Tag Archives: the brain

Brain of Destruction: The NFL and Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE)

The Frontline teaser: ___________ Link to the full documentary: http://video.pbs.org/video/2365093675/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=pbsofficial&utm_campaign=fron_covefullprogram

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A Mind-Blowing Thought Concerning the Evolution of Animal Awareness

According to Discover magazine, the physicist Andrei Linde is reported to entertain a mind dependent cosmos: [C]onsciousness may be a fundamental component of the universe, much like space and time. He [Linde] wonders whether the physical universe, its laws, and conscious … Continue reading

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“Cool Braining” Should Be The New Phrase For Yawning

Or, perhaps, “empathy enhancing.” __________ I take from the above video that maybe “hot heads” should not just count to ten in an effort to not blow up at other people, but perhaps try yawning (“cool braining” or “empathy enhancing”) … Continue reading

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People Are A Bit Stupid, Aren’t They?

I’m trying to get my head around two facts. The first one is the phenomenal horsepower underlying the human brain: The human brain contains roughly 100 billion neurons. Each of these neurons seems capable of making around 1,000 connections, representing about 1,000 … Continue reading

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Neurons That Fire Together Wire Together: The New York Times Says 8 Weeks of Meditation, 30 Minutes a Day, May Change the Brain

More study is needed (obviously), but the New York Times, in its Health section, has a startling article on meditation’s apparent ability to literally change how the brain wires itself up, and that after only 8 weeks of very modest (30 minutes a day) meditation … Continue reading

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Consciousness Explained: Spatial Awareness, Time Awareness, Self Awareness, Death Awareness, and Free Will

Below is an excellent BBC documentary on the self and free will. I especially like what Gordon Gallup says at the 11:48 mark: Death awareness is the price we pay for self awareness. If you only have time for a … Continue reading

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Think Mind Wells, Not Oil Wells: Is Where You Live a Brain Drain or a Brain Collector?

If you want to be hopeful about the human future (including America’s), think about this: free minds and strong exchange economies are positively correlated. It’s not that there is a one-to-one relationship between them, but wherever you have free minds the odds are good, … Continue reading

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Daniel Dennett v. David Chalmers on consciousness (with Terence McKenna putting in his two cents)

Daniel Dennett deflates consciousness here: __________ David Chalmers inflates it here: __________ And Terence McKenna takes some DMT to break the tie, struggling to share in words, to the uninitiated, the qualia that accompanies ingestion of the chemical.

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Quote of the Day (and Funny)

From David Berlinski’s book, The Devil’s Delusion: Atheism and Its Scientific Pretensions (Basic Books, 2009, 16-17): Why should a limited and finite organ such as the human brain have the power to see into the heart of matter and mathematics? … Continue reading

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What I Think about Near Death Experiences (NDEs)

For the past couple of weeks now, I’ve been reading and thinking about NDEs as a phenomenon, and if I were forced to bet, I think that the near death experience is real. In other words, it’s probably more than … Continue reading

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