The Mouse Trap migrates to a new host

The Mouse Trap blog will henceforth move to self-hosted wordpress and can be accessed at the-mouse-trap.com . Please note the change in domain name . The existing RSS feed subscribers should not need to do anything and should be able to access the feed of the new blog automatically without unsubscribing and resubscribing...so please, please do not unsubscribe. Give me a few days to migrate everything properly.

Sphere: Related Content

Top 10 Psychology blogs for the Curious Minds

I feel honored to have been asked by blogs.com to compile a list of top 10 psychology blogs for the curious minds. Any list , such as this, is necessarily subjective and being limited in nature, cannot do justice to all the other psychology blogs that I equally love and follow on a regular basis or other interesting blogs, which I am perhaps not aware of. 

The top 10 blogs are presented in an alphabetical order and reflect those that I find most interesting, insightful or fun to read.  Hopefully the mouse trap community would concur and benefit from following these blogs as well. Do check out the list and by the way of comments to this post,  add some other blogs that you think are equally interesting and catering to the curious amongst us.

Sphere: Related Content

The Sculptor and the Sandman: A novel as much about psychosis as about the human condition

Last night I somehow got inspired, brushed my manuscript that was written about 6 yrs earlier, and in a span of just 4-5 hrs was able to create a sell able paperback book out of it, all thanks to new publishing tools like the lulu.com. Of course, the manuscript, had been read/ re-read, revised and edited by me, all these years, so I'm sure the quality of the product would be great.

Some of you may be aware that I write prose and poetry and have a poetry focussed blog called The Fools Quest. Perhaps, the right place to promote my novel, The Sculptor and the Sandman, would be that blog, instead of the mouse trap; but then again, that novel is as much a piece of fiction, as it is a psychological treatise- my view of what psychosis is, how it manifests and what some of the triggers may be. The tale is grounded in my undersantding of the psychotic condition and I am sure that my readers with exclusive interest in the psychologcial aspects would still find reading that novel worthwhile. Of course, I know that many of your are multi-dimensional, and value arts, as much as science, and reading the novel would be an artistic pleasure in itself- even when not being bogged down by the psychological aspects and the truth or falsity of my depiction of the psychotic condition - the novel can be enjoyed in its own right . Reading it may also help you connect with me on a different level- exposing aspects of myself that were never apparent while reading the mouse trap.

As always I would love feedback, reviews etc and would sincerely request that you give the novel a try. The paperback edition is priced at $10.80 and a downloadable version is priced at $2.50; I am sure it would prove value for money and you will end up buying further copies for your friends and recommending it to others. It is at present just available at lulu.com , but soon will be available at all other major stores like amazon.com.

You can read an excerpt from the novel at the lulu.com site and here is the blurb from the back cover:

The sculptor and the sandman is a fable set in the India of the twenty first century. A tale of passion, obsession, madness and rebellion, the story revolves around how the protagonists move in and out of madness, competing as well as caring for each other, and how their life becomes inextricably twined with that of the narrator, a coconut water vendor.

A tale in which episodes of frank psychosis seem more understandable and reasonable than the unbearable normality of everyday life, the tale is a grim reminder of how misunderstandings and malice work together to weave the different strands of our life together and how silver linings are present in the darkest of clouds hovering over the horizon.

Seen from another perspective, the tale documents different approaches to find meaning and value in this modern world, a world devoid of absolutes. One approach may seem more absurd and futile than the other, but perhaps it is not so much about the 'right' value system or frame of meaning, as it is about the need for 'a' value system or a frame of meaning- to each his own cross.

Please, Please, Please do read the novel (for that you'l need to buy it!), share it with others( if you indeed like it) , recommend/review it on your blogs and do send me comments, either using this page, the lulu reviews page etc or by directly sending your comments to me at sandygautam@yahoo.com, even if the comments are not positive or encouraging. Any feedback is much better than no feedback. Depending on the feedback, I have the sequel to the sculptor and sandman already in draft stage but I need some reassurance as to whether the efforts are worthwhile and whether  there is a need and appreciation for this type of writing.

