I love a good three-letter acronym…or was it…a three-letter initialism. I’m never sure. None other than the Encyclopedia Britanica posits that both are abbreviations. But while all acronyms are initialisms, not all initialisms are acronyms. Confused? Well…there’s more….
An acronym is a word formed from the initial letters or groups of letters from two or more words. For example, ANZAC, a most famous acronym, is a word formed from the initial letters of Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. On the other hand, SES, State Emergency Service, is an initialism. LASER (Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation) is an acronym but NSW (New South Wales) — did QLD (abbreviation) recently win the State of Origin — is an initialism. To muddy the waters even more, CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation) if pronounced “sigh roe” is an acronym but if you articulate each letter C-S-I-R-O, I think it might be an initialism. Such is the world of grammar.
Enter the DMN, a three-letter initialism — and I love a good three-letter initialism — for Default Mode Network; a network of brain regions that is active when we’re not engaged in any specific task. The DMN is most likely associated with self-referential thought, introspection and mind-wandering. In other words, thinking about and focusing on yourself.
Research has shown that the DMN is less active during communal events than during other types of activities. It’s reasonable then, to suggest that the DMN is inhibited when we are engaged in social interactions. Communal events (more than one person), in contrast, are social interactions that involve attention and emotions. These events require us to focus on the present moment and to attend to the needs of others.
A possible explanation for this is that the DMN is not necessary for communal events. When we’re interacting with others, we’re not typically thinking about ourselves. Instead, we are focused on the present moment and on the other person. Another possible explanation is that the DMN is inhibited because it could interfere with social interactions. If we were constantly thinking about ourselves, we wouldn’t be able to fully engage in the social interaction.
One of our core principles here at Eddies is right relationships. As a College and as a community, we work to ensure our young men are able to engage in authentic and right relationships.
Knowledge can be the catalyst for change. Recently our Eddies Men have had the opportunity to listen to Daniel Principe, a presenter, educator and youth advocate from the group, Collective Shout. Collective Shout is an organisation whose aim is to “help our children resist harmful messages from media and pop culture and aspire to respectful relationships”. Putting it another way, to promote the ability to think beyond themselves and be present to the dignity of others.
On Monday 31 July Melinda Tankard the cofounder of Collective Shout and Daniel Principe will be at our place on the Hill to work with the young men and women of both St Edmund’s and St Mary’s in raising awareness about this important topic. There has been much talk over the past few years about consent and right relationships.
“Drawing from current global literature on the subject, as well as the experiences of young people themselves, Melinda and Daniel from Collective Shout will explore with us how the proliferation of sexualised images and messages contributes to a distorted view of bodies, relationships and sexuality in young people, hampering their healthy physical emotional and social development.”
The College will also present a parent information event on this same evening.
- Monday 31 July - 6:30pm - 8:00pm (St Edmund's College Hall)
Melinda and Daniel will workshop what consent and healthy relationships should look like, as well as providing practical tips and resources to achieve this.
This is a FREE event and is open to all parents. Registrations are required so please do so via the link below.
Being able to identify internal inclinations or capacities and so moderate tendencies is an important aspect of education. There’s no doubt that every human being has a DMN and not everyone needs to know the DMN is associated with self or why the suppression of the DMN perhaps assists in social interaction. Beyond being a Catholic Community adhering to Catholic Social Teaching, our young men, do, however, need to understand the importance of right social interactions and right relationships. They need to value the importance of being present to the needs of others; of being respectful in all social settings, public or private.
I encourage you to attend this important event. For our young men, we as the Eddies Team, are duty bound to ensure they have the best possible opportunity to be the best possible person, partner or perhaps one day parent they can possibly be. In ‘Eddies speak’ to ensure that they can, because with our support and guidance, they see they can.
