That sunshine feeling

The sun has certainly had its hat on for the past few days and Dublin has been infused with an atmosphere of celebration. We enjoy so few sunny days in Ireland that when the clouds break for a day or two, most people make a dash into the outdoors in order to soak up all the sunshine that they can.

There's something wonderful about the play of sunshine on the skin and the feeling of light in one's eyes that brings a smile to one's face. This weekend, it felt as if the recession had loosened its grip on the country and people were thrilled to sit in the parks, play on the beaches and exercise outdoors.

I've been thinking about sunshine this morning. This is partly due to the continuing good weather but also due to the fact that I've spent most of my morning writing an article about Vanuatu. Several years ago Vanuatu topped the polls to be named the happiest place on earth. The collective contentment of its citizens is attributed to a variety of characteristics of life on Vanuatu. For one, many people who live on this archipelago of volcanic islands are self sufficient and no-one goes hungry thanks to the fertile soil and abundance of fruit and vegetables. Secondly, life on Vanuatu is about as far removed from a consumer society as one can imagine. The spoils of economic life are not favoured as much stability, family and relaxation. This is not to say that people are lazy, but rather that they take more joy from spending time with family and friends than they do from buying the latest gadget or purchasing expensive clothes or accommodation.

And then there's the sunshine factor...

Vanuatu is located in a sub-tropical region of the south pacific. The sun shines for nine glorious months of every year and no one lives more than a few minutes from a beach.

There can be no denying it, sunshine makes us happy. Maybe it's the vitamin D, possibly it's the fact that sunlight makes the world look clearer and more beautiful but, whatever causes it, when the sun smiles upon us and we enjoy it in small doses, we usually end up smiling too.

This morning I've begun my article by suggesting that Vanuatu is a location where someone could find happiness. I certainly enjoyed my visit there last year but today, in usually grey Dublin, when the skies are blue and the air warm, this seems like as perfect a location as almost any.

If the meaning of life is to find happiness, a good blast of sunshine is likely to bring us closer to finding that meaning. Sometimes the answers are more simple than the questions and in this case it seems to be the case. Looking for the meaning of life? Just step outdoors.

The rules of attraction

After yesterday's posting about the power of fleeting glances and lingering looks, my mind has turned today to the power of attraction.

What is it that leads us to choose a given mate? Why do we find certain body shapes attractive? Why is it that the girls with the big booties and tiny waists get all the guys? And how is it that the men with symmetrical faces and wide shoulders win the favour of the fairest ladies?

The answer is simple - within just moments of meeting a member of the opposite sex, our subconscious minds make a decisive decision as to whether this individual can provide suitable genetic material for our future children. What our subconscious doesn't seem to realise is that we're not always lining up members of the opposite sex for this purpose. In fact, our subconscious uses the same check list when sizing up a potential one night stand that it does when met with someone who we might actually want to start a family with. And that subconscious check list remains even when we're past the days of baby-making and enjoying a later blooming.

So what are the visual signals that we seek in partners? Surprisingly, the answer is not big boobs and a tight ass.

Symmetry appears to play a significant role. This is explained by the fact that we are formed through a splitting of cells. If this process continues from conception in a successful manner, we will be born with symmetrical faces and bodies. Few individuals are born and continue through life as symmetrical beings. Those whose bodies could theoretically be folded over onto themselves to make a perfect match are often visually arresting, just by virtue of the mirror match effect of their features.

Hip to waist ratio is another attraction factor. Women with waists that are significantly narrower than their hips seem to be most attractive to men. Such a ratio is a visual clue that speaks directly to a man's subconscious and tells him that a woman is strong enough to carry his child. Try explaining that to a guy who chases big bootied women for short lived flings!

Men with straight hips and waist appear to be most attractive to women, but strong shoulders for working hard and bearing weight seem to be more important when it comes to getting the girl.

