All you need is love....or not....

Unfortunately, there is no such thing as love (according to science)

This is the result when you get a crossover between something that everyone feels on what could best be described as a metaphysical level, and the need for science to quantify any phenomenon that they think can be measured; and that result is very unsatisfying.

I like the science and I find it completely fascinating and cool to see how they have drilled down into the biology of it all, but it just feels that there is still something missing. But, that is what you get for siding on the "mysterianism" side of things.

Summary of the Free Will debate

I know that I post a lot about this subject, but it is just so fascinating to me to see the interplay of experimentation, theory, philosophy and culture all crashing together in one spectacular mess.

This article is one of the best summaries of the whole subject I've seen in a while.

The article tends to side with the "you don't have free will" side, or at least prefers the experimental evidence for that side to the mere criticism of the opposite view. But that's kind of the whole point - you can generate experimental evidence that can defined very narrowly, but that doesn't necessarily mean that they apply broadly. But to get experimental evidence on the broad scale you introduce too many variables and it becomes a nightmare for analysis. 

I have had discussions with people who have criticized me for making larger inferences based on similar states. For example, I have been harshly criticized for suggesting that there might be mechanisms in the brain that can create an addiction to pornography which might be similar to the addiction mechanisms identified for substance abuse. Their beef with me was something along the lines of "science doesn't work through supposition - only experimentation." My counter argument was that I wasn't suggesting it was a fact, merely asking the question so that it could be subjected to experimentation. But apparently I am an idiot for suggesting that people could be addicted to pornography. 

This is the same argument in reverse in regards to free will. People are seeing suggestions via data and applying it to a much broader field (cognition). I don't see how you can refuse to go from specific to general in one area, but then do the exact opposite for another area. I'm not saying that it can't possibly be true (that we don't have free will) - I'm just saying that the evidence has been gathered from far too narrow of a slice of the cognitive picture to really make any broad conclusions.

Online education for free - and for credit!

I have been fairly up-front in the past that I in no way predict an e-learning revolution or even the death of the "brick-and-mortar" class. Our infrastructure is simply too embedded and there is too much investment both physically and culturally in our physical institutions. However, as e-learning matures it will become a more prevalent and accepted part of our education panorama.

Universities to offer free courses for credit

I think people forget sometimes just how new the internet is. There are a number of industries that are still trying to find their way through the maze of electronic delivery. Online shopping is probably the most mature of the current models, but even that isn't really up to speed yet. You still get a lot of people that will go and "shop" at a store and try things on, then go order it for cheaper online. This is an unsustainable model in the long run, but enough people are still invested in the physical act of shopping that it is still a viable model. Another example is modern media such as television and newsprint. They are both trying really hard to figure out how to use the technology to create good content while still generating profit. Some of their ideas have worked well, others have not. Education is no different. Some efforts work pretty well, others haven't. As with the other industries, predicting the "death" of an industry or a "revolution" is really more of a "call to arms" for the enthusiasts to keep pushing the envelope. Traditional services feel threatened by the new opponents and they circle the wagons and try to defend their position. Eventually the two sides learn how to play along, but it takes years and the eventual form of the system is far different from what you could have predicted early on. 

This is the template for all of human change.

Mind over Perception

I recently posted about how perception may be influenced by culture, well, how about an article on how you may be able to override your physical limitations and see better by believing you can?

This is a serious thing, by the way. There are even websites devoted to re-training your brain so that you don't need glasses or contacts. There is some empirical evidence to suggest that it works quite well for some people.

I wish I was one of them.

Body motion and memory

If you don't doodle, then how about dancing? Learning through self-directed interpretive dance would probably work pretty darned well come to think of it. Anyway, body motion can affect memory and emotions as well.

Atheists are a smug bunch

Okay, get ready to read some serious baloney: Why atheists are more intelligent than the religious.

He's got a great graph there, but I'd be very interested to see how the sample was selected, the specific ages of those tested and what the IQ rate was once the individuals reached adulthood. There is also the question of what measure of IQ they used and how it was administered. That is a pretty serious gap that needs to be accounted for.

One other thing, the author bases all of his reasoning on evolutionary psychology - you couldn't think of any other mechanism for why the gap exists? And are you really correlating "not religious at all" with atheism? Not exactly the same thing.

"Common sense" isn't common at all

I could do this all day. 

I love posting articles that show how irrational our brains are. This fantastic article points to a trio of rather well known and experimentally proven cognitive bias and frames them in terms of our general weirdness with our decision making ability.

If I could just get people to understand that in reference to human judgement there simply isn't a right or a wrong answer. There is only an answer that you arrive at based on your personal criteria. That is it. A majority of people may agree with your criteria, that still doesn't make a thing right or wrong - it just makes it an agreed upon decision. 

How do you smell?

No commentary necessary, just a great video on how your sense of smell works.

This is your brain on music

Excellent article hitting the highlights of what happens to your brain when you listen to music. I've posted at least one other article on this if I remember correctly. That doesn't make the subject any less cool or fascinating.

I wonder if they have any studies on seeing your brain while you create art like painting, drawing or sculpting. I would also love to see a study on what goes on while dancing.

The classroom of the future

They are on the right track here as they discuss various items concerning the classroom of the future. The only problem I see with it is that they are trying to define the classroom of the future using the technology and the paradigms of today. I would say they are describing the classroom of the near future that they think would be cool, which is fine. Personally I don't see much change at all in the classrooms of 90% of America in the next 10 or even 20 years. There is too much embedded infrastructure that is too difficult and costly to bypass. Our schools are what they are and any change will occur at a glacial pace.

