IT'S RAW!

Is being a perfectionist a highly desirable trait that guarantees high standards and total reliability, or a psychological flaw indicative of delusions of grandeur and delay? Is that drive healthy or destructive? Who better to answer that question than the world's most perfection-obsessed chef?

Chef Ramsay is known for occasional meltdowns. 

Gordon Ramsay is the host of four network TV shows with millions of viewers a week, owner of twenty-four restaurants worldwide, holder of seven coveted Michelin stars, an avid triathlete, and husband and father of four. How does he balance it all while maintaining his famously less-than-sunny disposition? Those who know him all have the same answer. He's a perfectionist. 

Born from humble origins in Scotland, Ramsay almost didn't make it through culinary school, landing his first job in a hotel restaurant that taught him two things: how to cook and how so many chefs took shortcuts at the cost of good food. In 1998, he opened his first restaurant in London, earning himself three Michelin stars and catapulting his way to culinary super-stardom. “I turn into a different beast when I’ve got a chef’s jacket on," he admitted to Variety in 2013.  "I’m not very good at just saying, ‘Try a little bit harder next time. Hold my hand and win this quarter million dollars.’ Do you have any idea in the real world what kind of chef you need to be to earn a quarter million dollars as a prize? I didn’t have a pot to piss in for 10 years. So I bring that kind of discipline into it. I don’t think the contestants realize how lucky they are. They don’t have it that bad.” 

That's a lot of oil.

Clearly, Ramsay's high standards are what got him to the heights he's at today. But is such religious attention to detail always a one-way ticket to success? Some view perfectionism as constant nitpicking, looking for a little smudge on a stainless pane of glass. But many of us also talk about "the perfect wedding" or "the perfect holiday", and describe a delicious meal as "utter perfection." Perfectionism is routinely encouraged in athletics and academics, and entails high standards, organization, and persistence. However, it's also been linked as a causation of serious psychopathy, implying that love and approval from yourself and others can only be achieved through complete adherence to impossibly high standards. 

Clinically speaking, psychologists view perfectionism as almost always a crutch. Perfectionists are often haunted by a fear of failure, low self-esteem, and easily distressed. It can involve having harsh criteria to judge your behavior and that of others, and lead to unrealistic expectations of authority figures like parents, teachers, and bosses. A perfectionist is harsh, often cruelly blunt, and rigid when it comes to their passions. So where does perfectionism come from? The answer: parents. As with many psychological troubles, parents being critical and overly demanding leads to the development of insecurities and responsive behaviors, as we unconsciously adhere to our parents' expectations even into adulthood. 

So, is Chef Ramsay a psychopathic perfectionist? Well, anyone who's been kicked off Hell's Kitchen would probably say yes. I'll let you decide that one for yourselves; in the meantime, his high culinary standards will at least reward society with plenty more TV seasons of shouting, swearing, and facepalming galore. 

Are You Feeling It Now, Mr. Krabs?

Be honest with me: you felt like this at least once during the election news cycle.

It should come as no surprise to anyone that this country's current political climate is full of news that's, shall we say, less than trustworthy. No, I'm not talking about CNN, or the "failing" New York Times, or even Breitbart. I'm talking about those disreputable articles your grandparents show you, proud that the "mainstream" media has finally accepted the fact that Hillary Clinton is a secret Russian spy.

Seems legit. 

With all of this information flying around, it's easy to feel like poor Mr. Krabs, surrounded by a mob complaining about the side effects of Pretty Patties. Since President Trump's first press conference, in which he labeled CNN's Jim Acosta "fake news" and refused to answer his questions, the term has exploded in use, especially in the president's numerous daily tweets. But where did the term come from, and why does the president use it so much? 