Face structure plays a factor in attraction. Fine-boned women with prominent eyes are often deemed to be the most attractive, while a man's strong jaw is sure to turn the heads of the ladies. Again, this attraction is due to a subconscious awareness that the narrow jaws of women suggest good reproductive health, while the wider jaws of men indicate a high level of testosterone.

And what about those brother-sister couples, who appear to look weirdly alike? Some put this phenomenon down to vanity on the part of both partners however, there is another explanation. Once again, it all comes down to baby making. For the sake of our children's health and well being, we often seek out mates who have similar but not identical genetic material to our own.

Much is written about pheromones and the power of these secret-super-scents to drive us wild. While one can be drawn to the smell of another person's skin, some researchers argue that humans do not absorb the scent of pheromones, either because pheromones are usually found floating somewhere near our feet, or because we have become genetically predisposed to favour visual signs of attraction, rather than olfactory signals.

Whatever it is that causes us to find someone physically attractive, attraction alone does not appear capable of sustaining long term relationships. Communication, caring and shared interests seem to be the ingredients for lasting success, however a good dose of attraction certainly helps things along in the beginning, even if our subconscious keeps us in the dark as to why it causes us to look twice at the dark eyed beauty we spot across a room.

The eyes have it

This afternoon I'm going to see an eye specialist for a routine check up. In my typical scatter-gun approach to blogging, this visit prompted me to think about eye-contact.

In my opinion, eye-contact is fascinating. I often feel that we communicate more with a brief look into someone else's eyes than we could by means of a lengthy conversation. When we communicate with our eyes we communicate in a pure sense. It is for this reason that Socrates referred to the eyes as the window to the soul.

Furthermore, when we make eye-contact with someone from a distance away and even across a crowded space, we recognise immediately that they have noticed us and they they are aware that we have noted them. The mutual aspect of eye-contact is truly amazing.

Surprisingly, the term 'eye-contact' was coined in the early to mid 1960s. I had presumed that this term was as old as the recognition that we can communicate without words.

In western society eye-contact is usually understood to be a sign of confidence and a means to communicate socially. However, is some cultures in Asia, prolonged eye-contact is read as a sign of aggression, particularly when a subordinate retains eye-contact with a superior.

While we in the West often assume that if someone cannot make eye-contact with us they are shy, weak or in some way lacking belief in themselves, some researchers suggest that we would be best to refrain from making eye-contact when people ask us demanding questions. These researchers found that maintaining eye-contact is so very mentally challenging that those who look away when they answer a question are more likely to respond correctly.

However, when it comes to close friends and particularly lovers, if someone does not meet your eye when you offer it, it can be disconcerting. How do we know whether someone loves us if we cannot see into the window to their soul?

The will to live

Often, a collective belief arises in something that we can't see or prove the existence of. Sometimes, we defend our belief on the basis that we have no other adequate explanation for a specific phenomenon, or based on our own observations.

Many of us believe in the will to live. We have no proof that we can will ourselves to heal after illness, or to continue to live when science suggests that we should have given up the ghost. Yet we believe, partly because it seems to make sense that if we really, really want to stay alive, we will do, to a certain point. Perhaps this makes sense to us because we are aware that even when we are very tired, we are capable of forcing ourselves to remain awake for long periods of time - and so life's tiniest challenges convince us to believe in the power of our minds (maybe even our souls) to control aspects of the physical.

Psychologists and philosophers have addressed the phenomenon of the will to live and they concluded with varying opinions as to its nature. Freud understood our most powerful driver to be a will to pleasure; Alfred Adler created an individual psychology based on the will to power; Viktor Frankl, whose work I discussed in a previous post, developed the branch of psychotherapy called logotherapy, which centres upon the will to meaning. 19th century philosopher, Schopenhauer understood man's will as a powerful but negative force. His analysis of man's will led him to believe that emotional, physical and sexual desires led only to pain and suffering. He favoured a lifestyle free of human desires, similar to that promoted by the Stoics, Buddhism and Vedanta.