Sphere: Related Content

Child Psychology: The Mouse Trap turns 3

The Mouse Trap turns 3 today. It was exactly three years and 334 posts earlier that the Mouse Trap was born. The Mouse Trap has indeed learnt to walk on its own and has also developed adequate linguistic skills in the meantime. The toddler years are all but over, as it now becomes more playful and enters play age of early childhood. Already people are demanding that it not be developmentally delayed, but start indulging in rich imaginative pretend play with topics being requested like symbolic interactionsim and social epistemology.

Some stock taking and reality check is in store. The wiki page on toddler lists the following last milestones for 25-36 months and I hope the Mouse trap is doing fine. To recap:

1. Speaking in sentences: Hopefully the strands of mouse trap blog posts now form more cohesive sentences (like the theme of autism-psychosis, stage theories etc) and are not disjointed phrases and one-off utterances.
2. Ability to be independent to primary care giver: I hope that the reader partcipation has increased and with more reader participatory initiatives like Skribit suggestions, Google FriendConnect etc., the Mouse Trap is able to become more and more independent of its primary caregiver, that is me, and instead make deep attachments with other secondary caregivers like its prized readers and subscriber base.
3. Easily learns new words, places and people's names: Hopefully as the Mouse trap matures, it is learning to expand its horizons and foraying into topics left hitherto untouched; with better reader connect features , like twitter/Frinedfeed etc it is surely remembering peoples names and where they come form!
4. Anticipates routines: The mouse trap hopefully has learnt to anticipate the routine articles and topics that its readership likes to read and is doing a decent job on that score. do suggest your topics if the mouse trap doesn't anticipate them!
5. Toilet learning continues : Once th emouse trap might have been suffering from blogorrehea, but now it knows that passing motion (posting articles) once a week is adequate enough an dthat one should write a article only when one is full of it! There does exist scope for more routinized daily motion passing though!!
6. Plays with toys in imaginative ways: I am experimenting a lot with social media (my favorite web 2.0 toy) so as to engage more readers in a conversation. If you have any imaginative ideas of how to play with this toy, do let me know!!
7. Attempts to sing in-time with songs: Hopefully, the mouse trap has learnt to sing in tune with the zeitgeist of the day; though here I believe Mouse trap more has an original, unsynchronised with others voice and singing profile. Hope to change that and be more in sync with what others in the science blogosphere are singing (but definitely not the atheism/evolution debate which just bores me)

So, the Mouse trap is just about doing fine. It has been consistently featured in wikio top 100 science blogs, is amongst the top 5 blogs in India as ranked by Indiblogger.in, has a google page rank of 6 and has a subscriber base of close to 450 dedicated RSS feed subscribers, besides those that visit it daily on web via search. Also , the twitter followers of @sandygautam are increasing steadily and have reached 450 and the rate at which they are growing it seems they'll grow way beyond the Mouse trap feed subscribers. With micro-blogging and twitter/ FriendFeed, I have found a new way to share links and ideas and deepen conversations and connect with my readers, that was not possible with just the Mouse Trap.



I would also like to take this opportunity to encourage all feed subscribers to join me at twitter (@sandygautam) to keep up to date on links that I don't find exciting enough to write a blog post about or do not have much to add to, but which still are related to theme of what I write about and would make for a good read and need to be shared. I would also encourage new as well as veteran readers and subscribers, just for today,  to visit the mouse trap blog on the web and not in their feed readers (to celebrate its B'day, you are invited to the party at the web) so that they can become familiar with new social media tools I have put together on the Mouse Trap blog, like the 'recommended by readers' widget, the 'top posts by PostRank' widget or the 'suggest topics to write' widget.

Lastly as a primary caregiver, though my investment in the mouse trap has been more and my pride consequently in its progress has been immense; I must also thank all the other caregivers like you , the reader, or the peers like the other science blogs that have provided a safe and playful environment in which the Mouse Trap could flower or learn by peer play/ imitation learning. You all are a part and parcel of the Mouse Trap blog, so thanks everyone and take pride in your child's development and maturation and now that it becomes more independent come forward and supplant the primary caregiver and let it achieve its full potential! Amen!

