MooPig Education Department :: "A Plausible School of Villainry"

Education and the Arts
Mashed articles by Pat Darnell  |  Jan 22, 2014  |  Bryan TX

[Picture LINK] The Maurice Strong School of Strong Villains

To have a story line one needs a villain and a hero. It is true for any form of story telling. The referenced article mentions that believable villains do not exist in today's modern cinema. Depictions are not realistic, and tend to stereotype villain characters. Woe is me.

And I thought every villain is a master mind criminal, with a fortune hid away from his nemesis's. What the article suggests is that one needs an advanced psychology degree in order to characterize a realistic villain today.

This is why our editors in MooPig Education Department think it is a good time to start developing good villains in primary and secondary schools. "We should start our young thespians at an early age to make certain there are plenty of realistic villains available to cinema, Internet, and for what ever comes next," said R. B. Guiles, editor in chief of MooPig Education Department.

"Too many villains let their own ego's get involved in their characterizations," said Sarah P. Body, MooPig Disney Liaison. "With primary psychological research applied to youngsters at tender ages, we may see a shift to more plausible villains in the future."

Why psychopathic film villains are rarely realistic — and why it matters | MinnPost: "But just how clinically realistic are those portrayals? Not very — with a handful of exceptions, according to a paper published recently in the Journal of Forensic Sciences. This finding is of interest to more than just film buffs. Other research has shown that films exert a strong influence on people’s perceptions of mental illness."

'via Blog this'
"You’ll find an abstract of the study at the Journal of Forensic Sciences’ website, but, unfortunately, the study itself (with its list of 126 psychopathic villains) is behind a paywall."

CONCLUSION
We would like to call our new "School of Plausible Villainry" the Maurice Strong School of Strong Villains. In due course, as people get piled higher and deeper college degrees, some will become authors of better villains, to go along with their unstrung heroes.


_______________________Reference
http://www.minnpost.com/second-opinion/2014/01/why-psychopathic-film-villains-are-rarely-realistic-and-why-it-matters
http://seeker401.wordpress.com/2010/03/01/pachauri-gore-strong-the-unholy-trinity/

MooPig Personality Division :: "We tend to cluster around people who act the same as us."

Texas is like the Eastern Seaboard
mashed articles by Pat Darnell  |  Oct 30, 2013  |  Bryan TX

Looking at America in psychological terms can be convoluted. Understanding of the human brain is still in its infancy and its function is misunderstood by many. The article "assesses people across five key personality traits--openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism." These "traits" are observable, but not fully understood either, any more than the openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism is understood in cows. But we must push forward, and the article takes in account of what makes us different and what makes "likeness" between people; if indeed we "instinctively" somehow group with others who are most like ourselves.

After all cows do "herd" with other cows, and not with gazelles, right?

There Are Three Americas Hiding Inside Our Country--Which Do You Live In? | Co.Exist | ideas + impact: "There are many ways of dividing up America: Red state, Blue state, Rust Belt, Bible Belt, Sun Belt, Stroke Belt...the list could go on. We're defined by our regional economies, voting patterns, stereotypes, geographies, and a lot else besides. These maps do something different: They look at America in psychological terms. They assess people across five key personality traits--openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism--and show us where the distribution falls.

Led by Jason Rentfrow, at the University of Cambridge, the analysis is based on a total of 1.5 million online surveys conducted in five batches. The researchers then cluster traits together, with the darker colored areas indicating higher correlation. The work is published in the latest issue of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology."

'via Blog this'

" ... Obviously not everyone in each region fits the profile. We're talking statistical averages here. Still, the maps offer another lens through which to look at the big divisions in the U.S., and place several states outside the norm. Texas, for example, is less in the South and more in the East, which may be news to some. ... "

We find out that Texas is both "unfriendly and unconventional." Texas is neither "relaxed nor creative." Texas is "temperamental and uninhibited."

From the article: " ... In Cluster 3, the psychological profile of the region is defined by low Extraversion, very low Agreeableness and Conscientiousness, very high Neuroticism, and moderately high Openness. This particular configuration of traits depicts the type of person who is reserved, aloof, impulsive, irritable, and inquisitive. (The work is published in the latest issue of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. Ben Schiller. October 18, 2013. LINK) ... "

CONCLUSION
" ... Texas, for example, is less in the South and more in the East, which may be news to some. ..."



NEXT WEEK: High-Tech Underwear that Keeps Your Farts from Smelling (LINK)

________________________Reference
http://www.fastcoexist.com/3020192/there-are-three-americas-hiding-inside-our-country-which-do-you-live-in?partner=rss#1
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-10/apa-ure101613.php
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stroke_Belt

MooPig Parenting Department :: "Parenting in Today's World"

Parenting, the Test of Fire!
Retrieved by Pat Darnell | Jan 6, 2012 | Bryan TX

[Picture LINK]

Sometimes MooPig Opinion and Editorial Department runs across this "SuchandSuchBlog.com is no longer available. The authors have deleted this blog."

