The Martian moon Phobos, Dyson Spheres, the resurrection of the dead and the richest people in the world will become cyborgs and will live forever?

 Mars has been getting a lot of attention lately, but there are also some Martian moons in the crosshair that we haven't been able to study yet. Despite many attempts, not a single research apparatus has landed on these natural satellites of the Red Planet. NASA has decided to join forces with the Japanese space agency JAXA, which intends to end the losing streak and deliver its spacecraft to Phobos.

So far, space missions to the Martian moons have ended in failure. In 1988, as part of the Phobos program, the Soviet Union sent two research probes to Mars. The Phobos 1 probe died as a result of a mistake made by the flight controllers, and the Phobos 2 probe, although it actually reached the moon and even took numerous photos, did not manage to drop the landers due to a failure. Another space mission began in 2011. The Russian Phobos-Grunt probe crashed shortly after take-off, which put it in orbit around the Earth and burned up in the Earth's atmosphere shortly thereafter.

Mars and its moons are extremely unlucky for us. In 2016, the Martian lander Schiaparelli hit the planet's surface at high speed, damaging it. Fortunately, the ExoMars mission was not a complete failure, as the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is still in Martian orbit.

Despite all these failures, scientists are not going to give up. The Japanese agency JAXA wants to accomplish the "impossible" - it organizes a space mission to the moon Phobos under the name MMX (Mars Moons eXploration). The MEGANE spacecraft (Mars moon Exploration with GAmma-rays and NEutrons instrument) is to analyze the chemical composition of both moons and land on Phobos. The research instrument will take samples and deliver them to Earth.

If all goes to plan, the MMX mission will begin in 2024 and the return to Earth is scheduled for 2029. We recently learned that NASA will be working with Japanese scientists on this important project. JAXA is believed to have a good chance of success because in 2003 it launched the Hayabusa space probe at the asteroid Itokawa, which successfully landed, took samples, and delivered them to us on Earth in 2010. It was the first such feat in history. The MEGANE spacecraft will be based on proven technology that was used during the Itokawa mission.

Phobos, one of the two satellites of Mars, is a very intriguing celestial body. Nobody knows where he came from. Astronomers say it is some object captured by Mars' gravity. This object is indeed strange in terms of shape and orbit, and most amazingly, according to scientists, at some point, it will fall to the surface of Mars, just like a deorbiting space station.

This moon behaves quite differently from any natural satellites known to us. First of all, it is extremely close to the planet. The satellite's orbit is much faster than the planet's rotation. In total, Phobos is 3.4 times faster, with its east and west occurring on Mars every 11 hours and 6 minutes. This makes it very similar to artificial Earth satellites.

A group of Russian transhumanists and futurists recently announced that the creation of a megastructure known as the Dyson Ball could allow the resurrection of dead people. Such a technological resurrection will not take place in the physical world but in something like a digital paradise.

The energy obtained from the star can allow humanity to create artificial intelligence of complexity unimaginable to modern humans. Such a machine would be able to faithfully reproduce every human being. The originator of this concept is Russian Alexei Turchin.

Since 2007, Turchin has been actively involved in the Russian Transhumanist Movement. In his opinion, after creating a digital copy of a human being, everything will become possible, including creating a replica of your body reconstructed from traces of DNA. However, the plans of the transhumanists are to resuscitate all people with a documented trace of them.

It is an operation impossible from energy and, above all, a computational point of view. For this, the two futurists explain, we need something like a Dyson sphere that will support the entire global resurrection operation. We are talking about a completely hypothetical megastructure proposed in 1960 by the physicist Freeman Dyson. It is supposed to be a huge shell that wraps the star to capture some of the star's energy.

Even if it could be made and anyone's "digital twin" could be produced, one simple truth cannot be denied. Each digital copy will be different from the original. So can such a process be called a resurrection?

What's the best way to achieve longevity or even immortality? Professor Yuval Noah Harari of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem has made quite controversial words on the subject. He believes that thanks to the latest technologies and genetic engineering, humans will evolve, become more powerful and live much longer - they can even become immortal - but this will only apply to the richest.

An Israeli professor said rich people would become cyborgs within 200 years as a result of the gradual merging of man with machine. It sounds like a script for a science fiction movie, but the words were spoken quite seriously. In his opinion, humanity will develop to such an extent that it will even be able to overcome death.

Work on techniques to ensure longevity and to put human consciousness into a machine has been going on for a long time. For example, Dmitry Itskow, a Russian billionaire, wanted to achieve immortality by becoming an android. Even the famous scientist Stephen Hawking believed in his lifetime that his project was as feasible as possible. Itskow aims to do just that in the next three decades - by 2045 he'll be around 65.

Professor Yuval Noah Harari believes that man has already been programmed in such a way that as soon as he achieves some achievement, after some time he wants to do something even greater. Our "eternal discontent" is to drive humanity first to achieve longevity, and eventually immortality as well. Ultimately, according to the professor, future humans will be as different from today's humans as today's humans are from monkeys.

"God is extremely important because without religious myths you cannot create a society. Religion is mankind's most important invention. As long as people believed in their belonging to these gods, they could be controlled. But what we see in the last few centuries is a fact. that people are becoming more powerful and no longer need crutches (it is a rehabilitation device) from God. Now we are saying that we do not need God, we need technology, "said Professor Yuval Noah Harari.

He continued his statement with the statement that the most interesting place in the world, from the religious perspective, is not the Middle East but the Silicon Valley - the region in the northern part of the US state of California, where the "techno religion" is being developed. The local scientists and specialists believe that even death is only a problem that can be solved with the help of technology.

The Israeli professor added, however, that all this salutary technology that will turn us into cyborgs and give us immortality will not be available to everyone. Only the richest will receive this honor, while the poorer people will be sentenced to death - they will leave this world like an animal species threatened with extinction. This is obviously a very distant future, but who knows what time and constantly evolving technology will bring us?

Scientists have listed the three most likely end-of-the-world scenarios

 Scientists have listed the three most likely end-of-the-world scenarios. The American cosmologist Katie Mack outlined the options for the apocalypse in her book "The End of Everything from an Astrophysical Point of View". The conclusions she reached are surprising.

In about five billion years, the Sun will enter the red giant phase. As a result, it will grow very large and engulf the orbit of Mercury and Venus. The charred the Earth, making it a lifeless rock covered with magma. This was the obvious future that Katie Mack revealed when she started her book. The specialist compared the opinions of various scientists who spoke about the hypothetical apocalypse and came to the conclusion that the inevitable end of the world will take place in 200 billion years.

The first option is heat death which will gradually develop over thousands of years. Eventually, the universe will disappear down to the tiniest atoms, and the past and future will merge into one whole.

The second version speaks of a "big gap" that will destroy space-time. Gravity will suddenly disappear and cosmic bodies will move erratically through space. The Earth may therefore face a cosmic collision and a great explosion that will end our planet.

The third scenario is based on the hypothesis that the universe is made of unstable matter. Consequently, it can immediately disappear in a so-called "quantum bubble". Should this happen, the inhabitants of our planet and many others that may be inhabited simply will not have time to understand what is happening to them and will disappear in a cataclysm that will end what we know as the universe.

Andrew Gosden - the mysterious disappearance of a British teenager

 The Gosden family lived in Balby, a suburb of Doncaster (South Yorkshire, England). Andrew Gosden's parents were practicing Anglicans. However, they did not baptize their children (apart from their son, they also had an older daughter, Charlotte). They did not want to impose their religious views on them. The teenager, however, began to go to church over time, although he quit about a year and a half before his disappearance. It wasn't the only big change in his life. A few months before his disappearance, Andrew, called by his relatives "Roo", also ended his adventure by scouting.

Andrew was described as a person who liked his own company. However, he was not a complete loner as he had a small group of like-minded friends. The boy's family claims, however, that he did not socialize with his friends outside of school. The teenager showed no signs of depression and showed no signs of being bullied by his peers.

A father said about his son that he was distracted, slow-witted, and sensitive. He wasn't nervous or moody. He liked to spend time at home, which he rarely left. Teachers described Andrew as a shy, quiet young man who was mature over his years. Even though Gosden was 14 at the time of his disappearance, he looked several years younger as he was small for his age. The teenager wore corrective glasses and could not hear in his left ear. A characteristic feature of its appearance was the unusual shape of the right ear pinch. Andrew had light brown hair but planned to dye it black before disappearing.

