Archive for July, 2005
Learning Without Thinking
Thursday, July 28th, 2005
A new study confirms that humans possess the ability to learn without remembering that we learned. Neuroscientists thought that this ability may had been “evolved” past–left behind with the chimps and gorillas. (Click on the title for the link to www.Nature.com)
As the most sophisticated mammals on this big blue marble, it would stand to reason that while we have higher functioning, we retain more rudimentary functioning. In this case, amnesiacs were taught a task and “remembered” it after weeks of doing it over and over even though they didn’t know how they knew it. Make sense?
It does to me. If you think about babies and their ability to learn, it seems that a vast majority of their learning is through repetition of tasks that get hardwired–no memory of the learning required. For example, most babies learn to put one arm through a shirt hole, then another, then the legs, etc. They are not “remembering” the task through: let’s see, first the left arm, then the right arm, then the left leg. They just do it–habit after days and days of mama putting one arm then the other arm then the head in the shirt.
By constrast, my child who has autism never learned ANYTHING in this manner. My sister marvelled because her son was 8 months and “helping” her dress him. At five years old, my son still had to be told the process. Then around seven he consciously learned: first I put my head through, then I put one arm through, etc. He had to “memorize” a system. It now occupies the space in his brain that memorized “steps for the potty”, “steps when I go to school in the morning”, “steps after dinner”, “steps to draw a face”. Not very efficient.
Is the problem, then, with his temporal lobe therefore no memory? Is the problem his frontal lobe, therefore no executive functioning? Is the problem the part of the brain that “knows” without conscious memory of learning? Maybe all of the above.
To me, learning without remembering learning equals survival. It must be a form of learning that happens simultaneously with “declarative” learning (remembering when you learned) that gets hard-wired. This learning could be a form of internal back-up. You may be conked in the head but still be able to perform basic tasks. How elegant and efficient. Humans were designed very well, indeed.
What Would Rich People Do?
Thursday, July 28th, 2005Between Lance Armstrong bracelets and Satan is a Nerd t-shirts, religion is big down here ya’ll. BIG. So, in the spirit of when in Rome, I am adding a new feature to my blog: What Would Rich People Do? (A variation on What Would Jesus Do?)
This thought occurred to me when we moved to a more refined area and people did not leave their garbage cans out for 48 hours before putting it away. We were not in Kansas anymore.
First post: I’m quite sure a rich person would not bend at the waist and looking gleefully at his wife to expel 30 seconds of methane.
Rich people don’t fart.
Long Posts
Thursday, July 28th, 2005I have decided that long post are boring. I shall write shorter posts henceforth.
Things That Bug Me
Wednesday, July 27th, 2005- The word luxe
- The people who use the word luxe
- Cell phones. I prefer the good old days of the pony express–the message had better be important to go through the trouble
- People who refuse to wear deoderant as a political statement
- People who refer to their crappy furniture as “pieces”
- Cold water that shoots out before hot water during a shower
- Slow elevators. I got to the top of the Empire State Building in less time it takes to go up one story to the office (yes, I should take the stairs but the kids like pushing the buttons, okay?)
- 80 year old women with boob jobs. Super freak.
- 55 year old pregnant women. Double super freak. Do these people realize that running around with kids is hard work?
- Models who say they stay thin by “chasing their toddlers” Pshaw! Right! I can chase mine all day and maintain my frumpy figure.
That’s it for today.
Hormones Manipulate Behavior
Wednesday, July 27th, 2005
The hormone oxytocin when sprayed nasally makes people trust others more with their money, so say Swiss researchers in the journal Nature (www.Nature.com). Oxytocin, the hormone that causes uterine contractions and ultimately helps expel baby from mommy, controls lactation and mediates that “bonding” feeling.
When a close friend of mine decided to have her dim-bulb future ex-husband at her birth even though they were separated, I knew they’d get back together. Oxytocin in strong enough doses would make women bond with tree stumps if they happen to be present in the birthing room. Oxytocin is the hormone, if you need further convincing, that causes the mom to exclaim, “He is so beautiful!” when handed her pointy headed, blood-covered and squished newborn. Sure he’s beautiful mom–in an ugly kind of way.
