- Lots of news about depression going around right now after the death of Robin Williams. One of the better descriptions of what depression is like, along with some tips on how NOT to help someone going through depression, can be found in this webcomic. Warning: There is some "adult" language in the comic, so if you are offended, be warned.
- Why typos in your own writing are so hard to find, while typos in others work stick out.
- This should put some perspective on having to log in to the school's internet filter a few times a day.
Tuesday, August 12, 2014
Summer Assignment 8.11
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44 comments:
I recall learning about depression earlier this year during psychology and all the signs of it. Feelings of hopelessness, lost, not enjoying activities you once did (shown with the character not enjoying his toys anymore) and just not being connected with everyone. Of course depression can't be simulated, but this comic/article really puts a strong idea of how the mental illness can affect a person and those around him/her. Depression can be very serious, and should not be taken lightly by any means for it can lead to suicide, as we have just lost a great man in Robin Williams that way. This article also puts a perspective on how you should/shouldn't handle someone with the condition and in a very creative way, showed me what it could be like.
I've had many points taken off of past essay's for typos and such, and now i have an excuse for them! It's actually funny how you can miss the smallest things that matter the most and make you look stupid. Focusing on meaning is more important, but less noticeable as i hope there aren't any errors I'm missing in this. Now i see the importance in peer editing.
What’s Up With That: Why it’s So Hard to Catch Your Own Typos?:
Our brains always try to be one step ahead of its surroundings. The brain goes on its natural instinct and predicts the final outcome. Over the course of human history, it was an advantage for our ancestors when presented with danger. It lets us quickly take in our surroundings so that we can make decisions. When we were hunter gatherers, we needed to get food without getting caught by another predator. To completely analyze everything using only our eyes would take a lot of time and energy. Most of the things that we observe are put there by our brain using pattern recognition. However, the world got more complicated during the last few centuries, and things are not always as they seem. The instincts that were supposed to help us can cause us to make mistakes and overlook important details. When we are writing, as the second article said, our brains already know the end destination, so it will probably take the quickest route. Our minds quickly forget the tiny details while trying to paint the whole picture. Other people are more likely to catch mistakes in our writing, because their brains have to take a step at a time. Due to this overlooking that we do more than we expect, humans have used it as a weakness for other humans. Camouflage, optical illusions, magic tricks, and espionage work so well because we simply overlook the most obvious details in order to find a higher motive. Reading essays and papers out loud probably make your own mistakes so much easier to catch because when we are talking, we have to take it a step at a time and read every word. However, the best way to edit papers is to let someone else read it because they have to pay more attention than you do to the details to understand the concept.
Depression Part II
The human mind is truly one of variance and complexity; one that cannot be entirely recorded down on physical paper. There are so many factors of a person’s life that can affect their mental state, and whether those can result of a state of excitement and happiness, or depression and anxiety. There is not much more to say about the state of depression some are in, so really the only advice I can give is to try to find the one kernel in your life that shall make you happy and excited about life once more.
Typo Article
When I first saw the title of the article, I thought instantly that the main reason people are oblivious to their own typos is because of the fact that people wanted to see themselves succeed, and they were more or less forcing themselves to think that what they wrote was correct all along. My original hypothesis was somewhat close to the actual answer, but they both were quite similar. The obliviousness involves the brain already knowing what the article is about, and due to the knowledge of the written piece, it is more likely for the writer to fill in the gaps that might have been there. The forgetfulness is kind of like building a great machine that can produce an infinite amount of energy, however, due to yourself already knowing about the entirety of the machine, you are not able to see rusted gears and cogs in the invention.
Internet Shutdown
While I do understand that the SATs are a tremendously important test in many countries, I believe that shutting down the internet for an entire country just to prevent cheating on a test is overreacting. Sure it prevents cheating by internet use on the test, but what about the majority of the population that does not have to take the test? Their internet and business are halted for some time for the purity of students taking a test. Additionally, since this act has been “tradition”, cheaters can just find new ways to inform themselves of the answers without use of the internet at all.
-David Liu
Article Two:
As a touch typist I find this article is actually pretty accurate as far as the reactions touch typists have to typos. I for one find that I think faster than I type and I can always anticipate when I am about to make a mistake. Although, it is nearly impossible to stop, I can at least tell when the mistake is coming. I find it interesting that the lag between our brain and fingers is long enough to cause individual typos. Meaning in one sentence maybe one word is spelled wrong, but is followed by correctly typed words. I would have thought when the brain overtook my fingers, that entire lines would be misspelled, however that is not the case. It makes sense why it doesn't happen often, because we usually correct typos as soon as we see them. However when typos go unnoticed, I would have thought that they would be more prevalent in the writing. This is not the case though, which I find unfortunate, because the profuse typos would have probably have caused an increase in typing speed to compensate.
Article Three:
I find that it is extremely futile for a government to turn off the internet for a test. This is because although the internet is useful for getting information fast, there are other ways to get the same information. For example, one can go to the library find the topic that will be on the test, hide the book somewhere in the school and ask to be excused during the test. Also, one can save a webpage through screen shots on their phone if they think it will be helpful for the test. The only difference between this form of cheating is that one has to predict what kind of questions will be on the test. It is easy to believe that phones are the reason that people have been cheating more often, however cheating has been prevalent long before smartphones were commercially used. Even on the article someone commented, "So they'll have to cheat the old fashioned way.... but the [internet] is [evil]! is a better story than kids in competitive environments cheat to get an edge"(The Atlantic). Either way, with or without the internet, it is a given that people will cheat on their exams, and the lack of internet will not stop students from continuing to cheat. In fact, it will give some students an advantage, because they will have parents, who cheated the old fashioned way to give them pointers.
The first article was very interesting to read. It made me feel a lot more aware of the emotional struggles depressed people have to endure. Before reading this article I have not put much thought into what the lives of depressed people must be like. It was interesting to hear that many people suffering depression do not feel any emotions. I can not even begin to imagine how difficult that must be for someone. I also found it interesting to read about how hopeful family members and friends can make a depressed person even more frustrated. For example, when the author described the hopeful people acting as they were in denial about the dead fish , I realized that if the loved ones of a depressed individual are not accepting the reality of the situation, it could be frustrating to the depressed person. I also found it fascinating that this person got back his emotions at such random times. The corn story was very strange and interesting to read about. I did not think that emotions could just rush back like the way it was described. I would like to know more on how exactly anti-depressants work and the affect they have on the human body. Why does it work for some depressed patients and not others? Overall the first article was very descriptive and informative on the emotional struggles depressed people have to face.