Sphere: Related Content

Read the Mouse Trap on your Kindle

Amazon today broadened their kindle blog offerings and I have used that facility to make the Mouse Trap blog feed available on the Kindle. I am not sure how many of the Mouse trap blog readers do indeed possess a kindle and whether they would find it useful to read the blog with a monthly subscription fee of 1.99 dollars; but there was no option to have a say and make the Mouse Trap blog feed available for free, so that's what we have ended up with. You can always continue to read the blog freely using other means, but experimenting with a 14 day free kindle trial may be a good idea! More details here.

If you do subscribe using kindle , do let me know your experience via the comments.

Sphere: Related Content

101 Fascinating Brain blogs

OEDB has put together a list of 101 fascinating Brain blogs and it is an excellent list with most of the usual suspects and some new ones too. The descriptions of the blogs are good and informative. The Mouse trap has been featured under Multidisciplinary blogs and I cannot agree more. The focus of this blog has been multi-disciplinary and I am by nature drawn to anything and everything that is remotely tied to brain, no matter what the discipline or the methods.

On a related note, I had thought that the mouse trap being featured in WIKIO Science top 100 was a one-off affair, but it seems that the ranking has only improved this month (the mouse trap is up at #78 this month); so thanks again to all the readers of this blog for continuing to read and link. BTW, I saw a significant drop (about 10%) in the number of RSS feed subscribers after my 26/11 and 'Beyond revenge' post; maybe the subscribers thought that I had decided to leave science blogging for good and thus unsubscribed; political blogging for me may lie in the future, but not for now; for now I intend to continue blogging about brains only. The Mouse Trap blog, at the least, will always remain focussed on psychology and neuroscience only. If  I do decide to blog about political matters I'll maybe start a new blog, just like The Fool's Quest blog which I use for poetry and literature.

Sphere: Related Content

26/11 and 'Beyond revenge'

26/11 has happened and I still write about  Science and Psychology.

It has been a week of introspection in which I have been questioning myself and whether by doing science blogging I am doing my bit as a responsible human being. Perhaps I will move on. But while I'm at science blogging let me discuss the topic about which the science blogosphere has been relatively silent.

Today, I have started reading Michal McCullough's "Beyond Revenge" and I want to discuss ideas from it. The decision to read the book at this juncture stems from the immense feelings of outrage that have been seething within and paradoxically without any overt war-mongering desires or ill-will towards the state that continue to let its soil be used for terrorist activities. Of course forgiving the citizens of that state was never an issue for the ordinary citizens do not foment violence and wars- it is the state or the alleged 'non-state' actors that are the real culprits; but I strangely feel a desire to forgive even them and give them a  second chance. But I cannot just forgive and forget. at least not this time. This time the world has to change to create the conditions whereby forgiveness is the norm and revenge an exception.

But let me not digress. Let me go straight to reviewing "Byond Revenge" . I have just read the introduction and the first chapter so let me share with you Mculloughs main thesis.

As per him there are three angle or truths to the revenge story:

• Truth #1: The Desire for Revenge Is a Built-In Feature of Human Nature
  
• Truth #2: The Capacity for Forgiveness Is a Built-In Feature of Human Nature
  
• Truth #3: To Make the World a More Forgiving, Less Vengeful Place, Don’t Try to Change Human Nature: Change the World!
  

I've decided to the last, viz change the world, but perhaps not in exactly the same way that Michale may have intended. Let me elaborate what Michael means by the three truths:

The desire for revenge isn ’ t a disease to which certain unfortunate people fall prey. Instead, it’s a universal trait of human nature, crafted by natural selection, that exists today because it was adaptive in the ancestral environment in which the human species evolved .

I believe it is important to pause here and think over whether the perpetrators of 26/11 were themselves pathological or just normal ordinary people subjected to un-normal propaganda and state help to turn into monsters.

Its also important to acknowledge our own feelings of anger and outrage as vengeful feelings towards those who indulge in such heinous crimes; but it is heartening to note that Indians have largely turned their anger into constructive channels - towards lapses in security and towards insensitivity and callousness of politicians. It is heartening to note that the anger and revenge has not been mistakenly directed towards the citizens of a state or towards a community. I salute my fellow Indians for what they have done with their feeilngs of outrage and revenge.

