Blog Archives
Volvox or paramecium: which are you?
Are you a Volvox or a paramecium? Drop down and you’ll see pictures and a description of each below. Put simply, a Volvox is a colony of green algae. A paramecium is a unicellular organism. If you are a Volvox then you tend to be more social than a loner. If you are a paramecium, then you tend to thrive on your own (Not necessarily isolated though you do quite well as a loner) I’m oversimplifying things I know but my biology-based dichotomy makes about as much sense as some personality tests and the neat categories it sorts people into (e.g., extrovert, introvert, ambivert, etc.)
I appreciate and celebrate both the Volvox and the paramecium including their human “incarnations”. A world filled with only Volvoxes or paramecia would be impoverished and very likely dystopian IMO.
If you are a Volvox then you already know how well received you typically are. You are showcased and applauded in books, movies, games, plays, and so much more. Volvoxes tend to be the protagonists or heroes and heroines.
The paramecium — the loner — well, they tend to be portrayed as dysfunctional or at least not enviable. How many sci-fi movies can you name in which a lone wolf mad scientist or inventor is the antagonist or anti-social anti-hero? Nuff said.
Thankfully, there is an antidote. No, not to being a paramecium but rather to being misjudged and even vilified for being one: a book titled “Party of One: The Loner’s Manifesto” (2003) by Annelia Rufus.
Above all, be ye Volvox or paramecium…. or even a hybrid (Volmecium?)….you belong.
| Description | English: volvox aureus colony (green algae) photographed at 400 magnification under the optical microscope in the dark field. SAMSUNG CAMERA PICTURES |
| Date | 25 January 2015, 16:43:41 |
| Source | Own work |
| Author | Massimo brizzi |
| Description | .English: Paramecium aurelia. Optical microscope. Paramecium aurelia, the best known of all ciliates. The bubbles throughout the cell are vacuoles. The entire surface is covered in cilia, which are blurred by their rapid movement. |
| Date | 10 October 2003 |
| Source | Originally uploaded to the English Wikipedia, where it was made by Barfooz. |
| Author | Barfooz at the English Wikipedia. |
| Other versions | Transparent |
Mind expansion: Recommended Reading
ALL THE BOOKS LISTED BELOW ARE ONES READ & RECOMMENDED BY DR. ANTHONY G. PAYNE
CRITICAL THINKING
Fads & Fallacies in the Name of Science by Martin Gardner
The Demon Haunted World by Carl Sagan, Ph.D.
Snake Oil Science by R. Barker Bausell, Ph.D.
The Scientist As Rebel by Freeman Dyson
Any and All Books by James Randi
Blind Faith: The Unholy Alliance of Religion and Medicine by Richard P. Sloan, Ph.D.
Ignorance (How It Drives Science) by Dr. Stuart Firestein
Bad Science: Quacks, Hacks, and Big Pharma Flacks by Ben Goldacre, M.D.
A Skeptic’s Guide to the Mind: What NeuroscienceCan and Cannot Tell Us About Ourselves by Robert A. Burton, M.D.
DEEP ECOLOGY
Deep Ecology: Living As If Nature Mattered by Bill Devall & George Sessions
Deep Ecology for the Twenty-First Century by Bill Sessions
Green Rage: Radical Environmentalism and the Unmaking of Civilization by Christopher Manes
A Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold
FICTION (with a powerful message)
House of Earth by Woodie Guthrie
HEALTH & MEDICINE (including stem cell medicine)
Click this link to access Dr. Christopher Centeno’s new 52 page e-book titled “The Stem Cells They Don’t Want You To Have” (FREE download): http://bit.ly/NPlVmZ
Snake Oil Science by R. Barker Bausell, Ph.D.
The Anatomy of Hope: How People Prevail in the Face of Illness by Jerome Groopman, MD
How Doctors Think by Jerome Groopman, MD
Blind Faith: The Unholy Alliance of Religion and Medicine by Richard P. Sloan, Ph.D.
HISTORY/POLITICS
1177 B.C.: The Year Civilization Collapsed (Turning Points in Ancient History) by Eric H. Cline
Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy by Eric Mataxas
Hitler’s Furies: German Women in the Nazi Killing Fields by Wendy Lower
Xenophon’s Cyrus the Great (The Arts of Leadership & War) edited by Larry Hedrick
Eyewitness Auschwitz: Three Years in the Gas Chambers by Filip Muller
The Swerve: How the World Became Modern by Dr. Stephen Greenblatt
The Un-Civil War: Shattering the Historical Myths by Leonard M. Scruggs
Slavery Remembered: A Record of Twentieth-Century Slave Narratives by Paul D. Escott
Worse Than War: Genocide, Eliminationism, and the Ongoing Assault on Humanity by Dr. Daniel J. Goldhagen
Custer Died for Your Sins: An Indian Manifesto by Vine Deloria, Jr.
The Face of Imperialism by Michael Parenti, Ph.D.
The Rich And The Rest Of Us: A Poverty Manifesto by Travis Smiley & Dr. Cornel West
The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution by Bernard Bailyn
Narrative of the Life of David Crockett of the State of Tennessee by David Crockett
HUMAN NATURE & PSYCHOLOGY
Amish Peace: Simple Wisdom for a Complicated World by Suzanne Woods Fisher
The Self Beyond Itself: An Alternative History of Ethics, the New Brain Sciences, and the Myth of Free Will by Heidi M. Ravven, Ph.D.
The Self Illusion: How the Social Brain Creates Identity by Bruce Hood, Ph.D.