"We know the time is coming when Blogging will be a liability," says Grappler Dorns, editor of Op/Ed. "We can only hope that our attempt to provide our children with a cross section of the world at the turn of the century will survive."

But that is not all there is to it. You see, Timmy, there is a subculture of oblivion underneath all of this, and most everything you put on the Internet is going to go down with the end of Mother Earth in a few billion years. Yes, our blogs, and quips, and twitters, and Reddits will all go into the massive black hole of destiny, and survive.

So will our attempts at parenting. Since we all decided to be immortal and pass on our genetic codes to our unsuspecting bairn, we will genetically be included in the over all scheme of perpetuity. Do you feel better now? I didn't think so. In fact it might make you more anxious.

We take this segue moment to look into a recent book that took a decade to write, and will take us a decade to read.

All too late. "After six our nest is almost empty," laments one father to his wife.

Andrew Solomon's book about parenting abnormal children, "Far from the Tree."

" ... Drawing on forty thousand pages of interview transcripts with more than three hundred families, Solomon mines the eloquence of ordinary people facing extreme challenges.

" ... Many families grow closer through caring for a challenging child; most discover supportive communities of others similarly affected; some are inspired to become advocates and activists, celebrating the very conditions they once feared. Woven into their courageous and affirming stories is Solomon’s journey to accepting his own identity, which culminated in his midlife decision, influenced by this research, to become a parent. ..."

Watch out, Andrew, it will be your test of fire!

Susan Klebold's Story - Business Insider: " ... After such tragedies, people struggle to contemplate why a young person could do something so horrific. In The New York Times, Solomon wrote about interviewing the Klebolds a number of times over eight years to try to find some answers. Here's what he wrote:

" ... I began convinced that if I dug deeply enough into their character, I would understand why Columbine happened — that I would recognize damage in their household that spilled over into catastrophe. Instead, I came to view the Klebolds not only as inculpable, but as admirable, moral, intelligent and kind people whom I would gladly have had as parents myself.

It's impossible not to feel for Susan Klebold when reading her first-hand account of raising a mass murderer, which O Magazine published in 2009." (Erin Fuchs. Jan. 4, 2013, 4:54 PM. HERE) ... "

'via Blog this'

_________________________Reference
http://www.businessinsider.com/susan-klebolds-story-2013-1
http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/the-new-york-times
http://www.oprah.com/world/Susan-Klebolds-O-Magazine-Essay-I-Will-Never-Know-Why/7
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/23/opinion/sunday/anatomy-of-a-murder-suicide.html?n=Top%2fReference%2fTimes%20Topics%2fPeople%2fK%2fKlebold%2c%20Dylan
http://www.amazon.com/Far-From-the-Tree-ebook/dp/B007EDOLJ2
http://www.more.com/book-review-far-tree-andrew-solomon
http://mindyourownreality.blogspot.com/2007/09/follow-up-you-see-timmy.html

MooPig Home School Department :: "Teachers Say: ..."

Retrieved by Pat Darnell | Jan 3, 2013 | Bryan TX

[Picture LINK]

13+ Things Your Child's Teacher Won't Tell You | Reader's Digest: "4. Kids used to go out and play after school and resolve problems on their own. Now, with computers and TV, they lack the skills to communicate. They don't know how to get past hurt feelings without telling the teacher and having her fix it."

'via Blog this'

Go to this site to see how the teachers have responded to our NEW ERA of postmodern techno barbarism.



_____________________Reference
http://www.rd.com/slideshows/slideshow-13-things-your-childs-teacher-wont-tell-you/?trkid=outbrain-all#slideshow=slide4
http://www.zeroto60andbeyond.com/?p=678

MooPig's Suggested Titles for Psycholgist's Self-Help Books in 2009 and beyond

Publisher Whims
by Pat Darnell


Inconvenient truth among us:

• Absolute power corrupts absolutely...
• Term versus Whole Life Insurance...
• How to be the Ultimate Gamer...
• Third rear brake lights; the Real Story...
• SUGAR: Teenagers' Impunity
  

MOdal Development:

• Break point in the game of life; How to predict it...
• Three strikes, and Society makes you start wearing a bell around your neck...
• Do you want that last caramel, little kiddie?
  

Elderly Senior and Senility Issues:

• Do you mean: "You make me happy for just one day; Your happiness is guaranteed a lifetime," elderly? or...
  
• "Ersatz, ubiquitous Elders gather to the haunting harmonica of Dan Woods," elderly? ...or...
  
• "Erectile Dysfunction, like Bon Jovi, is much overrated," elderly?