In 1998,
This man
Explained everything the public would need to know about the science behind that dress in this book
But I guess that doesn't really matter now.
Saturday, February 28, 2015
Concerning that blue dress...
With regards to the blue dress that has everyone's ignorance hijacked,
In 1998,
This man
But I guess that doesn't really matter now.
In 1998,
This man
But I guess that doesn't really matter now.
Wednesday, February 25, 2015
First there were brains then there were minds.
People with damaged parietal lobes have been indispensable for scientists in understanding the visual system of the brain. In the book The Mind's Past by Michael Gazzaniga (Gazzaniga, 1998), he explains that the most interesting discoveries gleaned from these patients is that the conscious mind only gets a few kernels of the visual information that the brain receives. In other words, what we consciously experience with our eyes is only a percentage of what our brain experiences. Clever experiments illustrated in chapter 3 of the book expose this phenomenon, for example causing a physical stimulus on the finger that is so short (we're talking nanoseconds short) that the conscious mind is never made aware of it yet it is registered in the brain.
What I want to do is think of possible purpose for this. What advantage would the brain have at limiting our conscious experience? In a process of understanding this same question, scientists have come to label the conscious mind as being governed by an attentional system in the same way the brain is governed by a neuronal system. Taking the common idea of attention and turning it into an entire system is an ingenious idea. It allows for an entire slew of questions. What are the laws the govern this system? What is it's purpose? etc. It also allowed me to see the mind and brain as two completely different devices, both governed by different laws and with different purposes.
Here is how I define the two.
The brain is much to busy to deal with our conscious experience. It has so many other jobs to take care that are all of equal importance to our survival e.g. breathing management, heart pumping management, balance management etc. The mind came about as a way for the brain to defuse it's responsibilities - whatever the body needs to be aware of on a conscious level, the brain allocates all the necessary information to the mind and the mind takes care of translating this information into language our consciousness can understand. This doesn't end up being all of the information we receive via our senses, only a fraction. So as the experiment mentioned above illustrates, our brain clearly doesn't think a physical stimulation that lasts only nanoseconds is important enough information to pass onto our mind and therefore we are never made consciously aware of the entire thing. I liken it to a computer. Within a computer there is a CPU and there is RAM. The CPU, like the brain, takes care of everything going on in your computer, even all the things you cannot see on your screen. The running of the fans, the automatic updates, power allocation etc. The RAM, like the mind, is only concerned with what your attention is currently engaged with - what you can see on the screen at any moment. Although the computer receives a ton of information, you are made aware of only that which is relevant to your current attentional needs.
This is the difference between the brain and the mind in I love knowing this because it begs the question, what if we could be made aware of some of these information our brain doesn't think our mind needs? What if we could consciously tap into this information? What kind of world would we experience?
What I want to do is think of possible purpose for this. What advantage would the brain have at limiting our conscious experience? In a process of understanding this same question, scientists have come to label the conscious mind as being governed by an attentional system in the same way the brain is governed by a neuronal system. Taking the common idea of attention and turning it into an entire system is an ingenious idea. It allows for an entire slew of questions. What are the laws the govern this system? What is it's purpose? etc. It also allowed me to see the mind and brain as two completely different devices, both governed by different laws and with different purposes.
Here is how I define the two.
The brain is much to busy to deal with our conscious experience. It has so many other jobs to take care that are all of equal importance to our survival e.g. breathing management, heart pumping management, balance management etc. The mind came about as a way for the brain to defuse it's responsibilities - whatever the body needs to be aware of on a conscious level, the brain allocates all the necessary information to the mind and the mind takes care of translating this information into language our consciousness can understand. This doesn't end up being all of the information we receive via our senses, only a fraction. So as the experiment mentioned above illustrates, our brain clearly doesn't think a physical stimulation that lasts only nanoseconds is important enough information to pass onto our mind and therefore we are never made consciously aware of the entire thing. I liken it to a computer. Within a computer there is a CPU and there is RAM. The CPU, like the brain, takes care of everything going on in your computer, even all the things you cannot see on your screen. The running of the fans, the automatic updates, power allocation etc. The RAM, like the mind, is only concerned with what your attention is currently engaged with - what you can see on the screen at any moment. Although the computer receives a ton of information, you are made aware of only that which is relevant to your current attentional needs.
This is the difference between the brain and the mind in I love knowing this because it begs the question, what if we could be made aware of some of these information our brain doesn't think our mind needs? What if we could consciously tap into this information? What kind of world would we experience?
