Put on your thinking cap when you visit CITB - here you'll find Concepts, Ideas, Thoughts and "Outside The Box" thinking, plus we call Bullsh!t for what it is. Enjoy the ride, and if we stimulate your brain, please tell others about us!
Posted by Thom Byxbe | Under Concept, Thought
Tuesday Mar 18, 2008
I have long believed in the mind body connection. I have noticed recently more and more stories like the one below. Often these type of stories just scrape the surface in an attempt to not offend common current thinking. This story was published by the Telegraph.co.uk which bills itself as "Britain's No.1 quality newspaper website". While I have used excerpts from this story to make a larger "Thought Provoking" point, I have included a link to the entire story.
A woman claims to have undergone a complete "personality transplant" after receiving a new kidney.
Cheryl Johnson, 37, says she has changed completely since receiving the organ in May. She believes that she must have picked up her new characteristics from the donor, a 59-year-old man who died from an aneurysm.
Now, not only has her personality changed, the single mother also claims that her tastes in literature have taken a dramatic turn. Whereas she only used to read low-brow novels, Dostoevsky has become her author of choice since the transplant.
Academics in America have developed a theory called cellular memory phenomenon to explain the personality changes that are allegedly experienced by some transplant recipients.
Cellular memory is the hypothesis that such things as memories, habits, interests, and tastes may somehow be stored in all the cells of human bodies, i.e. not only in the brain.
Examples include a Massachusetts woman with vertigo who became a climber; a Milwaukee lawyer who began eating Snickers, having always hated chocolate; and a seven-year-old girl who had nightmares about being killed after being given the heart of a murdered child.
However, the only case recognised by the scientific community is that of a 15-year-old Australian girl whose blood type changed following a liver transplant.
Body memory is a belief that the body itself is capable of storing memories, as opposed to only the brain. It was cited by some to explain certain claims of having memories for events where the brain was not in a position to store memories.
IS YOUR BRAIN REALLY NECESSARY?
By Richard Milton
Alternative Science
Is your brain you really necessary? The reason for my apparently absurd question is the remarkable research conducted at the University of Sheffield by neurology professor the late Dr. John Lorber.
When Sheffield's campus doctor was treating one of the mathematics students for a minor ailment, he noticed that the student's head was a little larger than normal. The doctor referred the student to professor Lorber for further examination.
The student in question was academically bright, had a reported IQ of 126 and was expected to graduate. When he was examined by CAT-scan, however, Lorber discovered that he had virtually no brain at all.
Instead of two hemispheres filling the cranial cavity, some 4.5 centimetres deep, the student had less than 1 millimetre of cerebral tissue covering the top of his spinal column. The student was suffering from hydrocephalus, the condition in which the cerebrospinal fluid, instead of circulating around the brain and entering the bloodstream, becomes dammed up inside.
Normally, the condition is fatal in the first months of childhood. Even where an individual survives he or she is usually seriously handicapped. Somehow, though, the Sheffield student had lived a perfectly normal life and went on to gain an honours degree in mathematics. This case is by no means as rare as it seems. In 1970, a New Yorker died at the age of 35. He had left school with no academic achievements, but had worked at manual jobs such as building janitor, and was a popular figure in his neighbourhood. Tenants of the building where he worked described him as passing the days performing his routine chores, such as tending the boiler, and reading the tabloid newspapers. When an autopsy was performed to determine the cause of his premature death he, too, was found to have practically no brain at all. Do you need your brain? Professor Lorber has identified several hundred people who have very small cerebral hemispheres but who appear to be normal intelligent individuals. Some of them he describes as having 'no detectable brain', yet they have scored up to 120 on IQ tests.
Later in that post was this:
One of the few biologists to propose a radically novel approach to these questions is Dr. Rupert Sheldrake. In his book A New Science of Life Sheldrake rejected the idea that the brain is a warehouse for memories and suggested it is more like a radio receiver for tuning into the past. Memory is not a recording process in which a medium is altered to store records, but a journey that the mind makes into the past via the process of morphic resonance. Such a 'radio' receiver would require far fewer and less complex structures than a warehouse capable of storing and retrieving a lifetime of data.
CITB EDITOR'S NOTE:The name Dr. Rupert Sheldrake may sound familiar to CITB readers. It is Dr. Sheldrake that is directing the experiments detailed in our post titled Do You Have Telephone Telepathy?
