BRAIN and MIND

A very interesting question on Yahoo! Answers, and few answers that ppl had posted. One of these answers was posted by me. You have to guess which it is, ok?

What is the difference between BRAIN and MIND exactly-?(Wanted by someone for school project)

Answer 1-Brain is part of a human body:
It works to retain memory:
Mind is a non-physical one:
mind is the cause for all the activities of the human

Answer 2-brains is in actual term
mind is in factual term
i mean, brain is a physical quantity and mind is figment of our imagination
brain is part of mind if we think, but reverse is not true

Answer 3-Depending on what your exactly what you are looking for, people distinguish brain and mind in a biological and philosophical sense.
When people speak of the brain, it is usually spoken about in the sense of neurons and chemical processes that can be described in a more scientifc manner. The mind, on the other hand, is seen more as a philosphical idea.
To put in better words, the mind is seen as something apart from the body that reflects on ideas, thoughts, and feelings. This is a pretty general difference that people make between brain and mind but the debate goes on whether one or the other actually exists.
Hope this helped.

Answer 4-The brain is anatomical, the mind is not

Answer 5-Mind is the brainchild of the brain!
Let me explain, Brain controls all the body functions, including thinking. In the primitive days, nobody knew biology very clearly, So much so that they invented ways to 'understand' things in a way it can be easy. Simple people like them had difficulty believing that an organ made of flesh and blood (the brain) can do such marvellous things as thinking, analysing, distinguishing, philosophising and so on.
So, to make things to be easily understood, they started distinguishing the mind (conscience) from the brain. The fact is that, it is their brains that thought up such an idea! Interesting na?
Let me know if this helped!
Answer 6- The mind is how we think and the Brain is the actual organ

Answer 7- The brain is the actual, physical organ; the mind is a more abstract concept used to collectively describe many of the functions of the brain. Mind would not include things like the control of body functions or reflexes, but does include things like thought, perception, and memory

Answer 8- Brain- is a term used to indicate the organ in the head. Mind- resembles the activities of the brain

Answer 9- Brain is used in bio or science and mind is usually used in literature.There is no diffrence between them
Now leave in your comment and tell me which you think is mine and of course, give me your ideas of the 'difference'!

Aint it interestin!?

Listen to this! Something I found in the internet:
Men have 4% more brain cells than women, and about 100 grams more of brain tissue.

Now dont think I put this up here to glorify the not-so-fair gender..
Here comes the punchline:

Many women have asked the scientist why men need more brain tissue in order to get the same things done.
(Touche!)

;)

PS: Dont think I am bluffing about the facts. Here, go check it out for yourself:
http://www.doctorhugo.org/brain4.html

Plastic new-sense

Just the other day, I had a heated argument with a fellow pal about a revolutionary product that has made our life incredibly easy at the same time is unbelievably evil..plastic. He was arguing for and i was arguing against.

My friend considers plastic to be the most important invention of all world history, only next to the invention of wheel. Understandably so, he is a product designer. If you are a designer, you will know what exactly i am talking about.
Just look around you and you will realise that plastics have become an integral part of your life. right from complicated machinery to the water bottles and pens that we use everyday, almost everything around is made with plastic. This is a wonderful chemical component that has made life so easy.

Agreed! also to be considered is another factor of concern- the waste that is generated beacause of plastic use (read misuse). We do not have an amazing plastics waste management system as yet. That means they are just dumped in the soil.
Plastics are notoriously synonymous to the term 'non-biodegradable'. Anything that is non biodegradable chokes the earth, takes away the fertility of the soil and pollutes the ground water.

I am not forming a league to ban all plastics on the planet, I am addressing only a small (but considerable if long term) portion of the pie - something that i practise and is immensely satisfied with. Minimal use of plastic bags.

Multi-coloured plastic bags are almost omnipresent. All stores- big and small, market places and commodity shops use them because they are very cheap. And we the consumers accept them because they are very convenient. Observing at one of the stores, I saw people asking for/accepting plastic bags even for carrying single,tiny pack of snacks

Next time you buy something, think if you really need that plastic bag. Cant you just carry it in your handbag/pocket? Cant you just throw it in the back of the car/the pouch of the bike? or even better, if you have a shoppers bag lying there in your vehicle, use that when you shop for veggies or other commodities. Now, thats not too much to ask for, is it?

You are FREE..finally!!!!! yeah..but whats so exciting abt it?

There are times when you are just baffled by the fact that you are so independant!

You have done studying, have finished slogging through those hard mathematical problems and chemical equations and never-ending homework..you dont have to prepare for one exam after the other..School and College are actually over!