References
Gazzaniga, Michael S. (1998) The Mind’s Past, chapter 3 and 4. University of California Press. ISBN: 0-520-21320-3
Tuesday, February 24, 2015
No wonder Darwin liked them islands
I just found out that Greenland has the highest suicide rate in the world, and on top of that the most among teenagers. I then found out that the majority of Greenland's existence has been simple - hunting, fishing, living from hand to mouth. It wasn't until the end of the 20th century did the suicide rate increase. Why? And why mostly among the youth? It didn't take long for my brain to think about something else that also gained popularity near the end of the 20th century - the internet - before I had a working theory in my head. Greenland was simple until Denmark tried to make it modern in the 50's. Greenlanders at that time were ok with the change into modernization, all it probably meant was more conveniences so they could continue doing what they had been doing their entire life - hunting and fishing. Even the children born during the 60's, 70's lived a life consistent to their parents because modernization didn't also include globalization as it does today. Then comes generation X. As they are growing up, a modern technology called the internet also grows up. These children are the first of their kind to see what Mommy and Daddy do, see what their community is like, and thanks to the internet, be able to compare it to the rest of the world in a way that is much more powerful than simply looking at a magazine or watching a movie. But it still isn't as bad as
generation Y. Just look at any teenage counterpart in your immediate surroundings to understand the vice-like grip technology has on their attention and developing mind. Imagine this similar engagement, but on a mind that lives in a village where the only hope for anyone is to continue to hunt and fish.
generation Y. Just look at any teenage counterpart in your immediate surroundings to understand the vice-like grip technology has on their attention and developing mind. Imagine this similar engagement, but on a mind that lives in a village where the only hope for anyone is to continue to hunt and fish.
Saturday, January 3, 2015
How Our Brain "Trims the Fat"
In the book “The Mind’s Past” by Michael S. Gazzaniga, in chapter 2 the author is discussing how the much of the brain’s growth is dependant on interaction with the environment and simple mandate from the genome. Near the end of the chapter the author talks about how neurobiology has deepened this curiosity with the discovery of “a tremendous overproduction of cells during cortical development”.
Monday, December 22, 2014
When is comes to memories of the past I gotta get Buddhist on your ass.
Every memory is composed of two parts:
- What happened in reality.
- How you felt about what happened in reality.
It happens all too often that we let how we felt about our past memories or how we feel about our future experiences ACTUALLY DEFINE WHAT WE THINK HAPPENED.
When you experience something, you are NEVER experiencing what ACTUALLY HAPPENED. That is impossible. Your emotions won't allow for it. Monks have been trying to do it for generations and look at the extremes they have had to gone in the process.
(despite what you may believe, this an old photo of an ex-Catholic, currently practicing Buddhist monk. It is NOT a photo I stole from an online costume shop.)
You are only experiencing your emotional interpretation of what happened. It is that emotional interpretation that lingers in your mind years later when you try to recall that experience.
For example,
I had a past altercation with my wife.
In this altercation, my wife offers me a piece of advice. I do not accept the piece of advice because I do not see it's relevance. Months later, my idea about that piece of advice changes and I communicate to my wife how I feel. Instead of rejoicing in the unity of our minds, my wife is frustrated with me. Not because I accepted her piece of advice. Not even because I didn't accept it months ago. She is frustrated because it reminded her of how she FELT when I didn't accept her piece of advice months ago. The feeling was the defining aspect of that past experience and therefore became her memory. My wife is a very open woman. She loves diversity. She loves discussion. She would never turn down an opportunity to fuck shit up with questions, yet in her mind of our past experience there was not a memory of "James disagreed with me" as that memory would bring feelings of joys upon its recollection when I tell her that I finally agree with her because she enjoys discussion. My wife's emotions defined what actually happened so that something she enjoys (discussion) in so many other circumstances was redefined as something she does not enjoy because she had a negative emotion attached to it....and that memory lingered on in her mind for months.
Now, I fully admit that the way in which I disagreed has a HUGE part to do with the negative emotion she attached to the experience. I mean there is a huge emotional difference between this type of disagreement and this type. But once again, the way in which I do things and the way in which she interprets things HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH WHAT HAPPENED IN REALITY - a disagreement.
It is letting emotion define our experiences that cause us the occasional confusion of liking something in one context only to hate the exact thing in another context.
It is letting emotion define our experiences that causes the common human to take a couple decades to become fully independent.
It is letting emotions define our experiences that can cause two people who were present for the exact same thing, at the exact same time, to differ so greatly in how they recall the details day/months/years/minutes later.
It is letting emotions define our experiences that causes us to be original.
It is letting emotions define our experiences that causes us to stand out from the crowd.
It is our emotions that define each individual us.
It is the lack of knowing when to let our emotions define our experiences and when not to that will keep us from improving our emotional maturity.
And it is the lack of emotional maturity that keeps humans from becoming more human.
- What happened in reality.
- How you felt about what happened in reality.
It happens all too often that we let how we felt about our past memories or how we feel about our future experiences ACTUALLY DEFINE WHAT WE THINK HAPPENED.
