All of the articles this month relate to human health and well being, with the findings on mental health sure to be contentious.
Most should know about the growing problem of myopia in children but the extent of it is still shocking. The epidemic is global and was exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic which lead children to spend more time indoors. Previous predictions of the incidence of myopia are doubling or tripling, leading governments to scramble for solutions. As the article notes, as this cohort ages, the high incidence rates and increased severity of myopia may lead to increased susceptibility to conditions like macular degeneration, making this a serious health issue.
One health-related announcement that was viralled around the world is a new study claiming that sildenafil, the active ingredient of Viagra, appears to help prevent dementia. The claim is actually fairly modest, saying only that sildenafil is able to get into the blood vessels in the brain and hence improve blood flow. There’s no direct data yet on the drug’s effects on dementia patients but that study is sure to be coming.
There’s a tussle going on in the developed world right now over whether or not the mental health crisis among the young have cultural roots, either being worsened by social media or the normalization of having a mental health condition. This article covers findings from a survey of college students to say that liberal students have worse mental health than moderate and conservative students. Furthermore, liberal female and non-binary students have the worst self-reported mental health. I won’t go into the editorializing about the causes but I will say that I am sympathetic to the view that to some extent mental health issues seem to be contagious. The more you talk about them and raise awareness about them, the more students will report that they suffer from such issues.
Finally another paper claims that people’s satisfaction with their life correlates with their personality types, as classified under the Big Five domains. Emotional stability, extraversion and conscientiousness correlated with high life satisfaction while openness and agreeableness were not. These findings remained true across a span of ten years for individuals. This suggestion that life satisfaction is to some extent shaped by personality traits contradicts the belief that happiness is determined mainly by one’s lot in life.
A US election year in which Donald Trump stands a decent chance of returning to power is the perfect time to watch this political epic. I knew going in that this film won critical acclaim upon its release but it still exceeded my expectations and I wondered why it isn’t better known. I suppose it’s because it isn’t outstanding in any single aspect, with no stellar performances and no innovative visuals. It simply is a solid and honestly told political story. I am especially astounded that it manages to say so much and cover so much ground with a running time of less than two hours!
Here we go back to Tsai Ming-liang second feature film which my wife has watched before but I haven’t. It’s shocking to see how young Lee Kang-sheng looks here and I even noted how rough his acting is. He must have picked up the craft over the course of performing for Tsai’s films. This film also has more of a plot than the director’s later films and isn’t as artfully crafted. The themes of alienation and the strong sense of homoeroticism are plain to see, making it one of Tsai’s more lucid films. I can see why it caused a stir upon its release but it doesn’t touch the heights of sublimity he achieves in other films.
A film that includes ‘invisible hand’ in the title is sure to at least aspire to be economically literate and that’s so rare that it’s a must watch for me. The premise is one that I’ve never seen before either. Earth has effectively been conquered by an alien civilization, but through economic, not military means. I have quibbles over exactly how well the aliens are meant to understand human psychology and culture but on the whole I’m very pleased by how this turned out. It has only middling reviews however, leading me to suspect that critics aren’t happy with its very depressing outlook for humanity or don’t understand the economic thinking it is trying to distil.
I loved Cultist Simulator so when I saw another developer taking the same mechanics and apply them to the life of an artist, I knew I just had to buy it. This is a much more modestly sized and consequently shorter game however. Like its inspiration, this is quite a handful at first as your fledgling artist must grapple with poverty and mental illness. But once you understand the basic loop, you only have to search for a victory condition and go straight towards it. It’s not actually very difficult but there’s much more randomness than in Cultist Simulator and once you achieve one, there’s not much difference in going for another victory type so I doubt this has much replay value. Still, I love its theme and I want to reward developers who make quirky games like this.
This should be the last film we have to watch by Andrei Tarkovsky and good thing too because my wife isn’t eager for any more of his work. It’s probably the most autobiographical of his films and even features his wife Larisa Tarkovskaya and his mother Maria Vishnyakova in supporting roles. One can tell how much of himself he put into it and how intense his feelings are. Yet there’s effectively no plot, no biographic details of his real life and hence nothing solid to hang the emotions on. To us, most of it is just incomprehensible and that goes even for dedicated fans and critics.
Like everyone else I loved Breaking Bad but the quick development of this prequel series rather turned me off so I never intended to watch it. When it finally ended after six seasons however, the consensus seemed to be that it’s actually a worthy show in its own right. I thought I’d give the first season at least a shot and so far we’re down for more of it. It’s a lot funnier than we thought it would be and though it lacks the wow factor of drug dealing, the firm focus on legal work keeps it intelligent and interesting.