Want to learn faster? Start doodling!

This article on how doodling helps you learn faster is pretty good. It makes all kinds of sense as well as long as your doodling is related to what you are learning. You end up engaging more cognitive and physical resources so your are processing the information on more levels. That is a good thing.

Information vs. Ideas

For all you cognitive scientists out there, and all you linguists and semanticists: Information and Ideas are not the same thing

Jazz and Rap on the brain

I've posted about this previously, but here is another great article on how we are learning more about creativity by looking at the brains of Jazz and Rap musicians.

The Cingulate Cortex

Here is your brain anatomy lesson for the day: The Cingulate Cortex

Tips for adult learning

I work in education as an instructional designer, so I work with adult learning every day. I have learned this stuff a million times over, and yet....I'm still not sure that there is a reasonable distinction between adult learning and learning for any other age group. You still have to base the learning on the experience and development of the learner no matter what the age group. Still, these are handy tips:

10 Tips for adult learning

Color perception - is it cultural?

I find this endlessly fascinating. So, is color perception (or any perception for that matter) innate or is it enhanced or even determined by culture? If something as seemingly basic as color perception - which seems to be entirely in the realm of physics and not in the realm of mental skills - can be affected by cultural mores, what does that say for the rest of our perception? What about hearing, taste or smell? Can you even begin to think of experiments that could test that? When you begin to explore the implications it is pretty staggering, assuming this is a real phenomenon and not just an artifact of language that we're not quite able to define.

There is additional research that indicates that this effect occurs with at least one and possibly more tribes located in the Amazon basin, but, there again, there is debate over whether or not this is a true effect in our ability to perceive or just an artifact of language and the ability to translate concepts.

Do People Always See the Same Things When They Look At Colors?:

Weight loss without thinking?

Now this is an interesting line of research. All individuals interested in the "magic bullet" for losing weight, pay attention!

Mindless eating: Losing weight without thinking:

PS: There is no such thing as a magic bullet.

Boosting your willpower

Another interesting tidbit from the "tips and tricks" file

How You Can Boost Your Brain's Willpower with a Simple Working Memory Exercise:

Take a break when studying

I preach this to my students all the time. Take breaks - especially at the interval of your attention span, but certainly when you switch subjects. You have to give your brain time to cycle between subjects.

Take a 20 Minute Break Between Subjects for Better Memory Retention:

How to help your child pay attention

For all you parents of young kids out there:

8 Practical Pointers to Help Your Child Pay Attention | World of Psychology:

Your brain on hypnotism

A very misunderstood topic, primarily because it is so ridiculously misrepresented in the media and especially in TV series and movies.

BPS Research Digest: The hypnotised brain:

Punishing correct answers

This article has me recalling the opening scene in Ghostbusters when Bill Murray is shocking another student to try and enhance his psychic ability, and it appears to work, but Bill is only concerned about getting together with the hot student.

I'm sure that says something about me, but I'm not sure what.

BPS Research Digest: Improving people's memory by punishing their correct answers:

Priming - a curious case

Cognitive priming can be very effective - assuming it is used effectively.

Priming Revisited | Why We Reason:

Sleep for college students

Sleep is a good thing. Getting enough of it is a better thing.

Sleep can boost classroom performance of college students:

More here: College students sleep longer but drink more and get lower grades when classes start later:

Gaming and the brain

This site where this link is housed is devoted to "brain training" via games, which is not really supported very conclusively in the current research, but the benefits for training and learning in general (not of improving cognitive skills) is a pretty clear benefit and I'm always supportive of any initiative that is looking to find better ways to utilize new and better methods and tools for education.

Serious Games: Developing a Research Agenda for Educational Games and Simulations | SharpBrains:

Preventing mental decline

Here is some news you can use. Never stop learning and growing. Never stop being social and never stop moving. Even if cognitive decline and dementia are genetically inevitable, your quality of life will be improved.

USC: Active social, spiritual and physical life helps prevent health decline in seniors:

If You Feel Compelled to Act, Hesitate First

More from the "tips and tricks" file.

If You Feel Compelled to Act, Hesitate First:

How humans use language

This article speaks to a number of relevant issues in both psychology and computing. I have maintained for a very long time that true Artificial Intelligence is not likely in my lifetime, if ever. We simply lack the understanding of what intelligence actually is, much less how it is achieved - even in the simplest of organisms. Chomsky's comments and the analysis thereof in this article are both an excellent way to point out just one small aspect of how our minds work and how remarkably distant we are from achieving a true understanding of just that one aspect.

Conscious Entities » Blog Archive » Lies, damned lies, and statistics:

Humans are not rational

This ins't so much an article as a report on a talk by Peter Ditto. It is an excellent presentation of one of the core elements of being human - we are emotional. Emotion drives more of day to day behavior than we can possibly understand from a personal perspective. We are simply NOT rational or logical beings. It is not even clear that such a thing as logic can exist when it is created, governed and manipulated by human brains.

Just because it’s “moral” doesn’t mean it’s “right.” | PsySociety:

Disbelieving Free Will Makes Brain Less Free

I've pointed to articles similar to this in the past. I find it very interesting that by supposedly freeing us from the illusion of free will the proponents of that viewpoint actually restrict our perceived freedom. there are also other cognitive costs for a strong belief in a lack of free will, but, as I said, I've listed those articles previously.

Disbelieving Free Will Makes Brain Less Free | Wired Science | Wired.com: