Two Random Thoughts

Here are two random thoughts I've had in the past 24 hours that I thought I'd share with you.

1. How amazing is the human brain and its processing power? I was at the grocery store yesterday and had to decide on a body wash for myself. So I stood there smelling each one. It seemed pretty straightforward, right? But in the background, I was also calculating overall price, looking at price per ounce, comparing moisturizing vs every other thing body washes are supposed to do, and then filtering them all through my bullshit meter to get rid of what seemed like marketing (which is most of it).

Of course, scent was the main factor, but all the rest of that was happening as well. Not to mention all the other things that were happening. I was aware of the woman behind me stocking the shelves and self-conscious of my behavior around her, I was paying attention to everyone else shopping nearby, I was following the unwritten rules for society, etc. AND, I was doing a whole bunch of autonomic functions, everything from keeping my heart beating and my lungs moving in and out, to balancing on two feet (which needs constant micro corrections).

Amazing, huh? And we do this effortlessly, really. It's mostly automatic. The only part that's noticeable is smelling each soap and deciding if I like it or not, then calculating the rank in which I like them.

And then, I handle the transaction and interaction with the cashier and drive home! Truly astonishing, isn't it? And we take it all for granted. Which is how it should be.

I was listening to the Skeptic's Guide awhile ago and they had a Science or Fiction item (if I recall correctly) that people are actually remembering less now that we have Google (and other search engines, etc). And it's true, we don't have to remember things like we used to. I for one don't remember anyone's phone numbers anymore. But I do remember my mom's because I learned it before I had a phone that remembered for me. I remember some numbers from when I was a kid, like my grandmother's old number, but nothing current.

The thing is, we're not stupider. In fact, IQ has been rising each decade by a small amount, overall. We just use our minds differently. Now we are masters at finding information, and making sure we can find it again when we need it. So we are better Googlers, basically.

I've also noticed that we all seem to still hold vast amounts of data on what we are passionate about. My husband Butch can rattle off huge amounts of stats on cars, for example. He knows so much about them. He remembers it all effortlessly. But there are other things that don't interest him at all and it won't get saved in his memory. We're all like that. My eyes cross when he starts talking about engine size and horsepower - and I don't remember hardly any of it later, but if I'm walking outside, I somehow know different plants and insects that I didn't even realize I had saved in my mind.

It's just fantastic. Imagine what things will be like in 20 years, or 100, or 1,000!

2. I was reading a book last night and it sparked a thought that I had to write down. Do we need language to think deeply? I think we do. For instance, does increased language help people express themselves more? It would seem so. But does it also help you express yourself to yourself? If you don't have words to describe a feeling or a thought, how can you process that thought? Don't you need some form of language?

I guess it matters on what the thoughts are. If they are about physics, I think you need a way to process your thoughts concretely, through math and language. But if it's a feeling, of course we feel it even if we can't explain it. But are we better served by being able to have words to express it? So if you have a simple language with only a few words to express happiness, for example, you'd still feel deeply, but you wouldn't be able to articulate to yourself or others the depth of your happiness.

But you can express yourself with art (is that also a form of language and communication though?)

And if you grow up in a culture with no math, like some cultures in the Amazon, you would never contemplate physics, at least not like Stephen Hawking does. Right? Or if you did, you wouldn't have any way to share it.

So language is extremely important. Of course, you don't need me to tell you that, I guess. But what about how we express ourselves over time, and how language evolves. It seems that some people use more of it and are growing and expanding, like Stephen Hawking or Neil deGrasse Tyson, for example. While other people seem to want to use less language, shorten words, add new words that are lazier, write in shorthand and text speak.

Does it matter? I don't know. These are just thoughts I wanted to share with you. What do you think?

Thoughts About Memory Recall

Yesterday I had my upper wisdom teeth pulled out and last night as I was trying to fall asleep, I kept going over the experience even though I really didn't want to think about it.

Earlier in the afternoon and evening, I posted on Facebook that it didn't hurt nearly as bad as I was expecting, the noise wasn't as bad as they made it sound like it was going to be, and overall I felt less uncomfortable than I had anticipated. The anticipation was definitely more stressful than the extractions.

It certainly helped that the oral surgeon that did it was patient, friendly, and explained each step before he did anything. There was a study recently that showed that when people are told what to expect they recover faster and have a much better experience.

But last night when I was trying to get to sleep the different moments kept flashing back to me. And here's what I found really interesting, they were getting worse. They were bothering me more as I thought about them. Then my mouth started bothering me more. I could feel it. I was getting creeped out.

This didn't come as a shock to me. I have been thinking about recall and have been wondering if that is often worse than the actual event. Sure, sometimes the event is really horrible. But usually if someone is in a car accident, for example, and it's really bad, they will never recover the memory of the worst of it.

This happened to me when I was 18. I was in a really bad car accident and while there are a few moments here and there that I have a flash of, I can't remember most of it and there's no pain associated with the memory either.

But this dentist experience is the opposite. The surgeon asked me afterwards how the experience was and I honestly said, while I wouldn't choose to do it, it really wasn't bad at all.

Now, I should tell you, I have a real problem with going to the dentist. I don't like any of it. This is what made me start to come to the realization of this recall phenomenon. I was so afraid of dentists that I didn't go to one for 18 years. When I did last year, I remember saying after the cleaning that it really wasn't that bad.

But some time later, my anxiety and dread returned. My memories seemed the same but they became emotionally charged and it seemed like I was distorting them. When I realized what I was doing, I stopped myself, but it was a huge effort to remind myself over and over what I had originally said after the experience. Which is interesting in itself, that I had to remind myself of what I said afterwards to stop the process.

But my mind seemed to want to make it worse than it really had been!

I had another cleaning and some cavities filled and each time I watched myself do the same thing: honestly say it wasn't that bad, then on recall each time it seemed worse. And that's the thing, I wasn't trying to make it worse to get attention or anything. It just seemed worse.

Fascinating, huh? Why would my mind do this? Have you ever done it (if it's possible to recall accurately now)? What are your thoughts on the matter?

 

Imagination and Creativity

People generally feel they are creative or uncreative. But all of us use our imaginations all the time. So what are these things and can science explain them? Recently I've come to realize that there are things that I take for granted that religious people find completely mysterious, and therefore only God could make them happen. A lot of these mysteries are about the mind. Some examples are morality, love, compassion and imagination, among many others.

(as an aside, and if you're interested, a topic for later could be justice and fairness. I have found a huge difference between how I see them and how religious people see them.)

As a naturalist/atheist/skeptic/science lover, while I don't understand the physics, mechanics, biochemistry and biology of the workings of the brain, I understand that the mind is what is active in the brain. That's not the best wording, but basically the mind is just  the brain, but I think of it as RAM whereas the physical structure of the brain is more like the Hard Drive. If you have a better analogy, please share it. They are one and the same, essentially. Your mind is not separate from your brain.

Imagination: the ability of forming mental images, sensations and concepts, in a moment when they are not perceived through sight, hearing or other senses. Imagination is the work of the mind that helps create. Imagination helps provide meaning to experience and understanding to knowledge; it is a fundamental facility through which people make sense of the world, and it also plays a key role in the learning process.

Creativity: 1. having the ability to create. 2. characterized by originality of thought; having or showing imagination. 3. designed to or tending to stimulate the imagination.

So we all use our imaginations every time we have a thought that creates something in our minds that is not perceived through our senses. Like pink elephants with emerald green polka dots. If you can see them standing on top of each other in your head right now, you are using your imagination.