Have you ever heard of the great ape project? It's the name of an international organization formed to advocate the declaration of the rights of the non-human great apes. Primatologists, psychologists, ethicists, and other experts take part in it and suggest that three basic interests are established for the great apes: the right to life, the protection of individual liberty, and the prohibition of torture. The Great Ape Project was founded by Italian philosopher Paola Cavalieri and Australian philosopher Peter Singer and has many famous supporters as the British ethologist, evolutionary biologist and popular scientist writer ("The Selfish Gene", "The God Delusion" etc) Richard Dawkins and Jane Goodall. The great apes are: chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas, and orangutans. It's scientifically indisputable that these animals not only share more than 99% of our DNA but they also experience emotions such as fear, anxiety and happiness. They share the intellectual capacity to create and use tools, learn and teach other languages. They remember their past and plan for their future. Recent research revealed that chimps are smarter than humans when it comes to short memory tests. Interesting findings that make us doubt our so called superiority...
Here's the video from The Great Ape Project (GAP) official website:
To find out more info check the following links: 1, 2, 3
If you've ever been depressed you should know the feeling. Your friends that you haven't seen for a while call you and ask you to meet them, to go out, to socialize because they miss you, they long to see you and catch up. You honestly want to see them, you care about them and of course you value the relationship but being depressed going out seems like a living nightmare... You have no desire to leave your room, you despise the idea of meeting anyone... You hardly look yourself at the mirror. "I'm sorry... I can't come..." Then things go tricky... You try to come up with a reasonable and feasible excuse. Your friends feel rejected, unwanted and there's nothing you can do about it. I've attempted to say "I'm depressed, I don't feel like going out" but it's of no help. The coclusion of all these: you end up losing most of your friends because of bloody depression...What is depression though? Do you really know? Most people have a vague idea.Clinical depression is a mood disorder and can present with a variety of symptoms, however almost all patients display a marked change in mood, a deep feeling of sadness, and a noticeable loss of interest or pleasure in favourite activities. Other recurrent symptoms are: insomnia or oversleeping, loss or in certain cases increase of appetite, feelings of worthlessness, guilt, thought of death and suicide, decreased energy and fatigue (especially in the morning), physical symptoms that can't be connected to a health problem. Symptoms must be present for at least two weeks for depression to be diagnosed.Depression affects 7-18% of the population on at least one occasion in their lives. It's more common in women. I won't go on analyzing all the types of depression, you can find more info here or just google it! Long live the digital Web.Depression can be co-morbid with anxiety. Depression if accompanied by periods of mania or hypomanic episodes is defined as bipolar disorder. I'll dedicate one of my next posts to manic depression or more appropriately called bipolar disorder.Suggested links for further reading: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Glasvegas
While I was whining about the lack of interesting new groups and complaining that music nowadays has nothing new to offer I came across Glasvegas. Not that I've changed my mind but I'm more hopeful now... I can't help listening to "Daddy's gone" over and over. Extraordinary song indeed!Glasvegas come from Glasgow as the name suggests and sound like... a group from the 50's but they manage to be original at the same time! I'm impressed! They deserve your attention. Oh! The lyrics are really nice as well, not just pointless choruses and words that rhyme!Visit the band's myspace and their official site for more information.
Have you ever heard of the great ape project? It's the name of an international organization formed to advocate the declaration of the rights of the non-human great apes. Primatologists, psychologists, ethicists, and other experts take part in it and suggest that three basic interests are established for the great apes: the right to life, the protection of individual liberty, and the prohibition of torture. The Great Ape Project was founded by Italian philosopher Paola Cavalieri and Australian philosopher Peter Singer and has many famous supporters as the British ethologist, evolutionary biologist and popular scientist writer ("The Selfish Gene", "The God Delusion" etc) Richard Dawkins and Jane Goodall. The great apes are: chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas, and orangutans. It's scientifically indisputable that these animals not only share more than 99% of our DNA but they also experience emotions such as fear, anxiety and happiness. They share the intellectual capacity to create and use tools, learn and teach other languages. They remember their past and plan for their future. Recent research revealed that chimps are smarter than humans when it comes to short memory tests. Interesting findings that make us doubt our so called superiority... 
Posts
