Learning: can being dumber make you smarter?

“Don’t… know… how to… information…” I was sitting under the spring sun the other day, studying, and trying to get a good base tan for the impending skimpy-clothes weather (although I’m 200 years old now, so there’s an inverse relache between skimpiness and self respect at this point). And all I could think of was the above. Actually, that’s a lie. I was thinking plenty. But all I could manage.. Read More

Should we care about human-mice hybrids?

You know, I get that we need to test on animals to find cures for things ‘n stuff. But if we’re gonna carry on with intentionally pumping human level cognitive powers into them, we’d better gear up for an uprising. Somehow, I can’t imagine that when these humanized lab rats I’m reading about find out how shitty we’re treating all the non-humans of the world, they’re gonna be alright with.. Read More

8 things that suck less if don’t quit before 10 minutes.

Ever notice how starting an avoided task – is the harder than doing the task itself? I realized something about that today. Something more concrete – and quantifiable. It dawned on me that whenever I’m prepping to do almost anything I don’t wanna do (from creating to cleaning), there’s a reason for that avoidance. It’s not just laziness. It’s the pain of exercising the muscle of change – almost like.. Read More

Mind over Matthew: post-coma dude thinks he’s McConaughey

You know that moment when you first wake up in the morning and dunno who or what you are? Imagine how much worse it’d be waking from a coma. Sheeeiiit. I’m trying, but I don’t even know what I am at 5 A.M. when I open my eyes after a punctuated slumber. There’s not telling how much worse it’d be if I was waking up from an extended nap after.. Read More

24 year old woman missing part of her brain… finally sees a doctor.

So, this bish was born without a cerebellum (a crucial part of your brain). And she’s just finding out. After 24 years. Not only was talking an issue (she didn’t speak until age six), but she also couldn’t walk until age seven. After that, homegirl must have had some magic ruby slippers for the rest of her life in order to get through it in any ambulatory sorta way ’cause.. Read More

Science says: our brain’s power button’s been discovered

They say that soon we’ll be able to merge our brains with computers. But what if there’s already a built in computer-like component? Like – a power switch that knocks consciousness on and off? Indeed, it may not be long before “… and how does that make you feel?” gets replaced with “Did you try turning it off and on again?” A recent study done at GWU managed to access.. Read More

Brain drilling for depression?

Depressives never feel “whole”. So Dr. Satan’s drilling a hole in their heads – literally. Two to be exact. That’s right. A group of people who’ve waded through decades of the sad-sads (that have failed to abate with therapy and medical treatments) finally felt tortured enough to try anything. Among the “anything” experiments was a fairly recent one in which two thin tunnels were burrowed deep into a part of.. Read More

Your brain on rap

This…is your brain: Eh… That’s not where I was going with this. Buu-uuut… it does help dispel some myths about your “brain on rap” – which does contrarily earn that grad cap. When I was a gangly pre-teen, I remember the parents sitting around at my sister’s basketball games, complaining about their daughters bumpin that “brain rot” in their rooms. And – to be fair – whether the listener gets.. Read More

ASMR – climax of the mind?

I tried, man. So, you might know I love brain hacks. And not just the self-trickery sort, either. I think I even posted an entry about binaural beats not long ago and how they can tune your brain into everything from sleep to caffeine style inspiration. And there’s heaps of other sound styles like those, too. For example – ASMR. Some people (douche residue, I believe they’re collectively called) pronounce.. Read More