So now, a new field, neuroeconomics seeks to exploit this connection. How about perfumes sprayed through air-handling systems at the local Dillards (www.Dillards.com), or McDonalds (www.McDonalds.com) where there would be more smelly competition or how about The Mirage in Las Vegas (www.Mirage.com)? Scary huh?
Walking through the perfume department, you talk to a sales lady who says, “Why not try the perfume? That’s right, honey take a big whiff.” “Why thank you,” you say. After smelling it you say, “I don’t like the perfume, but what else do you have?” A whoosh of biochemistry later you buy $500.00 worth of cosmetics (wait, I have friends who already do that) and just feel warm and fuzzy about the whole experience especially about “that nice sales lady.”
Don’t think this won’t happen. It will. But will it really work? If they get it all right enough, I’d say very possibly, yes.
Wicked Problems
Wednesday, July 27th, 2005
An interesting theory about solving “wicked problems” and why so little gets done in a business day.
It ignores the stuff that often torpedos real accomplishment: emotional baggage. So many of us are attached to a certain outcome because of past losses, disappointments, etc. that we lose the forest for the trees. Multiply that by a team of twenty, oh boy! It’s a miracle anything ever gets done.
Post Secret
Tuesday, July 26th, 2005How many secrets do you have? Yeah, I have a bunch, too. Go to this site and find out you’re not alone.
Better Investors are Brain Damaged
Tuesday, July 26th, 2005
A recent study found that people with brain damage where emotion centers were impaired averaged 13% more returns than emotional-normal investors.
Risk-aversion (therefore survival) may be a trait of the mentally healthy, but seems also to give you less bang for your investment buck. Could being a “heartless” trader (not traitor) actually be a benefit? The answer, superficially, appears to be yes.
Why would this be? Many emotions factor into investing: fear of losing, fear of failure, inability to trust information, institutions or people making recommendations, desire to get at least some return (the something is better than nothing theory), previous loss sensitation (people are pain averse and more pain actually sensitizes you, rather than de-sensitizes you to it), and there are probably more emotions I’m not thinking of here.
Bottom line, when to buy and sell is complicated neurobiology. The chemical soup that sways our emotional states affect our decision making and in almost every other study I’ve read have been beneficial to our success rather than a detrimant. This is encouraging because it calls into question the idea that robots will take over the world.
But the researchers on this study say something different (for what it’s worth, a recent study published in the latest Journal of American Medical Association said that 30% of research articles published are directly contradicted!). They say that lack of emotion (which some equate with logic and I vigorously deny that false assumption) relates to higher risk-taking and less remorse over losses thus the ability to get back in the game.
Perhaps emotionally-normative people can step back and act brain damaged. If we choose to jump back in the game, recognize a loss for the bump in the road it is and hang with a winner long after all sense would say “sell”, maybe we’ll up our profits, too.
Then again, maybe not. Why don’t you run an experiment and try this theory out? Let me know if it works.
Kid Hating: A Popular Sport
Tuesday, July 26th, 2005
While some talking heads lament a child-centric society, evidence strongly suggests the opposite is true. Just try carrying a purse and a four-month-old baby down the isle of an airplane toward the plebe class and you’d know what I mean. The normally Godless heathens shut their eyes reverently and silently mouth the words, “Please, God, don’t let her sit next to me, please God don’t let her sit next to me.” If they close their eyes long enough, see, maybe I’m not really there.
My kids travel like pros. They are quiet and well-behaved. I water, feed and toilet them before boarding. They are instructed in no uncertain terms to refrain from kicking the seat in front of them. When my daughter inadvertantly bumped the seat in front of her to get her headphones, the woman in front of her gave her husband a knowing glance, “See, I told you they were miscreants.” And then she settled into a smug slumber. My urge to bump her chair for the rest of the flight was stopped only by the infant on my lap.
People pay lip-service to liking kids, but really hate them, not so deep down. Restaurants are made so inhospitable to children and families it is laughable. The few 3-star restaurants around here (no 5-stars, but boy do they take themselves seriously) don’t even have changing stations. Here’s the message: children do not belong in this establishment even if their father is Midas, himself. A mother with a nursing infant surely would not want to take a plane trip, eat a good meal or otherwise enjoy something adult-centered. Why no! She must be punished for being obviously woman and stay locked in her domesticity until the child is school-aged or otherwise properly incarcerated.