At the age of 10-12, the boy owned several cell phones. But he rarely used them and often lost them. He was given a new cell phone for his twelfth birthday, but he also used it sporadically. The teenager finally lost that phone a few months before it went missing. When his parents offered to buy another one, he stated that he would prefer a new Xbox console instead.

The teenager attended McAuley Catholic High School. He was a very talented student, and additionally extremely conscientious - he could boast a hundred percent attendance. He was included in the "Young, gifted and talented" program aimed at supporting the development of five percent of the best students of the school. Gosden was especially gifted in science and was a laureate of mathematics competitions. He was promised graduation from the prestigious Cambridge and a bright career. However, the 14-year-old usually didn't tell his parents much about the time he spent at school.

During his summer vacation in 2006, Gosden attended a two-week class at Lancaster University as part of the aforementioned gifted learner program. The summer school was dedicated to 5% of the most talented 11-16 year olds across the UK. Andrew's parents recalled coming home extremely excited.

During the summer vacation in 2007 (which normally lasts from July to September in England), Andrew's parents suggested that Andrew go to London and stay with his grandmother. The 14-year-old did not finally decide to go there. At the time of his disappearance, Gosden was fresh from his vacation (only a few days had passed since the beginning of the new school year). In that short period of time, Andrew had acted quite unusual twice. He was returning from school on foot, instead of on the school bus, which he had not done before. The road was about 6.4 km long and it took him about an hour and twenty minutes to cover it.

The evening before the day of his disappearance was described by Father Gosden as uneventful. The family ate a meal together as usual, and then they all washed the dishes. Andrew spent about an hour doing puzzles with his father. Then he and his mother watched several comedy programs on television.

On the morning of the disappearance, Andrew had trouble getting out of bed and seemed very irritable. The boy's mother later admitted that this was unusual for him, as usually waking up to school in the morning was not a problem for him. At 8:05 AM, Gosden left home and walked through the local Westfield Park, heading to the bus stop. He was then noticed by a family friend, Father Alan Murray, who was sitting on a park bench.

Instead of taking the school bus, however, Andrew deviated from his daily route and went to an ATM next to the car repair shop. There he paid out £ 200, which was almost all of the money he raised. The teenager's account was 214 pounds, but the ATM allowed him to withdraw banknotes with a face value of at least 20 pounds. Gosden was then captured monitoring a neighbor on his way home.

Upon his return, Andrew put his school uniform into the washing machine and hung his jacket over the back of the chair. He then changed into what he liked to wear. It was a black T-shirt with the name of the metal band Slipknot and black jeans. The boy took a black canvas bag decorated with badges from various rock and metal bands, a wallet, keys and a PlayStation Portable and left the house around 8:30.

We know this because he was spotted again by a neighbor's camera as he walked down Littlemoor Lane towards Westfield Park. It was later established that he did not take his passport with him. He probably didn't pack any sweatshirt or coat and charger for his PSP. The teenager then went to the Doncaster train station. At the box office he bought a ticket to London for which he paid £ 31 40p. The saleswoman later recalled to the police that she had informed the boy that a return ticket was only 50p more. Andrew, however, insisted on buying a one-way ticket.

At 9:35, Gosden boarded the terminating train at King's Cross station. One of the women later reported to the police that she was sitting next to a 14-year-old, whom she described as calm and engrossed in playing on his game console. When Andrew did not show up for morning lessons, teachers tried to contact his parents. In the course of subsequent findings, it turned out, however, that the number of the parents of the pupil whose name was in the journal just above or below Gosden was selected by mistake. At 11:20 am Andrew disembarked at London's King's Cross station and was captured on video surveillance at 11:25 am as he exited the building through the main entrance.

That evening, the Gosden family sat down to dinner as usual. However, the 14-year-old was not at the table. At first, everyone thought Andrew was playing the console or doing homework in his room. When family members discovered that he was not at home, they initially assumed that he was probably hanging out with a friend from school. Gosden's parents then began calling his friends. It was discovered that the boy was not with any of his friends, and what's more, he did not show up at school that day. So around 7 p.m. the police were called.

Kevin Gosden (the boy's father) and Charlotte (his sister) searched the teenager's daily route to school in hopes of finding some clues. However, nothing was discovered. Within three hours of the discovery of the disappearance, a leaflet with the image of the boy was prepared. The family and friends of the missing 14-year-old searched the area until dark. The police checked the bushes near the Gosden home in Doncaster, but found nothing.

Three days later, after talking to the woman who sold Andrew a train ticket, police confirmed that he was traveling to London. The ticket saleswoman at Doncaster station remembered Gosden because of the unusual cancellation of the return ticket. The father of the missing person, however, stated that the choice of a single ticket instead of a return ticket did not seem strange to him. For his son knew at least a few people in London with whom he could stay.

Initial searches in the capitals of England focused on the districts of Chislehurst and Sidcup, where the relatives of the Gosden lived. A few days after the disappearance, the family moved to London. There, she handed out leaflets and placed posters near places such as museums and exhibitions that they thought the boy might want to visit.

South Yorkshire Police (SYP) asked the British Transport Police (BTP) to check CCTV footage. It happened two days after Andrew Gosden went missing. BTP failed to pick him up from the crowd. Three weeks later, BTP and SYP re-examined the footage from CCTV cameras at King's Cross and identified the 14-year-old. A CCTV image of the missing person exiting the main railway station on King's Cross was broadcast in the media along with a close-up of his distinctive right ear.

Family and police investigated the possibility that Andrew had traveled to London to meet someone he had met online. However, there was no evidence of this. The teenager did not use a computer at home, and his father claimed that the son did not even have an e-mail address. He also didn't set up an online account on his Xbox or PSP. Police took computers from the missing person's school and library in Doncaster, but a forensic investigation revealed no signs of activity. Investigators also sent the boy's unique PSP serial number to Sony's headquarters. Company employees checked and confirmed that no account was created or connected to the Internet on this device.

The only computer in the house was his sister's laptop, which Charlotte had gotten only eight weeks earlier. The girl admitted that her brother did not seem interested in social media or contacting other people via the Internet because he was not a social person.

A year after the disappearance of McAuley Catholic High School Principal Mary Lawrence traveled to London with staff and students who handed out 15,000 leaflets with an image of Andrew. Unfortunately, it did not bring any breakthrough in the investigation.

The investigation began with an attempt to establish why Andrew chose to go to London. According to the family, the boy might want to visit the city and its monuments. It is known that the teenager liked London and visited the capital with his family to meet the grandparents, aunts, uncles and family friends who lived there. He also enjoyed visiting London museums and exhibitions. According to his father, he knew the rules of public transport well and was confident in moving around the city. It is also worth adding that at the time of Gosden's disappearance, bus travel was free for children and adolescents. So he didn't have to buy tickets.

One of the events cited by Kevin Gosden as a possible reason for his son's trip to London was YouTube Gathering 2007. However, there is no evidence that the 14-year-old attended the event. It is not even certain if he even knew this website, founded only two years earlier.

The family also checked music concerts for which Andrew was allowed to go to London. On the night of his disappearance, Thirty Seconds to Mars performed at the Brixton Academy, and SikTh played a postponed farewell concert at the Carling Academy. This second music club (now known as Academy Brixton) is a short drive from King's Cross. The SikTh concert was originally scheduled for July 7th and was later postponed. It was supposed to be the last performance featuring the original singer, which made it a very special event. Mick Neville, a retired police chief, found the theory plausible. He called on everyone who had photos or videos taken during the concert to report them to the police for analysis. Although Gosden was a fan of rock and metal music, no evidence was found that he would appear at any of these concerts. Moreover, it is uncertain whether he knew or liked these bands at all.

The boy's family thought that he might have gone to London to attend a concert by a band he was a fan of. On Monday, September 17, 2007, the Finnish HIM team signed a promotional contract at the HMV store on Oxford Street. The same evening, the musicians played a concert at Borderline in Soho. The only way to get into the event was to win tickets in special competitions. This clue was investigated by the family with the help of the team themselves. However, no evidence supporting this hypothesis could be found. The boy's father also suspected that Andrew might have gone to London to do something he thought was easier to ask for forgiveness than permission.

