Axis Mundi X discussion

from Scientific American:

"In the hit movie Slumdog Millionaire, the star answers game show questions correctly based on his life experiences. At least one right answer, however, is a lucky guess. But maybe the guess wasn’t so lucky. Maybe his brain actually knew the answer—even though he didn’t realize it.

That’s what scientists at Northwestern University are saying about so called lucky guesses. They published their research online in the journal Nature Neuroscience.

Study participants were shown brightly colored pictures. They had to memorize half. While viewing the other half, they had to concentrate on remembering a spoken number. So they were distracted. Later, they were quizzed on all the images. Surprisingly, they were more successful at remembering those images that they only paid half a mind to. Not only that, but they were more accurate when they said they were just guessing. The researchers say their visual systems stored memories quite accurately, even when the participants weren’t paying attention. And that what we call intuition, some of those gut feelings we get, may often be based on good information."

I have long suspected this... pretty cool that it's now being proven!

See! I TOLD my quiz night team that my hunches were good but would they listen??!!

Have they figured how to tap into information we vaguely absorb? We seem to be recording devices.

that would be cool. download our secret information we don't even know we have?? oh I'm so incorporating that into my novel.

Charissa wrote: "that would be cool. download our secret information we don't even know we have?? oh I'm so incorporating that into my novel."
Maybe we have photographic memories and we record all that we come in contact with. A helper or a device might assist in the absorption and configuration of needed data. A thumb drive maybe?

Wow... this makes a lot of sense for me. I seem to do better at remembering when I don't work at it. I always had that 'freeze-during-tests' syndrome in school, but in normal conversation I can come up with the weirdest minuscea (argh... I can never spell that!).

Sadly, this works for my throwing things as well. If I aim at something with concentration it will hit a mile away, but if I sorta half-look at my target and just randomly throw it will hit dead on. This has been tested numerous times on my hubby with crumpled up balls of tin foil or erasers, and once with a green pepper at my bro-in-law (he deserved it). Think there is some kind of pattern here? LOL

it's that whole zen thing, sherrie. there are books written about such things. the most famous of which is "Golfing in the Kingdom". It's that way with me and bowling as well. Lots of sports people talk about it. Being in the Zone.

We did some testing around it in my graduate program. The difference between performing under timing and without. Using our intuition vs linear mind. Not very surprisingly I function better when I am in kairos time.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kairos

I so agree, I love the brain. I'm even reading a cool book, A User's Guide to the Brain Perception, Attention, and the Four Theaters of the Brain, which explains so much but in a way even I could understand. :D

Ooh, Kairos. That's awesome! That may have to be my new word for the day.

LOL "kind of a build your own head kit"
I love that!

I know... we have the ability to change our own brains, if we can figure out how to do it. I keep staring at my broccoli trying to make my brain think its chocolate. So far, no luck tho.

Absolutely! I love good ol' JC.

I guess I tend to just take on what resonates with me and let the rest go. But, I get what you mean. JC was one of the first I read when I was exploring the world after leaving my parents' church, so his ideas really helped to open my mind to possibilities. I latched on to the idea of seeing myth as necessary in a culture, but that it also could be bridged with other cultures as well. i.e. That there isn't necessarily One Right Way to believe.

Ugh... and I really don't like sandwiches all that much. :D

I spent the first few weeks of motherhood watching Joseph Campbell's lectures on video... I don't remember what the series was called, but there was hours of it. It totally saved my life. I was so incredibly bored as a new mother (I know that sounds horrible, but there is nothing less intellectual than caring for an infant). Watching those tapes while I breast fed my daughter fed my brain in ways that were crucial.

I suppose those tapes were partially responsible for my decision later on to go back to college. So he gets a lot of credit in my book.

I'll bet it was The Power of Myth documentary that is shown on PBS periodically. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0296362/

That was one of my first exposures to him as well, and I loved that series. It really changed my world.

I like Teaching Company, too. Tho it's been a while since I've listened. The History of the English Language, and the History of Music (?) were both excellent.

I get through laundry by watching my husband do it. (He gets through cooking by watching me do it.) I get through cleaning by putting $ in an envelope. I weed by writing a monthly check. In a way, things get easier when you get old.

It was definitely the Power of Myth that he was lecturing about, Sherrie... but it wasn't the one with Bill Moyers interviewing him. It was just him giving lectures and showing slides at some woman's college on the east coast. Brown or something.