This morning I read a report by a Massachusetts USA based oncologist. He writes that although the will to live can not be measured accurately, nor understood in a scientific sense, from his surgery he notes that a strong will to live can improve quality of life and may even prolong life. His goes on to say that patients who have a positive attitude are better able to cope with the challenges presented by illness and may respond better to therapy.

He quotes from Coping with Cancer, which says that the most important ingredient in the will to live is hope. Much like in the writing of Viktor Frankl, hope is described as the element that people live on when logic tells them that they have little chance for a happy future, or indeed a future of any kind.

Another study that I found at Psychiatry Online noted that the will to live is often influenced by existential variables such as hopelessness, the feeling of being a burden to others and a loss of dignity.

Essentially, it appears that by believing that we are worthy of happiness and that we have the potential to be happy we may boost our will to live and in so doing, actually improve our chances of a healthy, happy and long life.

So, my message today is think positive - blind hope may save your life one day.

The little big bang and the 'God particle"

Yesterday, physicists at the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN) achieved high-power collisions of sub-atomic particles. This is the first part of a two year experiment that aims to recreate and study the conditions present when the Big Bang occurred. And the great news is that we are all still here!

Long touted as the experiment that would end the world by creating a black hole somewhere near Geneva, the experiment has succeeded in its initial aim and (bonus!) it has added to the sum of human knowledge without the total obliteration of life on earth.

“It’s a great day to be a particle physicist,” said CERN Director General Rolf Heuer. “A lot of people have waited a long time for this moment, but their patience and dedication is starting to pay dividends.”

“With these record-shattering collision energies, the [Large Hadren Collider] LHC experiments are propelled into a vast region to explore, and the hunt begins for dark matter, new forces, new dimensions and the Higgs boson,” said ATLAS collaboration spokesperson, Fabiola Gianotti.

Ah yes, the infamous Higgs Boson, or as it is commonly known, the God Particle... I am sure that you will not be surprised to know that my little blogging brain has been enchanted by the notion of a God particle and indeed, by the thought that there is a place for a God anything within the scientific world.

This particle has never been observed experimentally and its existence is purely hypothetical at this point. The theory is that the interaction of the Higgs Boson with other particles ensures that the universe contains matter, rather than just energy alone. It is for this reason that the Higgs Boson is known as the God particle. Essentially, if this experiment detects the elusive (and currently only imagined) Higgs Boson, it will help to explain the origin of mass in the universe.

The popular interest in the God particle is one of the reasons why CERN now has over 120,000 followers on Twitter. Another big draw is the fear factor that surrounds the experiment. There has been (and probably still is) a small risk that this experiment will lead to the creation of a black hole that will end life on earth. Not doing much to allay fears that physicists consider the total annihilation of the human race to be collateral damage, last month, CERN issued a paper including the following statement: there is little doubt that black hole production at the [Large Hadron Collider] would be an unacceptable and irresponsible risk."

While this statement does appear to indicate that CERN is NOT in favour of the end of the world, the language is not quite strong enough to help me sleep easy. 'Black hole production' - as if this is an every day occurrence? 'an unacceptable and irresponsible risk' - yeheh and then some.

However, there is a serious side to this experiment (which is far too complicated for my feeble grey matter to understand). As Heuer explains: The LHC has a real chance over the next two years of discovering supersymmetric particles and possibly giving insights into the composition of about a quarter of the universe."

Although yesterday's success is certainly cause for celebration, it marks the very beginning of this experiment. Up to two years of experiments will happen in the LHC at current levels and computer calculations will continue for even longer, despite the fact that these calculations will be undertaken using 'the Grid', a vast network of computers that will process 15m gigabytes of data a year.

Follow developments directly with CERN or on Twitter.

Life on television

I never thought of myself as much of an animal person but I’m starting to rethink this. In fact, I have been on safari three times, whale watching, diving and to see orangutans in Borneo (all of which required much saving and penny pinching to achieve). I must, on reflection, have quite an interest in our furry, feathered and gilled friends.