The second article was also interesting to read. I have always typed and edited my essays and then had someone else read it over and find a typo. It seems reasonable to assume that when we are writing a paper that our brain is focused on the destination and formulating words. This could be why we miss spell words every now and then without noticing. I also found Stafford's theory interesting. He said that if we make our work more unfamiliar then we would be more capable to catch our own mistakes.
I was surprised to read about the Internet shut down for the national exam in Uzbekistan. I did not think such drastic measures would be taken for a test. I would be interested to see the difference in scores between the years where the Internet was down and a year when it was not.
On the first reading about depression, it gave a good understanding of what it really is and how it feels. From the reading I learned that depression can be hidden and has a lot to do with emotions and enjoyment. This reading gave tips on how NOT to help someone with depression. Feelings and emotion soar through normal people but not depressed people so that's why it is difficult to help depressed people. People try to help others by finding a little source of happiness in a depressed person which is the wrong way to help someone. This article helped me to understand the real way depressed people feel and why they are the way they are. The other reading that caught my interest was the article about typos being caught. Typos are not careless or lazy mistakes they occur when you are combing your ideas into intelligent thought. When you are proofreading your own work its much different because you know the idea or message you are trying to display in your writing. Therefore, making it much easier for you to think there is nothing wrong with your work and everything is clear. However, when someone else critiques your work they are usually able to catch typos and mistakes because they need to understand the full meaning of your writing clearly. This reading has very interesting points and made me realize why I always miss typos in my work. Both of these readings were interesting and helpful to understand.
These two articles this week were both relatable and interesting. The first article discussing typos made me feel so normal because no matter how many times I reread an essay over I always seem to find another error. Like this article suggests, I've learned that once I finish my essay I step away for a little bit then go back and reread it out loud so it is fresh all over again. This article also reminds me of when I play a new piece or section of a song on the piano. When I sight read I make a certain mistake, but I might not notice it right away. Yet, the next week if I sight read that same piece with fresh eyes I'll recognize that certain mistake. It's really interesting how the brain can adapt and make a memory of something so quickly. The second article that talked about the shut down of the Internet in Uzbekistan during their equivalent of the SAT reminds me of when we take standardized tests there is always a rule that if a cell phone rings even if it's on the other side of the room all the tests in that room are voided. It shows how technology has made it that much harder to put all students of the same level playing field when taking standardized tests, like the SAT or ACT. The article also mentioned some of the cybersurveillance that the government does in Uzbekistan. That also shows how technology has made it even easier for the government to keep track of its citizens and their activity, just like in the book 1984 with Big Brother and the their tele screens. Although it might not always be the right thing to do, I find it really interesting how even a third world country like Uzbekistan still has the technology the shut down the Internet and to keep a watch on the activities of all their citizens. It shows how quickly the world as a whole is changing due to the boom of technology.
The first article I read was very interesting. It discussed how depression felt like, how it progressed, and how it slowly subsided. Depression is the state of mind that one goes into after an event that causes extreme sadness. It is the mind's solution to the extreme sadness, and since the mind cannot be happy again because of the sad event, it simply stops all emotion. In short, depression is the state of mind when you just do not care. First, it is fun, knowing that you have the ability to not care. Then, that ability turns into not being able to care. After that, you start trying to do things that used to make you happy. When you don't feel anything, you give up. At this point, People will try to help you, and at first you won't see the point of them and won't feel anything. When they continue to try to help you, you will try to explain to them how utterly lost in sadness you are, that you are beyond helping. When one becomes extremely depressed, you start wishing that all those who love you stop loving you so you can cease to exist. However, for some reason you continue to go on. Eventually, your feelings return again, but not all together. They come in bits and pieces, until one day, something happens, launching you into a state of violent emotional turmoil. After this, you will start to see the point in things again and start to feel emotions again.
The second article I read was about not catching typos when proof reading. Basically, the article says that while typing, your mind has to focus on putting words into sentences and using sentences to form complex ideas. Because of this, your brain cannot focus on typing everything correctly when it is focusing on such bigger ideas. However, when you proofread, you are trying to trick your brain into thinking your writing is unfamiliar. However, since the brain already wrote the writing, it already has an idea of what you are trying to say and will ignore all mistakes except for those that change your writing's idea(big mistakes). So, when proofreading, it is advised to make it as unfamiliar as possible(change color, font, correct by hand) so that you can trick your brain into thinking that you are looking at a different piece of writing. Both of these articles made me think more about how I think, and why I think that way.
-Kausthub Vedantham
The article about typos amused me- though it made perfect sense. It is very challenging to find your own typos because the document is competing with your brain's version of the document; your brain fills in the missing pieces because it knows what is supposed to be there. So having someone read your work is incredibly helpful.
Though shutting down internet throughout Uzbekistan for five hours to control cheating is extreme. It's not that crazy; only about one- ninth of the applicants will get into a university, so they do whatever they can to get an edge. Also compared to human rights and privacy violations this is pretty tame.
The article about depression was very interesting to me- they made emotions out of no emotions and painted an alarmingly beautiful picture out of darkness- I don't know if that really made sense but the dry humor of the author created such an incredible work of feeling, in the void of which there were none. It clarified a lot of things but confused some more; however I think that's what all good publications can do.
Ashana P
The first article did remind me of Robin Williams since his death occurred due to depression. I think that the article changed my perspective on how people who are depressed feel. I never realized the way they felt when others try to make them feel better. I didn’t know that they felt nothing; I always thought that they just felt sad which is still an emotion. The way they explained it in the article says that they are not able to feel anything, not that they don’t want to. The way that they described how people who are depressed may feel suicidal was interesting because it’s not that they want to kill themselves they just wanted to stop existing. I am glad to know that the article ended on a positive note saying that there may actually be hope.
The second article was interesting to me because I have realized that I usually have a lot of typos even after I edit my writing many times. We have typos in our writing because our brain does not catch every detail. In the article it states, “Because we expect that meaning to be there, it’s easier for us to miss when parts (or all) of it are absent.” I never thought about it that way; I always thought that I was being careless and just skimmed over it and missed it. In the article it also states “The reason we don’t see our own typos is because what we see on the screen is competing with the version that exists in our heads.” This made me realize the reason why I don’t catch all of my typos, and when I think about past papers I had to type, I had an idea already in my head and sometimes forgot to actually incorporate it into the paper. I found this article to be very interesting and relatable.