Next truth Micahel elaborates as follows:

The capacity for forgiveness, like the desire for revenge, is also an intrinsic feature of human nature — crafted by natural selection — that exists today because it was adaptive in the ancestral environment in which the human species developed .

Forgiveness as per him is normally activated with friends and family; but India has always thought 'vasyudhev kutumbkam' or the 'whole world is my family'. India perhaps has been an epitome of forgiveness and perhaps will rightly remain so. I'm not just talking about India as a nation-state, I am talking about India as a civilization which has a unique honor of never committing aggression or getting involved in a war unprovoked. India has absorbed all erstwhile aggressors in its fold and today everyone lives as one community- one nation- one family. No heinous acts of aggression and terror make Indians turn towards each other. The need for that forgiveness instinct to continue is perhaps the greatest today. And believe me when I say that the common Indian citizen, still has no hard feelings towards the state who's soil is being used to foment terror on its territory.

The next truth he talks about is:

To forgive a stranger or a sworn enemy, we have to activate the same mental mechanisms that natural selection developed within the human mind to help us forgive our loved ones, friends, and close associates. To encourage more forgiveness in our communities, and on the world stage, we must create the social conditions that will activate those mechanisms .

This is what he means by changing the world. Creating conditions such that even enemies/ strangers seem like friends. Its heartening to note that partly as a result of state initiative, but largely due to initiative of non-state actors in India, like the media, we have been successful in creating a 'world' in which the ordinary citizen of Pakistan is not seen as an enemy. TV programs like 'the great Indian laughter challenge' on Star One have been able to make the ordinary Indian realize that there is much more in common that he shares with the Pakistan citizen than just a sub-continent. These non-state actors of my country, be it the film and music industry or NGOs have been working to foster stronger ties and the results are for all to see. For the first time, I do not hear war cries towards Pakistan , just a desire to eliminate the terror camps operating on foreign soil perhaps by very targeted and specific strikes. Is that asking too much? Is ensuring one's safety and taking preventive measure condemnable and will still be viewed as punitive and vindictive action by western and Pakistani media. Only time will tell whether the non-state actors in west and Pakistan have been creating their 'world' as per what template.

Sphere: Related Content

The Science Blog Meme

A meme, that started in Nature Networks  , has slowly gained momentum and as many science bloggers have participated, I think I might as well jump in.

1. What is your blog about?
It is definitely not about catching mice, though I sometimes regret why I chose this particular name from the available zillions. My blog is solely focussed and devoted to psychology and neurosceince; within them some pet themes keep emerging; it started with a focus on cognitive maps; another is the focus on stage theories; then still another is focus on Autism and Schizophrenia as diametrically opposed on a continuum.but I take pride in the fact that most reviewers of this blog have determined this blog to be focussed diffusely on disparate subjects.

2. What will you never write about?
about my day-to-day humdrum existence as I lack the capacity to make that sound interesting. Also I like to keep the personal separate from professional as far as possible.

3. Have you ever considered leaving science?
The question is a bit odd, as I am not a working scientist and my science focus is part-time; but leaving science as a hobby/ part-time vocation seems unthinkable - perhaps if all the applied uses of science have been exhausted I may think of leaving sceince; but till the time there is much to be discovered and applied in the real world; there is no parting company.

4. What would you do instead?
Social Work (though for some reasons I don't like the word..juts like the concept of working for the disadvantaged)/ Education and guidance---of course the assumption is that I have all the resources to enjoy my present lifestyle and only then in my free time instead of science do these things.

5. What do you think will science blogging be like in 5 years?
It should replace scince journalism even before that and might perhaps be replaced by somemore disruptive technologies. It would be more actual science and less reporting. The science would be prominent over the blogging part and both will happen collaboratively.

6. What is the most extraordinary thing that happened to you because of blogging?
In the real world, not much! In the online world, I met and befreinded many interesting, prominent and like-minded people. Overall, blogging provided me a much needed outlet for sharing all the knowledge/information that I was accumulating but finding no outlet for.