Political propaganda is nothing new; Roman emperor Octavian employed a disinformation campaign against his enemy Marc Antony, later changing his name to Augustus and spreading a youthful, vivacious image of himself throughout the empire into his old age. It also has a rich history in American politics; during the election of 1828, Andrew Jackson famously started a rumor that his opponent, John Quincy Adams, had procured an American girl to service the sexual appetites of the Tsar of Russia. The difference between this century's news media and that in the past is obvious, the Internet allows social media users to exchange information like never before, including to an especially gullible audience. Now, I'm not insulting anyone's intelligence here, merely stating that it's easier to confirm people's biases than it's ever been: 62% of Americans use social media as their primary source of news, with 44% of that being Facebook. 

I think this counts as a childhood rite of passage. 

Combined with technological ease of access to fake news sites, the 2016 election proved a fertile breeding ground for fake news stories in regards to the narrative backdrop. Of course, Donald Trump was a key ingredient; he frequently described himself as a political outsider, labeled Hillary Clinton as "crooked", and wanted to "drain the swamp" of Washington. Alongside all of that, he courted conspiracy theories like no other: claiming Ted Cruz's father helped assassinate JFK, Barack Obama hadn't been born in the U.S., and that climate change was a hoax perpetuated by the Chinese. With all of these outlandish statements flying around, it's not hard to see how someone politically uninformed could believe an insane headline like "Hillary sold weapons to ISIS." 

Many critics have blamed the rise of the "filter bubble", a phenomenon showing social media users what they like and tend to agree with, and hiding things they don't. Critics claim that this distorts a neutral media playing field, as stories with outlandish headlines will obviously get clicked on the most. It's not hard to see this working in practice; after all, a hardcore liberal probably isn't going to retweet Fox News left and right. Facebook and Twitter even have algorithms that calculate the content you're likely to see on your pages, the same way search engines like Google will save your shopping history and throw ads at you while you're trying to do homework. 

Facebook and Twitter have already vowed to fight this rising tide of fake news since the election, cracking down on fake news sites spreading misinformation, but in this digital age, it's hard to suppress any kind of information for long. Until then, we'll just have to take a page out of Mr. Krabs' book, and let all of the rumors and conspiracies spiral around us without getting too close. 

Back To The Grind

If ever there was a time that I was in desperate need of emojis to add to my posts, this would be it.

Oh, wait, I have them. 😈💪💥

If you've spent any time on Twitter within the last two weeks or so, you've likely seen this meme going around.

dentist: you need to stop grinding your teeth

student athlete: Stop Grinding?😂 The Grind Never Stops💯 No Breaks😈 We Stay Dream Chasing💪

— Lazy dog (@LaziestCanine) March 11, 2017 

Known as "Student Athlete" for obvious reasons, this popular dialogue meme mocks overly enthusiastic and self-centered student athletes who tend to make themselves the focus of every conversation, and never fail to mention just how physically fit they are. In the meme, someone makes some innocent statement or comment, only to receive a response focused on physical fitness and littered with emojis. Not to disparage student athletes or their commitment to their sport, but I think it's safe to say that we all know someone like this who goes just a bit overboard, and are finally relieved that there's a meme out their to shame them into shutting up for a change. Unless, of course, the fame just goes to their head...

It's not surprising that teenagers often let pride turn into arrogance, especially when they're better at something than everyone else. We all want to be liked, after all, and having your accomplishments recognized by your friends and family is a great feeling. However, there's a certain point where pride over our actions can transform into blatant, narcissistic arrogance, and it's often hard to tell the difference.