The third article shocked me. I was shocked to know that just to lessen the risk of cheating in Uzbekistan they shut down the Internet in the whole country during the time the test was being taken. In the article it says “The government’s explanation cited “urgent maintenance work on telecommunications networks,” I didn’t expect them to cover up the reason for shutting down the Internet, but it does make sense in a way because they may not want other countries knowing that they shut down the Internet so people don’t cheat on tests. It surprised me to know that the government shut down the Internet of the whole country just for a test.
When I first found out about the death of Robin Williams, I found it ironic and confusing that a comedian was facing depression. After reading this comic describing depression though, I was better able to comprehend what depression is actually like and I realized that anyone could be going through it. I always imagined that depression would be about feeling negative emotions all the time, but this post gave me a whole new perspective on it. I learned that instead of feeling sad, depressed people feel nothing and go through each day feeling like they have no purpose. They are always surrounded by people who are trying to help but don’t really understand what is going on. This story also reminded me of how complex the human brain is because of how hard it is to explain the things that take place in side it. For example, neither the author, nor her readers will ever really understand why a piece of corn lying underneath the refrigerator was so funny but it triggered something in her brain that helped her get over depression which shows us how our individual brains react differently to certain situations. I also really enjoyed the interesting way in which the author depicted feeling depressed and how she used comical illustrations to inform as well as entertain her readers. The author’s unique comparisons and metaphors were able to give me, someone who has never experienced these emotions, a better idea of what depression is like.
Of course without the internet, people all around the world would be unable to share their ideas through such blogs or even learn about the experiences of others and find comfort and relief in them. In the country of Uzbekistan though, this is how life is. Over the past few years the government of this nation has exerted extreme control over human rights by blocking new websites and monitoring its citizens’ web activity. On the day that the university entrance exam was administered, the internal internet and messaging was shut down. The government claimed it to be for maintenance work but the timing suspiciously overlapped with the test taking, making it appear as if it was to prevent cheating during the exams, especially since this seems to be happening every year. I find these extreme precautions to be an unnecessary disturbance to the daily life of other citizens and instead, test administrators should be more careful and thorough about handling the tests to ensure that no cheating occurs. Overall, this article gave me the impression that the Uzbekistan government has too much authority over the people of their country which is troubling because eventually, this could develop into a bigger problem.
Although Uzbekistan shut the whole internet of the country down, it was for good reason. The nation's reasoning was to prevent cheating on a very important test. While 431,000 people take this test, the country's universities only have 56,000 openings. This makes this test very important and preemptive measures to stop cheating should be put into place. Some people may see this and disagree, but the internet was only shut down from 8:30 to1:30. I understand the reasoning of the nation to disable the internet during this short period of time, but what i don't agree with is censorship. The fact that Uzbekistan blocks news websites and monitors its citizens' web activity goes against human rights. I believe it is a right people should have to be able to view the news of the world and get different perspectives on situations. Without the ability to read wordily news, the totalitarian government can brainwash the people to believe anything the nation puts out. Students complain at school because sites like twitter and Facebook are blocked, but obviously the people in Uzbekistan have it worse. All in all, i agree with the internet being disabled while an important test is being taken, but this is a slippery slope and news sits being blocked is unacceptable.
Article 1: I was surprised to learn that depression can just happen all of the sudden. I always thought depression was caused by a traumatic event or something related to sadness. Most people define depression as immense sadness and hopelessness. I never thought that depression could be the lack of being able to experience emotions. For example the "character" stated that her experiences "slowly flattened and blended together until it became obvious that there's a huge difference between not caring and not being able to care. Followed by a few pictures with the same blank, boring expression despite the situation. In addition there are more pictures of the "character" not knowing the correct facial expression to use, which is noticed by everyone. This article of depression can be related to Robin Williams recent death. Robin Williams was a funny, smart, and successful yet he committed suicide. His death can be a reminder that some people may look fine and happy on the outside but are suffering and depressed on the inside. Williams felt hopeless especially with Parkinson's disease and his anxiety. I guess Williams didn't find his piece of corn on the floor in time.
Before a High-Stakes Standardized Test, Uzbekistan Shut the Whole Country's Internet Down
The article about the Uzbek government’s attempt to control cheating was interesting. It brought home the fact that we are lucky to live in a democratic country where we take our rights for granted.
In my opinion, while cheating is wrong, shutting down the whole Internet is an undeniably extreme way to fight the culture of cheating. However, given the terrible human rights record of the authoritarian Uzbek government that blocks news websites and monitors citizen’s web activity routinely, taking down the Internet for a few hours is probably a mild reaction.
In contrast, democratic governments like the US would never interfere in the administration of tests by universities. For example, the Harvard cheating scandal in 2012 involving more than a hundred students did not lead to government interference in the university’s examinations. Cheating is as old as the educational system and obviously it is wrong, but it is not an invitation for government involvement in education.
Ever since I first started using the computer, typos have been a major issue not only for me but for most of us. I found it very interesting that typos are caused by the high level tasks we are completing and we fail to acknowledge simple errors such as spelling mistakes. We are blind to simple errors because we are working on instinct and we don't realize the small mistakes we make. Additionally, I found it interesting how the author said in order to catch our mistakes for the first time it may be helpful to write in a way where it seems different and not as your own. We trick our brain into thinking that the first time we read is when we are proofreading but that simply is not true.
Our brain is really an extraordinary puzzle. The fact that it focuses on us conveying a specific message or meaning rather on simple typos shows that our minds were designed for reasoning, logic, and understanding. If we are writing a paper, it would be so inconvenient for us to direct our concentration on spelling and grammatical corrections. Instead, we simply write our thoughts. As long as the message is being conveyed properly and is presented to your desire, we are satisfied, and our mind is too. Even after reading through the paper again to check for mistakes, it will be difficult to find any because as it says in the article, we already have a “version that exists in our heads.”
What’s even more extraordinary is that our brain is able to easily decipher mistakes in our peers’ writings. Because the readers don’t know the conclusion or the final destination of others’ writings, they are more concentrated on the specific details and the physical presentation of the paper (ex. typos, indentation, headings).
This actually reminded me of another article which I’ve read a while ago. It explained how our minds are able to decode words, even with extreme misspellings. For example, if you see the phrase “cna yuo raed tihs,” you would immediately figure out, and without any hesitation, that the phrase is trying to say, “can you read this.” But connecting back to the main article, will we be able to recognize this error in our own papers? Even for me, it will always be a trouble printing out my essay s because I always find a little error in my writing after printing it out. Then I fix it, print it, and find another error. Sometimes, I would even find mistakes days later or when handing it in. And just like this article says, most of my corrections are made by my teachers and peers. However, this isn’t a sign that we’re careless and dumb but rather “actually very smart.”