7. Did you write a blog post or comment you later regretted?
Yes, one or two blog posts I regret to have written. even today, I feel embarrassed when someone comments on them.


8. When did you first learn about science blogging?
I believe it must have been 3 years back; as soon as I learnt about that I started my own blog!!


9. What do your colleagues at work say about your blogging?
Not many at my work place read my blog or are aware of its existence; for those who are aware its more of a personal eccentricity and a freaky thing - though I have received some very positive feedback too from some; but most say it is incomprehensible and too technical for them (my workplace is not in a scientific setting/ concerned with psychology/ neuroscience)

10.Extra credit: are you able to write an entry to your blog that takes the form of a poem about your research?
I believe I am able, for I pride myself as the next big thing- an undiscovered poet/ creative writer that is just waiting for the right break; the bad part is that I maintain a dedicated creative writing blog , that is separate from my scientific blog, so have never mixed the too, so am not quite sure!!

Thats it folks! I love these memes, especially those that come without any tagging requirements!!

Sphere: Related Content

Not Exactly Rocket Science : the book

Some of you may be familiar with Ed Yong's blog Not Exactly Rocket Science . He is an excellent writer and his blog postings are always well researched , readable and informative. I'm a a regular follower and can vouch for the quality of hits article length blog posts. For those of us , who like to do some off line quality reading, Ed has published his best blog posts in the form of a book that is currently available from Lulu. I encourage all of you to buy the book , either for yourself, or as a gift for a loved one: it will make for an excellent present!! While I feel happy for Ed, I wonder, if and when, can at least one of my articles appear in a book form; maybe openlab2008 is it; maybe I have to wait longer:-( Anyway, its happy to see that blog form is being recognized and I wish Ed and all prospective blogger-writers all the best!

Sphere: Related Content

Nominate The Mouse trap

If you like what you read here, you may like to nominate the Mouse Trap blog for either the Weblog Awards 2008 (category science) or submit one of your favorite articles from this blog  to the OpenLab 2008. The submissions links for both can be formed in the side bar on the blog, so please visit the blog (the links are not present in the RSS feeds)  and nominate the Mouse Trap or your other favorite psychology and science blogs and writings using the banners in the side navigation bar.

Sphere: Related Content

The Mouse Trap is in the WIKIO 100 Top Science Blogs!!

I would like to thank all the readres of this blog, especially those who have linked to my posts or commented here; as a result of their patronage the humble Mouse Trap blog has made it to the top 100 Science blogs list maintained by none other than Wikio. It is a great honor to share the same space as that of BPS research digest, Cognitive Daily, Sharp Brains, Mixing Memory and  Developing Intelligence, to name a few of my admired blogs. I note that my ranking is 93 and prone to slip from the top 100 list next time; that doesnt bother me- this recognition, even if not sustained, but for one time only, acts as  a booster to motivate and spur towards more and more quality blogging.  

Thanks again to all the readers.

Sphere: Related Content

Psychology of Facebook: chance to participate

Dr. B J Fogg, who teaches the Psychology of Facebook course at Stanford , has kindly written by way of a comment to an earlier post, that Mouse Trap readers who wish to know more about the project and want to participate, can join the Facebook group for that course. They keep everything updated on the group page and you can read about what they are doing and how you can participate there.
I, myself, have subscribed to the group as I being a web 2.0 enthusiast too, find the topic to be pertinent and interesting.

They also keep a blog and it is worth checking out. For example one of the recent entries shows how the facebook community is a sucker for apps titled "Share the Love"; but are put off by apps titled 'Declare war'. Apparently web2.0 is all about sharing, caring and making love and not about making war or competing.

By the way, I have seen a trend among bloggers to have a group page on facebook regarding their blog. I'm not sure of the utility of such a page, but an opportunity to connect is always welcome. In case some of you are keen, we can start a mouse trap community on facebook.

Sphere: Related Content

Art and Insanity: is there risk involved in artistic creation?

William Schultz has just posted a blog entry regarding how artistic creation may have an associated risk of suicide/ depression/ psychosis and how exploring the depths of one's psyche may lead one to the downward spiral that ends with taking one;s own life. He gives Sylvia Plath and Diane Arbus as examples and I agree with his basic premise that writers/ artists are especially vulnerable to extreme mental states as they try to explore the depths of human experience by imagining the extremes that are possible.

