Caspen's New Writeupshttp://everything2.com/?node=New%20Writeups%20Atom%20Feed&foruser=Caspen2002-11-14T00:13:59ZThe Republic (idea)http://m.everything2.com/user/Caspen/writeups/The+RepublicCaspenhttp://m.everything2.com/user/Caspen2002-11-14T00:13:59Z2002-11-14T00:13:59ZIn <a href="/title/The+Apology+of+Socrates">The Apology of Socrates</a>, <a href="/title/Plato">Plato</a> laments the execution of <a href="/title/Socrates">Socrates</a> for his questioning of the fundamental tenets of society. He holds the philosopher’s right to ask ‘Why?’ above all else, for it is only through <a href="/title/dialectic+argument">dialectic argument</a> that one may finally arrive at <a href="/title/the+truth">the truth</a>. This would appear, then, to be a clear acknowledgement of the need for personal <a href="/title/intellectual+freedom">intellectual freedom</a> in a society. Each individual has their own perspective on the world, and since in the end no one can definitively prove theirs to be true, each must be allowed his own. Yet years later in what has arguably been his most influential text, <a href="/title/The+Republic">The Republic</a>, he is so confident in his homespun <a href="/title/dogma">dogma</a> that he crafts a society where not only is its ideology unquestionable, but is largely to be kept hidden. Revulsed by the corruption and depravity he saw in <a href="/title/Athens">Athens</a>, and in fact inherent in all existing forms of government, he set out to assemble the ideal state, one whose very nature would be in line with universal Justice. It’s a wild…fetal circulatory system (thing)http://m.everything2.com/user/Caspen/writeups/fetal+circulatory+systemCaspenhttp://m.everything2.com/user/Caspen2002-02-23T23:29:31Z2002-02-23T23:29:31ZThe <a href="/title/circulatory+system">circulatory system</a> of the <a href="/title/human+fetus">human fetus</a> has four features not present in those of an <a href="/title/adult">adult</a> (adult here meaning anyone outside the <a href="/title/womb">womb</a>). The need for these features stems from the fact that there's no air in the womb, so the fetus has to acquire <a href="/title/oxygen">oxygen</a> from the <a href="/title/host">host</a>... er, <a href="/title/mother">mother</a>. These features are: <br><br>
a) The <b><a href="/title/foramen+ovale">foramen ovale</a></b>, or <a href="/title/oval+opening">oval opening</a>. This is an opening between the <a href="/title/atria">atria</a> of the <a href="/title/heart">heart</a>, and is often called a '<a href="/title/hole+in+the+heart">hole in the heart</a>'. It is covered by a <a href="/title/flap">flap</a> of <a href="/title/tissue">tissue</a> that acts as a <a href="/title/valve">valve</a>. Normally, <a href="/title/blood">blood</a> would never flow between the atria, which are divided by the septum in adults. However, because the fetus doesn't need it's <a href="/title/lungs">lungs</a> the entire <a href="/title/pulmonary+pathway">pulmonary pathway</a> can be <a href="/title/circumvent">circumvent</a>ed. Hence the use of such a hole. <br><br>
b) The <b><a href="/title/ductus+arteriosus">ductus arteriosus</a></b>, or <a href="/title/arterial+duct">arterial duct</a>. This is a connection between the <a href="/title/pulmonary+artery">pulmonary artery</a> and the <a href="/title/aorta">aorta</a>. This exists because, despite the foramen ovale, blood still goes to the now-<a href="/title/useless">useless</a> lungs. However, with the…nodal tissue (thing)http://m.everything2.com/user/Caspen/writeups/nodal+tissueCaspenhttp://m.everything2.com/user/Caspen2002-02-23T22:34:29Z2002-02-23T22:34:29ZNodal tissue is a unique type of <a href="/title/tissue">tissue</a> that has both <a href="/title/muscular">muscular</a> and <a href="/title/nervous">nervous</a> <a href="/title/characteristic">characteristic</a>s, and can be found at two points in the <a href="/title/heart">heart</a>: the <a href="/title/sinoatrial+node">sinoatrial node</a> (SA node) and the <a href="/title/atrioventricular+node">atrioventricular node</a> (AV node). It is responsible for coordinating the <a href="/title/cardiac+cycle">cardiac cycle</a> (heartbeat). <br><br>
The SA node is found at the upper dorsal wall of the right <a href="/title/atrium">atrium</a>. It initiates the <a href="/title/heartbeat">heartbeat</a>, by sending out an excitation <a href="/title/impulse">impulse</a> every 0.85 seconds, causing the <a href="/title/atria">atria</a> to contract. <br><br>