Gosden's family had accusations against the activities of the police. The criticism was that the investigators focused too much on the boy's relatives in the early stages of the investigation. Kevin Gosden alleged that the police treated him as a suspect and carried out unlawfully taped interviews. Their goal was to pressure him to admit that he was linked to his son's disappearance. The man was finally cleared of all the charges.

Andrew's loved ones also couldn't understand why the police had taken so long to find the London CCTV footage. King's Cross monitoring was only checked after two days. In addition, the authorities did not ask at all to send the recordings from the cameras on the buses and at the adjacent metro station.

On the occasion of the first anniversary of the teenager's disappearance, The Times published an article. It said that 122 cases of probable sightings had been reported across the UK since Andrew's disappearance, 45 of which were in London and 11 in Brighton. The boy's father stated that there were two or three observations within the first week of his disappearance that seemed plausible. This was presumed because of the way in which witnesses claimed that Gosden had spoken to them.

The missing person's family believed the most credible sighting was the one indicating that Gosden was at a Pizza Hut restaurant on Oxford Street (about an hour's walk from King's Cross) on the day of the disappearance.

A person who allegedly saw the 14-year-old on Oxford Street on Monday 17 September (three days after her disappearance) also reported. Someone else noticed a sleeping Andrew-like boy in a park in Southwark on Tuesday, September 18. There were also reports that a person matching Gosden's description got off the local train from Waterloo at Mortlake station on September 19, 2007 (five days after his disappearance).

One woman reported a potential sighting of a teenager on October 17 (one month after his disappearance) in Covent Garden. She was talking to a boy who, in her opinion, resembled the boy she had seen on TV. However, he denied that he was a missing 14-year-old. Two more cases were reported in 2009 - one outside the Natural History Museum and one at a pub in Southend. However, none of these observations could be verified. According to Kevin Gosden, the police have not taken any action on the reports.

In November 2008, a man visited the Leominster Police Station in Herefordshire. Using the intercom, he spoke to a police officer, claiming he had information about Gosden. It was in the evening and there was no one at the reception at the time. By the time the officer arrived to find out the details, the man had already left. The police later called on him to contact him again.

Subsequently, a person claiming to be a man from a police station wrote anonymously to the BBC after it presented the disappearance on "The One Show". The witness described in a letter the alleged meeting with Andrew Gosden in Shrewsbury in November 2008. However, it has not been possible to confirm or deny whether such a situation actually happened. It is also unknown if it was the same man in both cases, and if so, why he left the police station.

In September 2009, the Andrew family published photos of the boy's likely current appearance. It coincided with the second anniversary of his disappearance. In November 2009, Kevin Gosden called on the gay community to help find his son. The relatives of the missing person considered the possibility that he might be struggling with his sexual orientation. Children who discover that they are gay or lesbian are far more likely to run away from home than their heterosexual peers. The family also declared that for them Andrew's orientation did not matter.

In May 2011, the family paid a private company to conduct a sonar search of the River Thames. This method is used, among others for locating victims at sea. During the search, however, no trace of Andrew was found, although another body was found. It is not known, however, whether the identity of this person was established. In any case, such information was not available to the missing person's father, who told about it in an interview.

In 2016, Gosden's parents appealed for reports from people who had some information on the BBC TV program Panorama. The following year, on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of his disappearance, the charity Missing People made the boy the face of its campaign "Find Every Child," which saw his image appear on billboards and advertisements throughout the UK.

On September 12, 2017, a statement was published on the South Yorkshire Police Facebook page. Some methods of searching for a missing person are described. These methods included examining prescriptions from ophthalmologists, screening unidentified patients in hospitals, and disseminating Andrew's fingerprints, dental and health records. According to the information, police appeared to believe that Gosden might still be alive.

In June 2018, the Gosden family revealed that someone had reported to them that they had spoken online with the user "Andy Roo". He claimed that his boyfriend left him and that he needs £ 200 to pay the rent. Andy Roo also wrote that he did not have a bank account as he left home when he was 14. The police investigated this report but could not identify the user. Personally, I think someone was impersonating Andrew and it was supposed to be a stupid joke.

In July 2018, on the occasion of Andrew's 25th birthday, his family published two photos of what the missing person might have looked like at the time. It was also announced that the Muse team would help publicize the campaign to find Gosden. In October 2019, another photo in the age progression was released.

In January 2022, South Yorkshire Police announced that they had arrested two men, aged 38 and 45, on suspicion of kidnapping and trafficking a month earlier. Additionally, one of the men heard the allegation of possession of child pornography. Both men were released pending the investigation. It is believed that these are the first arrests made in connection with the disappearance. Investigators also revealed that the suspects had confiscated several electronic devices, the contents of which were to be checked by forensic experts. It has been estimated that specialized data analysis can take anywhere from six months to a year. Kevin Gosden thanked the public for their support on this occasion. He added that the family did not have any information other than what was disclosed in the police statement.

Finally, it is worth mentioning that the missing person's family has kept his room as Andrew left it. She didn't change the locks either, as it is known that the teenager took his key. Gosden's bank account has not been used since he had withdrawn almost all available funds on the morning of September 14, 2007. Despite the passage of several years, unfortunately, the solution to this puzzle has not been found until today.

Leszek Pękalski - the terrifying story of a Vampire from Bytów

 Leszek Pękalski is one of the most famous Polish killers. Most people know him as the Vampire from Bytów. The man was sentenced to 25 years in prison for manslaughter. How many victims did Pękalski actually murder? Where is the killer at this point? What was the motive behind his horrific crimes? Check the story of Leszek Pękalski and learn more about the Vampire from Bytów.

Leszek Pękalski was born on February 12, 1966 in Osieki near Bytów. The boy was a child born out of wedlock, and therefore as a result of a mother's affair with a neighbor. Leszek's mother was unable to accept him because of it. Instead of taking care of her son, she preferred to drink alcohol every day. As his mother did not have time for him and preferred the company of vodka to her son, Leszek was taken care of by his grandmother. When she died, the boy was taken to an orphanage, and then to a center for handicapped youth - Leszek had a slight degree of impairment. His uncle was the last to look after him. Unfortunately, he, like the boy's mother, often looked into the glass and did not take good care of Leszek.

Due to his handicap, Pękalski had a huge problem finding himself in the community. The children laughed at him or ran away from him in panic. Leszek dreamed of love and his wife, but he was unable to make any woman fall in love with him - they all sympathized with him, teased him or avoided him like fire. Despite the slight degree of his handicap, Leszek could undertake not very demanding activities. So, after turning 18, he traveled around Poland and worked in various workplaces. Unfortunately, he was rejected by people everywhere because of his dissimilarity. That is why Leszek decided to settle at home and use the money from the pension he was entitled to. Sometimes he would disappear from his uncle's apartment for a few days. Upon his return, his uncle did not ask him where he was. Mainly because the man was intoxicated and did not even realize that Leszek was away from home all day.

At this point, it is worth mentioning the decision of the team of psychiatrists examining the murderer. They stated that Leszek was certainly a shy, unwanted and rejected man. He seemed mature on the surface, but inside he was always a fearful child. His life ambitions were small. After the Pękalski observation process, specialists also stated that the Vampire from Bytów - as the man was later baptized - was not fully sane at the time of the crime. During the sexology research it also turned out that Leszek suffers from disorders of his sexual sphere. His drive was so enormous that the man had no brakes at all to satisfy his needs immediately.

Leszek Pękalski appeared on the lips of Poles in the 1990s. It was then that he murdered and raped a friend of a trainee from a local shop. Pękalski met his victim, teenage Sylwia R., the day before the murder. The future shopkeeper, seeing the man's slight handicap, took pity on him and let him do the shopping "for a notebook". The next day, she voluntarily brought him food to the forest, where Leszek sometimes stayed overnight. Pękalski shared his problems with the teenager. He believed he had finally found someone who understood him. The man immediately suggested marriage and sex to Sylwia. She got scared and refused. She wanted to leave the forest quickly, but Leszek did not allow it. He hit Sylwia so hard that he killed her right away. Next, Pękalski raped his victim.