I find that the brain reacts to very unusual stimuli. For example, according to About.com, the color blue is common in office rooms because blue increases productivity. I often make many typos and can only catch most, but not all of them. According to the article, writing is like thinking of a familiar place, trying to remember the sights, smells, and how the place feels. This high level task is like typing, and often errors are made when doing this, just like typing. Before coming to my grandmother's house in India, I thought it would be exactly like I imagined it, but when I arrived I found that the space felt different than how I imagined it. My brain formed a mental image that made the space larger than it actually is. Possibly this is because it has been a place where lots have people have come to while I visited, so in order for the house to accommodate everyone, my mind made it larger than it actually is. I think this relates to typos because when I type, my mind thinks the keys are closer together than they actually are and I press the wrong key since I remembered it in a different spot. Also, after I am done writing something I feel like I am more concentrated on what I have to do next rather than checking for typos. However, if I show my brother or friend what I wrote, they always manage to find somewhere that I messed up. Sometimes it is a place where I stopped to think and then resumed typing by rewriting the last few words, or sometimes it's in the middle of nowhere. These probably happen because I am too busy thinking about what I will write next. Furthermore, I agree with the statement in the article that changing the color or font of the writing may help, since the writing will look like someone else's work. However, even when I do this I find myself remembering the time that I wrote the piece and my train of thought then rather than reading the piece anew. In conclusion, I can say that I will always have typos in any piece of my writing, and I most likely made a few errors in this comment as well.
What’s Up With That: Why It’s So Hard to Catch Your Own Typos
The article about how hard it is to catch typos was very fascinating. This happens all the time to so many people. What psychologist Tom Stafford said was a very different and interesting point. He said, “The reason typos get through isn’t because we’re stupid or careless, it’s because what we’re doing is actually very smart. He also stated, “When you’re writing, you’re trying to convey meaning. It’s a very high level task.” As I kept reading I realized that it made absolutely perfect sense. What you are typing is competing with your brain’s ideas. You type the main ideas from your brains. Because of this familiarity, you expect the ideas and derive the meaning before actually reading the document once more. Because of this, typos are very meaningless compared to the quality of the writing. When you proofread, your brain already knows everything and only looks for the main important points and ideas to change if necessary. Small insignificant errors are not noticed. This is why it is always recommended to get your paper read by other people who are not familiar with the content of your writing.
Before a High-Stakes Standardized Test, Uzbekistan Shut the Whole Country’s Internet Down
The article about the Uzbekistan government shutting the country’s Internet down was very interesting. Their attempt to control cheating was amusing. They used their authority to shut down the country’s Internet between 8:30 am and 1:30 pm one day, claiming that it was “urgent maintenance work on telecommunications networks.” These were the hours of the administration of the nation’s university entrance exam. As people viewing this from a democratic country, this is a very extreme way to stop cheating. Although in Uzbekistan, this might not be too crazy. The Uzbek government blocks new websites and monitors its citizens’ web activity regularly. Along with this, the government perpetrates serious human rights abuses such as arbitrary arrest and even torture.
Depression is a severe dejection that is typically felt over a period of time it generally makes a person feel hopeless and inadequacy. Depression normally affects 1 out of 10 Americans, and each year people who are diagnosed with depression increase by 20% (health line). Robin Williams a beloved comedian and actor had recently passed away by undergoing depression. Depression can constrict your mind into feeling one emotion in which that is “nothing”. As shown in the comic the main character could not feel any emotion making him also isolated from his friends and family. As people get further depressed overtime they start to ponder in ways that can soon lead to suicide. Depression should be no laughing matter. According to the Health Line “ 80% of the people who undergo depression do not receive help”. As shown in the comic, the main character almost gave up thinking that he had no place in the world he had no idea how to tell his family. Being depressed can also be confusing the character really didn’t know why this was happening to him but at the end a small corn had resolved his problem. In conclusion, depression should not be taken lightly. So next time you see your friends or family members going through depression don’t assume they are alright under their smile, instead you should comfort them.
Article 1: Depression is an extremely unfortunate experience for anyone, any time. Most importantly, depression can also be extremely alarming because some people make wrong decisions, that are sometimes fatal, because their mental states are temporarily out of sorts. Take for example the late Robin Williams. If the author of this article is indeed speaking the truth, that there is hope and light at the end of the seemingly never ending dark tunnel, then Robin Williams had made the wrong choice to commit suicide. Like many other depressants, he saw no hope in his future whatsoever. He felt completely hopeless and meaningless, and he allowed his will to live to easily slip away through his fingers. We wouldn't be mourning his tragic death today if he had reclaimed some hopefulness and happiness just moments before making the wrong decision.
Article 3:Personally, I hold a grudge against cheaters, especially those professional "star athletes" who use steroids to amp up their game unfaithfully. People of all walks of life should always make an effort to be themselves, come as they are with no strings attached, and be prepare for any negative upshots that are always bound to happen. Once people graduate from high school and from college, they become so much vulnerable in the "real world". In the workplace, people cannot beg their coworkers to complete their assignments for them. People who plagiarize, cheat, and bribe in the "real world" will not survive. Yes,Uzbekistan's shutting down of the country's internet is indeed unfair to the civilians who are not taking the standardized testing. However, I believe that the Uzbekistan government is trying to get the right message across to those students who are actually taking the test: Take the test using only your pen and your head because integrity can save everyone only for the better.
I found rhe article about typos to be very interesting. It had me hooked throughout the article because this happens it me all the time and I become frustrated due to it. According to psychologist Tom Stafford, the typos that occur are due to high level activity of the brain which is a good thing. Sometimes I would be writing away and then I'd read back to see many errors. This almost always left me baffled. After reading this article I understand that these mistakes are a positive sign. The typos that the writer oversees is due to the fact that the brain has read and made itself familiar to it and therefore knows the destination. Unlike when a first time reader reads it the brain has not seen these before so the destination is unknown. The experiment that was conducted with blind typists explained to the reader that the writer knows when he makes a mistake because their type rate slows down. This happens because the brain recognizes the minor mistake you've made before it pops up on the screen. I now understand why teachers always make other students check each others work.
