New feature: Things I learned today

So I have a confession to make: It's easy to forget that you're a student when you work fulltime, particularly at a newspaper.

I'm not talking about the nuts-and-bolts parts. I do readings and go to class and study for exams; however, in the last couple of weeks I've found myself neglecting other parts of being a student - things like simply exercising my mind or working to learn something beyond the books and beyond the practical, day-to-day things I need to know in order to do my job properly. The job tends to take over quickly and my mind tends to fill up very rapidly with things that are necessary to do that job - things like how to file a public information request or fill out a reimbursement form, both of which are major thorns in my side that I have to deal with all the time. Even more abstract things, like what kinds of coverage to push for on the sports page, end up taking precedent over non-essential information-gathering.

Is it really non-essential, though? I've always been a fan of knowledge for knowledge's sake. I wouldn't be a social science major if I didn't believe that aggregating and processing information are as important as implementing that information practically, and of late I've shamefully neglected my aggregation of non-job-related information. It's ridiculous. I can't (and shouldn't) let my job rule my mental life to that extent.

To that end, I'm using this blog in part as the journal it's designed for. Every day, I will post a new entry of things or people I learned of or about that day. It doesn't have to be in-depth or essential knowledge, just something I didn't have to look up or learn about as part of being a semi-competent editor. The goal? A minimum of two things per day. It shouldn't be hard to meet and I may increase it, but it's a starting point.

So. Here goes entry No. 1. Things I learned about today:

1. I learned about red-green colorblindness, which I've always been curious about because colors are such a major part of how I perceive the world. I couldn't even imagine what the world looked like to a colorblind person; even the simulated images made no sense at all and I was frankly pretty incredulous about them. It came up today when I was talking to the managing editor - who happens to be red-green colorblind - because I was writing on a wipe-off board with a red marker. We ended up looking up all kinds of simulations and comparing photos. It turns out that red and green both look this sort of hideous olive-y green-yellow to people with red-green colorblindness, which isn't news to those of you who ARE colorblind but which still completely blows my mind. Also, some people with colorblindness can still apparently distinguish between red and green when they're separate, just not when they're together. The whole perception thing continues to blow my mind, especially since I can't imagine never seeing the color red or experiencing it the same way the majority of other people do. The whole thing is fascinating and has me thinking about all kinds of sensory perceptions that are governed entirely or almost entirely by brain wiring. Neuroscience is insane!

2. I learned that Dr. Paul Farmer is a complete badass. We talked a lot about his work in Haiti today and although this doesn't technically count since we covered it in class, I'd really, really like to learn more about his work. Paul Farmer, for those of you who don't know, is a doctor and medical anthropologist who co-founded a group called Partners in Health that works to improve health in developing nations by helping people obtain drugs and improve their living conditions. He's done a ton of social and ethnographic work in different places but has done a lot in Haiti. He's also received a MacArthur Genius grant, is a continuing lecturer at Harvard, graduated from the top of his class at Harvard while still doing social work in Haiti and returning home only for lab practicals and exams, and has a list of other accomplishments as long as a very long-armed person's arm. I imagine it would be difficult to live with him, because he is an extremely driven, intelligent and charming person who has accomplished a great deal and clearly expects a great deal of himself and others. He's a fascinating person who has done a great deal to further the cause of human health, though.

3. I learned that my classmates apparently do not understand the irony of handing out Haitian-style cake and hot chocolate during a video about how much it sucks to be in Haiti right now.

And that's all. It wasn't a terribly learning-packed day, but hopefully this assignment will help me focus on things other than getting through class and getting through work. We'll see how it goes.