In June 1991, the police in Bytów received a notification - the body of 17-year-old Sylwia was found in the forest. The body was found by the teenager's parents, who were looking for her on their own. They were worried about the sudden disappearance of their only daughter. They got worried when Sylwia R. did not return from internships in the store for a long time. The finding of the dead child touched the entire community. An investigation into the murder began, but no one was identified at the time. After a year of fruitless searches, the case was dropped. In 1992, someone raped 40-year-old Bernadette. It turned out that despite the bandit's disguise, the woman recognized the perpetrator by his characteristic voice and gait. She easily indicated Leszek to the police - a well-known man from a neighboring village. For the assault and rape in November 1992, Pękalski was then sentenced to two years suspended imprisonment. The man, however, did not go to prison because the court ruled that Leszek was insane during the commission of the crime.

Leszek Pękalski was glad that he received such a sentence. In December 1992, however, he was arrested on suspicion of murdering 17-year-old Sylwia. How was the identity of the killer discovered? Well, by complete accident. Before closing the investigation, the police tried to narrow the circle of suspects. The experts also managed to create a memory portrait of the murderer. The perpetrator was a brutal and sexually unsatisfied man. One day, a secretary who worked in the district prosecutor's office in Bytów discovered the trail of Leszek Pękalski. It was she who translated the files between which Leszek appeared - he then had a suspended sentence for rape on his account. The secretary associated this fact with the unresolved case of a teenage shopkeeper. The woman presented her position to her superiors, who decided to check Pękalski's alibi. It turned out that the secretary's assumptions were correct. Leszek confessed to committing the murder.

However, the matter did not end there. Pękalski confessed to investigators to another 70 murders. He was to commit these crimes all over Poland. Investigators examining Pękalski's life confirmed that the man did travel a lot. It was during this time that he would have committed dozens of murders. According to Pękalski's stories, strangled and raped a woman in Toruń. He also took a pram with a child in Białystok, and then undressed the girl lying in it and left it in the cold. Only the killer could know the details of the crimes that Pękalski told in detail. For example, he remembered the color of his victims 'underwear and the decorations in the victims' apartments where he had murdered. He also did not forget to arrange the bodies after each murder he committed. From Leszek's story, the police prepared a terrifying map of the crime.

Why was Pękalski so willing to cooperate with the police? Because no one had paid attention to him before - until he was arrested. Then the man suddenly began to arouse the interest of all Poles. From a person rejected by a society that constantly ignored him, he became "someone." It came into existence, it was talked about, it was visited by journalists and producers of television documentaries. Leszek was glad that all of Poland suddenly turned her eyes to him - even though the interest was related to the terrible deeds he had committed. It did not bother him. He was in the center of attention and that was what mattered most to Leszek.

Pękalski, while the evidence was collected and the criminal proceedings were pending, was taken to a remand center, where he began to keep a diary. In it, he accurately described almost 70 crimes he told investigators about. However, many of them did not correspond to reality (for example, Pękalski confessed to two crimes committed on the same day in two different parts of Poland). It later turned out that the inmates were supposed to advise the handicapped man to disturb the criminal proceedings - first he confessed to the crime and at the last minute retracted his testimony. In fact, Leszek canceled most of his words in court. He also said that officers forced him to say different things - reportedly in exchange for food and alcohol. In the end, only one murder of teenage Sylwia was proved, to which Pękalski confessed. What is the exact number of victims of the Vampire from Bytów? Unfortunately, no one knows to this day. It is known, however, that in 1996 Leszek Pękalski was sentenced to 25 years in prison.

The years passed inexorably. The inhabitants of the Bytów county were afraid of what would happen after the end of Leszek Pękalski's sentence. Everyone trembled at the killer's return to his uncle's house. Before the end of the sentence, the court found, however, that the man could still pose a real threat to society. Therefore, it was decided that under the so-called act on beasts, put him in a closed center in Gostynin.

Bibliography:

• Omilianowicz Magda: Vampire. How evil is born, Wydawnictwo Kompania Mediowa, Warsaw 2021

Karol Kot, the famous Vampire from Krakow

 Karol Kot, known to most people as the Vampire from Krakow, is the most famous Polish murderer. Or at least, that's what many people who witnessed the horrific events of the 1960s say. Why did Karol Kot murder women and children? Who were the killers' victims and when did the Cat commit the first crime? What other crimes on his "account" does the killer have? Learn the story of Karol Kot - the monster that all of Krakow trembled against!

Karol Kot was born on December 18, 1946, in Krakow. He grew up in an intellectual family in Kraków's Kazimierz - in a tenement house no. 2 at ul. Meisel. Karol did not attend kindergarten because his parents could afford to teach him on their own. The boy was brought up by his mother between work and household chores. When Karol turned eight, his younger sister was born. The siblings had not very good relations with each other - Charles sometimes mistreated his sister for being favored by her parents. The boy, however, went to elementary school and finished it without major problems, and later began his education at the energy technical school at ul. Loretańska in Krakow. There, he could not only cope with the Polish language. Charles was probably already having mental problems then.

Looking at the photos of the young Kota on the Internet, one could say that he was a nice and polite man. The teachers liked him, and the boy did not cause any problems with education and he had good grades at school. With time, Karol liked the subject of war, shooting and firearms to such an extent that immediately after graduating from high school he wanted to enter an officer school. Interestingly, from 1965 he was even a member of ORMO! But where did Karol's fascination with weapons and shooting come from? When he was only thirteen, he suddenly became interested in… knives. So let's go back to this point to fully depict the portrait of the Kot.

In his teens, Karol managed to buy his first blade. He was so fascinated by the new "toy" that he began to torment the surrounding frogs and smaller animals and insects with a knife. The parents sometimes took the boy to the countryside on vacation, where Karol secretly went to the local slaughterhouse. It was there that he volunteered to kill calves and drink their blood - or at least this version was insisted on by Charles, who was famous for his dark and terrifying fantasies about killing. The teenager was very skilled with the knife, and his new skill did not particularly take over his parents. They believed that the son would surely grow out of it. What was Charles like with his parents? He respected them, but never tried to be close. For he was furious with them for preferring their little sister to him. The teenager sometimes took advantage of either his sister or the surrounding animals.

At the age of 22, Karol enrolled in a shooting school to use his energy and train himself. He had a great deal of resentment towards his parents for favoring his sister, but he never told them so. The only person the boy trusted immensely was his coach - he praised him for his sports and military skills that no one else on the team had. A very important part of Karol Kot's life is connected with shooting training - also the one marked with human blood.

During one of the training sessions, Karol met a girl older than him, who was already a skilled player. The teenager developed a close bond with her - he talked about his tendency to mutilate himself and animals, as well as dreams of killing people. The girl, however, never took his story seriously. During one of the joint trips from the shooting club, Karol suddenly knocked his friend to the ground and began to threaten her with a knife - but in the end he did not do anything. The girl took Kot to a psychiatrist the very next day. The teenager was given drugs, but never returned for another prescription. From year to year, Karol Kot became more and more vulgar, especially towards young women. He also began to speak out loud about "he wants to be important to society." He even fantasized about becoming ... the commander of a concentration camp. He dreamed of mutilating innocent women there. He did not know that soon his name and surname would become infamous - just like Bogdan Arnold, Charlie Manson or Tadeusz Grzesik.

In September 1964, Karol Kot attacked a human for the first time. He then entered one of Krakow's churches and, using a sharp tool, wounded the woman praying there. The cat quickly ran away, so no one had time to figure out what actually happened in the church. Charles discovered that inflicting pain on another person fascinated him more than hurting animals - so he decided to keep attacking. During the fall, there were many attacks by older women, but no one was able to find the perpetrator. Karol Kot most often approached the women from behind, then wounded them with a blade and ran away. However, he never took anything from his victims - he cared only about harming them.

On September 29 of the same year, Karol Kot attacked an old lady who was cleaning the church. He stabbed her with a knife, but this time the blow turned out to be fatal - the woman died on the spot. In Krakow, the news spread very quickly that someone was hunting elderly women. The city trembled at an unknown perpetrator, and the situation was getting worse day by day. There was a real fear in the city - especially since numerous arson also began to take place in Krakow. More women were injured by an unknown person, but there was nothing the police could do about it. Nobody had sufficient evidence to indicate the perpetrator. Although some of the victims described the criminal's profile in a similar way, it was not possible to find him.

