the sad truth of things...
Candace Pert has made amazing contributions to science. Though this article is limited in information, it's an overview at least.
Her discovery and what she has learned has been phenomenally helpful to fields in science, medicine, but also been successfully applied to therapy in both humans and animals.
What the article fails to mention is that her partner in the discovery Soloman Snyder (there is no wikipedia page for him though) won the Nobel Prize for his work and Candace Pert did not because she is a woman.
Disgusting. Especially considering the lengths she has taken in her research to this day. Just another way that this still mainly man dominated society angers me.
I am looking forward to reading her book Molecules of Emotion. This is the stuff I am fascinated by and applying it to nonverbal communication. (and the field of communication at large). And one day hopefully following in the footsteps of amazing equestrian woman who use perspectives of Pert's and those like her in helping both horses and people.
I've recently picked of The Tao of Equus by Linda Kohanov another fascinatingly strong woman whose overcome a lot to be one of the people leading the field in equine facilitated psychotherapy. It's like therapeutic riding for those mentally and physically challenged, except it is meant to work with people who are emotionally challenged, for people who traditional therapy does not work (a surprisingly large number of people).
Reading through the second half finally (I've had the book since I graduated high school) has helped me to remember where it was I wanted to go in life. But, more than that has also shown me yet another way in which communication can be applied to science, medicine, therapy, even equestrian studies.
I'll post more thoughtfully developed thoughts on that later when I'm not busy itching to read the book.
I guess I'm really trying to say to everyone who thinks my major is dumb or worthless a big fuck you. I loose count of how many ways it applies to everyday life, business life, to well, everything.
People seem to lack respect for the field of communication and think it is laughable or common sense (which in some ways it involved common sense -but, honestly how many people have that anymore?) It is an incredibly important social science. I know I put it down on occasion but it's more directed towards the department at DePaul, which is retarded as are most of the students in it, and towards things like pr, which most people associate communications with. But, the more important and actual intelligent part of it is entirely the opposite of pr.
I'm sick of people telling me or implying that my major is worthless and the things I find fascinating and love to learn about they couldn't give a crap about. Especially considering how it affects and influences absolutely everything that they do.
I didn't mean to turn this into a rant. I think I'm just holding in a lot of frustrations.
I must remember to get an alarm clock. The time on my cell phone decided to stop working. It's not even showing up anymore. Weird. And annoying.
An excerpt from The Tao of Equus:
Through the ages, many people developed skills like "true intent" and "stillness within movement" through studies of the martial arts, but these are ultimately combative postures. Riding a horse rests upon another principle Taoists hold dear, that of "non-contention." In this capacity, equestrian pursuits have a leg up on the martial arts in forging a vital connection between two life forms as they learn to move in harmony.