The Illusion of Conscious Will by Dr. Daniel M. Wegner
What Do Women Want?: Adventures in the Science of Female Desire by Daniel Bergner
A Skeptic’s Guide to the Mind: What NeuroscienceCan and Cannot Tell Us About Ourselves by Robert A. Burton, M.D.
The Archaeology of Mind: Neuroevolutionary Origins of Human Emotions by Drs. Jaak Panksepp & Lucy Biven
The Believing Brain: From Ghosts and Gods to Politics and Conspiracies—How We Construct Beliefs and Reinforce Them as Truths by Michael Shermer, Ph.D.
50 Popular Beliefs That People Think Are True by Guy P. Harrison
Why Everyone (Else) Is a Hypocrite: Evolution and the Modular Mind by Robert Kurzban, Ph.D.
Supernormal Stimuli: How Primal Urges Overran Their Evolutionary Purpose by Deirdre Barrett, Ph.D.
The Science of Evil: On Empathy and the Origins of Cruelty by Dr. Simon Baron-Cohen
Hitler’s Furies: German Women in the Nazi Killing Fields by Wendy Lower
Pornified: How Pornography Is Transforming Our Lives, Our Relationships, and Our Families by Pamela Paul
Pornland: How Porn Has Hijacked Our Sexuality by Dr. Gail Dines
Party of One: The Loners’ Manifesto by Anneli Rufus
The Lucifer Effect by Philip Zimbardo, Ph.D.
The Biology of Belief by Dr. Joseph Giovannoli
Man’s Search for Ultimate Meaning by Viktor Frankl, M.D., Ph.D.
Faces in the Clouds by Stewart Guthrie, Ph.D.
RELIGION/SPIRITUALITY
Purity of Heart by Rev. Bert M. Farias [In “Purity of Heart” Rev. Farias eloquently states things which, I daresay, most mainstream and even many Charismatic and neopentecostal congregations either gloss over, tiptoe around or mangle (oftentimes resulting in their landing in the thorn patch of profound legalism). Two thumbs up and kudos to Rev. Farias, whose ministry website is http://holy-fire.org/]
Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy by Eric Mataxas
Amish Peace: Simple Wisdom for a Complicated World by Suzanne Woods Fisher
Finding Sanctuary (Monastic Steps for Everyday Life) by Abbot Christopher Jamison
Breakthrough Faith: Living a Life Where Anything is Possible by Larry Sparks
PSALM 83, The Missing Prophecy Revealed – How Israel Becomes the Next Mideast Superpower by Bill Salus
Sooner Than You Think: A Prophetic Guide to the End Times by Sid Roth
The Sayings of the Desert Fathers: The Alphabetical Collection by Benedicta Ward
Jesus’ Words Only (Free in its entirety on-line) by Douglas J. Del Tondo, Esq.
My spiritual watering hole website: http://summerclouds.weebly.com/
The Jesus Dynasty: The Hidden History of Jesus, His Royal Family, and the Birth of Christianity by Dr. James D. Tabor
Blood Kin of Jesus (James and the Lost Jewish Church) by Kenneth Hanson, Ph.D.
Paul and Jesus: How the Apostle Transformed Christianity by Dr. James D. Tabor
The Brother of Jesus and the Lost Teachings of Christianity by Rev. Jeffrey J. Bϋtz
Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth by Reza Aslan, Ph.D.
How Jesus Became Christian by Barrie Wilson, Ph.D.
Saving Jesus from the Church: How to Stop Worshiping Christ and Start Following Jesus by Dr. Robin R. Meyers
The Bible Against Itself: Why the Bible Seems to Contradict Itself by Dr. Randel McCraw Helms
Forged: Writing in the Name of God–Why the Bible’s Authors Are Not Who We Think They Are by Bart D. Ehrman, Ph.D.
The Ancient Roots of Christianity: A Native American’s Look Through Christianity by my fellow Choctaw Nation Tribal member, Rainbow Eagle
God and His Demons by Michael Parenti, Ph.D.
The Real Kosher Jesus: Revealing the mysteries of the Hidden Messiah by Michael L. Brown, Ph.D.
The Harbinger: Fact or Fiction? by David James
The Rainbow Covenant: Torah and the Seven Universal Laws by Michael Ellias Dallen, Esq.
Faces in the Clouds by Stewart Guthrie, Ph.D.
Rats in the Cosmic Laboratory: Is God A Scientist? by Dr. A. G. Payne
Hitler and HaShem (The Almighty) by Dr. Anthony G. Payne
Heart of a Missionary by Dr. A.G. Payne
The Spiritual Aspect of Holistic Medicine by Dr. A. G. Payne
Religion is not about God by Prof. Loyal Rue
The Secret Origins of the Bible by Tim Callahan
Spiritual Evolution: A Scientific Defense of Faith by George E. Vaillant, M.D.
The Undercover Philosopher by Michael Philips
Why We Believe What We Believe by Andrew Newberg, MD and Mark Robert Waldman
“WALKING AROUND THINKING ABOUT STUFF”
EXTENDED BEING WEBSITE: http://extendbeing.weebly.com/
Blind Faith: The Unholy Alliance of Religion and Medicine by Richard P. Sloan, Ph.D.
“Living Longer, Yes! But, Living Well?” by Dr. Anthony G. Payne
Fascination with Dying and Death as Participation by Dr. Anthony G. Payne
Is an attachment style problem complicating or undermining your life? (Examiner article) by Dr. Anthony G. Payne
For Seekers & Other Heretics 