When this impulse reaches the AV node, which is located at the base of the right atrium very near the <a href="/title/septum">septum</a>, it signals the <a href="/title/ventricle">ventricle</a>s to <a href="/title/contract">contract</a> by way of two large fibers terminating in the many small <a href="/title/Purkinje+fibers">Purkinje fibers</a>. <br><br>
The SA node is commonly refered to as the <a href="/title/pacemaker">pacemaker</a>, because it keeps the heartbeat regular. If for some reason it fails to work properly, the heart will still beat, but <a href="/title/irregular">irregular</a>ly. In recent years though, artificial pacemakers have come a long way, and it's now fairly…cardiac cycle (thing)http://m.everything2.com/user/Caspen/writeups/cardiac+cycleCaspenhttp://m.everything2.com/user/Caspen2002-02-23T22:02:40Z2002-02-23T22:02:40ZEach <a href="/title/heartbeat">heartbeat</a> is called a <a href="/title/cardiac">cardiac</a> <a href="/title/cycle">cycle</a>, consisting of three stages: <br><br>
1) The two <a href="/title/atria">atria</a> are in <a href="/title/systole">systole</a> (contraction), while the two <a href="/title/ventricle">ventricle</a>s are in <a href="/title/diastole">diastole</a> (relaxation), resulting in <a href="/title/blood">blood</a> moving from the atria to the ventricles. This lasts for 0.15 seconds.<br>
2) The two ventricles are now in systole, while the atria relax, resulting in blood moving to the <a href="/title/lungs">lungs</a>, and into the <a href="/title/body">body</a>. This lasts for 0.30 seconds.<br>
3) Finally, both the atria and the ventricles are in diastole, a complete <a href="/title/rest">rest</a>. This lasts for 0.40 seconds. <br><br>
So, the total time for one cardiac cycle is 0.85 seconds. It's these three stages which make up the <a href="/title/sound">sound</a> of the heartbeat: lub dub pause. <br><br>
Control and coordination of the cardiac cycle is the job of <a href="/title/nodal+tissue">nodal tissue</a>.Satire (idea)http://m.everything2.com/user/Caspen/writeups/SatireCaspenhttp://m.everything2.com/user/Caspen2002-02-15T22:38:45Z2002-02-15T22:38:45ZAs long as there is <a href="/title/thought">thought</a>, there will always be thought against something. And as long as thought has been chronicled in writing, there has been satire. Satire is a form of <a href="/title/criticism">criticism</a> that deviates from the norm in its execution; rather than outlining and proving points in something like an <a href="/title/essay">essay</a> form, satire seeks to persuade through sheer <a href="/title/wit">wit</a>. It’s <a href="/title/mockery">mockery</a> must generally be <a href="/title/subtle">subtle</a> to succeed, and of course if a criticism is to be subtle then it must be <a href="/title/disguised">disguised</a> beneath something; hence most satire is concealed within some sort of a <a href="/title/narrative">narrative</a>. To assure the reader grasps such an immense investment of <a href="/title/clever">clever</a>ness, there are certain parameters that must be met for <a href="/title/successful">successful</a> satire. These can be generally summed up in that satire sets up an expectation in the reader’s mind, and then somehow under or over fulfils it. <br><br>
The earliest significant use of satire is <a href="/title/Chaucer">Chaucer</a>’s classic frame tale, “<a href="/title/Canterbury+Tales">Canterbury Tales</a>.” His target there was many-pronged, but consisted essentially of large…room-temperature IQ (thing)http://m.everything2.com/user/Caspen/writeups/room-temperature+IQCaspenhttp://m.everything2.com/user/Caspen2001-06-15T20:01:06Z2001-06-15T20:01:06ZThose of you reading this with a <a href="/title/room-temperature+IQ">room-temperature IQ</a> would be well advised to never go travelling to <a href="/title/Canada">Canada</a>, the <a href="/title/UK">UK</a>, or any other country that uses the <a href="/title/metric+system">metric system</a>, i.e. measures temperature in degrees <a href="/title/Celsius">Celsius</a>. Room temperature being somewhere around 20 degrees C, you would likely lose your ability to think, much less get the hell out of there. <br><br>
However, if you really want a boost to the old intelligence quotient, start thinking in degrees <a href="/title/Kelvin">Kelvin</a>, where room temperature is <a href="/title/sitting+pretty">sitting pretty</a> somewhere around 293 degrees.