Thursday, December 15, 2011

Be a Rat

A L O H A !




" Do good work 
and do it because it is a gift to the world.
  No matter how inconsequential
others may feel 
about the value of your contribution,
it is the giving that matters. 
The surprise here
  will be that the beneficiary
who gains most . . . is you. "

James Woods







" Cherish the dead
you once loved
so carelessly.
They still live
in your heart. "

James Woods














" The more perfect we are
 the more gentle and quiet
 we become
 towards the defects
 of others. "

Joseph Addison



( ´_?`)



Researchers
at the University of Chicago were surprised
at the consistency of their results;
Again and again, lab rats freed
a fellow rat.


To make it interesting,
scientists added tempting chocolate
to the situation.

23 of 30 rats
opened that cage door
for the other rat first.

"Basically they told us
that freeing another rat
is as important
as eating chocolate."

"In some case, rats first 
took the chocolate chips 
but didn't eat them,
they freed the other rat
and shared. "

Peggy Mason, PhD,


Some of the male rats,
7 of 24 tested,
didn't free the other rat.
"There were days when the male rats
took the day off
from helping their trapped partner,
but the females never did. "

Peggy Mason
study author
 in the journal
Science.

"If rats can be so caring and helpful
there's a sense of optimism.
It's something we could be. "

Jeff Mogil PhD
McGill University

So empathy is not a disadvantage,
but a characteristic we have preserved
as useful to survival.

Thank YOU freeing me
from the cage of my 'alone-ness'
today.  Leave a chocolate comment;
Be as sweet . . . As a RAT!
                                                Fondly, cloudia

Here's an amazing liberation: