coquina

When I was in school, I scored really high on those spatial reasoning tests. (I should have, I'd been reading drawings since I was 10). This was before women's lib. The evaluater told me, "If you were a man, we'd recommend you pursue engineering, but since you are not, there is really no category best suited to your talents."

I have a friend who sac'ed rats for years. She lost her grant and I hired her part time to work in my office. My machinist guys thought they'd initiate her by putting a rat trap with a fake dead rat in the lunch room. It was wireless and they could make it twitch when someone approached. They thought she'd run screaming from the room. Instead, she stuck her head out the door and told them the first rule of saccing rats was to be sure you killed them cleanly. She then went on to fix her coffee and didn't bat an eye. She was one of 'em from that day forward.

From your original link: The part I put in bold rules out insanity as defined by statute. They know what they are doing is wrong, and they plot to do it. Perhaps you would categorize a pedophile as a type of sociopath. As I recall, serial killers often fit in the communtiy quite well also. What do you think of the definition, "Pedophiles are sociopaths who prey on children."?

When I was in high school, I tested at 128. I took one on line a few months ago and got 131. I found it interesting that from 1966 to 2004 the range was only 3 points different.

http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=6115 Thank heavens, it appears she dodged that bullet.

She had a message from her doc saying that he wants her to see a specialist but the problem appears to be benign. Now - we just have to wait and see what the specialist says.

For all the good wishes. She called a little while ago. They did a 2nd MRI after looking at the results of the first. They suspect an aneurysm - told her to go home and be quiet, and they would call her with results within 48 hours.

She's 37 and lives near Washington. I talk to her on the phone fairly frequently, but don't see her often. She called me this morning and the conversation started out, "I don't know how to tell you this." She said she had been having headaches, and they have been getting worse. Yesterday she had vision problems and went to the doctor. He ordered a CT scan of her head. Her doctor called this morning and said there is "an irregularity" in the scan. She is going to have an MRI tomorrow with contrast. She is scared witless. I am very worried. I'm not really asking a question here - I know I'll just have to sit tight until I hear the results. I don't like this waiting business.

What about in vitro fertilization instead, using a close species as the surrogate mother. I think there is one type of zebra that is very close to extinction. Why not harvest eggs and sperm and impregnate the common zebra with the embryo. However - this would probably only work in cases where there is another close species.

I think you mentioned that your mom and dad separated when you were very young. That, together with having no other female relatives to whom you can turn, may be intensifying your feelings. I am an only child. My mother and dad didn't get along, but they stayed together "for my sake" (they never let me forget it, either). They were in their 40's when I was born, my mother was from England, and had a somewhat Victorian mentality (considering she was born in 1907). She was not outwardly affectionate. I didn't have aunts, uncles, or cousins around either. I remember being very sad when I was your age and saw other families going on outings together. I remember some of the neighbor families used to include me in some of their activities, their parents were on average 20 years younger than my folks, and would participate in softball games or go rollerskating with their kids. It really, really hurt me that I did not have a family like theirs. Therefore, when I read about your situation, I feel as though I can empathize with you. However, since I became a widow, I have learned not to say, "I know just how you feel." - because I can not. I suspect, however, that I know better how you feel than some people do. Your councilor will be able to help you far more than I, but perhaps it would be good to ask yourself if this empathy you feel towards others is a little because you don't want to "feel sorry for yourself." All you hear people say are trite things like, "when life hands you lemons, make lemonade", but they haven't a clue. Sorry if I have gotten too personal. If you want to talk more about this, PM me.

I caught a snippet of the animal planet program the OP referred to, somewhere in the middle. Since I didn't see the beginning, I can't say how it was prefaced, but the part that I did see showed the "dragon" flying over a ravine. The voice-over said something to the effect that the dragon evolved its wings so it could fly over the extreme terraine. It had flown across the ravine into a bamboo thicket and was hiding there. A tiger approached. The voice over said, "she knows the cat is curious because it is a feline, so she rustles the bushes" - with that, the tiger dissappeared into it, and the next thing you saw was the dragon dragging the tiger away by the tail. I certainly hope they made a statement at the beginning about how this was all phantasy and conjecture, but anyone who turned the program on in the middle and didn't know better (especially young people), might have taken it for fact. Now I understand more clearly why the OP posed the question as s/he did.

Since not everyone has the condition it is more likely linked to a medical condition. Have you had LASIK surgery? This article says that people often "see stars" afterwards: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/01/020115074604.htm It also says it may have to do with the initial shape of your cornea. People with more flattened corneas are more likely to see them. Other explanations for "seeing stars" from UCSD: http://physicalsciences.ucsd.edu/news_events/QA/qa_072104.htm We've already covered the first 2 instances. Read the last one I've put in bold. PS: You shouldn't take answers here "for gospel" - some people here are scientists, some are students, and some, like me, are just interested in science but at fair at researching a question to find an answer I don't know. I think you should see an opthomologist or neurologist. It may be nothing - there's a chance something is seriously wrong.

As I said in my previous remarks, Doctors must learn how to disassociate themselves from their patients. If they couldn't, they wouldn't be able to give effective medical advice. Another group of people who must do this are hospice nurses. I know a person who is in charge of one of these facilities. She is around dying people all of the time. When I first met her, I was very surprised at her profession, because she acted like a clown. However, when my dad was very ill, I asked her for advice and she was so very helpful, kind and caring. She and I talked about how she is able to do what she does, and she says she has learned to "let it go" when she leaves the situation. Until she did that, she never got any sleep, worrying about whether one of her patients was uncomfortable while she was not there. Certainly, some doctors come off as cold and uncaring. You will have to find someone whose personality meshes with yours. Maybe your school guidance councilor could recommend someone.

I can't explain, but it is my opinion that people 2,000 years ago were as smart as we are now. When I look at the artwork and the buildings and what they were able to achieve without the benefit of electricity or computers, I find it amazing. I think the difference between now and then is that we slowly, over the years learned to archive knowledge and build on what others have learned before.

Sounds like you're seeing "stars" - sometimes the result of a bang on the head - I've heard they can also be the result of high blood pressure. Had yours checked lately?

I hope you don't dump it. I am more interested in the other fields of science rather than math. I don't know of any other science forums on the net that are as good as this one.

Coral wrote: It is my understanding that psychologists are not able to prescribe medications, only psychiatrists can - is that not true?

When you see bad events over and over in your head, they are called "flashbacks". I had visions of finding my husband dead for months afterwards. Just before my mother died, she had a major stomach bleed - she vomited blood and it even came out of her eyes. I still have flashbacks of that, sometimes I dream about it and it wakes me up. Here's what I really worry about for you - if seeing or hearing about bad things brings on such feelings I really worry about what will happen when something bad happens to someone close to you. Doctors and nurses have to learn to desensitize themselves, so that they can focus and take care of their patients. Is there a doctor who attends your church that you might be able to talk to on a personal basis? Another good source would be a paramedic. You might be able to go to your local fire department and ask them how they handle their emotions when they have to treat someone who has been horribly injured in an accident. They might know about a book that would help. Happy Easter, Bettina.

The Gulf War made CNN. The military watched it for intel.