You have gone through and come out of those jobless days when you attended a minimum of two interviews a day and lived on unbelievably less money so you dont have to ask mom and dad for money. Now you have a reasonably paying job. No more waiting for pocket money to buy an icecream.
You are no more a 'teenager'/adamant adolescent-so, no more taking permission from mom to watch the movie you wanted to go to with friends.. No more curfews on weekend nights..

Now you are grown-up (!?!) You have total freedom. You are independant- physically, mentally, financially. but, wait a second, what are you going to do with all the freedom and the glorified rights that you have in life?? All those textbooks and seminars had never taught what is to be done when one fine day, you are free from the several bondages that had held you back so long!
Enough food for thought for a few seconds? why dont you tell me what you have done/are doing/will do with your freedom.. Leave your comments..

Favourite Churches in Chennai

You can begin your Sunday with a visit to one of these beautiful churches. If not for praying, you can enjoy the peace and beauty. There is a very quiet, small church atop a hillock in St.Thomas mount. It’s only a short drive of about 30 minutes from the heart of the city. The hillock, on which the church stands, is inside the Officer’s academy premises between Pallavaram and Meenambakkam. This place is special to me, as students we have visited it many times. It is a place from where you can see most part of the city and also the landing and take-off of aeroplanes since the Airport is not far away.

Another church of beauty is the one in Santhome – Basilia. This is the place where the St.Thomas has been buried. Visitors are allowed to the tomb. It has got awesome stained glass painting works! This church is close to the Marina beach.

Inside the campus of the Loyola college/university is a beautiful church, which was built as a chapel for the students of Loyola. Visitors are allowed. Families in the nighbourhood flock to this place for the Sunday morning mass. Again special to me for personal reasons ;)

St.Mary’s Church in Besant Nagar. This church stands very close to the Elliots beach and is said to be the oldest church in Chennai, now renovated and extended. Believers and tourists flock to this place any day of the week.

St.George’s Cathedral church. Gives you the old world feeling; right in the middle of the busy city. I was a regular to this one till about few weeks ago. You would be surprised by its extensive cemetery. There is also a smaller chapel inside the same premise. It is a very peaceful place..

This can go on.. but these churches TOP my list :)
If you live in Chennai, try visiting few of them when time permits..

Its money honey…

It’s funny to think how much these simple green papers matter! Though I would like to have loads of it, I just hate it for all the importance people give it! But I have to admit that this “hate” is because I still can’t think of many ways to lay my hands on enough of them. Haven’t you heard of the fox and the sour grapes story? ;)

Was just wondering…how much of money is there in the whole world? All currencies put together? What if I had all of it?











(no words because I just passed out)

Frankly, how much is too much? When do you think you will finally get convinced that you have enough money and that you don’t need any more of it?
Two possible answers: 1)Never 2)When you attain immortality

I don’t know about you, but since I do not have much hopes of attaining immortality, I think I fall in the “Never” category. After all it’s only fair. Money is like the elixir of energy in the world. Imagine a world minus money. No money, no reason to work, no joy of buying something new, no goals in life, no success, no motivation, NO NOTHING!!! It is scary, really! I am all for glorifying money, who cares if it is such an attention seeking entity, after all its worth it. Whatssay?

How to become a successful entrepreneur

Here is an article that I stumbled upon few days ago..
Disclaimer: This article was not written by me. Writer: unknown. Source: I dont remember!

Cheers!

How to become a successful entrepreneur


Anyone who is employed has dwelled over this at some point or the other, some far more than others. That's the kind of allure 'being your own boss' holds for most people.

The sense of achievement in owning a set-up, and being chiefly responsible for it's future is the kind of kick one can never derive from a job. But, greater returns always involve greater risks. One needs to plan and execute with a high degree of detail to counter the many challenges a business throws at the entrepreneur.

Keep a lookout for these pointers if you finally get down to executing your dream of self-employment:
Being fed up with your current job isn't a good enough reason to start-up. It is more than a full time responsibility. Work does not end with office hours, and chances are that initially you will see more hardships than success. It takes intense commitment to stick it out through these tough times, especially when you know that your past job pegged you at a certain market value, which you are not matching with this new business.

More importantly, a half-baked decision to start a business not only leave you with little chance of doing well, it also jeopardises your options of getting back to as good a job as the one you left.