Attacks on older women no longer fascinated Karol. So he decided that this time his target would be… children. On February 13, 1966, Kot murdered an elementary school student who was supposed to take part in a tobogganing competition. Karol attacked the child when no one saw him, then inflicted several wounds with a knife and threw him in the nearest bushes. Krakow felt fear again, but this time the inhabitants decided: "You have to look for a murderer so that there will be no more victim!" Especially since children became the new target of the killers. In the meantime, Karol Kot tried to murder another minor victim, but this time he failed. Yes, he hurt the little girl, but she was saved in the hospital. Charles was caught.

At this point, we will return to the shooting school, in which Karol fell in love with one of the players. The one who took him to a psychiatrist. The girl began to associate the brutal visions of a friend from the club that he had shared with her with the crimes committed in Krakow. She also knew that Karol was fascinated by knives - and it was the knife's edge that killed the murderer's victims. She decided to share her assumptions at the police station. It turned out that she had accurately selected the perpetrator of the Krakow murders. It was none other than Karol Kot himself.

The man was charged with two murders, ten attempted murders, and four arson charges. Charles confessed to all the charges he was charged with, accurately describing both crimes. He also boasted of his murderous plans and his love of killing. On July 14, 1966, Kot was arrested. For the fact that he murdered in cold blood and tried to commit even more murders, he was sentenced to death. As Karol Kot decided to appeal against the sentence, there was a completely different sentence - life imprisonment. However, the Public Prosecutor General decided to step into action and take advantage of the possibility of an extraordinary review. Therefore, Karol Kot was sentenced to death anyway. The murderer was hanged on May 16, 1968, and the long-awaited peace finally reigned in Krakow.

Bibliography:

• Janusz Maciej Jastrzębski: Beasts. Zbrodnie i kara, Wydawnictwo Akliwia, Warsaw 2017
• Stephen J. Giannangelo, Jarosław Groth (trans.): Psychopathology of Serial Murder, If P to Q Publishing House, Poznań 2007

The Pentagon UFO report. What was in it?

 Is the US government hiding the truth about UFOs and aliens? The British daily "The Sun" reached the Pentagon's documents of 1,500 pages. They describe numerous cases of meetings with unidentified flying objects. Moreover, people who observed UFOs suffered physical injuries in age cases. Some of them were created by radiation or contact with energy emanating from technologically advanced drives. Nervous system damage and unexplained pregnancies have also been reported. The Sun writes about 42 UFO contacts reported in medical records and another 300 similar incidents.

Aliens are not everything. The Sun claims that the pentagon documents also describe supernatural phenomena, crop circles, spontaneous self-immolation of people, and alien abductions. Apparently, the US government is researching technology such as clothing to make invisible, robots that control the mind, and technology that allows you to explore far outer space.

The report was also supposed to mention that the US government was preparing for potential contact with an extraterrestrial civilization. Apparently, various scenarios and methods of communication are being developed.

Is this report pure science fiction? The Sun claims that the document was to be drafted as part of the Pentagon's mysterious Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP) project that ran from 2012 to 2017. Meanwhile, sources such as Futurism and Live Science recommend taking the sensation of the British tabloid with a grain of salt. They demand the publication of a report, which "The Sun" stubbornly does not want to do ...

In the years 2004-2021, US navy pilots reported 144 times of sightings of "unidentified aerial phenomena," the Pentagon said. However, the long-awaited report by no means suggests that aliens could be responsible for these phenomena.

Many UFO enthusiasts were waiting for the published report, hoping that the US military would reveal the extraterrestrial origin of some of the observed phenomena. Recall that a few years ago the US administration stopped using the term UFO (unidentified flying object) and started using the abbreviation UAP (unidentified aerial phenomena).

While the change from "flying object" to "aerial phenomenon" suggests the natural origin of some observations, the report states that "most reported UAPs are likely to represent physical objects." Out of 144 reports on UAP from 2004–to 2021, only one could be identified. It turned out, according to the report, that it was the large balloon that was observed at the time of emptying.

While all the pilots' observations of the UAP varied significantly, the authors of the report said they found some patterns regarding the sizes, shapes, and, in particular, the drives that the UAPs might have at their disposal.

In 18 reports, "observers reported unusual UAP traffic patterns or flight characteristics," the report reads. Some objects appeared to be "stationary in the air, going against the wind, abruptly maneuvering or moving at high speed with no discernible means of propulsion."

Some of these "strange flight features" could be seen in three videos released by the US Navy in April 2020. The clips called FLIR, GOFAST, and GIMBAL showed what appeared to be a spacecraft moving at hypersonic speed with no visible means of propulsion.

The authors of the report also characterized five potential UAP categories: airspace interference (birds, balloons, and private drones), natural atmospheric phenomena (e.g., ice crystals that can reflect infrared radiation), US government secret programs, and hostile systems of foreign governments (technology developed by the governments of China, Russia or other hostile countries).

The fifth category has been defined as "other" and while there is no mention of extraterrestrial technology, it is this category that may still capture the imagination of UFO enthusiasts. Moreover, the open and public part of the report is only 9 pages long. The Guardian notes that the "juiciest details" and most relevant sightings may remain top secret, and still only available to a select group.

The long-awaited report comes after a law was passed on December 21, 2020, at the request of the Senate's intelligence committee, calling for an investigation into unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP). The Pentagon delayed the publication of the report until the last minute. From the moment the bill was passed, the head of the defense department had six months to present information to the public.

Some UFO information was not disclosed in a report published by the Pentagon. However, classified data is not necessarily about extraterrestrials, which creates even more anxiety.

The United States has taken all reports of UFOs seriously for several years. This information can often contain valuable data on, for example, spy objects sent by hostile countries. However, some phenomena cannot be explained, as confirmed by the Pentagon's report on unidentified flying objects published last year.

Interestingly, even the NASA administrator, based on the analyzed reports, was to say that we are not alone in space and it is possible that someone is watching us all the time. However, the most interesting fact is that some information contained in the Pentagon report was classified for unknown reasons. Recently, excerpts from the "cut" analyzes were published by The Black Vault.

As it turns out, the document on UFOs did not contain, inter alia, reports of pilots who similarly reported the appearance of unidentified objects. It turned out that all the witnesses spoke of "common shapes". It seems that encounters with objects of similar appearance are repeated.

Classified information does not necessarily have to be about an alien civilization and the appearance of spaceships. It is possible that the mysterious objects are drones or ultramodern planes sent to the United States by enemy countries, and this is even more disturbing now than the reports of aliens.

On What Self-Esteem Depends And How To Build It

 Today I will talk about self-esteem - what it is, why it is important and how high self-esteem differs from low self-esteem in practice. It will also be about what areas you need to pay attention to in order to effectively build and strengthen self-esteem.

Naive self-esteem

Recently, I have been observing a fairly naive approach to self-esteem, which is more about telling yourself that you are worthy than actually understanding what it means, what it comes from not feeling like this, and how we can change it. In part, this is due to the popularization of simple solutions and well-being, which is to solve all problems, even those that require deeper reflection. This particular topic can only do harm, it is too important and too much depends on it not to take a closer look at it.

Self-esteem and self-image

Self-esteem has to do with your self-image, which is broader and involves more than just your self-esteem. Self-image is what we hold to be the truth about ourselves. If I think I'm ugly then that's my truth about myself. On the other hand, if I find myself attractive, that is my truth about me. In addition, if I believe it, it becomes the same fact to me that 2 + 2 is 4. That's why trying to build self-esteem by talking to yourself in front of a mirror - you are wonderful, beautiful, and wise - when you feel and think about yourself otherwise, it may improve your well-being for a while, but it's not enough to build high self-esteem.

That doesn't mean it doesn't make sense. For people who are not able to say something like that to themselves in the mirror, this may be the first step, an impulse thanks to which they will really begin to build their self-esteem on solid foundations. It is worth trying an experiment and seeing if it will go down your throat or not, but hoping that it will change what you really think about yourself will definitely fail in the long run. Self-esteem cannot be separated from the actual facts that prove it, so telling yourself something you don't believe and see won't work. It will only help to understand how self-esteem works, what it consists of, and the ACTION that will strengthen and nurture it.

