What is silence?

I read in the Swedish book "Att slippa tänka själv - filosofiska samtal som undersökande gemenskaper i skolan" (= To not being in need for thinking yourself - philosophical dialogues as investigative communities in school) about silence.

There is many definitions of that word. You could, for example, differ between silence as an event and silence as an action. Silence as an event is something that emerges when all participants are quiet. Silence as an action could be about taboo, when you avoid speaking about a certain subject.

By silence, you could also mean pauses or hesitations in speech, or silence as meaningful answer to a question, for example when silence is implied.

It says in the book, that to be able to keep quiet is an intellectual and emotional maturity. It is also an expression for respect for other human beings.

You can also talk about a negative, a neutral, or a positive silence.

Negative silence is when the silence is a hindrance or a resistance in the dialogue. This silence could be a conscious or an unconscious fear, for example for what other people may think of what the individual is going to say. But the fear may be about the individual itself. Opinions may be close to your heart, and if you're going into discussion, you may be forced to change your opinion. If you feel other people may know more about a certain subject, you're not likely to choose such a subject to discuss not to show yourself as unskilled. Hence silence can be about hierarchies within a group.

New participants are often quiet for awhile before they feel secure enough to begin to speak. That is a neutral silence. Neutral silence can also refer to situations beyond the dialogue, like sadness or a problematic situation at home. But also things during the dialogue itself as it may occur several uninteresting subjects to talk about during the dialogue.

Positive silence, or what also could be called as a creative silence, is the consequence of the work you do. It has to be there in order for the dialogue to work at all. Silence can well be a consequence for you to be able to think carefully about a certain thing.

Found a Carlisle Facebook page

For my Swedish city Trollhättan, there is a Facebook page where inhabitants publish their old photos of the city. I've looked for that for Carlisle, but had not find anything.

So today, I was at You Tube. I searched for Carlisle, and found someone called Old Carlisle. I watched one of serveras films, and in this, they referred to A Facebook-page named Old Carlisle. Of course, I had to like... And write. Just searched for Old Carlisle on Facebook and you'll find. :-)

4 sorts of self problems

Magnus Lindwall tells in his book about self esteem that there are 4 sorts of self problems in modern times:

1. How the individual defines his or her identity
2. What relationship is between individual and society
3. How the individual understands his or her potential and tries to achieve it (self-fulfilment)
4. How well people are aware of themselves and have knowledge about themselves

Nature of self is considered to be something internal in its character - something that is in modern psychology comprehended as a backbone. Nowadays, you believe that every single person is unique, and that there is a value in


Självets natur betraktas som inre till sin karaktär - något som inom modern psykologi uppfattas som en självklar stomme. Man tror numera att varje individ är unik i sin kunskap om sig själv och att det ligger ett värde i att upptäcka och undersöka denna kunskap.


REFERENCE:
Lindwall, Magnus (2011). Självkänsla - bortom populärpsykologi och enkla sanningar. Lund: Studentlitteratur. (Swedish Academic Book about self esteem)

Swedish company won a contract in a British book

A British book on culture that I'm reading for the course English for International Contacts at University of Gävle (in Sweden) mentions Sweden in a positive way.

Authors tell about an American company trying to win a contract with an Argentian customer. They lost the deal though.

The American company made a dishy and well-made presentation to show their, in what they believed, superiour product for a low cost.

The Swedish company made a week available to get to know the custromer. For five days, they talked about everything but the product. At the last day, the product was introduced for the customer. The demonstration was not that attractive as the American was. And the price was a bit higher.

Still, the Swedish company won the deal.

The given reason is that the Swedish company learnt how to make business in individual countries, that it is more than overwhelming the customer with technical details and cool presentations.

I do not know if there is any kind of truth to this story, but I believe it's probably like that... you probably buy more from someone you know, more personally. There are good reasons to networking.

But I do like to read about Sweden in foreign books. :-)


REFERENCE:
Trompenaars, Fons & Hampden-Turner, Charles (2012). Riding the Waves of Culture. Understanding Diversity in Global Business. London: Nicholas Brealey Publishing.

Emmerdale

Yesterday, I started the Facebookpage Catscapades, where I can take pictures of all the cats I have under my roof. There has been a need for that for a long time. At last, I can entertain other people with my pictures. Funny, funny! So, click on the link above and like! It's in English, so are you able to read this, you are able to read there. :-)

Today, I've prolonged a pay monthly mobile subscription, got some food home from the store and spent a couple of hours in front of the computer watching Emmerdale. A Sunday as good as any. Sometimes, you just have to do nothing. :-)

That serial, and maybe the signature melody, has something special for me. When I was just a couple of years, my grand mother used to take care of me while my mother worked. She used to watch Emmerdale. I couldn't read the subtitles, couldn't understand what they were saying and for me it was just a boring time when I just had to wait for this serial to stop. I remember the signature melody, the green grounds and I remember a man with sideburns in a pub.

A lot later, I found this serial on the telly, and I have watched it on and off. I am associating this with my grandmother Ida (who died in 2009). Nowadays, however, I do understand what the characters are saying, and if I want text (I watch it at TV4 Play), I can read that too. Nowadays, I find it as a nice little serial, not the deadly boring time I just wished could pass once and for all. Signature is still there, but the green grounds are replaced to house views (I think the old one had more charm, but I do understand they want to renew), man with the sideburns is gone, but the pub is still there (odd... it's England). :-)

Skip the foot problems

Part of  Ge problemen på foten in Må Bra 10/2013

Most of foot problems may be results of bad shoes, foot specialist Thomas Niegerman tells the Swedish magazine Må Bra. He means that body parts we're burden at most are the same body parts we're exercising least. We also delimit function of the foot by using trendy shoes, insoles and rounded shoes, as we believe it'll solve the problems.

Knee-, hip- and backproblems are connected to feet, he says. Oblique, weak or misaligned feet propagate upwards. He tells that foot's impact centre is in the middle of the heel.That's where you're going to encumber, A lot of people are wrong out here, they encumber the back of the heel. It's also important to keep ones spine erected and rotating, at the same time as arms should swing back and forth.

Our feet have looked like they do in 3,5 million years and is made for walking barefoot and to be able to grip the ground. Nature people whose not using shoes do not have problems of hallux valgus, hammer toe and heel spur, says Thomas Niegerman,

Shoes should be flat, soft and wide in front, so that there are room for toes to waggle, Niegerman says. But it is of course okay to use high heels at a party from time to time. It is the every day shoe that influence the foot the most.


REFERENCE:
Hilding Hansen, Kersti (2013). Ge problemen foten. Må Bra 10/2013 (Swedish magazine)

Popcorn - the health food

A part of the article Pimpa dina popcorn
in the Swedish magazine Må Bra 10/2013

Popcorn are rich on polyphenols, which is a form of antioxidant (among other things told to be antiinflammatory). They are also rich on roughage (keeps your stomach to work as it should). No salt and oil, and popcorn is sheer health food, the Swedish magazine Må Bra writes. There is not very much water in popcorn; polyphenols are from this more concentrated compared to polyphenols in fruit.

I eat popcorn several days a week. It works perfect for lunch and they are not, as far as my experience tells, making me fat in the same way as crisps do. But still, there are a lot of calories in popcorn, almost as much as in crisps.


REFERENCES:
Alström, Vivvi (2013). Pimpa dina popcorn. Må Bra, 10/2013 (Swedish magazine).