Learning is a complex process that lasts a lifetime. From new talents to better habits, there's always something fresh to learn and many things to perfect. It's not simple to be enthusiastic about learning every day, but it's a goal that everyone should strive for. It’s better to be curious and ask than to know nothing and be ignorant. There’s always a place for learning in this world. We could learn every day about a lot of interesting facts. Ask and seek information to be literate in this world full of uncertainty.

                         Chapter 1

                        SENSATION

A place where tranquility and wisdom is around the corner is known as the “Aurora Village”. There lived a happy and beautiful family of Mr. Whitlock with three amazingly cute and lovely little girls named Sophia, Anna, and Maureen. Just like any typical children, they love to play, explore, and to randomly ask questions from their parents regarding things that they seem interesting. One sunny morning, Mrs. Whitlock together with her youngest, Maureen, went to their garden to water the plants. Out of curiosity, Maureen asked her mother if she can see without her eyes.

Mom, can I see without my eyes wide open?

No, baby. You can’t.

Why?

Honey, if you go to sleep and close your eyes, you can’t see anything right?

Maureen nods*

So you see, without your eyes wide open, you cannot see anything. This is because our eye is the only thing in our body that has the capability to make us see the real world around such as the beauty of our garden (chuckles).

Wow! Amazing! How does this work?

This is because our eyes transform physical energy into electrical signals that will later be neural impulses that will be sent to the brain for processing the image being seen. Our eyes are powerful doesn’t it, Maureen?

Yes, mommy. So, so powerful!

Yeheyyyyy!

How about we get inside now and eat our snacks?

While Mrs. Whitlock and Maureen was on the garden to water the plants, Mr. Whitlock and his two daughters, Sophia and Anna are sitting on the couch to watch a child-themed show.

You know what Anna, everything that our eyes can see are reversed because the image that we see is reflected upside down on the back of the eye. The light waves strikes through an object that is reflected in a broad beam so you cannot see anything unless your eyes can adjust to the broad beam of light that is focused in the eye. We have our cornea and lens which help bring the image into focus as much as a camera does.

Daddy, how are we able to see anything through our eyes?

I see. Everything under our eye has to play their role first before we can clearly see such a thing.

Sophia: Daddy, I also heard the words nearsighted and farsighted from our neighbor yesterday. What does that mean?

Cute little child, nearsighted is when near objects are clear while distant objects seems blurry. Farsightedness is opposite because a distant object is clear while objects that are near you appears to be blurry.

How do we treat those, daddy?

Persons with these cases can undergo eye surgery which has a successful treatment called the “Lasik” where a surface of the eye is folded back and a laser is used to reshape the exposed cornea so that light waves are now properly bent and focused on the retina.

Don’t we have a normal vision, dad?

Of course we do, normal visions will not matter whether an object is near or far because it will always appear clear. There is also a possibility for artificial eyes.

What???? Are you sure about that, daddy?

Yes, my dear.

How come?

There is this artificial photoreceptors which is a microchip is implanted at the back of the retina to send impulses that travel on the brain for visual processing. This does not fully restore the vision, but somehow allows people to see rough form of lights, movement and objects. We also have a brain implant which is an attempt to restore vision.

What a cool kind of ways to provide enough visual information to a blind person, right Sophia?

Uh-huh.

Afterwards, Mrs. Whitlock and Maureen came inside the house and told everyone in the living area to have their snacks.

Mom, I’ve read a book last week which says that seeing takes place in the brain and not in the eye. Why? I thought that by only opening our eyes, we can see things already. How does brain have something to do with seeing?

You are as curious as ever, Maureen. Brain also plays a vital part with regards to seeing because when the light waves enter our eyes, it then changes to impulses. By then, it will leave the eye on the optic nerve and reach its final destination in the occipital lobe which is located in our brain. The primary visual cortex, located at the back of the occipital lobe receives the electrical signals from the receptors and transforms these signals into basic visual sensations such as lights, lines, shadows, colors, and textures.

But when a part of the cortex is damaged, you’d probably have a blind spot in your visual field and if it happens that your entire primary cortex is damaged in both hemispheres, it will result to blindness.

Hmmm, I believe we get it now. Mom, I remembered that Uncle Jun wasn’t able to take his course BS Maritime because of being a color blind. What does this mean?

I think it refers to the inability to identify two or more shades in the color spectrum.

You’re right, honey. There are two kinds of color blindness too. The monochromats which is the total color blindness wherein their world may look like black and white movies and results from individuals having only one rods or only one kind of functioning cone.

Hmmm, this makes me love to know more about my eyes.

After they had their snacks, the kids went on playing while both Mr. and Mrs. Whitlock attended on their webinar meeting regarding their business. While listening on the meeting, the couple had a small talk about their child and about hearing.

Our kids are growing fast and I love to see them getting interested over things that matters.  

I know.

Honey, do you ever get curious about our ears used for hearing?

You look like our children now, huh. Our ear is as powerful as everything else inside our body. Every part of our ears has their important function that allows us to hear through the sound waves that is measured base on its intensity.

