Long Ted Video: Why We Love, Why We Cheat.

Summary: 

Is romantic love a kind of emotion? Or a series of chemical effects? Helen Fisher, Anthropologist who has been studying romantic love for 45 years unveiled the secret of " Why we love? Why we cheat?." In the beginning of the speech Helen explained that if a person is in love, that is, the person take on the " special meaning." She gave an example of love poem which was written in the renowned Chinese classic" Story in the west wing." and that we tend to aggrandize the person we love and omit their disadvantages. Their existence in the world make every thing unique, and we like everything they like. In Helen's research, it turned out that when we are in love, it activate the brain part which would be stimulated as well when feeling the rush of cocaine. Helen then articulated that love is a drive but emotion. It came from the motor of our craving and its unstoppable. She divided the possible brain system into three parts. Lust, Love and attachment. Lust evolves us to look for mating, romantic love evolves to mate individually, attachment prolong the individual-mating. However, Helen did point out that these three system sometimes work respectively. For instance, we feel attached with a partner, yet we can fall in love with the other person in the same time. That fully proved why are so many people cheating because it is a natural process. Later on she mentioned that by doing something novel or orgasm triggers the dopamine in our brain and thus romantic love. In conclude, she stressed the importance of love and as long as human beings survive these three drives will survive, too. 

What can listeners learn from this talk? 

In my opinion, I think love is a indispensable element in our lives. Yet the majority of us is baffled by this baffling " emotion", or as Helen called" drive." The listeners could certainly learn from Helen's research and her point of view. For example, we would surprisingly discover that love and sex really doesn't work together sometimes! We also now understand that why people go frantic when in love----chemical effects and dopamine! By knowing these three systems I think we can better figure out some of the problems such as adultery, divorce and depression. I think all of us can not deny the fact that we still have the " animal nature" in the whole love philosophy thing. This is something that we can learn from, learn from our brains, drives , human beings and lives. 

Ted Video: To this day......for the bullied and beautiful ( Shane Koyczan)

Summary : 

To be or not to be ? In this short 12 minutes the renowned Canadian poet Shane Koyczan told us about his story of bullying and survival. At the beginning of the speech, Shane mentioned that each of us would go through the baffling transition of defining ourselves when we were young. However, other kids tend to define ourselves for us, negatively. Even the grownups were hindering us from dreaming great dreams. All this obstacles didn't deter Shane from being who he meant to be. He stood up for himself and fought back by tricking one of his classmates who once bullied him verbally. Yet he also emphasized that standing up for ourselves doesn't have to mean embracing violence. To this day, the shadow and agony of being bullied still eats into his soul and many of other victims. Moreover, kids nowadays are still being called names, those outsiders are neglected and deal with their own solitaire and loneliness. Despite the fact that we are deeply wounded by those cruel words, we shall smash frustration and depression and fine beauties in ourselves. We have to hold our ground and prove them wrong that we are not " Fag" " Spaz" " Geek" "Fat", that our lives has more to do with beauty and hopes but less to do with pain and hatred.

What can listeners learn from this talk? 

I believe that all of us would be able to echo on this video for that each of us must had a hard period of defining ourselves or being verbally bullied. Oftentimes we are compelled to be what we are not for the sake of stresses and expectations. People and things around our lives--teachers, parents, press, friends,economic statistics .......etc are imposing different and " acceptable " ideas on us. In my opinion, we could all consult from Shane's words and do not be afraid of dreaming. Moreover, the bullying problem is something we should emphasize as well. Sometimes people are too absentminded or mean to say harmful words, but they have no idea that very single vocabulary might cause lifelong trauma to the victim. No matter which role we are , bullies or victims, we ought to beware of  Shane's poem and learn something from it. Last but not least, enjoy the strength and fascination of " To this day". I am sure the listeners would be moved to tears.

Movie Clip: The Pianist

Which movie does the clip come from?

The clip comes from the movie The Pianist.

What is this movie about?

The story revolves around a Polish-Jewish Pianist--Szpilman during WWII. A series of tragedies happened when Nazi Germany invaded Warsaw.  Szpilman and his family were forced to wear the blue star of Davids armband and directly sent to the overcrowded Warsaw Ghetto. Yet the cruel destiny did not spare them. Szpilman's family was deported to the concentration camp, leaving Szpilman survived painfully. Later on he secretly helped the Jewish revolt, but then decided to seek his friend's aid. After a neighbor discovered him, he panickedly fled to the second hiding place with a piano. After one year a tank bombed his place and he was forced to leave. In the other ruins he was discovered by a German soldier while he was frantically searching for food. Luckily, Szpilman's music moved the German soldier. The soldier hided him in an attic and regularly provided him food. 1945 Szpilman was rescued when German was forced to retreat. Szpilman passed away in 2000 and still enjoyed playing piano the rest of his life.

What is happening in this clip?

Szpilman was a Polish-Jewish Pianist and he was discovered by his neighbor in the first hiding place. He escaped quickly worrying that he would be reported to the German. In the clip he was brought to an apartment where German troops are around. However, he was compelled to be quiet for that people might discover him again. His friend left him little food supplies and left. Sitting in front of his beloved instrument, Szpilman suspended his hands on piano keys , let the music flow in his mind .

Movie Trailer: Pride and Prejudice

1. Why did you select the trailer to show the class?
Romance movies have always been my favorite, especially those ones with dubious love. I highly recommend Pride & Prejudice , the newly filmed 2005 version. Based on the original novel written by the renowned Jan Austen, the movie genuinely depicts the Georgian-English style of unpolluted landscape, exquisite costumes , elegant British accent , classic and luxurious balls and ancient  people's mindset.  the   It is also very intriguing to observe the humanity within, such as greed, ignorance, affection, deceitfulness and of course pride and prejudice.

2. Based on the trailer, what do you think the movie is about?
I've seen the movie before and I like it very much. Basically it describes about the Bennets and their five daughters. The main goal in their lines is to marry a wealthy man, except the charming and witty Elizabeth. Their serene life came to an end when two rich men--- Mr. Bingely and Mr.Darcy stepped into their lives and rippled their hearts. Tension arose when Elizabeth met the arrogant, rich Mr. Darcy. At the first glance Elizabeth decided to dislike this proud man and only hated him more when she found out Mr. Darcy has secretly hindered the love between Mr.Bingley & Elizabeth's sister. On the contrary, Mr. Darcy's affection toward Elizabeth has grown deeper each day. He popped the question to her but she rejected. The frustration did not deter Mr.Darcy from loving Elizabeth and he helped the Bennets a lot. In the end Elizabeth eradicate her prejudice and fell in love with Mr. Darcy.