Love the History of the English Language. Especially the part in the Appalachians. Har, Flar, Over thar. Hee!!

I haven't heard of The Teaching Company. I'll definitely check that out. The other one I love is Nova. It brings out the geeky side in me while folding underwear & cursing unmated socks.

Maybe we should all write a compendium of Intellectual Housekeeping.

Step One to Intellectuals Keeping House: Resist setting fire to your home in order to avoid doing dishes and laundry.

omg, I'm exactly the same way. Sometimes in order to clean I have to redecorate. Drives my daughter insane. She hates change. But now that we've moved into this new place I have only been rearranging the livingroom furniture. Everything else stays where I put it the first time. Last time I moved furniture I told her next time she could arrange it where she wants it. Of course it has stayed where it is now... that's how much she hates change. LOL

I have been tempted to set my stuff on fire more than once. In fact, one place I lived many years ago I started chucking the dirty dishes out the back door into the compost heap if they were too nasty to deal with. HA HA HA HA. I'm such a total oakie.

That is exactly where I'm at right now. We are really trying to move out of state and we have a whole storage unit packed with our stuff. I would love to just hold a unit sale & get rid of it, except it has a few things I want to hold on to so I have to go through it. So far, I've not made a dent.

Why is it sooo hard to get motivated to clean stuff out? I know I'll feel much better when I do.

When I got married the first thing I told my hubby was I am NOT a Domestic Goddess. And, I've held to that pretty damn well. ;)

A year and a half ago we moved from a large house where we'd been for 35 years to a small house. It was a soul-lightening experience. All those things I thought I had to have. I don't miss a single thing.

That is sage perspective indeed Ruth. I keep trying to figure out why I thought I needed to hang onto the stuff I have in a storage Pod that I haven't needed for the past 4 years. Maybe I didn't actually need to hang onto it after all.

Yea, I think it's time for a 'soul-lightening experience' (I like the sound of that). I've been reading a book about Clutter & Feng Shui (Clear Your Clutter With Feng Shui) and it's making me realize that I really need some new space in my life.

Step Two to Intellectuals Keeping House: Ignoring the dust-bunnies does not make them go away & makes you have sneezing fits. I'm totally allergic to dust but can't seem to even remember to dust enough that it counts as ignoring. Maybe I'm in denial.

I always wanted to design and build a self cleaning home with water proof walls and floors and run off gutters and drains, and then a sprinkler system. Once every few days you could put away your stuff into water proof drawers and turn on the cleaning system which would just spray down the entire house. No need to vaccume and dust.

I realize this is probably impractical, but it makes me feel better to imagine it.

mmmm.... iron beds with chipping lead paint. yummy.

Charissa, I think your idea is brilliant. And, you could hook up the jacuzzi to it and have a margharita while soaking, all at the same time!

or dance in the rain!

Sherrie, every idea that Charissa comes up with is brilliant.

Oh yea... I forgot. Because she's Brilliante! (Gotta say it with the accent)

Almost as good as losing your cell phone and finding it... wait for it... in your jeans pocket, which you are currently wearing.

Isn't that close to Idiot Savant? I think I relate.

This is for you, Charissa. I also got rid of much the artwork I'd done over 30 years. I only kept what I thought was the very best work. I thought it would break my heart, but it made me freer.

I have, however, regretted getting rid of this. I thought it was too big for this small house. But there's a huge empty wall that looks across the room toward the ocean and this would have been perfect.



It's 6 x 10 feet, muslin and acrylic on unstretched canvas.

Ooh, that is beautiful. Well, maybe you can bring something similar back in your life since you've done so well with cleaning everything else out. Good Karma! ;)

Gorgeous, Ruth. Love the gradations in that color!

Gorgeous Ruth!!!! Oh I LOVE that!!!! Reminds me of something my daughter did when she was five in our bathroom. She painted squares of cotton gauze with watercolor paints and stuck them to the bathroom mirror with water like a giant quilt. It was wild. I like yours better though, cuz it's that lovely color of sea foam.

Larry, you can blow smoke up my ass any time you want.

I'm brilliant all the time, Bunny. Especially when I'm screwing up brilliantly. Or being a brilliant asshole. If I were developmentally disabled, I'd be the most brilliant retard in the state home.

::::trips over her own feet and falls down the stairs::::

::prepares to blow a large volume of smoke::

If I were developmentally disabled, I'd be the most brilliant retard in the state home.


That almost made me snort water out of my nose!