As I stated at the start of this post, my intent was to make a larger "Thought Provoking" point, and here it is...
To see the potential in this story requires one to do some "Outside The Box" thinking. This is something that I feel it is our duty at CITB to encourage. This story does not require a quantum leap of logic - it just requires you to see possibilities until more scientific data can be gathered. But, of course, such a crazy idea couldn't possibly be true, could it?
CITB Quote of the day: "Success is a journey, not a destination. The doing is usually more important than the outcome." - Arthur Ashe
Posted by Thom Byxbe | Under Concept, Idea
Sunday Mar 9, 2008
How many times have you wished that you could just connect your computer directly to your brain. Imagine if you had a "Brain Port" that you simply plugged into your computer. Think how fast you could finish that report for work. Think how wonderfully productive you would be. Well your dream connection is one step closer to reality. Three companies are in the final development and initial production stages of bring you a "Mind to Computer" interface.
It's Game On for OCZ Technologies, NeuroSky, and Emotiv
OCZ Technologies is not the first to experiment with direct mind control as an input device for the PC and gaming platforms. They may be first to actually bring a "brain mouse" to market. It's called the "Neural Impulse Actuator", or NIA for short. Two competitors, NeuroSky and Emotiv, are preparing to release their own brain-controlled mice. So, it is "Game On" for all three players in this long fantasized about peripheral market.
OCZ's "Neural Impulse Actuator" Brain Mouse
The OCZ Technologies device makes use of a combination of EEG readings, muscle, and eye movement to control a given application. Currently, the applications are primarily games. However, you'll need a powerful PC, as the NIA has been designed specifically for multi-processor systems. The "Neural Impulse Actuator" brain mouse will not come cheap. Announced pricing is around $300 when it launches in the near future (it's currently in production).
The NIA is calibrated to deal with individual user physiology. You put the device headband around your head at temple level. The calibration GUI allows you to calibrate each of the input types - muscle movement, brain waves, and glandular levels.
For muscle movement input the NIA tracks forehead muscles and those around your eyes. When properly calibrated, these facial muscles provide almost effortless directional movement that is smoother than a keyboard.
Both Alpha and Beta brain waves are monitored by the NIA and assigned multiple inputs. In gaming these inputs are useful for operations like changing weapons. By utilizing what has been dubbed by its creators as a "Tourettes impulse" it has been demonstrated that you can raise beta waves to a high enough plateau to switch guns. The final input channel is glance (eye movement). This is useful for directional movement.
When OCZ releases the NIA, it appears it will be a functional and practical option for gamers looking to "mentally" one-up the competition. Additionally, the NIA can act as a sports and mental conditioning tool. It can help you monitor your brain's alpha and beta wave levels during meditation and visualization. OCZ points out that this makes the device not only good for fragging your friends, but also for visualizing and subsequently beating your friends in tennis, soccer, or any other competitive activity.
Communication between human and machine has always been limited to conscious interaction, with non-conscious communication - expression, intuition, perception - reserved solely for the human realm.
Emotiv Systems device allows players to manipulate the game world utilizing only their mind. Named EPOC , the device functions very much like an EEG. It has the ability to pick up on the subtle electrical impulses the brain fires off. To pick up or move an object on screen, the user need only visualize the act they wish to perform in order to make it happen.
The company has demonstrated that users could also make objects disappear with a simple thought. Much like OTC's device, the EPOC headset detects not only the emotional state of the wearer but also the facial expressions. The headset's sensors are designed to detect conscious thoughts and expressions as well as "non-conscious emotions" by reading electrical signals around the brain. MSNBC interviews Don Clark (Wall Street Journal) about Emotiv
“Being able to control a computer with your mind is the ultimate quest of human-machine interaction” - Nam Do, CEO of Emotiv.
Reserve a Emotiv EPOC
Soon Emotiv will begin shipping the EPOC neuroheadset. As with all hot new products, initial supplies will be limited. To ensure that users can be guaranteed delivery of the EPOC, Emotiv is allowing consumers to reserve one to be delivered before the product arrives in retail locations. These limited edition neuroheadsets will be shipping in late 2008. If you don't want to miss out on being one of the first to experience the first direct human-computer interaction you can reserve your EPOC neuroheadset here! Emotiv is only able to accept reservations for customers in the United States.