According to Hanan Parvez of psychmechanics.com, arrogance, defined as the belief of one's own superiority to others, manifests in behavior for three main reason. The first, as this meme points out, is pride over our achievements; our self-esteem is so boosted by doing something noteworthy and extraordinary that it causes us to look down on others who haven't done the same thing. The second reason is rooted much deeper, serving as a manifestation of insecurity, inferiority, and low self-esteem. In this case, arrogance helps to reject and dismiss others before they have the potential to do the same to you, essentially serving as a self-defense mechanism. The final reason boils down to simple attention-seeking; it goes without saying that everyone tends to notice the arrogant jerk in the corner of the room, even if it's for less than positive reasons. If people see that being arrogant and entitled gets them a lot of attention, it gives them a reason to continue being so in the future.

me : hey
student athlete : 😈💪💦💯🏈🔥
me : how did you say that out loud

— The Duke of San Jose (@fearcely) March 15, 2017 

Psychologists separate pride and arrogance by categorizing pride itself: authentic pride is when we feel good about ourselves and our actions, while hubrisitc pride is a result of egoism and narcissism, and is associated with socially undesirable traits like aggression. So what's the difference, you may ask? Well, people generally don't set out to be arrogant, meaning it's unlikely that being confident in yourself will turn you into an emoji-laden meme for everyone to roll their eyes at. Generally, arrogant people were conditioned to be that way from the get go, or are so insecure that they feel the need to always seek attention for their accomplishments. Basically, if you're worried about becoming arrogant, chances are that it's never going to happen.

FAFSA: List your family members.

Student Athlete: U mean my TEAM⁉️ONE eats, we ALL eat🍽We out here grindin' together💪😤 THAT'S family💯😈

— Gabe Perez (@GabePerez8) March 14, 2017

Face/Off

The cycle of memes, as it should be, is never-ending. As we transition from February into March, it's important to remember all of the brave memes the made this month special: Roll Safe Guy (the previous topic), Kellyanne Conway kneeling, Beyonce at the Grammys...

Oh, yeah, and this one.

The subject of the meme, known pretty straightforwardly as "White Guy Blinking", is Drew Scanlon video editor and podcaster at video game website Giant Bomb. The reaction came about after one of his fellow commentators brought up "farming with my hoe" while playing a game, as seen below.

The miracle of meme birth. 

Though the video is nearly two years old, the meme first took off in early February, earning a spot in the Twitter hall of meme fame with remarkable speed. Though the gif itself is funny enough, and applies to just about any situation, it does make one wonder why we make such interesting- and often hilarious- facial expressions in the first place.

Mark Andrews, professor of psychology at Seton Hill University, might have an answer. According to him, the ability to display visible emotion, be it a subtle sneer, obvious eye roll, or completely hysterical sobbing. Famed scientist Charles Darwin was one of the first to propose this, in his 1871 book The Expressions of the Emotions in Man and Animals. He wrote: "The young and the old of widely different races, both with man and animals, express the same state of mind by the same movements." 

Andrews goes on to state that certain nuanced expressions, including smiles and frowns, are hardwired from the moment that we're born. Studies have shown that infants, even those born blind or with developmental disorders, use facial cues to express emotion before they're even old enough to understand what their expressions meme. For humans, communication is essential for mere survival, and Andrews believes that facial expressions may have evolved as a form of efficiently showing intent and emotion. 

Though facial expressions may be largely instinctive, Andrews maintains that there's a learned component, too. Many Asian cultures, for example, teach children to conceal their emotions and refrain from overt facial movement, in favor of a more socially acceptable, pleasant smile. This holds true for any person; it's easy to pick up on certain gestures and tics and adopt them as our own if we see them often enough. I realized I share a lot of facial cues and gestures with my dad when we made the exact same hand gesture while seated across from each other. Talk about being afraid of turning into your parents. 

Perhaps most interestingly, making certain facial expressions may even help us channel those same emotions. Though research is still going on, MRI scans have revealed that making an angry face, for example, is associated with reduced activity in regions of the brain dedicated to feeling empathy and decision making. 

In short, there's a lot more to sarcastic blinking than just...sarcastic blinking. And if you're someone like me who occasionally has a tough time controlling my facial expressions, let out a big sigh of relief, because it might just be a part of who you are. Now, how you choose to feel about that is another matter entirely... 

NASA: so we've found 7 new planets

Pluto: pic.twitter.com/uRXA7s3Xji

— rudy mustang™ (@roostermustache) March 2, 2017