Drug pricing regulator fixes prices of 40 formulation drugs
Thailand reports 17 new coronavirus cases, no new deaths
Reuters: Health
Thailand reported 17 new coronavirus cases on Thursday and no new deaths, taking the total number of infections to 3,101, of which 58 were fatalities.
Mexico overtakes U.S. coronavirus daily deaths, sets records
Reuters: Health
Mexico overtook the United States in daily reported deaths from the novel coronavirus for the first time on Wednesday, with the health ministry registering a record 1,092 fatalities it attributed to improved documenting of the pandemic.
All Our Yesterdays: The Perception of Time
The experience of time appears relative — from the standpoint of human perception.
The experience of time can be defined as a mental sequence of moment-to-moment reflections; the recollection of time can be defined as a remembrance of that sequence. These measurements of time (prospective and retrospective) are not identical.
The speed of time, as measured in the flow of events, can be experienced as being either whirlwind or languid, depending on one’s psychological interpretation. Similarly, the estimation of time elapsed, after a sequence of events has occurred, can be experienced as either recent or long ago, according to human perception.
Various studies have claimed that children experience time’s passage more slowly than adults. The research suggests that much greater mental stimulation occurs in children’s brains, as compared to their older counterparts. The intense assimilation and learning of new data in childhood incorporates a denser palette of experience, and makes time seem longer in duration.
Another possible reason for the difference in time perception between adults and children may be found in the “proportionality” argument, which states that a particular chunk of time in a child’s life occupies a greater percentage of the whole, when compared to the same chunk of time in an adult’s life. This argument appears to be a version of the Delboeuf Illusion, except that it pertains to time, not to optical effects.
Regardless of age, the estimation of time in “fun” situations appears to be faster than normal. (“Time flies when you’re having fun.”) How is this paradox explained? Perhaps “fun” situations do not stimulate the same degree of critical learning found in children. Perhaps another reason is emotional: You do not want the time to end.
The accepted explanation, according to James M. Broadway, a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and Brittiney Sandoval, is that “Engaging in a novel exploit makes time appear to pass more quickly in the moment. But if we remember that activity later on, it will seem to have lasted longer than more mundane experiences.”
Perhaps a similar explanation can be applied to boredom, if presented in converse form: If engaging in a dull exploit makes time appear to pass more slowly, then perhaps it will be remembered later as seeming shorter in duration. Boredom is triggered by the absence of novel stimulation. Unlike a state of dreamless sleep, which appears to pass in an instant, boredom seems to impede our mental passage of time. Perhaps a dull period of boredom should be spent in a light snooze — or, better yet, in learning something new.
As mentioned earlier, the experience of time and the recollection of time do not appear to be the same. In older adults, as the experience of time accelerates, the expression “It seems like only yesterday” assumes new significance.
In other words, as the flight of time increases, the speed of elapsed time between past events also increases. The result: It might seem like an event has occurred a shorter time ago. The segments of time that exist from sequence to sequence, in time’s passage through life, might reflect a person’s overall perception of time.
Time appears to be malleable. Einstein established his intuitions about time in a mathematical treatise known as Relativity. The human mind is not a physical cosmos in which time and space can be warped, as was demonstrated in Einstein’s equations. But our perceptions of time can, in fact, undergo various distortions and often get entangled in hidden surprises.
Perhaps, for the oldest and wisest amongst us, our perceptions of time can be used for our practical advantage. The time-dilation effect in older adults might be manipulated; it might even be forestalled. One is never too old to manage the flow of time in a more productive fashion. The key to stretching our yesterdays, or widening our tomorrows, may be in seeking out the bold, the unpredictable, the stimulating, and the new.
I Wish You Were Here
With all that’s going on in the world right now with COVID-19, the expression “I wish you were here” carries more weight than ever before.
Over the past few months, we’ve all found ourselves saying, “I wish you were here to laugh with… to cry with… to have a drink with… to see my son… to share a meal… simply to hug. I wish we could just be together.”
So many of us are feeling that longing right now, missing close friends and family, or even saying goodbye to the ones not able to fight off the virus, as the world faces a global pandemic, lock-downs, and quarantines. Sixty days in, most of us are still trying to adjust to this “new normal” — a situation that day-by-day feels less and less new and more and more normal.
But for me, the expression “I wish you were here” and my feelings of loss are more permanent; they’ll stay that way for the rest of my life.
May 10 marked my sixth Mother’s Day without my mom. May 20 marked the sixth birthday she isn’t here for. She would be 66.
I’m 34 now, married with a 1.5-year-old, but when she passed, I was only 28 (good math, Zach), my wife and I were only dating, a wedding was still in the distance, and a child was definitely not on our radar. Just goes to show how much can change in a relatively short period of time (See: global pandemic).
This pandemic has forced essentially the entire world to confront the many facets of loss: the loss of loved ones, loss of ways of life, loss of rituals, loss of income, the loss of normalcy, and the loss of quality time with friends and family.
The Three Aspects of Life
Grief is definitely not linear, and there are components of my own grief journey that feel so relevant and important to the state we currently find ourselves in. Over the years, grief has helped me understand more than ever the three aspects of life: the emotional, physical, and spiritual.
The Physical
Often so much emphasis is put on the physical aspects of life. The here and now, the feel and touch of tangible things and people. And it makes sense: It’s something right in front of you, you can feel it, hold it, hug it.
Think about how much COVID19 has shown us about the physical world. I think we all probably take it for granted on a daily basis, but the second we aren’t able to gather with friends and family, visit grandparents or parents in assisted living facilities, stand in line at our favorite coffee shop, hug a friend — heck, even stand in line at a grocery store — boy, we miss it like crazy.
But what I’ve been forced to rely on and derive value from, just like anyone else who has experienced loss and grief, as well as what the world faces right now, is the role of the emotional and spiritual aspects of life.
The Emotional
When it’s quiet (on the outside and on the inside), if I close my eyes and be still, I can hear my mom’s voice. I can hear her guiding input, her advice, her care, and feel her love. I can connect to her emotionally because she is so much a part of my life, my character, and the person I am today.
When I’m faced with a difficult or challenging decision, or when I am feeling emotional, when I slow down I can feel her presence in the highs and the lows. She was the constant wind at my back, constant support, and unconditional love, no matter what. And when it’s quiet, when I carve out the space, I can feel that wind pushing me forward.
The Spiritual
As a family during quarantine, our big outings have often been to our backyard. (And I’m extremely grateful and appreciative of our first-ever house and yard that I know is a luxury not all people have). But when I’m out there, watching my young son play in the yard, and I sit back, and slow down enough to watch the wind and sun move and shine through the trees, I feel the spiritual connection to my mom more than ever.
I know she breathed the same air that I breathe, I know she saw the same sky, the same sun and moon shine down on me, and I know she was part of the same eco-system that I’m apart of — and that gives me immense comfort.
No matter how far a part we all feel, we are all connected.
Germany's confirmed coronavirus cases rise by 394 to 182,764: RKI
Reuters: Health
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany increased by 394 to 182,764, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed on Thursday.