NeuroSky's Wearable Technology
The last century of neurological research has demonstrated that brainwaves of different wavelengths can be indicative of unique emotional and mental states, like a focused awareness, a meditative state, or drowsiness. Brainwaves have been used in medical research and therapy for years. Now NeuroSky is bringing this neurological research to consumers.
What makes NeuroSky different from its competitors is in their focus. Unlike OCZ and Emotiv, their primary focus is not gaming. NeuroSky has developed a non-invasive, dry, bio-sensor family of products. Their wearable technology translates your mental state into digital signals for a variety of Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCI). The ultimate purpose of NeuroSky is to build core bio-sensor technology. They are focused on providing the necessary tools to enable others to develop entirely new realms of consumer and industrial products.
The ThinkGear-EMTM provides the newest and most powerful EEG-based features for consumer and industrial applications. Based upon their original ThinkGear platform, which operates in conjunction with dry electrodes, NeuroSky's second generation ThinkGear-EM offers cost and wearability improvements from its earlier cousin due to better optimization of components and physical size reductions.
eSense-EMTM (Algorithm Library)
The eSense-EMTM translates the brainwave signals (EEG) into different mental state levels, for example, Attention and Meditation. These mental "algorithms" must be tested over a wide population, and under different environmental conditions, to work across a wide spectrum of individuals and locations. The eSense-EM is delivered fully-embedded within the 3V ThinkGear-EM . The results of the eSense-EM Library are passed through the output data stream of the ThinkGear-EM to the end-platform.
MindKit-EMTM (SDK: Software Development Kit)
The MindKit-EMTM is NeuroSky's second generation development tool. MindKit-EM is a PC-based development platform used to extract, filter and amplify brainwave (EEG) signals and convert that information into digital mental state outputs for Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) applications. MindKit-EM can be used for monitoring and analysis of human brainwaves, mental training for the development of consumer and industrial end-applications.
MindSetTM (Commercial Neural Headset)
The MindSetTM is the first commercially available, "consumer-ready", brainwave-controlled headset for the mass consumer market. Utilizing NeuroSky's fully-embedded, ThinkGear-EM technology, which manages the brainwave acquisition and interpretation chores, the MindSet communicates equally well with game consoles, PC's and mobile platforms, including cell phones. The MindSet is currently available to NeuroSky's OEM customers only.
"You mean you have to use your hands? That's like a baby's toy." - Back to the Future Part II - 1989
The Future Is NOW!
At CITB our slogan is "We Call Them As They Are" and this story is the kind we LOVE. This story is about products we have always dreamed would become reality. We applaud these innovative companies, and hope that the marketplace will support them also. Ultimately, it will be the quality of the products that they bring to market that will make or break them. CITB believes that more of this kind of "out of the box" thinking is needed. These companies prove when you Get Your Mind Right... Your Cursor Will Follow...
CITB Quote of the day: "Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds!" - Prophet Mohamed (c. 570 Mecca - June 8, 632 Medina)
People who know my writings are well aware that I am not a fan of IDIOT television. Please understand I am NOT anti-television. I am NOT a snob who only watches PBS and the BBC. I am not an arrogant intellectual who only watches C-SPAN and the National Geographic Channel.
I find value in SOME reality television. Not the kind that locks 10 people in a house and watches from hidden cameras to see who is the most disrespectful, which "contestant" has the least principles, who lacks the most manners or who has no values or moral code. I am a fan of reality television that inspires, or demonstrates the ability to succeed against all odds and lift up the human condition.
I am fundamentally opposed to sitcoms and other types of programming with foolish, idiotic, senseless, inane and salacious story lines. I am opposed to television that re-enforces the concept that John and Jane Average are: Absent-Minded, Absurd, Brainless, Brash, Careless, Carnal, Crazy, Delirious, Demented, Dense, Desperate, Disconnected, Dull, Empty-Headed, Flaky, Flighty, Foolish, Forgetful, Hasty, Hopeless, Imbecilic, Impetuous, Inattentive, Inconsiderate, Inconsistent, Insignificant, Irrational, Irresponsible, Loose, Mindless, Moronic, Negligent, Oblivious, Pointless, Preposterous, Rash, Reckless, Ridiculous, Scatterbrained, Senseless, Shortsighted, Sloppy, Stupid, Thoughtless, Trivial, Uncaring, Unconcerned, Unintelligent, Unobservant, Unreasonable, Unstable, Unwise, or Violent.