Lately, I asked myself – who would I choose to interview, if I had my pick? One of the people who sprung to mind was Sir David Attenborough, who is famous for his natural history programmes and work within the administration of the BBC.

His programmes, including the 'Life' series and 'Planet Earth' feature some of the most spectacular wildlife and landscape photography that I have ever seen and often, the moments that his work captures are so very beautiful as to cause pin prick tears to leap to my eyes.

But it is not just the flickering images of animals, plants, underwater creatures and birds that have me glued to the television set any time that one of Attenborough’s programmes come on. It constantly amazes me how his observations about the lives of other species are applicable to human life, whether these observations are about the role of the family, the drive to survive, or the search for food in landscapes that are altered by environmental damage.

What these series proved to me was that life exists wherever it can. In freezing climes, deep underwater and in the hottest, driest deserts, life goes on. Life finds a way, even in circumstances when the entirety of that life must be invested in staying alive.

Attenborough would surely be an interesting subject, even if we never mentioned the flora and fauna. After all, he has been involved in television for over fifty years, first having been recruited into television when he had seen just one television programme. He has been Controller of BBC Two and also, Director of Programmes across both channels, although he gave up this role to return to making programmes.

His 9-part ‘Life’ series, which began in 1979 with 'Life on Earth' and concluded in 2008 with ‘Life in Cold Blood’ succeeded in completing the mammoth task of documenting all the major terrestrial animals and plants on the planet.

His later work has taken on an overtly environmentalist stance and he is committed to promoting environmental issues.

I would like to ask Attenborough about his views on ecology and how these views changed over time. I would like to ask him where in the world he would most like to return to. What were the moments that took his breath away? How do he and other people who watch individual animals for months at a time remain emotionally detached when that animal gets injured or eaten? What have other living creatures taught him about the human race? And I would like to ask him about patience, which he must have in infinite quantities.

He has been awarded Baftas, an honourary degree from the Open University, a knighthood, the Order of Merit and he’s even had a Mezozoic reptile named after him.

The man who has documented almost the entirety of life on earth has done much with his go on the roundabout. If anyone would be in a position to discuss the meaning of life, with some authority, I suggest that it might just be this man…

Let's celebrate the weekend!

The weekend is almost upon us and I am delighted. There's nothing like enduring the working week to make Friday seem like a cause for celebration. These days, we believe that a weekend of rest and play is our God given right, but this was not always the case.

The idea of leisure time (yes, that's right, leisure time is an 'idea'. As a member of the generation who believe in career breaks and yearlong round-the-world-trips, I can barely get my head around this) seems to have originated in Victorian England, near the end of the Industrial Revolution. In the early days, weekends were a brief one-day affair and given that factory workers often worked up to 18 hours a day, 6 days a week, my suspicion is that rather than 'going on a mad one' on Saturday and spending Sunday nursing hangovers, playing football and having brunch with friends, this one-day was probably given over to household chores and sleep.

As the working class gained more power and organised themselves they successfully fought to have the weekend extended to Saturday and Sunday. With the development of railways, workers began to travel during their time off work and to enjoy the sights and sounds of new areas and even (imagine the excitement when it initially became possible) the seaside.

With the development of leisure time, public parks were created for recreation and relaxation. In fact, the growth of leisure time has been one of the most important factors in the development of the society that we experience today and of the most common lifestyle aspirations. Without leisure time there would be no professional sports, the word hobby might only apply to the pursuits of the wealthiest people in society, the time that we would spend with loved ones would be severely limited, spas would be empty, hotels would be few in number and the word brunch would be banished from common usage. And who would we be without time off work? After all, all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy and Jill a very dreary little lady.

So, as I set into the first true weekend that I've been in a position to enjoy for quite some time, I will try to remember that far from being short, my weekend will be twice as long as the weekend enjoyed by workers during the Industrial Revolution. However, I'm sure that, on Sunday evening, when I am cursing what Monday brings, I won't care how long (or little) my ancestors partied for, or how much workers rights have improved since then.