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Saturday, July 30, 2011

Inspirational Video of the Day - TASHI MANNOX -

TASHI MANNOX was born in England in the year of the water tiger, for the past 30 years he has studied an eclectic range of artistic disciplines within both the Eastern and Western traditions in his journey as a painter and calligrapher. Shortly after gaining a BA [Hons] degree in Fine Art, he became a Buddhist monk of the Tibetan Kagyu order and at the tender age of 22 was given the name Tsering Tashi. Part of Tashi’s monastic training was in 1988 to enter a closed four year Buddhist retreat, which also gave a sensitive environment to meticulously copy ancient Tibetan texts, furthering his training as a scribe in the highly disciplined, and multiple forms of Tibetan calligraphy. Since laying down his monastic robes in 2000, Tashi has built on his disciplined training and meditative awareness, formed through years of practicing the Tibetan Buddhist Tantras and philosophy - to produce a collection of iconographic masterpieces that reveal powerful, spiritual themes through the majestic images of Tibetan Buddhist calligraphy and iconography.

Tashi Mannox - Tibetan Calligrapher from Planetary Productions on Vimeo.

Facebook and Twitter are creating a vain generation of self-obsessed people with child like need for feedback, warns top scientist

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By Sarah Harris

Last updated at 8:11 AM on 30th July 2011

Facebook and Twitter have created a generation obsessed with themselves, who have short attention spans and a childlike desire for constant feedback on their lives, a top scientist believes.

Repeated exposure to social networking sites leaves users with an 'identity crisis', wanting attention in the manner of a toddler saying: 'Look at me, Mummy, I've done this.'

Baroness Greenfield, professor of pharmacology at Oxford University, believes the growth of internet 'friendships' – as well as greater use of computer games – could effectively 'rewire' the brain.

Vain generation: A top Oxford scientist has warned that repeated exposure to social networking websites could harm users. (Picture posed by model)

This can result in reduced concentration, a need for instant gratification and poor non-verbal skills, such as the ability to make eye contact during conversations.

More than 750million people across the world use Facebook to share photographs and videos and post regular updates of their movements and thoughts.

Millions have also signed up to Twitter, the 'micro-blogging' service that lets members circulate short text and picture messages about themselves.

Baroness Greenfield, former director of research body the Royal Institution, said: 'What concerns me is the banality of so much that goes out on Twitter.

'Why should someone be interested in what someone else has had for breakfast? It reminds me of a small child (saying): "Look at me Mummy, I'm doing this", "Look at me Mummy I'm doing that".

'It's almost as if they're in some kind of identity crisis. In a sense it's keeping the brain in a sort of time warp.'

A twitter message from Stephen Fry

The academic suggested that some Facebook users feel the need to become 'mini celebrities' who are watched and admired by others on a daily basis.

They do things that are 'Facebook worthy' because the only way they can define themselves is by 'people knowing about them'.

'It's almost as if people are living in a world that's not a real world, but a world where what counts is what people think of you or (if they) can click on you,' she said.

'Think of the implications for society if people worry more about what other people think about them than what they think about themselves.'

Her views were echoed by Sue Palmer, a literacy expert and author, who said girls in particular believe they are a 'commodity they must sell to other people' on Facebook.

She said: 'People used to have a portrait painted but now we can more or less design our own picture online. It's like being the star of your own reality TV show that you create and put out to the world.'