I attribute the NUMBING DOWN of America to the mindless, value-impaired, consumption-driven TV programming that America's media giants are bringing into our lives and those of our children. This is done simply to obtain more and more advertising dollars no matter what the cost to the basic human fabric of our society. We are seduced into a trance-like state by subliminal manipulation. Commercial messages tell us that if we use "Spackle Brand" toothpaste we will lose weight, instantly become more confident and popular, we will become the perfect Mom or Dad and using "Spackle" to brush our teeth will drive men and women wild with sexual desire.
This mind numbing blight of "lowest common denominator" drivel is an atrocity and morally it is just plain WRONG! It is a travesty of the human spirit when business sells our souls to the highest bidder.
Right now I'll bet you are asking yourself "I wonder how he really feels about it?"
Having defined my position on what is wrong with television today let me tell you there is hope! There are programs being produced today that allow you to become mentally and emotionally involved in a healthy, productive way. They take you on a thrilling introspective journey in the same way a great book draws you in. Weekly dramas and mini-series that portray real life experience
These shows let you sit at the sidelines of life and become a "Monday Morning Quarterback" calling game winning plays with uncanny accuracy. They allow you a sky box view of real world challenges. This is television at its best. Television that for a brief moment allows you to live vicariously. You can experience life's lowest lows as well as life's highest highs from the safety of your armchair.
Television provides a safety net not available in the real world. You remain detached enough to not be permanently scarred when you make a wrong choice, and you WILL make wrong choices. We know with our knower it is a make-believe world yet we work through the twists and turns of the plot and experience it as if it were real. Sometimes, most of the time, it effects us in ways we find hard to admit even to ourselves.
Every once in a while something happens that can change the course of destiny. Every once in a while something truly amazing happens...
A moment in time takes place where possibility meets choice. Where opportunity meets responsibility. A life juncture when a path is followed or denied. Divine inspiration is given - the opportunity to change lives presented. A script writer can choose to respond to the gift being given to him at that moment. A director stands at the precipice of choice, deciding how to present the story. The result of these choices will either be more mediocre television or a story that ignites man's spirit and guides him to his destiny. Every once in a while that writer, that director, chooses to follow the guidance of an unseen hand. In doing so they take you on a journey that will change you forever.
In that one moment something magical happens...
"Change. We don't like it. We fear it, but we can't stop it from coming. We either adapt to change or we get left behind. It hurts to grow, anybody who tells you it doesn't is lying, but here's the truth... Sometimes the more things change the more they stay the same. And sometimes, oh, sometimes change is good. Sometimes change is everything."
- Dr. Meredith Grey "Grey's Anatomy"
EPISODE: A Change Is Gonna Come (2007 - Season 4, Episode 1)
All of a sudden that program you are watching becomes the moment - the moment when you know that in your life "A Change Is Gonna Come..."
CITB Quote of the day: "The individual desires judgment. Without that desire, the cohesion of groups is impossible, and so is civilization." - Morpheus
Posted by Thom Byxbe | Under Idea, Thought
Wednesday Feb 27, 2008
Remember the film of the Hindenburg disaster? Even if you are much too young to have been alive when it happened, you've doubtless seen the dramatic (and tragic) newsreel footage. After seeing those images in their local theaters (back in the days before television, when you got to see the news in motion pictures before you saw the feature film), an awful lot of people decided that there was no way in hell they wanted to travel by Zeppelin. And, since there were alternatives (planes, which might crash but at least didn't put one in the position of having to choose between being burned alive or jumping to one's death), the Zeppelin all but disappeared. Which, in a way, is a real shame, because it was probably a much more elegant way to travel (no, I am not old enough to remember).
Anyway, my point is that a dramatic video can bring out the worst in people's fears. Today we have companies wanting to put wind turbines along the shore of Lake Michigan, and of course there is local opposition. Well, just wait until that opposition sees this video from Denmark:
Now, I'm not saying that wind power is totally dead - I'd love to see any type of energy production developed that doesn't involve the use of petroleum or other fossil fuels. But, I have to tell you, I'd rather live next to a nuclear power plant than in the shadow of one of these wind turbines (not that living next to either would be my first choice). I can see all sorts of problems with those massive blades whirling in the wind, and the video just confirmed my suspicions that things can go very wrong. This video will probably be played at every local council meeting where the idea of putting wind turbines near residential areas is being explored.