I ,myself, consider myself to have moderately good writing talent, and have found that when I write literature , be it poems or short stroies or novellas, the theme of the creation starts taking its hold. this is most apparent when for example I recently added a few sonnets to my epic-in-making The Fools Quest. The initial sonnets depict a person who is on a brink of new journey, somewhat facing an existential angst and in general questioning both his past and his future. now, though, I myself am very well adjusted and happy with my life as it is going, just creating in myself the protagonists mindset led to a state where I myself started feeling restless, unsatisfied and in general more eager for change and willing to rock the boat. This may seem anecdotal evidence, but there is good statistics showing prevalence of mental health disorders in artists in general and writers in particular.

I would now quote a bit from Schultz' post (italics mine):

What's going on here? It's more than a little uncanny. As Wendell Berry once said: "To go in the dark with a light is to know the light. To know the dark, go dark." Both Plath and Arbus knew the dark, but this knowing came at a massive price. The dark stayed dark. Forever. Some artists--not all--do not survive the hero's quest. Maybe, when the moment comes, they lack the requisite "ego strength" to re-compose after the decompensation that a certain category of art requires. Or else: once they achieve genius, the question becomes: Where do I go from here? Having reached the top of the mountain, there is nothing left but the descent, and the idea of descending is simply intolerable, ultimately depressing.

I don't know, whether my quest is a hero's quest or a fool's quest , but I definitely know that I have slowed down as I saw that the quest was affecting my mood. Hopefully, as the quest moves to more adventurous phases and away from the initial dilemmas , it would have more uplifting effects. Hopefully, I wont fall from the cliff like my Fool is planning to!

Sphere: Related Content

The Fool's Quest

Some of you may be aware that I also perceive of me as a literary person and try my hand at writing poetry, short stories and novellas. I have recently started a new blog called The Fool's Quest that would document my quest of coming up with novel literary pieces on a daily basis.

I strongly suggest , that though it has nothing to do with Psychology, it is bound to be a good read, so hurry up and visit that site.

Sphere: Related Content

My first book published!!

No, its not a Psychology/ Neuroscience book....It is a poetry book and I have self-published it , online using 'If I were a book . com'. The poetry book titled "Songs to Soothe Your Soul"contains sonnets I wrote during my college years. Maybe someone would like to psycho-analyze them!!

The site offers chance for getting published in the real world , but for that to happen readers have to read the book and rate it highly so that publishers would bother to have a look. SO my personal request to you all to go on the site, read the poems and rate as you like it!! I'll also be adding a link to that book in my sidebar.

By the way, this is just a taste of things to come. I have written a book title "The Sculptor and the Sandman", which is psychologically inspired and focussed on delineating the psychotic and schizophrenic experience and how that may differ from other world views like that of a rational scientist (may having ASD). So watch this space for more info on that!!

Sphere: Related Content

The Mouse Trap's reading level: Genius :-) !?!?!!??

As per a new tool available, the reading level of this blog is GENIUS!!

Cash Advance Loans

I take this as a compliment to the readers of this blog....they all fall under the genius category as they have been reading this blog for so long- and not as a marker of the fact that some of the blog posts may be eccentric and connecting apparently disparate themes. I guess the tool sees that as a mark of genius...so be it!! Three cheers to The Mouse Trap Reading Community!!

I discovered this via IQ corner which discovered this via Omni Brain.

Sphere: Related Content

Launching WikiQuest:: A Psychology and Neuroscience Question bank

For some time, I have been toying with the idea of having a one-stop online question bank for psychology and Neuroscience. I believe, that if one answers a few questions, after reading about the topic on the web, then the process of answering questions makes the learning more effective and the memory trace more permanent.

I, myself, have learned, much from the net and Wikiquest is my way of putting together a tool that may help generate a comprehensive question bank of topics related to psychology and Neuroscience. I have adopted a wiki model as it gives each of the participants equal opportunity to contribute , both towards questions, as well as towards rectifying errors or adding better explanations.

