves of blue night sky.

The effect is caused by luminance, the intensity of the light in the colors on the canvas. The more primitive part of our visual cortex — which sees light contrast and motion, but not color — will blend two differently colored areas together if they have the same luminance. But our brains primate subdivision will see the contrasting colors without blending. With these two interpretations happening at once, the light in many Impressionist works seems to pulse, flicker and radiate oddly.

That’s how this and other Impressionist works use quickly executed prominent brushstrokes to capture something strikingly real about how light moves.

Sixty years later, Russian mathematician Andrey Kolmogorov furthered our mathematical understanding of turbulence when he proposed that energy in a turbulent fluid at length R varies in proportion to the five-thirds power of R. Experimental measurements show Kolmogorov was remarkably close to the way turbulent flow works, although a complete description of turbulence remains one of the unsolved problems in physics.

A turbulent flow is self-similar if there is an energy cascade — in other words, big eddies transfer their energy to smaller eddies, which do likewise at other scales. Examples of this include Jupiter’s great red spot, cloud formations and interstellar dust particles.

In 2004, using the Hubble Space Telescope, scientists saw the eddies of a distant cloud of dust and gas around a star, and it reminded them of Van Gogh’s “Starry Night.” This motivated scientists from Mexico, Spain, and England to study the luminance in Van Gogh’s paintings in detail. They discovered that there is a distinct pattern of turbulent fluid structures close to Kolmogorov’s equation hidden in many of Van Gogh’s paintings.

The researchers digitized the paintings, and measured how brightness varies between any two pixels. From the curves measured for pixel separations, they concluded that paintings from Van Gogh’s period of psychotic agitation behave remarkably similar to fluid turbulence. His self-portrait with a pipe, from a calmer period in Van Gogh’s life, showed no sign of this correspondence. And neither did other artists’ work that seemed equally turbulent at first glance, like Munch’s ‘The Scream.”

While it’s too easy to say Van Gogh’s turbulent genius enabled him to depict turbulence, it’s also far too difficult to accurately express the rousing beauty of the fact that in a period of intense suffering, Van Gogh was somehow able to perceive and represent one of the most supremely difficult concepts nature has ever brought before mankind, and to unite his unique mind’s eye with the deepest mysteries of movement, fluid and light.”

Are you a fan of Van Gogh’s work? What other artists do you find mentally or scientifically intriguing? Tell us about them in the comments!

Written by Raven Fon

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