About: sleep

How is it that this state of inactivity or sloth pervades the animal kingdom? Wouldn't it be more evolutionarily advantageous to be active all the time? Couldn't an organism find a better meal, mate more often, and avoid predation more effectively if its waking hours were increased by a third or more? In retrospect, this primal need has affected my week in a most unpleasant way, causing me to go comatose while in the middle of doing things that require absolute focus. So, because of this, I have dredged up a number of articles in relation to the mystery of sleep, its purpose, and how to deal with its effects.

One article from the New Scientist summarises scientific hypotheses on why sleep is necessary, and why it can even result in death if some are forced to go without it. One commonly accepted hypothesis is that sleep is a way of "conserving energy" while darkness predominates and there is nothing useful to be done. Still, the energy savings of this sluggish period are relatively minimal,  for a human it is something on the order of 200 calories saved.

Still, another examined hypothesis is that sleep is a mechanism for recycling chemicals in the architecture of the brain. It is suggested that this down-time allows for neurons to reset their chemical balances for another round of a day's work.

Last, there is something to be said for sleep's potential as a survival strategy. Some zoologists and naturalists believe that sleep is very effective at keeping an organism out of trouble. Still, in our modern lives it may lead to the exact opposite!

There is much more, but that's all I have time for

Site Visit and Interview

Most generally, there are three factors that a restaurant is judged by; namely, these criteria are quality of food, ambiance, and service. During my site visit at Gillie's I had the chance to record all of these things among others. The first thing of note was the atmosphere - a unique melding of local arts and vintage artifacts. Service came served as a side of character, with each of the workers seeming to be in an intense kind of play. Lastly, the food was spectacular, and after indulging in some Nori Encrusted Tofu I don't think my Tech dining dollars will be seeing much use.

Though I sat down for my interview with Noah Gillie, the head chef, I felt as if I was having an interview with the collective staff, as others helped keep him honest on facts of history and let him know when something was still up for debate. His answers to questions almost always led to a good story. What, stood out was how uniquely balanced he (and all of the staff) seemed while I contained expectations for radical motivators to freewheeling change. When I conducted my interview, I tried to avoid all-encompassing philosophical questions that could've broken the flow of the interview. I now wish I had taken the risk on some points, or primed my source with questions beforehand. Still, I'm quite satisfied with what I found.

Course Goals

Things I would like to bring away with me from this course:

1. I would like to be able to work throught the drafting/writing process more quickly.

2. I want to expand my understanding of various writing styles and their appropriate use.

3. Improvements in clarity and brevity through vocabulary.

Interview Questions

Closed Q's

Do you mind if I use an audio recorder during our interview?

How long ago did you begin a vegetarian diet?

When did you start hosting a venue for local musical groups?

Would you serve or eat meat produced by a laboratory process?

Did public figures influence your decision to become vegetarian?

Who in particular?

Open Q's

What influenced you to decide to make a change to vegetarianism?

Have you recommended this to friends since?

Why Blacksburg?

What was it like starting your business?

Who helped/showed interest?

For you personally, is your diet choice morally or health motivated?

How would you typify the customer this resturant appeals to?

Would you consider yoursely an activist?

What do you feel gives your business appeal/vitality?

How would you like to see your resturant affect the lifestyles of people?

Activity observation: Dancing

This Saturday it rained. On a rainy Saturday people typically keep indoors and play cards, do laundry, or watch people playing football in the rain on television. In reflection on my weekend, I must tell you, typical can be preferable. On this same day fifty years ago my grandparents took their wedding vows, and for this fated day they wanted to do something special. Naturally, they got out their list of friends and invited the lot of them for a party. The complication wasn't necessarily the rain but the fact that my grandpa has a absolutist philosophy of three ideals: doing things his way, being stubborn, and never giving in.

An Uncle of mine had arrived early to take up the job of party supervisor, and promised that my Grandpa would have the afternoon free to enjoy his guests. He was somewhat right. With ample parking prepared for a state fair, the needs of our thirteen guests were well met.

I had an outpost at a table under one of the five tents, serving drinks. From there I hoped to take notes on what people were up to, while still being somewhat useful. There were three main groups that coalesced, each around a different activity. There was a band hired to play country tunes for the afternoon, and some of the guests picked up dancing. While I could see three men evade the scene and escape down into the basement for a few games of pool, most of the crowd remained on the dance floor. Lastly, there was a group of youngsters that had discovered the gigantic mud puddle engulfing the front lawn.

I could see that the adults near the band were somewhat anxiously mingling. They seemed uncertain as they talked amongst themselves in front of the dance floor. Originally the plan was for the band to be stationed outside on a stage. Instead the band was playing loudly for the small arena they had been bunched into. Because of the roaring guitars, it was obvious every time the guests would speak to one another. They would lean dangerously far inward to each other, and one would have to practically devour the other's ear to get across a simple greeting. Circles of talk would form, but people never shifted once they got settled in one of the groups, save running over to visit me for a drink. Soon, the atmosphere pushed two persons into the dance floor while others looked on. The pair did a sort of two step to the music, and it was not long before the others were joining in, comfortable that it could not be that difficult.

Most of my attention was absorbed by the youngsters around the lawn puddle. They had started dance long before any of the adults, jumping up and down and squealing occasionally. Each had a sticky handful of mud and was flinging it at the others without reservation. All were very vocal, some making words with the noise. The only intermission came when an unsuspecting golden lab ambled over to where they were playing and became the object of attention. At one point, one of the kids haphazardly slid into the mud-puddle and began to wail. The first one to help was another kid, running into the slippery mess, and pulling him up by the arm. The boy's mom ran over to help, but the incident was taken care of before she could lay hand on the child.

How Do You Know Those Things You Know?

There were moments when questions of this activity brought us to really quiet contemplation. Still, once thoughts solidified into words, we found each other agreeing quite a bit. Here are a few things we talked about.

-We believe something to be true when we experience it, patterns emerge, or it becomes testable.

-Otherwise, we believe things to be true by others' accounts or enlist our biases to simplify things.

-Descriptions can provide convincing evidence.

-Popular opinion will not change fact.

-Experts will never get airtime when they agree.

-The facts are unchanging, but our understanding and interpretation is never complete.

Communities - Latest Thoughts

The concept of community holds a lot of connotations. There are few words I associate closely with community: Rallying, interacting, sharing, & informing.

A few groups made the cut off my brainstorming list.

-Artist cooperatives

-Toastmasters

-Vegetarian/vegan community

-Conservation groups

-Open-source community

-Calligraphy groups

-Cycling groups

Hopefully some research into these collections of enthusiasts will narrow down what's practical.