Typos
Our brains are extraordinary things, considered by many to be one of the most, if not the most complex machines to ever exist. As all machines do, it also has its own shortcomings, its own flaws. It tries to finish tasks quickly and efficiently, which causes it to often forget little details here and there on its way to its destination. Unfortunately, these little missing details can cause grief in a person’s life – typos result in lower grades on students’ assignments, and can cause one to look less professional, among other things. The paragraph about touch typists interested me greatly, as I am a touch typist myself. I never really understood why my fingers went to the backspace key before I even consciously recognized my mistake, but I now have an explanation. Typos have always bothered me, forcing me to spend a large amount of time reading over my writing to find mistakes. However, I never have been able to catch all of them, and peer revision in Language Arts has always been extremely beneficial for me. I think the author’s explanation for this makes a great deal of sense, since the new reader does not know what to expect from your writing, their brain cannot race ahead and fix words for them.
Internet in Uzbekistan
The next article wrote about the shutdown of the Internet in Uzbekistan during the administration test for Uzbekistan’s national university. As the article goes on to say, it certainly is an example of modern day authoritarianism. It did strike me as an extreme measure to curb cheating. It may have prevented cheating (through their methods of “parachute” cheating and changing answers in “bunkers” seems to have very little to do with the Internet), but it also would have caused a great deal of disturbance in the lives of the rest of their citizens. Cheating is obviously very wrong, but it is my opinion that the government should find a better solution to their problem. Unfortunately, Uzbeks have bigger issues than the loss of their Internet – they routinely face censorship and monitoring, and their government is a huge violator of human rights
The article about depression really shows how depression can impact someone's life. They feel lonely and bored all the time. I can't imagine living life like that, and it must be so difficult. If one has depression, they should go seek some help right away. As we recently heard about the news of Robin Williams, one with depression may have suicidal thoughts. Depression changes how people think. People with depression have no emotions and don't see anything positive about life. For example, in the article, the boy didn't enjoy playing with his toys after he became depressed. In summary, depression is a very serious condition and one with this should have lots of support with them all the time.
I found the article about the typos very interesting. It is easier for others to find mistakes in your writing than it is yourself. I find this happening to me all the time. Whenever someone reviews and reads my writing, they always find mistakes and grammatical errors that I couldn't spot. We create a story in our head that we express in documents or paper. It is a very complex process that is difficult for us to find mistakes in our writing. I now understand why we use peer editing in school and why it is so important to do.
Depression Part Two
The death of Robin Williams was such a shock to me. I kept thinking how such a funny and joyous person could be so sad and depressed. After reading the article about depression, I have come to the realization that anyone could be depressed. It does not matter how happy they look on the outside. I always wondered how depression started. Did it suddenly begin one day or does an event trigger it? A human’s capability of holding sad and painful thoughts leaves me astonished. For all I know someone I am close to can be depressed because though they have this condition they probably keep it hidden.
Something else that I found very despairing yet interesting is how thoughts of suicide begin to form. One moment you are being withdrawn of your emotions and then next you feel that life is not worth living for. When the author wrote that it was weird for her to realize that she no longer wanted to live, I immediately thought, “Why?” Why would someone just want to end their life just because they are not happy? As I continued to read on I discovered that we do not suddenly want to kill ourselves out of the blue, but that our mind decides it for us because at a certain point we stop caring. In my opinion, depression is one of the most dangerous mental conditions because it some of the worst possible outcomes.
Depression Article-
I read this article because I had seen the news about Robin Williams’ death. He truly was a great comedian and actor, and I’ll never forget his amazing performance in “Flubber.” I also read that his death was caused by depression, and I wondered why anyone would suicide because of depression. This article put into perspective what depression actually is. It’s not being sad or mad at yourself or your life. It’s not caring about anything and losing feelings. The author’s friends tried to help him through the depression, but that wouldn’t work because non-depressed people don’t know what it’s like to not feel anything. They had the solution to combat sadness, but that is a feeling which the author did not have. To get his feelings back, the author should have visited a doctor sooner to get antidepressants. Antidepressants enhance the chemical synapse of monoamines, which are neurotransmitters. Specifically, they increase serotonin, but they also increase dopamine and norepinephrine. These neurotransmitters are related to alertness, attention, motivation, pleasure, and interest in life. Therefore, when their levels are increased, the patient would not feel so depressed anymore, and would become motivated to find a meaning in life again. In conclusion, the only way to help a person through depression is with antidepressants, and not with things that make people happy since they don't feel happiness.
After the death of Robin Williams, the media has been talking about depression and how surprising it was to see a famous, wealthy actor go through such a mental disorder. It is assumed that depression means that one is always sad and upset yet after reading this article it is clarified that that is not the case. Depression isn’t feeling sad instead it is actually having no feelings. The article helped me understand how a person with depression thinks, and that the people who try to help end up sometimes making it worse. I’m glad I was able to educate myself on tips how not to help a depressed person.
The article about typos is one I can totally relate to. After getting back graded essays and seeing the little typos I made throughout the paper made me aggravated to think that I could have picked up on those typos. The first thing I would think to myself is that I didn't try hard enough when proof reading. However, through the article it was surprising to find out that these typos aren't created due to laziness yet because our brains are working at a higher task level which causes the brain to overlook simple components of the task. Everyone has a specific way they write which is programmed in their brain which causes them to be blindsided by all the errors in their writing. In the article it says that in order to prevent these typos, one should write in a style that is not familiar to them which then makes it easier to catch these typos. It is crazy to think that we can train our brains to work the way we want them to! If we want to them to pick up our errors, we are capable of doing such by changing our writing style. This article was interesting for me to grasp the concept that our brains are like machines and continue to work the same until we change something in the machine which then allows it to run differently!
I found the first article to be very interesting. Depression is something that’s very tough to handle as well as to understand. The cause of depression is not a simple cause and effect process. It’s a feeling of detachment from everything, and it causes a gradual loss of emotions. During depression there is an imbalance of chemicals in the brain. These chemicals are called serotonin, norepinephrine and dopamine– are low in the brain during major depressive episodes.
Like in science there are triggers in the environment that causes imbalances in homeostasis, emotional triggers or events can cause chemical imbalances that lead to a prolonged state of unusual emotions. These “states” are diagnosed as depression, bipolar, anxiety and more. For example, the article talks about how others try to use hope as a “treatment” for a state of depression, but this chemical imbalance gives you this feeling of void and emptiness.
The second article was about the difficulty in catching your own typos. This article basically explained the reason why its hard for us to identify our own typos, yet its easier for other people to pick them out. This is because our brain is already familiar with the entire concept, idea, and central message of the what is being written, so its skims over the little details. However, other people can pick out the small typos because they aren’t familiar with your writing and are trying to figure out what you are trying to say as they read. Interestingly, it helps to de-familiarize yourself from your own paper when revising it. This helps your brain pick up the small details since it feels like its reading new information.