The way Wikiquest works is intuitive. I have put together a few questions there as a pilot test. These can be accessed via a tag cloud on the left hand side. Just click on the topic of your choice and that will take you to a page that contains links to the actual question pages. the actual question pages should not be scrolled down fast as they have the hints and answers too on the same page. You are encouraged to edit information , if you think it is misleading, incorrect. You are also encouraged to add questions, either original, or from some other non-licensed content on the web.

I do hope that like other Psychology based initiatives like PsychAntenna , this too catches up and we get a good online question bank, which proves to be a valuable learning resource based on the knowledge and wisdom of the masses.

For those of you who have blogs, a blog post regarding WikiQuest would be hugely appreciated.

Sphere: Related Content

Eight random facts about me

Orli at Neurontic tagged me, so here I go:

1. I was once very keen on Occult and used to do tarot readings for my friends (mostly telling them what they wanted to hear) using playing cards while at IIT. Once , in my first job, I used a company conference room to educate the rest of my coworkers about tarot. I still have a tarot deck, though I've disavowed everything occult as of now!!

2. Like Orli, I too ran away from home, when I was a child. I ran away because of a dispute over a cup of tea. I gave up drinking tea, for many years, as a sort of penance for my bad deed. That penance is over , so I wont mind if you ask me out for tea/ coffee.

3. I liked the music of Cliff Richards so much, I have most of his records. Now however I am more of a fan of Kenny G and collect his albums instead. You are welcome to send me one.

4. As a boy, I usd to read popular detective novels/ pulp fiction in Hindi, that were normally on sale on railway counters. These were meant to be for adults. These included shady authors like Ved prakash sharma, Surendra mohan pathak etc. My Amazon wish list consist of cognitive science textbooks as of now.

5. I have a good collection of cognitive science books to whom I keep adding new stuff. The trouble is I haven't read even half of what is in my 'library', but just cant resist buying another great book if I happen to see one in a bookstore.

6. I like to dress in formals, although Jeans and T-shirt is the norm in software industry.

7. when I was a child I used to make lofty goals for myself. A sample being: " prevent the third world war" , "win three noble prizes- peace , literature and science- and in that order". Now my goals are more modest.: taking my blog back to 60000 technorati ranking it had a couple of months back:-)

8. I am a trained counselor, who took training at Snehi, a mental health NGO based in Delhi, for counseling people, but could never spare time to do some actual counseling. I did try counseling my friends though, but with mixed results.

I tagged neurobloggers earlier and got scant response, So I'm tagging with caution this time.
I tag
Archana at the "of bamboo and elephant grass"
the Kid at " Spoken like two ENFP"
Talia Mana at the "Center for Emotional Well-being"
Tarun at the "Musings of an Iconoclast"
Prerona at the "Ricercar"
Paul at the "Memoirs of a postgrad"
Anes at the "Peripersonal Space"
Kevin at the "IQ corner"

The Rules:

1. Players start with 8 random facts about themselves.
2. Those who are tagged should post these rules and their 8 random facts.
3. Players should tag 8 other people and notify them they have been
tagged.

Tags: blogs, personal

Sphere: Related Content

Welcome Boing Boing readers!

It seems I have been Boing Boinged! Thanks to Mark for linking to one of the posts, there has been a dramatic increase in viewership. Welcome abroad the Boing Boing readers and I hope that while you are here you would like to check the other popular articles on the left sidebar to get a falavor of The Mouse Trap. Dont forget to subscribe or visit later if you find some artciles to your taste!

Tags: blogs, personal

Sphere: Related Content

Scientific Blogging redefined!

I have recently discovered a new community of great scientists and science bloggers (world's best as the tag line goes) at the Scientific Blogging portal. I would also be writing a column there called The Undercover Psychologist , though this column would be different from my blog posts on The Mouse Trap. There I would try to write more full-length articles. For some time though the content may be same.

I know that many of you readers are good science bloggers yourself, and those who have not joined the Science Blogs at the SEED, now have another very promising option in the form of Scientific Blogging. Do have a look at that and let me know how you like the other authors there.

Tags: blogs

Sphere: Related Content