And yet, I understand the other side. Two rows ahead of me coming back from Chicago was a family of three thoroughly rotten girls. The youngest, a two-year-old, stared the entire flight over her chair at the charitable people in front of me. Her stupid mother sat next to her oblivious and probably relieved not to be dealing with her little cherub.
While I love my children, I don’t expect anyone else to admire their obvious charms. I also don’t give a baboon’s red behind about anyone elses’ kids either. Please just sit still, be still and make some attempt at civility.
My experience has been that good kids are the majority, not the minority. Rarely you’ll have the temper-tantruming toddler who is over-tired and over-wrought. He is so loud and nerve-fraying that he drowns out all the sweet little voices and happy attitudes of his tiny peers. In fact, I’d say that the ratio of irritating children roughly equates the ratio of irritating adults, the common trait being that they all believe they are the center of the universe.
All people, including (this is shocking) children, have bad days. But the complete avoidance of discipline nor moderate encouragement of decent behavior gives parents who do try and children who are troupers bad names.
Back to the other side now, a little sense of humor, world-perspective and patience wouldn’t hurt superior jet-setters (some of whom must have terrible gastro-intestinal distress or bladder insufficiency, so often do they bumble to the bathroom). Do all you sophisticates forget that you were once a snotty little kid? Or did you find that stage of your life so contemptable that you feel the need to take out your hostility on the rest of the ankle-biting world?
Child-friendly facilities would be nice. Child-friendly people would be better. It would be nice for a mom travelling with kids to get at least a little break. Parenting is hard work. Travelling is challenging in the best of circumstances for all ages. A little slack would be nice.
Kidney Stones: Natural Prevention
Monday, July 25th, 2005
A loyal reader of this blog, you know who you are (all three of you), said that a friend suffered from kidney stones and requested that I write about some preventative steps for this painful affliction. Kidney stones are considered one of the most excruciating pains that exist in the body and demand immediate attention as everyone knows who has been unfortunate enough to experience one.
First, to debunk a myth: eating too much calcium (in supplement or food form) causes them. Not so. In fact, kidney stones are often a sign of insufficient calcium. This is why: the blood tightly regulates calcium because the heart needs a precise amount to keep working (ever heard of Calcium channel blockers?). Too much or not enough causes problems.
The problem, when people don’t get enough calcium in their diet, is that the body breaks down bone (osteolysis) to liberate the calcium needed to regulate muscle function, including and especially the heart. This process works but is somewhat inefficient. The body breaks down too much and the kidneys are left with filtering it and getting it back into the bones or excreting the excess. Over time, this can cause stones.
Other substances can cause stones like magnesium, ammonium, uric acid, etc. One theory put forth is that some little bug (nanobacteria) causes them. Fine.
Now, what to do about this? There is an especially good diet that is easy to follow that has you avoid foods like peanuts, red meat, turkey, soda, and a few other foods you wouldn’t think of. More importantly, the diet offers meal ideas for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks, but it is too extensive to list here. If you want the diet, email me with a fax number and we’ll send it to you.
People given to stones should drink lots of water but usually drink soda. Coffee and wine actually help get rid of kidney stones so drink and enjoy.
In Chinese Medicine, the kidneys hold the life force energy and certain emotions relate to this organ system. If your stress state includes emotions like fear, dread, bad memories, impending doom, and contemplation, you may be stressing your kidneys. Secondary emotions, often affecting the bladder, include paralyzed will (can’t do something you want to do), miffed, timid, inefficient, wishy-washy, comme-ci comme ca but most importantly suspician. I find suspician often involved with chronic bladder infections.
People with kidney problems might want to consider “going with the flow” and identifying what is “pissing them off”. Some view kidney stones as hardened anger. Also, consider career problems or other fears about “where am I headed?”
Finally, go to the chiropractor and ask to have Thoracic vertebrae 1, 5 and 8 adjusted. Getting the energy flowing always helps!