Influence on self-esteem

Self-esteem is influenced by a lot of things, including those that we ourselves had little influence on - e.g. our childhood experiences, the nature of the relationship with our parents, and their relationship with us, but I will not touch on that today. I want to focus on areas that we can influence as adults today. How we can use the knowledge about them to build our self-esteem and understand when we destroy it and when we strengthen it.

Everything I will say today is related to my own experience of building self-esteem and to Nathaniel Branden's book - The Six Pillars of Self-Esteem, I recommend it to anyone who wants to learn more about it.

What is high self-esteem?

There are two things that contribute to high self-esteem:

• Belief in our own effectiveness - awareness that we will cope with the requirements that everyday life places in front of us. The feeling that we can think and face whatever life brings us - finding a job, supporting ourselves, our relationships, problems. In short, it's about trusting yourself and your own mind.
• Self-respect - the belief that we have the right to happiness and success, we are valuable, and we deserve what we want. It is also achieving what is important to us and the ability to enjoy the fruits of our efforts.

Inner Experience

Self-esteem is an inner experience, something we feel and think about ourselves, and it has nothing to do with others. Only we have the power and the ability to work on this through practice that is consistent in several areas that Branden calls pillars of self-esteem. Nobody is able to build our high self-esteem for us, and when we make our self-esteem dependent on others, it is a bit like believing that we will be in shape when someone else will run for us and go to the gym.

Self-esteem and our choices

High self-esteem is directly related to how we act, with our choices. If we choose to deceive someone for our own benefit, even when no one else sees it, we are destroying our self-esteem. If we run a company whose value is environmental protection and we stealthily discharge sewage into a nearby river, we destroy our self-esteem. That doesn't mean you should identify with your behavior and say to yourself - I'm a cheat - that is, make your identity out of it. It's more about seeing what I say, do and think in a realistic way, and knowing if it sticks together - that is, consistency.

Why does inconsistency damage our self-esteem even when no one but us knows that we are doing wrong? Because we squeeze our own stuff and lying to ourselves leaves a mark. Such things accumulate in our psyche, even though we are not aware of it, and since self-esteem is the result of consistent choices for us, incoherent choices necessarily hit our self-esteem. So what if others do not know that you are cheating or polluting the environment, if you know it and act against yourself, you betray yourself. It must affect how you feel about yourself. Your self-respect suffers.

Why is high self-esteem important, and how is it different from low self-esteem?

Healthy self-esteem is associated with ambition, the need for self-expression, an honest approach to oneself and others, an open mind, respectful relationships, kindness, willingness to help and goodwill, flexibility in responding to what happens to us, the ability to learn and build your self-confidence on that basis. All that is necessary to intentionally pursue our goals in line with our values. Healthy self-esteem gives you joy not only in achieving them but also in what you learn as you achieve them. It allows you to really enjoy it without neurotic motivation and attempts to fill your inner void with external achievements and successes. High self-esteem gives you a life without irrational fear, a life full of inspiration.

We persistently pursue our goals with high self-esteem, and striving for them strengthens our self-esteem. This is an interesting paradox because the manifestations of high self-esteem at the same time strengthen it, it is a self-propelling mechanism. Healthy self-esteem protects us from the negative influences of the outside world and gives us the strength to deal with adversities. When we have high self-esteem, we are able to enjoy the successes of others, support them, and give them motivation and strength, because we do not feel threatened by them, we also appreciate our successes and perceive them as valuable. This is because high self-esteem comes from striving for something, not fear. Self-esteem is a condition and, at the same time, the result of any success.

Low self-esteem is due to the fear that we are not good enough. The goal of a person with low self-esteem is to build a sense of security, that is, to protect themselves from something rather than strive for something. The problem is that staying on a defensive level leads to a further weakening of self-esteem. No matter how much success we achieve with such self-esteem, we will not be able to fully enjoy them. Because we feel we don't deserve them. We feel failures much more than successes and remember mainly what we have achieved.

Low self-esteem is also evidenced by arrogance and bragging about successes, such behavior is sometimes confused with high self-esteem, but it proves exactly the opposite. You can also achieve success with low self-esteem, but it will not be considered a success anyway, and achieving it will be backbreaking work instead of a natural extension of ourselves.

6 pillars of self-esteem

Nathaniel Branden has identified 6 basic areas that we can take care of in order to raise our self-esteem - the practice of conscious living, self-acceptance, self-responsibility, assertiveness, purposeful life, and righteousness. When I will briefly talk about them, I suggest you define yourself on a scale from 1-10 on how you evaluate yourself in each of these areas - 10 is excellent, and 1 is terrible. The exercise is about knowing what your self-esteem looks like now, whether it is close to high or low, whether you are somewhere in the middle, and what area you might want to take care of.

1) The practice of living consciously

It is nothing more than being aware of what is the reality of the here and now and acting according to that awareness. If I know that I feel bad at work, but I avoid thinking about it, I run away from it, and I don't live consciously. When I know my relationship sucks, but I get stuck because I'm afraid to be alone, I lie to myself. If I know that drinking and smoking are destroying my health, but ignoring it - it is destroying my self-esteem. I betray my mind this way because I know something, but I pretend I don't see it. I'm fooling myself. Conscious life is about respect for reality. It is not just knowing what is the right choice, but making those choices. The practice of conscious living is also about adjusting the state of mind to the context. For example, when you are riding a motorcycle it is dangerous to be in a dream, you have to adjust your state of mind to the situation in this way you strengthen your awareness. How do you rate your level of conscious life on a scale of 1-10?

2) Self-acceptance

It is recognition of your right to exist by yourself. Self-acceptance is experiencing your feelings, desires, and thoughts without pushing them away from you, in this way you give yourself the right to exist because these things are part of you. Accepting, for example, that you do not want to start writing a business plan, it will be paradoxically easier for you to do it, because there is no lie or fraud in it, there is no telling yourself that you want to. It gives us a much greater willingness to act and allows us to better control our own actions, despite feelings that can sometimes discourage us from doing so. Self-acceptance also has a second function - if you do something you're not proud of, you won't be able to forgive yourself for it without accepting the fact that you actually did it. Again, just like the practice of conscious living, self-acceptance is context-based, so it allows you to understand why you did something stupid in that particular situation, where you made such a decision right now, which does not mean that it justifies your action. It allows you to learn from these experiences without building self-hatred. How do you rate your level of self-acceptance on a scale of 1-10?

3) Responsibility for yourself

Two weeks ago I made a recording about taking responsibility for myself and my life. There, I talk in more detail about why this is important. I will put a link in the description, it's worth watching this movie also in the context of self-assessment. Taking responsibility for ourselves and our life gives us a sense of control over it. It is necessary for high self-esteem because it makes us aware that we ourselves are responsible for our happiness, for our choices, for the implementation of our goals, we do not leave them to chance. This awareness is very liberating and energizing. Responsibility also implies something else - by taking responsibility for ourselves, we recognize that others are not obliged to take care of us, they do not live to meet our needs, and we do not live to satisfy them. It makes our relationships real, not self-interest. What is your level of taking responsibility for yourself on the scale?

4) Assertiveness

It is learning to cooperate with others and not giving up your own standards and beliefs. It means respecting your own desires, needs, and values ​​and expressing them wisely. It has been established that being assertive only means being able to say no, but equally, it is also being able to say yes whenever you want to. Assertiveness is also asking questions, doubting, and questioning the old order and authorities. Sometimes assertiveness is being ready to confront, for example, when our values ​​and beliefs need to be defended. People are often afraid to be assertive because they are afraid of being excluded, they are afraid that they will be left alone, but the truth is that our self-esteem will not get better because of accepting others, it is our inner game. How assertive are you on a scale of 1-10? How often do you say no when you want to say yes and vice versa?

5) A purposeful life

It is about setting goals and striving for them. Without it, our lives are ruled by chance, we become reactive, not active. We wait for something to change, but somehow it does not occur to us that in order for something to change, we have to do something and strive for something. The very pursuit of goals broadens the perspective and allows you to believe that much more is possible for us than we expected. Achieving goals and striving for them confirms our sense of effectiveness. But how our goals look is not insignificant. To achieve them, you need to know exactly what you want, what you should do, and what you shouldn't do. It forces awareness and action according to this knowledge, the end of which is the achievement of the goal. We build our internal capital in this way. Even if we achieve the goal, but then lose its fruit, thanks to internal capital we know that we can achieve this goal a second time. We know how to do it. This is why people who have made and lost their fortunes are often able to rebuild their wealth. What is your situation with purposeful living on a scale of 1-10? What are your goals? Do you have them at all?