The article about how our brain is actually very smart and automatically corrects what we read was very intriguing. Our brains are so intelligent they fix our own mistakes. I've noticed that as I type essays and other writing pieces that I never catch the simple spelling typos. I can catch grammatical errors but simple typos are very difficult. That's also why it's better for other people to proofread your work so they can catch your errors. We don't realize common errors at all which really showcases the genius of the human mind. Writing like another person to help correct your work was am interesting theory brought up by the author.
The Uzbek government shutting down the internet while a big standardized test was going on was very overboard in my opinion . Yes people always find ways to cheat on tests and the internet has been a tool used to do that however I don't feel that the right thing to do was to shut the network down entirely. It makes me happy that we're in a democratic country because that action seemed very "big brother" to me.
I was shocked to find out the reason behind Robin William's death since he never seemed like the type of person to be depressed because of how much he always tried to get others at least crack a smile. Through the article on depression, I learned that depression doesn't make you feel sad like most people would think, but rather, it actually makes you feel empty like you're not able to feel anything. Feeling sad would be a blessing for someone who is depressed since it means that they're regaining control of their emotions and are now able to express the feelings that they hadn't had when they were depressed. It was nice to know what you shouldn't say to a depressed person since most people do think that they're only feeling upset all the time when that is not the case. Because of this, they try to cheer the person up but that will never work because of the fact that they can't feel happy since all they feel is nothing. What was really interesting to me in this article was that the author's emotions came back one at a time so all they would feel for a certain period of time was that one emotion and nothing else so they would either be crying all the time or laughing all the time and there would be no in between.
Growing up you always hear people say that they are depressed, or hear another story about someone who was so depressed they decided to take their life. You hear all these things about being depressed, but you never truly understand what the person is going through until you experience it for yourself. Most people assume that when you're depressed your just really upset. While that may be an emotion you felt at first, no emotions seem to exist anymore. I believe this article/cartoon was an accurate depiction of what its like to deal with depression. Although depression may seem like a simple concept at first, it is a truly complex disease of the mind. The people affected by it seem to have no control of their feeling/emotions or their lives in general for that matter. Of Course everyone wants to help "cure" the depressed person, sometimes what you think will help them will only make things worse for them. If not treated correctly, depression can harm individuals not only mentally but physically.
Depression is very complex subject because it is difficult to understand what a depressed person is going through. It is also complex because it is hard to find a way to help someone who is depressed. You can learn about depression but if you are not going through it, you may not understand the feelings and experiences of it. I thought that it was clever of the author to compare the feelings of depression to childhood experiences with toys. When you are young you play with toys and use your imagination. When you start growing up, you can no longer understand the feelings you had while playing with your toys and it can be frustrating. I thought this was a good comparison because most people have had that feeling in their lives and can understand the feelings a little bit more. I now understand that when someone is depressed, they don’t feel sad, upset or angry, they just don’t feel anything at all. The thought of not feeling of anything at all is scary. It was also interesting to hear about how it felt for the author to start getting their feelings back and how overwhelming it was. I was surprised to hear about how people who are depressed feel about other people trying to make them feel better because it can be very frustrating for them because no one understands exactly what they are going through.
The second article was thought provoking because everyone goes through the same thing when they are checking their spelling and grammar unlike depression where not everyone is in the same situation. People read through their writing and cannot find any mistakes . It was interesting to learn that your brain focuses on higher-level tasks like forming complex sentences and conveying meaning in your writing than spelling words. This is the reason why people make mistakes when writing. It was funny that the author misspelled some words and also missed out a whole paragraph when first writing this article. This shows that everyone goes through the issue of being unable to catch all spelling and grammar mistakes in their writing.
Typos have a way of allowing others to misconstrue our work, as they give off an impression of hastiness and even unintelligence. They allow others to make presumptions about and undermine our work based off of little slip-ups. For this reason, I’ve always been one to thoroughly scan through my writing for typos or grammatical errors. The revision methods the author suggests (unfamiliarizing the “visual form” of the writing as much as possible) are convincing, and I might refer to them in the future when proof-reading an assignment.
The way the writer of this article describes how we interpret the familiar and unfamiliar in our lives is interesting- how unknown things tend to enthrall us in such a way that we are more wrapped up by the details of the new, here-and-now “journey” rather than the final “destination.” Usually when we sit down to write something, we already have an idea of what we wish to communicate, whereas when we read something another person has written, we’re being exposed to new and unfamiliar information. We take it all in with great and sudden precision and can’t help but notice spelling errors- ones which are more likely to have gone undetected in our own writing. This may even go as far as an observation of human nature- how other’s mistakes tend to jump out at us while our own often go unnoticed.
I like the idea that our minds are too busy formulating and fusing together thoughts than dwelling on the basic and less abstract. It gives us purpose and clarity and is what makes the human brain so great.
The first article gave me a first-hand account of how depression can drastically deplete a person’s life in that they go from just not caring to not having the motivation to care. The examples of bowling and engaging in conversation show how depressive people are lead to overanalyzing and demeaning ordinary things, ultimately detaching themselves from the activities they used to enjoy without overthinking (“maybe enjoyment was not a thing I got to feel anymore”).
The writer defines depression as “nothing,” something that can’t be resolved with just optimism because it diminishes the meaning and depth of just about everything in a depressed person’s life. Without anything there, anything to look forward to, a person will feel hopeless until they feel nothing at all, completely desensitized, numb, and, in their mind, without reason to exist. Some will give in, but some will go on. The climb back to life and regaining emotion comes with sporadic bursts of feeling and inexplicable hope.
Just yesterday I watched the movie Dead Poets Society, which stars Robin Williams and addresses some themes regarding depression. Williams’ character was not a depressed one, but rather a source of hope and insight for the others around him. It makes me wonder how a performer who gave such joy to others wasn't able to genuinely have that joy himself.