Yeah! So we must take care of our ears too to avoid hearing problems or worse, be deaf at all.

The business meeting ended exactly at 3 pm at a shady afternoon, so Mrs. Whitlock decided to cook dinner while Mr. Whitlock and their children were busy playing an outdoor game.

Do not play too much, children. You might get tired and sleep without having your dinner.

Look, daddy. I know how to balance myself.

It is because of the help of our vestibular system which is responsible in sensing the position of our head by keeping the head upright and for maintaining balance. It is also part on our motion sickness which is a feeling of discomfort, nausea, and dizziness in a moving vehicle.

Malfunction of our vestibular system may have terrible symptoms right, daddy?

Yes, it can either be a meniere’s disease that is an attack of dizziness, nausea, vomiting, spinning, and buzzing sounds and the vertigo which is kind of similar to the first one.

The children continued playing then suddenly. Anna lost her balanced while spinning so she feel into the ground and got some slight bruises.

Daddy, my elbows hurt.

Let me see.

Why do we feel pain on our bodies every time we are injured, dad?

This is because of our sense of touch which allows us to feel the pressure, temperature and the pain that our skin had felt.

Mrs. Whitlock is now finished preparing food for dinner so she called her husband and three children to go with her in the kitchen and have their dinner.

Dinner is ready, everyone. Come here and let’s eat early so that we can go to bed early too.

The family enjoyed eating because of the delicious dinner Mrs. Whitlock served.

Am I supposed to taste this buttered chicken sweet? Why do I feel like it’s not?

It is because we have different taste buds, my child. Our tongue allows us to taste sweet, sour, salty, and bitter and these tastes may differ from person to person.

It’s okay, Maureen. The buttered chicken smells sweet anyways, right?

You know what; our ability to taste is greatly affected by our ability to smell. So basically, your sense of taste is relatively inclined to your sense of smell.  

What kind of leafy thing is this, dad? Why is this floating on our viand?

Oh, it’s called a cabbage. Is there any problem with the cabbage in the soup?

I find it somehow disgusting but I am not gonna eat it anyways

Disgust is normal in foods, body products and gore because of the presence of a variety of contaminated, offensive things or gross ingredients that you find inappropriate.

The family finished their food and did their night routine before going to bed because tomorrow will be another day for fun and learning. 

                        Chapter 2

                            PERCEPTION

The next day, the family decided to watch a movie related to psychology. The movie went good during the few minutes but Anna and Sophia noticed something from the movie that made them have a little argument.

I’m seeing a woman with her child over this picture!

You’re wrong, because we can clearly see that it is an old man. You should agree with me!

How can I agree with you, knowing the fact that I am right? You’re probably seeing the wrong thing.

Enough with the argument, girls. I want you to know that neither the both of you are right or wrong. It is our perception that tells us how we make sense of things and how we make judgments about things. It is our interpretation of how we see the world around us and how we experience it.

I didn’t know that. I though I’m right and Anna is wrong.

Me too, I just believe what is right in my eye, so I thought Sophia is wrong.

I understand you two, because the picture you are fighting for will be perceived differently by any people. You have your own judgment for that. It is the sensory experience of the world. It involves both recognizing environmental stimuli and actions in response to these stimuli. Through the perceptual process, we gain information about the properties and elements of the environment that are critical to our survival.

Thank you, mommy! I understand it now that our perception is a process of interpreting something that we see or hear in mind and use it later to judge and give verdict on a situation, person, group, picture, and movie, and etc., right?

You are right, baby.

I learned a lot from you, mommy! Thank you so much for the information. I should’ve argued with Anna.

You’re welcome, baby. Both of you really need to know what perception really is, so I explained it to you.

Your mom forgot to tell you that perception can be distorted or shaped by several factors. It is an intellectual process of transforming sensory stimuli to meaningful information, and it’s important because it enables us to see things in a positive light, so you can keep going.

I think both of you should hug and apologize to each other.

Maureen is right, go ahead and do it.

Okay, mommy. I’m so sorry Anna, from now on; I will respect your point of view and perspective on how you see everything.

I’m sorry too, Sophia. I’ll respect your recognition and interpretation with everything.

The family continued watching the movie and ended another day with a fruitful lesson to be implanted in their minds for future needs

                        Chapter 3

                   SLEEP AND DREAMS

The day went on, and then came night. The family is seated at the dinner table and eating dinner at the same time.  Mr. Whitlock is seated in the far center seat, Mrs. Whitlock is seated at Mr. Whitlock's right, and Sophia and Anna are seated on Mr. Whitlock's left side and Mrs. Whitlock's opposite side. Maureen, on the other hand, had been fed earlier and was already sound asleep in her room. While they were eating, Anna casually mentioned her dream.

Mommy, Daddy. When I was sleeping, I dreamed that I had a big cake and balloons. We were so happy and I had a lot of fun playing with Maureen and Sophia in that dream.

Really baby?   What a nice dream.

But Mommy, why do we dream?

Mrs. Whitlock glanced at Mr. Whitlock as if suggesting to answer the child's question.