6) Righteousness

In short, it is about acting in accordance with our values. To talk about righteousness at all, you need to know what is good and what is bad, and this can be judged precisely by our values. Therefore, knowing what is important to us and why is essential. Sometimes, in order to be a righteous person, we will have to question the standards that have been instilled in us by our culture or our parents. And that's okay because we're doing it to raise our own standards. And in a world of rather low standards, that's true courage. It is definitely worth it, because when we act contrary to what we believe and do it, we will often have less and less respect for ourselves with time, and thus worse and worse behavior will become possible for us. Lack of integrity is another example of how we act against our self-esteem and ourselves. How do you rate your level of integrity on a scale of 1-10? Are you acting primarily in line with or against your own values?

Success condition

To these 6 pillars of self-esteem, I want to add one thing without which it all sounds nice, but it won't help. I mean the courage to act and look at yourself objectively, sometimes the courage to argue, sometimes the courage to say yes. Without it, nothing will change.

As you can see, building self-esteem is not as simple and sweet as it seems and there are no shortcuts here. Building self-esteem requires consistent consistency, which is conditioned by understanding and courage. But living with these principles instead of telling yourself and pretending to do something really changes your self-esteem.

What's your self-esteem now?

See what your results look like? Do you have low, medium, or high self-esteem? Low is 0-4, medium 5-7, and high is 8-10. At what point did you rate your self-esteem as the lowest, and at which point was it the highest? What can you do TODAY to raise them, taking into account what you already know about each pillar? What will change for the better in your life by increasing your self-esteem?

Manipulation techniques to avoid. 5 ways to unmask the manipulator.

 Research by psychologists shows that there are many ways to get people to do what you want them to do. Without even guessing that you had any influence on them. We have reviewed 14 manipulation techniques that can make other people like someone and comply with their request. It is worth knowing them to be able to defend against them.

1. Use the "decoy effect"

This is a technique used by salespeople. During his TED speech, economist Dan Ariely explained the "decoy effect" using the example of an old Economist ad.

The ad featured three subscription levels for the title: $59 for online-only access, $159 for paper-only access, and $159 for both readings of the magazine.

Ariely realized that the $159 option to buy the print edition was for one reason. It makes the ability to pay $159 for printing and online then seem more attractive than if it only existed alongside the $59 online version.

In other words, if you're having trouble selling the more expensive of the two products, consider adding a third to your offer. Its task will only be to make a more expensive product seem more tempting against it.

One of the studies cited in the book "You Are Not So Intelligent" showed that participants in the so-called Ultimatum games were more likely to keep more money to themselves by being in a room with a briefcase, leather wallet, and a fountain pen than when they were in the room without these items. Even though none of the participants was aware of it, the objects surrounding them might have made them more inclined to play riskier.

This tactic can potentially be used when you negotiate with someone. Instead of meeting in a conference room, consider making an appointment at a coffee shop. There your interlocutor should be less prone to, for example, aggressive behavior.

2. Mimic other people's body language

The next time you try to impress a manager or someone you feel something for, try to gently mimic the way she sits and talks. This will make her like you more.

Scientists call this the "chameleon effect". It makes us tend to like interlocutors who imitate our posture, manner and facial expressions.

This phenomenon is happening completely unconsciously. Most of the participants in the experiment in which he was tested were unaware that their body language was being mimicked by someone.

3. Speak fast

How you communicate your ideas may be just as important as the essence of your argument. Research suggests that when someone disagrees with you, you should speak faster. This will give your opponent less time to analyze your words.

On the other hand, if the audience agrees with your argument, it is worth speaking more slowly to see how accurately they judge your words.

4. Apply the DTR technique

A technique called DTR is a smart way to get people to collaborate.

One study found that when experiment participants went door-to-door selling cards to charity, the technique helped them get twice as much money. Instead of saying they were selling 8 cards for $ 3, they said they cost 300 cents, which is a bargain.

Scientists say that DTR works because it disrupts routine thought processes. When trying to count how many dollars makeup 300 cents, people's thoughts get distracted. Therefore, they tend to agree with your view that the price is a bargain.

5. Ask for a favor when people are tired

When a person hears a request for help, doubts automatically arise. However, when he is tired and distracted, he will likely be less critical and just agree to what you say.

So if you're going to ask a coworker to help you on a project, it's best to do so at the end of the workday. He may not already realize that he should do something else.

However, make sure to pay back by helping him with his project next time. This way, it won't look like you're trying to take advantage of your hard-working colleagues.

6. Show people a picture of the eyes

One study found that people were more likely to clean up after themselves in the cafeteria when they saw a picture of eyes than when they saw a picture of flowers. The study authors found that eyes are associated with social control.

Whether you're trying to prevent littering or encouraging people to refer back to a book they borrowed from the office library, it's always worth making the impression that they are being watched.

7. Use nouns, not verbs

One study was asked two versions of the same question. The first was "How important is it for you to vote in tomorrow's elections?" And the second was "How important is it for you to become the voter tomorrow?". The results showed that more "yes" answers were obtained for the question that used the noun "voter".

This is probably because people have a need to belong and the use of a noun strengthens their identity as members of a specific group.

8. A slight fear in the form of a joke won't hurt

Research suggests that people who experience anxiety and then relief tend to respond positively to subsequent requests. For example, people who heard an invisible policeman whistle while crossing the street were soon more likely to agree to fill out a questionnaire than people who heard nothing.

This is probably because their brain resources were busy with thoughts of a potential threat and no longer focused on analyzing a simple survey request.

You can try to joke with your colleague a little by reminding him of the project that you want to be ready for today and then adding "Just kidding. It's for tomorrow." And then you can ask him to help you with your work.

9. Focus on what your opponent wants to gain

Research shows that during negotiations it is important to emphasize what the other side gains, not what it loses. For example, if you are trying to sell a car, you'd better say, "I'll give you my car for $ 1000" instead of "I want $ 1000 for my car."

This way, you can persuade your partner to see things from a different perspective. Probably then he will be more willing to make concessions.

10. Make people aware of extreme versions of their views

It seems obvious that if you want to change someone else's point of view, you have to make them say they are wrong. However, when it comes to political issues, the researchers suggest that a less intuitive strategy might work better.

In a 2014 study, Israelis of different political beliefs watched a series of videos depicting the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as a positive experience underlying Jewish identity.

After a few months, it turned out that right-wing Israelis (who generally fear Palestinians more than left-minded Israelis) were more likely to change their political views than right-wingers who watched apolitical videos. It was likely that they would be more likely to vote for more "pro-peace" political parties.

Scientists suspect that this strategy works because it reduces the activation of their human defense mechanisms.

11. Don't be too confident

An interesting 2016 study looked at activity on ChangeMyView, a Reddit-owned forum where people post their opinions and discuss them with others.

The study found that users who added the phrase "It could be a coincidence" when giving their arguments were more effective at persuading others to change their original opinion. The researchers say this was probably because the tone of their statements was softened then.

12. Touching someone on the shoulder influences their decisions

This is a controversial but effective method. A 1991 study found that customers of a bookstore who were greeted with a light touch on the arm of the salesman spent more time in the store and bought more books than those who were greeted without physical contact.

Interestingly, other studies suggest that men who touch a woman lightly on the shoulder are more likely to get her phone number.

13. It's good to tell someone that they don't have to agree with you

It may seem counterintuitive, but reminding people that they don't have to do what you want can, contrary to what you think, can often motivate them to grant your request.

Various studies show that by affirming someone's freedom of choice and action, you can double the chances that that person will do what you expect.

Manipulation is nothing more than behavior that takes advantage of circumstances to gain some benefit. How not to give in to manipulators and recognize their tricks?

The word manipulation comes from the Latin "manipulation", meaning trick. Underneath it is bending reality and using it to achieve goals. It is deliberately influencing the other person and at the same time deprives them of making conscious decisions. Then the manipulator fulfills its purpose.

Each of us is to some extent a manipulator and this does not always mean that he is unethical and toxic - for example, an innocent form of manipulation will be a situation in which a woman arrested for speeding starts to smile beautifully at a policeman. However, today we will deal with the dark side of manipulation and tell you how you can avoid it.