Article 3: After reading all the articles provided; I decided to post about the last article,” Before a High-Stakes, Standardized Test, Uzbekistan Shut the Whole Country’s Internet Down”. This article mentions that the country shut down the Internet for the whole country in order to make it fair for students. You might me asking yourself what students have to do with the Internet? This is because during SAT exam time, the government wants to decrease cheating as well as create an equal playing field for all students. This gives an equal opportunity to all students regardless of their recourses and also keeps the test fair. They fear that students may use the recourse to cheat as well. The government additionally, discontinued SMS messaging also known as texting. The government is surely overreacting because not all students are cheaters and even the students who cheat will probably find new solutions. For instance, they may go to another country to use their technological recourses or they might just use a personal hotspot on their cell phones. In addition, students don’t make up the whole population of Uzbekistan; so why is the government making it hard for the whole country? This scenario reminds myself of an elementary school situation. For instance, during snack time if someone leaves wrappers in the desk or on the floor, the teacher would repeal snack time for the entire class. Therefore, the Uzbek government is not acting logically and maturely. The mature way to handle the situation would be to simply keep the Internet and monitor everyone’s actions. Although this might invade the privacy of the people, it will not create apprehension on someone unless they are doing something wrong. The SAT may be an essential test; however, punishing the whole country for only a few students’ indecorous actions would seem cruel. However, if we are looking in the government’s point of view they took correct actions. Maybe they see it if the cheaters see what effect they are having on their country and how they are creating a burden for others; they will not want to cheat. Once a great man said,” Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable…Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless execrations and passionate concern of the dedicated individuals.” In other words, maybe in order to further the morals, education, and sociality in society we must struggle in order to succeed. Therefore, maybe the government sees the suffering and struggle of no Internet service will cause less cheating to arise in the country and succeed in their goal to stop cheating on the SAT.
Article 1: My eye was drawn to this article not only because of the tragedy that is Robin William’s suicide, but also because I wanted to understand what depression feels like. How such amazing people such as Robin Williams can get so depressed to the point that they don’t want to be on this planet anymore. This first article helped me understand how someone can go from being a ball of life and energy and emotion to the color gray. According to this article, depression makes you feel sad and lonely, and you don’t understand why. People affected with it tend to lose interest in the things they once loved, like when the boy didn’t enjoy playing with his toys anymore. The great adventures he created for them turned into trivial pastimes he no longer found enjoyment in after he became depressed. I’ve seen these things happen firsthand, unfortunately, with friends and family members. They become shells of the people they once were, and as the article stated, no amount of positive thinking and advice you try to supply to them affects how they feel. I can’t imagine what depression feels like first hand, but I’ve seen an outsider’s point of view to it, similar to how some of the students commenting here may have. According to the National Comorbidity Survey-Adolescent Supplement (NCS-A), 11% of all adolescents in The United States have a depressive disorder by age 18. Also, according to the World Health Organization, major depressive disorder is the leading cause of disability among Americans age 15 to 44.By these statistics, it means that chances are, most people our age have either experienced first hand depression or known someone who has. This is a big problem in America, and across the world as well. I just hope that we can find a way to stop it.
Why typos in your own writing are so hard to find:
This article about typos being difficult to find in one's own writing was very fascinating. Its amazing that we actually can't find typos because of how intelligent our brains are not because of carelessness. In fact, the human brain functions at such a high level that it generalizes simple parts so that it can direct its attention towards more complex tasks. After reading this article, I realize why an essay that I think is perfect might in fact have errors that I just didn't catch. I now can appreciate the time teachers give us to peer edit essays in class. Spotting other’s errors are much easier then spotting your own, but now I understand why.
Internet shut down:
At first glance, just reading the article title made me think that shutting a whole country's internet down is way too extreme. I understand that Uzbekistan’s government wanted to prevent cheating amongst test takers, but shutting the whole country's Internet down affects copious amounts of people that are not taking the test as well. There are other ways to prevent the amount of cheating going on than shutting down the internet entirely for 5 hours.
I thought that the article about why we are not able to catch our own typos was very interesting. The fact that it is not just a matter of looking over the mistake and how we are actually blind to it was amazing to read. I found it kind of relieving that a person who makes a lot of typos is actually focusing more on the main idea rather than the small details. This article also explains why people are more prone to finding mistakes in your essays rather than yourself . The person who is reading your essay is focusing on the details because they have no idea of what the themes of your essay are going to be. On the other hand, you are know what the overarching themes are to your essay so the typos that you make are basically invisible to you. I also never knew that “touch-typists” are able to subconsciously able to visualize the keyboard in front of them. This article was interesting because I was able to relate to it as I am typing this comment. I also read about how the government shut down the internet in Uzbekistan. Although cheating may be prevalent ,I thought that shutting down the internet for the entire country as extreme. The internet can be used in emergencies at hospitals and other urgent care centers. That period of time in which the internet was shut down rendered the hospitals useless. I think there are other ways to stop cheating rather than shutting the internet down such as establishing monitors for phones and other communication devices.
What’s Up With That: Why It’s So Hard to Catch Your Own Typos-
I found the title of the article very intriguing, as I often find myself making careless spelling and/or grammar mistakes when writing essays. It isn’t until I give my paper to a friend or family member when I realize that I have spelt a simple word, like “that” or “such” incorrectly. Psychologist Tom Stafford studies typos at the University of Sheffield. He found that when we proofread our own work, we know and understand the message being delivered. Therefore, because we know the message being delivered should be there, it is common to miss when parts of the message (words or letters) are missing. When you think creatively, like when you are writing a narrative piece or persuasive essay, you are using different parts of the brain compared to when you are just writing or thinking in a more traditional matter. Something I found interesting while reading the article was that people who write often have created their own strategies to proofread their own papers by looking at it in a different way. For example, you can print out your essay in a different color, or even change the font. After researching more on the subject, I found that author Virginia Woolf wrote on an angled desk so that she could read her work from different distances. Something that came to mind while reading the article were features now available to us on our computers and smartphones like spell check and autocorrect. I believe that as more and more people start using these features and as more time passes on as the population uses them, people will become even more careless with spelling and grammatical errors.
Hyperbole and a Half: Depression Part Two-
Before this article, I thought that depression was something you could fix with a good therapist. I thought that if you could talk out your feelings everything would be better, but it seems I truly misunderstood depression. This article made everything clear to me, it's not about not being able to express your feelings, it's about not being able to have certain feelings. The way that the author compared depression to the loss of imagination allowed me to visualize the way it feels to depressed. I used to view feelings as a sign of weakness, but now with all the information I learned about depression I realize that they are what makes you strong.
The article about depression was probably one of my favorites. Having a family member that suffers from depression, I could easily identify the different symptoms and side effects. When I first started reading the article, which was told from the perspective of a person that had depression; I began to think that having depression is like inevitably over-analyzing every single thing a person does. An example that was in the article was about bowling. Bowling is a recreational activity because it is considered fun to most people. A person who has cancer would think that bowling is just knocking over things with a ball. That doesn't sound fun at all. Depression seems like a filter in one's brain that takes everything fun and makes it boring. All emotion is sucked out of the person's body and is replaced by one, neutral expression. The author also implies that the the depression is like a never ending maze of darkness which is what drove the writer to thoughts of suicide. Going back to Robin Williams, if he was actually suffering from depression then we can understand where his thinking came from. He probably did not want to open up to others around him because no one knew how to approach him correctly like the author.
