Changing Lives, Changing Worlds conference

Last month, I attended the morning of the second day of the Changing Lives, Changing Worlds conference. This interdisciplinary conference showcases the research of postgraduate students. The theme of the session I attended was Voices of Youth and included a talk on the representation of Eastern European immigrants in literature (Fanni Suto), a talk about young politics in the UK (Ben Bowman) and a talk about the challenges in researching young people's experiences of child trafficking (Alinka Gearon). All the talks were extremely well presented, and gave me an interesting insight into other areas of academic research.

The talk that struck me most was the final session hosted by Alinka Gearon. She highlighted issues such as access to participants and also the complex ethical issues involved in researching the sensitive topic of child trafficking. From a social work perspective, she talked about her experiences in joining youth support groups, becoming part of these communities and allowing the children the time needed to build a relationship of trust and rapport. Initially, Alinka used a memory both to engage the children, but soon found that even references to memories were painful for some individuals. So, after asking the children what activities they liked, improvised dance sessions were held. These sessions were interactive, energetic and promoted social bonding. Alinka found that, as a result of these sessions, the children were happy to attend focus groups and interviews about their experiences.

Overall, her story so far really highlighted the importance of creativity in research, and also the impact that client involvement can have upon the research process and outcome.

I would like the thank the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Bath for hosting this event.

Why I am fascinated by anomalistic and parapsychology

As someone with an interest in health psychology and scientific research, it may come as a surprise to you that I am fascinated by anomalistic and parapsychology. I'd like to take a moment to tell you why, and how we shouldn't underestimate these areas of psychology that are often frowned upon by academics.

Firstly, I have personal reasons. From a young age I've always been interested in magic, watching countless television shows and stage shows. I even had a magician at my 5th birthday party who made me 'levitate' (which I still have home video footage of somewhere!) This intrigue followed me into my later years, manifesting itself in a love of Derren Brown and his combination of showmanship, magic tricks and psychology. I've been to see several of his live shows, and love how he combines debunking myths with an element of potential magic lingering.

I've also been fascinated by paranormal activity from an early age, being a tad obsessed with aliens in my childhood. Since entering adulthood, I've also read more on the subject, particularly enjoying the book 'Paranormality' by Richard Wiseman. I wanted to believe in paranormal phenomena from an early age, but as I get older I realize I am now firmly on the side of 'non-believer' or 'goat' as the sheep-goat effect would have me believe.

So if I don't believe in it anymore and if the science suggests paranormal activity and magic doesn't exist then why am I still so fascinated? After talk to Dr. Ian Fairholm, a lecturer at the University of Bath, I finally managed to pinpoint my answer. If people continue to believe in the paranormal, despite evidence that suggests otherwise, this tells us something important about human nature, how we think, feel and process the world around us. 

Psychology is the study of the mind, and the mind wants to believe what it wants, not what science may dictate as truth. In my view, this makes the area definitely worth studying. 

A month of TED (2)

As mentioned previously, as part of my MSc Health Psychology placement, I want to expand my knowledge about health, psychology and science, exploring a variety of different topics, ideas and viewpoints. I have now completed my second month of 5 TEDtalks a week. Looking for some inspiration? You've come to right place:

What's wrong with our food system? - Birke Baehr
An 11 year old boy highlights the dark side of the food industry and wants to grow up to be an organic farmer, not a footballer claiming 'we can either pay the farmer or the hospital'.
@BirkeBaehr 

How bacteria talk - Bonnie Bassler
Bacteria have their own, unique chemical language and a more generic language to be aware of other bacteria. Bacteria are multi-lingual!

Asia's rise: How and when - Hans Rosling
Hans view of India as less developed changed when he moved there are went from the top of his class to the bottom. Asia is on the rise to catching Western countries economically by 2048.
@HansRosling 

The mystery of chronic pain - Elliot Krane
Pain is a disease, not merely a symptom. His philosophy is not 'no pain, no gain' but instead 'no pain, no pain'.
@elliot_krane

Growing new organs - Anthony Atala
Salamanders can regenerate limbs: why can't humans? A fascinating talk about the amazing science of growing organs outside of the body to implant into humans in need. 

In praise of slowness - Carl Honore
We are living the fast life but not necessarily the good life, We need to slow down to get back in touch with our 'inner tortoise'.
@carlhonore

The 50 cent microscope that folds like origami - Manu Prakash
Microscopes are bulky, expensive and hard to maintain, making use of them difficult in countries where diseases like malaria are prevalent. New technology shows amazing promise. 
@PrakashLab

Let's talk crap. Seriously - Rose George
A plethora of toilet puns showcased the more serious issue of 40% of the world having no toilet. More funding and conversation needs to happen, as Rose urges us to 'talk shit'.
@rosegeorge3

How childhood trauma affects health across a lifetime - Nadine Burke Harris
Our stress response is maladaptive is we are not running from a bear, but instead 'the bear comes home every night'. The implications of childhood trauma and treatment are discussed. 
@DrBurkeHarris

Visualizing the wonder of a living cell - David Bolinksy
There are expressions of truth and beauty in science that can be seen through art.
@emersionist

Texting that saves lives - Nancy Lublin
Could testing save more lives than peniclin? Nancy talks about a crisis text hotline.
@nancylublin

The quantified self - Gary Wolf
Technology and numbers allow us to track our behaviour, reflect, learn and improve.
@agaricus

Physical therapy is boring: play a game instead - Cosmin Mihaiu
Using technology from gaming and motion censors to make physiotherapy fun and easy to access at home. 

The coming neurological epidemic - Gregory Petsko
The average lifespan has increased and so have the number of degenerative diseases. There's no treatment and we need to be prepared.

Programming bacteria to detect cancer - Tal Danino
There are more bacteria in our bodies than there are stars in the galaxy. Let's use these naturally occurring bacteria to detect and potentially treat cancer. 
@tdanino

How an obese town lost a million pounds - Mick Cornett
The mayor of Oklahoma put the whole city on a 'diet', starting conversations about health. Designed the city around people, not cars, promoting environmental changes including better side walks and a central park.
@MickCornett

How healthy living nearly killed me - AJ Jacobs
If we become so focused on health, we may neglect relationships and cause more damage. It's all about finding the healthy habits that work for you. 
@ajjacobs

Obesity + hunger = 1 global food issue - Ella Gustafson
Half the world id obese, half are hungry. Could this be due to the lack of shared effective agricultural systems to the world?

Are we over-medicalized? - Ivan Oransky 
Doctors are incentivised to do more, patients WANT more and drug companies have a desire to sell more pharmaceuticals. Oranksy calls the age of pre-conditions, 'PREposterous'. 
@ivanoransky

How to succeed? Get more sleep - Arianna Huffington 
Let's 'sleep our way to the top' and stop the age of sleep one-upmanship. Sleep is good for you, and may be good for the rest of the world.
@ariannahuff