We encounter manipulation in virtually every sphere of life, it is not lacking in relationships, at work and in families. To protect against its toxic effects, it must be recognized and discontinued in time. What signals are worth paying attention to?

How do recognize manipulation?

1. Changing the facts

Manipulators often change their minds, distort the facts, make excuses and at the same time blame others for their failures. Additionally, they show themselves in the light of the victim. When they tell stories, they exaggerate some things and ignore others altogether. Such a procedure is designed to evoke sympathy and force you to do a favor.

2. Self-exaltation

The manipulator starts from the position of the better, which allows him to gain an advantage and take advantage of someone's ignorance, which is why he can use various data, procedures, or rules. You probably won't know much about them and that's what the manipulator is all about. He can use sarcasm and criticism to destroy your confidence. Plus, add judgment, marginalization, and humiliation. If, after talking to him, you feel that you are not good enough, know that he has fulfilled his mission.

3. Lack of time to decide

Even if the manipulator asks you or asks you to make a decision, it will not give you time for it, and that's what it is all about. Builds tension and hopes you will surrender quickly. On the other hand, if you ask him a question, he can ignore it completely and he will do it on purpose to plant doubts and uncertainties in your head that will give him an edge.

4. Double standards

Manipulation is very much like hypocrisy. The manipulator changes his views depending on the situation, so once you can see him eating a cutlet, and the other one how he publicly declares his vegetarianism.

5. Knows how to take advantage of your weaknesses and strengths

Manipulators are often people who conduct conversations in such a way as to get as much information as possible from the interlocutor. Later they use them for their own purposes. At the beginning of a relationship, a manipulator can learn about your dreams of a perfect relationship and assure you that it is their fulfillment, thus gaining an emotional advantage. On the other hand, at work, there may be a situation in which someone knows that, for example, you are not afraid to stand up to your boss and deliberately incites you to bring him up on a topic that is really useful to the manipulator. Then he does not lose anything in the eyes of the superior, and you do the dirty work for him.

Of course, we have not exhausted the signs of manipulation, but you have certainly met a seasoned manipulator on your way, so write us in the comment how you recognized him!

What have the post-apocalyptic films prepared people for? Answer for this and more questions

 These days, post-apocalyptic movies are more popular than ever. Asteroid collapse, nuclear war, zombie apocalypse - all scenarios depicting a new post-apocalyptic world and people forced to fight to survive in a dangerous environment develop our imaginations and, in a way, prepare us for the worst. According to scientists, these films prepared us for the COVID-19 pandemic.

John Johnson, a professor of psychology at the University of Pennsylvania, in collaboration with other scientists, including specialists in the field of horror films, conducted a study involving 310 volunteers who were to complete a specially prepared questionnaire to assess their resilience (mental resilience) of each of them and prepare for the pandemic. They then described their degree of fascination with various movie genres such as horror movies, psychological thrillers, catastrophe and post-apocalyptic movies, science fiction, and comedies.

Participants in this study were also asked to describe, among other things, their past and present experiences with films that were clearly related to the pandemic, and their degree of interest in them. The researchers then analyzed the available data and came to a conclusion after taking into account the personality influences.

It found that people who watched more post-apocalyptic movies, pandemic movies, zombie attacks, and alien invasions were more helpful and better prepared for the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic. The researchers concluded that the films in question could be a mental test.

Of course, not only movies help you better prepare for such events. Books develop the imagination to an even greater extent, while computer games on specific topics can also develop cognitive and decision-making skills. According to John Johnson, the stories in movies, books, art, and games are not only entertainment, but they can also prepare you for life.

The myth that violent video games are the cause of aggressive behavior by children and adolescents appeared years ago. Science has refuted these theses more than once, but in the minds of people who are stunned by television, the correlation between games and aggression always remains "obvious". However, if someone is interested in the true state of affairs, a scientific study has emerged quite recently that leaves no illusions in this matter.

A nearly 10-year study published in the journal Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking found no link between violent video games in childhood and an increase in violent behavior in later years. For the purposes of the study, specialists chose Grand Theft Auto. So, has the game of stealing, shootings, and fights had any effect on the minds of children?

At the start of the study, researchers recruited 500 participants aged around 14. During the trial period, participants completed a survey on the time spent playing GTA. After a decade had passed and all data had been summarized, the participants were divided into three groups. Group 1 only played in childhood and gradually lost interest as she grew up to a certain age; Group 2 played moderately during childhood, and chose such games more often as she grew up; Group 3 hardly played in childhood but began to play more and more with age. Consequently, only group 2 showed any influence on the game, however, it was not related to the level of aggression but rather preferences.

The children in group 1 who spent the most time violent games at an early age showed no significant difference in their level of aggression in adulthood compared to children who played very little. The moderate group, which played consistently throughout adolescence, showed the highest level of aggression, but it was also within the norm. Research shows that violent play early in a child's development does not lead to aggression later in life.

Scientists found that the Earth rotates faster than 50 years ago, and the days are slightly shorter. It is true that the difference is small, but for physicists and programmers, it is quite a problem. It is possible that we will need the so-called negative leap second.

Hundreds of millions of years ago, the Earth made 420 revolutions orbiting the sun. Today our planet makes about 365 revolutions. Part of the impact of slowing our planet down was the Moon, which attracts the Earth's oceans. In the 1950s, atomic clocks appeared that made it possible to measure time without the influence of external factors, such as temperature. However, as time went on, there was a discrepancy between the time of atomic clocks and the time measured by astronomy. It is because of this discrepancy that in 1972 the so-called leap second.

This works similarly to adding an extra day at the end of February every four years to compensate for the fact that the Earth orbits the Sun in 365.25 days. However, the leap seconds are not added cyclically as they depend, inter alia, on the rotation of the Earth and are therefore unpredictable.

Research on the speed of rotation of our planet is carried out by the IERS organization (International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service). When the time traced by the motion of the Earth becomes out of sync with that of atomic clocks, scientists around the world freeze them for one second at 23:59:59 on June 30 or December 31. Thanks to this treatment, astronomical clocks can catch up.

The first leap second was added in 1972. Scientists added them every few years, but the last such operation was in 2016. It has been noticed that the Earth rotates faster than 50 years ago. Meanwhile, researchers assumed that our planet would slow down and, as they admit, they were not ready for such a scenario.

Scientists say that if this trend continues, we will need to take into account the so-called negative leap second. And that means subtracting one second from atomic clocks. For the average person, it will practically have no effect. But it will be a complete novelty that could negatively impact computer systems ranging from telecommunications to navigation.

Religious people are more prone to the benefits of taking placebo medications or medications that promise spiritual and supernatural healing. Recently published research has shown that a placebo can elicit significant brain responses as well as a positive experience of religious belief.

The placebo effect has been used in medicine for centuries. What is it about? There are many different types of placebos with different effects on health parameters. In order to fulfill the assumptions of a placebo, several conditions must be met. The patient must be convinced that he has received the real medicine. Multiple psychological mechanisms are associated with placebo responses. An increase in hope, positive expectations, and a decrease in anxiety can change the attitudes that guide a patient's response to treatment.

This study examined the placebo effect in the context of religious beliefs and practices. Participants were given a harmless substance (tap water) along with a verbal suggestion that the water would come from the sanctuary of Lourdes (a Catholic pilgrimage site with reports of miraculous healings). 37 women took part in the placebo study and believed that the water from the sanctuary of Lourdes had a positive effect on their spiritual, emotional, and physical condition. In one group, participants drank tap water labeled "Lourdes water" (placebo). In another (control) session, they received tap water labeled "tap water".

Participants assessed their physical condition during the experiment and were asked about specific thoughts, feelings, and bodily sensations immediately after each of the two treatments. Placebo decreased rsFC (resting or idle brain activity) in the anterior and parietal cognitive control networks and increased rsFC in the attention network (islet cerebellar junction). During the sessions, participants rated their emotional state as very pleasant and calm. Immediately after the session, participants reported an increase in the intensity of pleasant body sensations and positive emotions (eg, gratitude) after drinking the Lourdes water. These results provide the first evidence that a placebo, in the context of religious beliefs and practices, can change the emotional state and induce real changes in the structure of the brain's cognitive control.