When you experience something, you are NEVER experiencing what ACTUALLY HAPPENED. That is impossible. Your emotions won't allow for it. Monks have been trying to do it for generations and look at the extremes they have had to gone in the process.
(despite what you may believe, this an old photo of an ex-Catholic, currently practicing Buddhist monk. It is NOT a photo I stole from an online costume shop.)
You are only experiencing your emotional interpretation of what happened. It is that emotional interpretation that lingers in your mind years later when you try to recall that experience.
For example,
I had a past altercation with my wife.
In this altercation, my wife offers me a piece of advice. I do not accept the piece of advice because I do not see it's relevance. Months later, my idea about that piece of advice changes and I communicate to my wife how I feel. Instead of rejoicing in the unity of our minds, my wife is frustrated with me. Not because I accepted her piece of advice. Not even because I didn't accept it months ago. She is frustrated because it reminded her of how she FELT when I didn't accept her piece of advice months ago. The feeling was the defining aspect of that past experience and therefore became her memory. My wife is a very open woman. She loves diversity. She loves discussion. She would never turn down an opportunity to fuck shit up with questions, yet in her mind of our past experience there was not a memory of "James disagreed with me" as that memory would bring feelings of joys upon its recollection when I tell her that I finally agree with her because she enjoys discussion. My wife's emotions defined what actually happened so that something she enjoys (discussion) in so many other circumstances was redefined as something she does not enjoy because she had a negative emotion attached to it....and that memory lingered on in her mind for months.
Now, I fully admit that the way in which I disagreed has a HUGE part to do with the negative emotion she attached to the experience. I mean there is a huge emotional difference between this type of disagreement and this type. But once again, the way in which I do things and the way in which she interprets things HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH WHAT HAPPENED IN REALITY - a disagreement.
It is letting emotion define our experiences that cause us the occasional confusion of liking something in one context only to hate the exact thing in another context.
It is letting emotion define our experiences that causes the common human to take a couple decades to become fully independent.
It is letting emotions define our experiences that can cause two people who were present for the exact same thing, at the exact same time, to differ so greatly in how they recall the details day/months/years/minutes later.
It is letting emotions define our experiences that causes us to be original.
It is letting emotions define our experiences that causes us to stand out from the crowd.
It is our emotions that define each individual us.
It is the lack of knowing when to let our emotions define our experiences and when not to that will keep us from improving our emotional maturity.
And it is the lack of emotional maturity that keeps humans from becoming more human.
Tuesday, December 9, 2014
Listen to your Heart - It will give you the most up-to-date truth
"Holding your poop in doesn't give you hemorrhoids, trying to push out the piece of poop that decided to not come out because you held in your poop is what gives you hemorrhoids."
This was the revelation that occurred after my most recent poop that shook me to my childhood.
A little backstory I believe is at hand.
When I was a little cub scout, I was on a mountain retreat with my friend Ben Richards, skipping rocks by at a lake. I shared with Ben a pickle - I needed to poop but I wanted to continue skipping rocks by the lake. Ben's advice stuck with me to this day, "James, if you hold your poop in you will get hemorrhoids". I wasn't scholarly about hemorrhoids as a child, I just knew enough that I didn't want them and this was enough to get me to the latrine in seconds.
Jump cut to a couple hours ago, Tuesday Dec. 9th, 2014, 7am. I am sitting at the kitchen table writing a different blog post. Suddenly I feel the pangs to relieve my bowels. Due to the lapse of 20 years, the words of wise Ben were not fresh in my mind and I continued to ignore my intestine for the sake of my thoughts. Eventually the body always wins and I find myself on the pot with a cute PLOP!
"A cute PLOP?!?", I wonder to myself, "I know there was much more in there than one plop."
"Oh well, the tummy is a mysterious thing", and I wiped 3 times up and once down before returning to my computer and my prior thoughts.
Jump cut to right before I started writing this blog post. I have just finished writing and published the blog post from this morning when a similar pang for poop strikes again. Now, I am quite familiar with my bowel movements so I know when they are abnormal, and 2 movements in one day is incredibly abnormal....unless (as I tip my detective's cap) the contents of the first movement weren't fully removed.....due to (as I grip my bubble producing pipe) my holding it in when it really wanted to come out!!!!!! (Cue childhood shattering revelation)
Thank you childhood Ben for giving me the truth circa 20 years ago, and thank you brain for updating it for me.
Thursday, December 4, 2014
Video Games: I think it is about time for another crash.
My view of video games is similar to my view of humans. Throughout the life of a typical human, there will be ups and downs. Food, graduation, marriage, and poop are all typically defined as ups with their counterparts typically defined as downs. If you looked at typical human life as it would be depicted on a line graph, it might look something like this:
(please excuse me, I don't know how to make a line graph, so I thought I would make a GIF, but then I realized I haven't figured out how to make a GIF yet so this is a video of me trying to be a GIF....being line graph) :
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