As an aside, why isn't anyone exploring the use of wave energy in Lake Michigan? On the west side of the lake, we have gentle waves even on days when the wind is relatively calm, and when the wind kicks up a bit there is a massive amount of energy in those waves. And, anything that captures the energy in the waves probably isn't going to throw huge chunks of metal into someone's home (I suppose it could happen in a really nasty storm, but the probability is seriously low, and a large log or other chunk of driftwood could probably cause similar damage). I know, there are probably a three or four months where the lake is frozen over to the point that there are no waves, but still, for the other eight or nine months of the year - and particularly during the summer, when air conditioning usage is high - I suspect that a significant amount of power could be derived from wave energy!
On Fridays I post something fun. Why? Because you deserve a reward. We call it our TGIF Post.
The last post in our TGIF series was “29 Completely Useless Facts!” The response was great! We came up with a few more assorted “Data Points.” Some call it trivia - I like to think of it as fun facts that are "Brain Builders." The perfect synaptic workout before the weekend.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Remember to print this post and share it with the kids. You’ll be a hero, and they will WOW and amaze their friends.
77 Human Body Facts!
The shark cornea has been used in eye surgery, since its cornea is similar to a human cornea.
The number one cause of blindness in adults in the United States is diabetes.
The eyeball of a human weighs approximately 28 grams.
The eye of a human can distinguish 500 shades of gray.
The cornea is the only living tissue in the human body that does not contain any blood vessels.
The conjunctiva is a membrane that covers the human eye.
Sailors once thought that wearing a gold earring would improve their eyesight.
Research has indicated that a tie that is on too tight can increase the risk of glaucoma in men.
People generally read 25% slower from a computer screen compared to paper.
Men are able to read fine print better than women can.
Close to fifty percent of the bacteria in the mouth lives on the surface of our tongue.
You have approximately 9,000 - 10,000 taste buds; however, they're not all on the tongue. Some are under the tongue; some are on the inside of the cheeks; some are on the roof of the mouth. Some can even be found on the lips; these are especially sensitive to salt.
85% of the population can curl their tongue into a tube.
In a month, a fingernail grows an eighth of an inch.
People who have a mouth with a narrow roof are more likely to snore. This is because they have less oxygen going through their nose.
While sleeping, one man in eight snores, and one in ten grinds his teeth.
It takes food seven seconds to go from the mouth to the stomach via the esophagus.
In one day, a human sheds 10 billion skin flakes. This amounts to approximately 4,5 pounds in a year.
Every square inch of the human body has about 19,000,000 skin cells.
Every hour one billion cells in the body must be replaced.
The small intestine in the human body is about 2 inches in diameter, and 22 feet long.
The human body has approximately 37,000 miles of capillaries.
The aorta, which is the largest artery located in the body, is about the diameter of a garden hose.
The adult human body requires about 88 pounds of oxygen daily.
An average women has about 17 square feet of skin. When a women is in her ninth month of pregnancy she has approximately 18.5 square feet of skin.
The width of your arm span - stretched out - is the length of your whole body.
Women hearts beat faster than men.
Three years after a person quits smoking, their chance of having a heart attack is the same as someone who has never smoked before.
The human heart weighs less than a pound.
The human heart can create enough pressure that it could squirt blood a distance of thirty feet.
The first recorded open heart surgery was performed by Dr. Daniel Hall Williams in 1893.
Scientists have discovered that the longer the ring finger is in boys, the less chance they have of having a heart attack.
The right lung of a human is larger than the left one. This is because of the space and placement of the heart.
The human heart beat roughly 35 million times a year.
In a lifetime, the heart pumps about one million barrels of blood.
In 1967, the first successful heart transplant was performed in Cape Town, South Africa.
People that suffer from gum disease are twice as likely to have a stroke or heart attack.
Most heart attacks occur between the hours of 8 and 9 AM.
The human heart beast roughly 35 million times a year.
At one time it was thought that the heart controlled a person's emotions.
The smallest bone in the human body is the stapes bone which is located in the ear.
There are 54 bones in your hands including the wrists.
The only bone fully grown at birth is located in the ear.
The human face is made up of 14 bones.
If an identical twin grows up without having a certain tooth, the other twin will most likely also grow up with that tooth missing.
