BrianShader's New Writeups

April 15, 2003 (idea)

2003-04-15T16:14:21Z

The human fascination with excellence is truly a strange phenomenon. Create something to compete over and the competitors will appear. For example, parents with disruptive children often implement a "star system", where good behaviour is rewarded with a star on a wall chart. The rewards for these stars, if they exist at all, are often ill-defined. Yet the stars become an end in themselves. Siblings compete among themselves in order to acquire them. It seems to be something inherent in human mentality.

Of course, this pursuit of being the best now finds itself manifested in the video games industry. Create a high scores board, and people will compete to get on it. It's the motivation behind any return visit to an arcade game. It's what drives endless games of Tetris. It's tempting, objectively speaking, to dismiss it as pointless. But to do so is (literally) to miss the whole point and completely underestimate the inate desire to "be the best" that pervades the human psyche…

pantophobia (thing)

2003-04-12T15:29:34Z

Pantophobia

AKA: Pamphobia, Panophobia, panphobia

Pantophobia is a rare condition, in which the sufferer literally fears everything. Alternatively, it may manifest as what is known as a "non-specific fear"; the sufferer finds themself in a state of fear but with no known target, and therefore no easy remedy. One source described it rather well as "a vague and persistent dread of some unknown evil"¹. It is listed by the National Institute of Health's Office of Rare Disease, although they appear to offer no helpful information about it.

As might be expected, pantophobia is most frequently found as a secondary condition to schizophrenia. I found only one website claiming to offer a cure for pantophobia; hypnosis (surprise surprise).

Pantophobia, as the above extract demonstrates, is rarely taken seriously. For this reason, it is hard to obtain genuine medical information about it. It is currently placed 37 in Keeper of Lists.com…

April 11, 2003 (idea)

2003-04-11T17:48:14Z

Most of us are forced to study poetry from a relatively young age. I first encountered the idea of analysing poetry when I was about eleven; in my opinion, this is much too young anyway. Much like introducing children of a similar age to Shakespeare, it teaches them that such work is completely impenetrable and meaningless and that that what constitutes "good work" is completely unpredictable. Those of us who continue to study English realise that this perception is false, but for many it is too late.

This brings me to my own revelation. I know there are many people more highly-qualified to talk about such matters than me, but maybe that will help the mortals among us to follow what I'm saying.

I always assumed when reading poetry that the poet had a particular message intended. I assumed that when I read a piece, my job was to decipher what this single message was and sort it from all the other interpretations which were mistaken. I assumed that…

Anchisaurus (thing)

2003-04-11T09:35:31Z

Discovery

The first discovery of Anchisaurus ("near lizard") remains was made before anything was known about the dinosaurs, and it was probably the first dinosaur discovery in North America. When, in 1818, some large bones were discovered in Connecticut, USA, it was assumed that they were of human origin. Gradually, as a result of further finds in Massachusetts, the number of these bones began to accumulate and by 1855 they were at least recognised as reptilian. Hitchcock collected these bones under the name "Megadactylus" in 1865. The great paleontologist Othniel Charles Marsh named Anchisaurus in 1885, and Megadactylus became part of the genus Anchisaurus. More bones belonging to the genus were found in South Africa, suggesting that those two land masses were at the time joined in one super-continent (Pangaea). A recovery from Nova Scotia may also be Anchisaurus but this is unconfirmed.

Today, we are still missing parts of Anchisaurus' skeleton.…

Dilophosaurus (thing)

2003-04-10T13:28:24Z

Discovery

The first recovery of Dilophosaurus skeletons occured when the University of California dispatched a fossil-hunting expedition to northern Arizona. Lead by Jesse Williams, a Navajo Indian, they discovered the first remains of Dilophosaurus in 1942. Three skeletons were found within twenty feet of one another, although one was badly eroded. One, however, was almost complete, with only the front of the skull missing. The third provided the rest of the skull and much of the front of the body. It then took a further two years to remove all of the skeleton from the rock and make a wall mount suitable for display.

The first description was published by Samuel P. Welles in 1954, but at the time Dilophosaurus was considered a species of Megalosaurus. In 1964 however, Welles became concerned that the dating on the rock may have been inaccurate and returned to the site to confirm it. The dating was in fact correct, but Welles found an excellent fourth skeleton nearby - the…

Baryonyx (thing)

2003-04-09T09:31:24Z

Discovery

During the early Cretaceous, the Wealden Lake covered the majority of what is now northern Europe. River plains and deltas spread from the uplands surrounding modern London, England and eventually met this great lake. It is in the area of these deltas that the dinosaur Baryonyx ("heavy claw") was discovered. In 1983, an amateur fossil hunter named William Walker came across an enormous claw sticking out the side of a clay pit in Surrey. He received some help in retrieving the specimen, which - while the only recovery yet made - is a good one. He then dutifully passed the skeleton to Dr Alan J. Charig and Dr Angela C. Milner of The Natural History Museum in London. They published their description of the type species, B. walkeri, in 1986, and gratefully named it after Mr Walker. The skeleton was about 70% complete, and crucially included the skull. Therefore paleontologists can make many useful deductions about Baryonyx…