Understanding the nature of a business
The first step is to understand that businesses don't start with a great idea, or a breakthrough innovation, every business starts with the customer. If you are looking to get into a business as an inventor, try finding a client who'll pay you to develop something they need. Most of these clients will let you keep the rights over the invention, so that you can sell it to other clients later.
Entrepreneurship = 60 hours of work
This might be easier than it seems, and in business, success has got to do more with creating such opportunities and making the most of them.

Check for these skills:
Engineering -- the skill to invent and develop new products (or services)
Manufacturing -- the skill to deliver products, consistently and reliably, with quality, service, and price
Selling -- the skill to sell the products
Business -- the act of making a profit by doing the first three

While starting a business, the skills you will surely need are engineering and selling.
The longevity and profitability of the business are usually determined by the manufacturing and business skills. The level of competency you choose for the business decide how refined these individual skills need to get.

In case you choose the competition space as a local market or a niche industry, then the focus goes up drastically on one skill, while going down to a basic hygiene on the rest.

Breaking the 'notion' barrierAll your education and work-experience must have given you a perspective on how businesses work. These experiences, and the notions that they bring along with it have their own limitations. They don't quite give you the complete picture.
Also, most of this 'experience and knowledge' constitutes the answers to yesterday's problems. It might not necessarily apply to what goes on today. And there is an even stronger possibility of this know-how getting obscure in the future.

Finding the fundingIn the ideal case scenario, find someone who will be willing to pay you for what you are currently doing. This is a critical stage for most businesses. Do not let go until you are convinced that you have exhausted all opportunities.

Got what it takes to be an entrepreneur?
The next best option is to find someone who has a similar business need. Then go about designing a solution for him. Try brainstorming further to keep customisation to a minimum so that the solution can be taken to other potential clients with minimum modification.

The benefit of having partnersThere is only that much one person can do.
Like most businesses have separate business units or heads such as manufacturing, marketing etc., the skills needed to run most businesses too are quite varied.
What are the odds that you will be adept at the technical, marketing, selling, business and political aspects of the business? Besides, having partners makes sense on many other levels. Firstly, as the number or people owning the business goes up, the risk and intensity of a loss goes down. You can stay on in the market for longer in case of a lean period.
Also, since the business heads will most likely be split among the partners, one can focus on a couple of areas while doing complete justice to them and focusing on nothing else. This makes the entire business a lot more competent.

Don't quit your day job, just yet
You don't need to take the big jump straight away. Building a business takes a lot of time and groundwork. Spending up to an hour a day after work is a feasible option initially. It also helps you get a feel of what a business must be like.
Moreover, getting in a pay cheque every month is always the smarter option, especially when you might not have a steady income for some time to come. A few things you can do alongside work might be:
Examine the feasibility of the business model
Buy market research target market
Understand the selling patterns of related products
Get options on funding
Develop a marketing plan for various budget constraints
Talk to other entrepreneurs and get some tips off them
Try getting inputs from a venture incubation centre
Get a transition plan ready
Consider the worst-case scenario, and work on a feasible exit clause even for that. Chart out the future, the incoming revenue streams, how long do you plan to be in the business, exit options etc. Also, have a financial cushion in the form of some investments that you leave untouched while at the business.

Starting a business? Say goodbye to your ego
Try roping in venture capitalists at the earliest stage in the business to enable you to work under lesser financial pressure.
Tomorrow is just a second away from today
There is only that much preparation that one can put in. Stop finding excuses to delay getting into the business. You cannot learn swimming from a textbook. Take the plunge. Learn what works for YOU and what doesn't. There is no right or prescribed way to run a business. In fact, there are as many ways as there are people running successful businesses.
Also, this is as good a time as any to be an entrepreneur. The economy is growing; the government is supporting new ventures through various measures in the recent budget. And most importantly, the number of avenues for growth and the kind of opportunities available are unparalleled today.
So go on, what's stopping you from being your own boss?

City with a heart

I am not even trying to count the number of NGOs (Non government organisations) in Chennai! They are just innumerous. Every noble cause has supporters here. Right from planting trees to saving street dogs; from rehabilitating rag pickers to feeding the homeless, Chennai is one city that is full of people with golden hearts.

These are just few of the sites worth sharing.

http://www.hindu.com/2007/02/04/stories/2007020415240300.htm
http://www.ivolunteer.org.in/news/VolOppsChennai.htm
http://www.chennaibest.com/discoverchennai/ngowatch/index.asp
http://puggy.symonds.net/pipermail/health-india/2003-March/000082.html

In no other city have I seen people so worried about their fellow humans and the environment that they live in.. So what makes them tick? Do you have an answer? a comment may be? jot it here, I would definitely like to know!

Cheers!