Anna, dreams are one of the most fascinating and mystifying aspects of sleep. Dreams are images, thoughts, or feelings that occur during our sleep. Some experts says that dream is an instant replay, it is a content may be a form of distorted instant replay in which recent events are reviewed and analyzed, other says that it could be just a by-product of sleep that has no essential purpose or meaning and some says that periods of dreaming could be the brain’s way of “straightening up,” clearing away partial, erroneous, or unnecessary information. You have to understand that dreaming is normal, Anna.

Anna listened intently to her father and appeared to be clarified, but she remained curious and still have question she wanted to be answered.

But, daddy, why don't I dream every day, and why don't I dream at all some days?

On average, most people dream for around two hours per night. We have what we called REM and Non-REM sleep. REM sleep is the lightest stage of sleep, during which a person may wake easily. During several hours of normal sleep, a person will go through several sleep cycles that include REM sleep and the 4 stages of non-REM which refers to the light to deep sleep.

Also called rapid eye movement sleep. Dreaming can happen during any stage of sleep, but dreams are the most prolific and intense during the rapid eye movement (REM) stage. During the REM sleep stage, brain activity ramps up considerably compared to the non-REM stages, which helps explain the distinct types of dreaming during these stages. Dreams during REM sleep are typically more vivid, fantastical, and bizarre even though they may involve elements of waking life.

By contrast, non-REM dreams tend to involve more coherent content that involves thoughts or memories grounded to a specific time and place. REM sleep is not distributed evenly through the night. The majority of REM sleep happens during the second half of a normal sleep period, which means that dreaming tends to be concentrated in the hours before waking up.

When Anna was about to speak, a loud cry rang out from the room that could be heard all over the dining room table. The attention of everyone was turned to that loud cry coming from the bedroom.

Oh my god, it’s Maureen!

The family rushed to Maureen’s bedroom and checked what’s the reason of the little girl’s cry.

Baby. Shhh. It’s fine, Mommy’s here. I’m here baby, please stop crying.

Mrs. Whitlock, Mr. Whitlock and the two remaining children were very worried.  Mrs. Whitlock tried to comfort and calm the sobbing kid, but the child's crying became louder rather than quieter. Mrs. Whitlock caressed the youngest child's back and carried her into her arms to help Maureen relax. After a few minutes, the child stopped sobbing, and the entire family began to relax and feel better. Maureen had finally stopped crying.

Maureen was having night terrors.

Mrs. Whitlock nodded with concern still obvious in her eyes

Daddy, is night terror similar to nightmare?

Night terrors, which occur during stage 3 or 4 (delta sleep), these are frightening experiences that often start with a piercing scream, followed by sudden waking in a fearful state with rapid breathing and increased heart rate,

while Nightmares occur during REM sleep, nightmares are very frightening and anxiety-producing images that occur during dreaming. Nightmares usually involve great danger like being attacked, injured, or pursued.

Upon awakening, the person can usually describe the nightmare in great detail. Sleep terrors differ from nightmares. The dreamer of a nightmare wakes up from the dream and may remember details,

but a person who has a sleep terror episode remains asleep. Children usually don't remember anything about their sleep terrors in the morning,

so when Maureen woke up she could no longer remember the frightening experience.

Following Mr. Whitlock's explanation of the differences between night terrors and nightmares, the two children rushed to their mother to monitor their youngest sister.

Okay, girls, it's already late, and you should be getting ready for bed now. It’s time to brush your teeth and get ready for bed. Dad will be of assistance to you.

Okay, Mommy. Goodnight.

Okay, Mommy. Goodnight.

The two girls kissed their Mom before going.

Come on, kids.

Come on, kids.

After brushing their teeth, the two children went to their room to get ready for bed. Their father followed and talked to them before going to bed.

Okay kids, I hope you learned something from me today. Don't think too much about what happened to your sister, that was normal. Your mommy and I are always here for you.

Don't forget to pray before going to sleep, okay? always seek God’s protection and guidance. Goodnight children, have a good sleep and sweet dreams.

Mister Whitlock kissed his girls on the foreheads and walked over to his wife and youngest child in the other room.

                       Chapter 4

                         DRUGS

The Whitlock family decided to spend their weekend in a high-end private resort called the "Wonder Cuzzi Resort". The moment they arrived, they were inspectioned by the resort staff if they were bringing illegal and inappropriate things that shouldn't be brought inside the premises. There was a poster showing things that is okay to be brought inside and things that shouldn't be. Anna read everything and she saw the word "drugs" with an X on it. Being curious, she asked her dad about it.

Dad? What is meant by that poster? What is drugs? Why does it have an X on it?

Anna, that poster you are referring to shows the things that shouldn't be brought inside the resort because it's inappropriate. Drugs are illegal that is why the resort is prohibiting anyone to bring it inside.

Really?

Yes, and you know what? it is bad for our health and it is addictive. They say that once you get used to it, you'd have the urge to want more that'll make your life a mess and can damage your health too.

Why do some people use it knowing it is bad?

I actually don't know, honey but there are some people who said that it will help you forget your problems but they are wrong since it is just temporary.