Typos do not stand out in our own writing is surprisingly not because we are "dumb" but because we are actually smart. Apparently when a person is proof reading their work, they focus on the more complex aspects of the paper. Our brains "anticipate the final destination" of the paper whereas a reader will focus more towards the details.
In Uzbekistan, the government shut down the internet as an attempt to lower chances of students cheating. This is a common occurrence in the country where there are various different methods of cheating. For example, in the article the author talks about "cheating bunkers". Cheating bunkers are essentially places where students go to have their exams corrected before they are graded. The country also ministers what its citizens are doing online and blocks news sites. Is it actually good for the government to have that much involvement and control over the lives of their citizens?
I found the article about not noticing our own typos very interesting because I believe that many of us have experience this enigma in our everyday lives. Whenever I am reading over an essay I wrote, I always skim through the sentences because like what the article said, I already know what to expect and know all the content of it. However, if I had someone else read it, the person would be able to detect spelling errors immediately because they are not familiar with the piece of writing and do not know what to expect. I always thought I was never able to detect my own typos because I was always just reading too fast. However, after this psychological explanation, it all makes sense for why I cannot detect errors in my own piece of writing. I can also relate to this article because I am a typer that does not look at the keyboard when typing. Therefore, the explanation for why I can detect a spelling error beforehand makes complete sense. I already have a good idea of where all the keys on the keyboard are, so even though I am looking at the screen, I would already know I hit the wrong button on the keyboard a split second after pressing it. Overall, I found this article very relatable and intriguing because I have always wondered why I have never noticed my own typos.
After gaining insight on a depressed person’s perspective from the first article, I feel slightly embarrassed about what I had thought was appropriate interaction and encouragement. A person can only hear “stay strong, it gets better” so many times before questioning how long they can fumble with that strength or when exactly things will begin to get better. Many people, including myself, will only offer the cheeriest optimism possible while avoiding any shred of negativity out of fear that the wrong phrase could send the person downwards. The first article made me aware to the lack of impact from these actions and makes me consider what could really help a person.
I didn’t realize that our brains make generalizations and try to maintain familiarity. The second article’s example of driving to a familiar place out of instinct because it was on the same route as the real destination made it easy to understand why it’s hard to catch our own typos. I don’t find it that difficult to catch spelling mistakes because of spellcheck, but grammar mistakes are the tough ones that aren’t easily caught. I will remember the trick of changing the visual style of my work for my next assignment.
At the bottom of the third article, one commenter points out that even with no access to the Internet, students will still try to cheat by using old fashioned ways. I agree; the extreme efforts of the Uzbek government to eliminate cheating are overshadowed by the extreme efforts of students in such a competitive society.
The first article read was the one about why it's really hard to catch your own typos. I found this article to be interesting because I could easily relate to it. Every year in Language Arts since fourth grade, we've always written rough drafts for essays. My teachers have always told me to reread and edit my work. I find some mistakes most of the time. However, when I bring it to class to peer edit, my partner always points out so many typos a didn't notice. I have never wondered why this happens. By reading this article, I understand a little more. Psychologist Tom Stafford explains more about this topic in depth. When we write, our goal is to convey meaning. This is a high level task. Stafford explains that our brain generalizes simple component parts so it can focus on complex parts. Thus, we can't focus on every detail. Since we write our own writing, we expect the meaning to be there. We also know the end result, so we may miss parts of it while proof reading. This is the opposite when reading other peoples work. When I read other people's writing, I take my time to understand every single point to make out the meaning of the writing. Therefore, it is easy to point out mistakes. Overall, this article taught me many things. It made me understand why teachers stress that others read your work before submitting them.
I also read the third article about Uzbekistan shutting down the whole country's internet. This article shocked me. The country shut it down because of a standardized test. The test makers want everyone to have the same chance of getting a high score. I found it interesting how the government told everyone that this was just for maintenance work. I also find this as a very extreme method. This would be nearly impossible to do in our country. People use the internet every day for things such as entertainment and work. Since every person is not taking the test, the people who are not would be outraged.
Depression
As a teenager, I might not know what depression really is. My version of being depressed is not getting concert tickets I wanted, not being able to go somewhere with my friends, or not completing my homework on time. I never truly experienced depression. Is there really a cure? Depression is a state of being sad or unhappy. These people tend to feel detached from the rest of the world. Sometimes they may feel emotionless and sometimes they may feel overwhelmed with emotions. someone in a state of depression, others seem irrelevant and useless. Days turn into weeks and Weeks turn into years, everything goes by in a haze. Thoughts like suicide an come across, but it is the decision to walk away from them that really define who we are. Even being depressed, we should always make the right decisions and stay away from the bad ones. Depression should not have the capability of taking over our lives, our happiness. Time and time medication is prescribed, but does it ever work? Back to my original question, can depression be cured? Depression is a test, an obstacle, a hurdle. We have the power to overcome it by turning the other way, and becoming a better person through the depression. Like the author of this article, we are our own cure. By spreading positivity and making the best of every new situation and experience, we can get rid of this depression. Through this article it is important to realize that a depressed person never wants to be alone. We should comfort or try to help any family member or friend that is suffering from depression. Depression is something that is so common amongst us and should be paid more attention to.
Typos
For every student, typos are a pain. When we edit our own articles, how is it that we never catch our own silly careless mistakes? We see what we want to see. Our brains tend to focus on the task at hand rather than the typos and grammatical errors. We also tend to look for the positive parts of our writing not the mistakes. On the other hand, when we look at others’ work, we are determined to find mistakes, and faults. Every typo is clear to us, because it’s what our mind is focused on. What interests me the most is the fact that we can double check our work a thousand times and still be able to miss a simple error. Our brain is a complex thing, when we read another paper, we focus on reading the paper like it’s our first time reading it. Our instinct to miss our own simple errors will always be a mind boggling thing.
Why It’s So Hard to Catch Your Own Typos
When I first saw the title of this article my mind immediately jumped to the conclusion that it would be an article psychoanalyzing how humans will subconsciously refuse to see their mistakes, but I was pleasantly surprised at the direction the article took. Its nice to think that those annoying, irksome typos are actually evidence of a higher level functioning brain. We aren't able to catch our own typos because our brain is already familiar with the entire concept of the what is being written, so its skims over the little details. This is problem that plagues most high school students and the best way to catch typos is to give your paper to a peer or read it out loud to yourself.
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