Humans are born with 300 bones in their body, however when a person reaches adulthood they only have 206 bones. This occurs because many of them join together to make a single bone.
Gardening is said to be one of the best exercises for maintaining healthy bones.
Enamel is hardest substance in the human body.
Although the outsides of a bone are hard, they are generally light and soft inside. They are about 75% water.
Adult human bones account for 14% of the body's total weight.
1 in 2000 babies are born with a tooth that is already visible.
Fingernails grow nearly 4 times faster than toenails!
The strongest bone in your body is the femur (thighbone), and it's hollow
In the United States women are twice as likely to be diagnosed with depression than men.
The human brain has about 100,000,000,000 (100 billion) neurons.
Of all the oxygen that a human breathes, twenty percent goes to the brain.
People who ride on roller coasters have a higher chance of having a blood clot in the brain.
Once a human reaches the age of 35, he/she will start losing approximately 7,000 brain cells a day. The cells will never be replaced.
It is not possible to tickle yourself. The cerebellum, a part of the brain, warns the rest of the brain that you are about to tickle yourself. Since your brain knows this, it ignores the resulting sensation.
A women from Berlin, Germany has had 3,110 gallstones taken out of her gall bladder.
In America, the most common type of mental illness is Anxiety Disorders.
Your brain is 80% water.
Your brain is move active and thinks more at night than during the day.
The smile is the most frequently used facial expression. A smile can use anywhere from 5 to 53 facial muscles.
The slowest growing finger nail is on the thumb, and the fastest growing is the nail on the middle finger.
The sensitivity of a woman's middle finger is reduced during menstruation.
The same amount of calories are burned in 6 sessions of 5 minutes each of an activity, or doing 1 session of that activity for 30 minutes.
The pectin that is found in apples aids in lowering cholesterol levels.
The most frequent season for suicides to occur is spring. The winter months have the lowest number of suicides.
The majority of American models are skinnier than 98% of American women.
The longest case of hiccups on record was by an American pig farmer, whose hiccups persisted from 1922 through 1987.
The length of a human esophagus is 25 centimeters.
The human liver performs over 500 functions.
The feet have approximately 250,000 sweat glands.
The eight most popular foods to cause food allergies are: milk, eggs, wheat, peanuts, soy, tree nuts, fish, and shellfish.
The earliest known occurrence of a fetus yawning was at eleven weeks after conception.
The average ear grows 0.01 inches in length every year.
CITB Quote of the day: "The individual desires judgment. Without that desire, the cohesion of groups is impossible, and so is civilization." - Morpheus
39 Facts About Sleep You Probably Didn’t Know… (Or Were Too Tired To Think About)
Experts say one of the most alluring sleep distractions is the 24-hour accessibility of the internet.
It’s impossible to tell if someone is really awake without close medical supervision. People can take cat naps with their eyes open without even being aware of it.
Anything less than five minutes to fall asleep at night means you’re sleep deprived. The ideal is between 10 and 15 minutes, meaning you’re still tired enough to sleep deeply, but not so exhausted you feel sleepy by day.
A new baby typically results in 400-750 hours lost sleep for parents in the first year
One of the best predictors of insomnia later in life is the development of bad habits from having sleep disturbed by young children.
The continuous brain recordings that led to the discovery of REM (rapid eye-movement) sleep were not done until 1953, partly because the scientists involved were concerned about wasting paper.
REM sleep occurs in bursts totaling about 2 hours a night, usually beginning about 90 minutes after falling asleep.
Dreams, once thought to occur only during REM sleep, also occur (but to a lesser extent) in non-REM sleep phases. It’s possible there may not be a single moment of our sleep when we are actually dreamless.
REM dreams are characterized by bizarre plots, but non-REM dreams are repetitive and thought-like, with little imagery - obsessively returning to a suspicion you left your mobile phone somewhere, for example.
Certain types of eye movements during REM sleep correspond to specific movements in dreams, suggesting at least part of the dreaming process is analogous to watching a film
No-one knows for sure if other species dream but some do have sleep cycles similar to humans.
Elephants sleep standing up during non-REM sleep, but lie down for REM sleep.
Some scientists believe we dream to fix experiences in long-term memory, that is, we dream about things worth remembering. Others reckon we dream about things worth forgetting - to eliminate overlapping memories that would otherwise clog up our brains.
Dreams may not serve any purpose at all but be merely a meaningless byproduct of two evolutionary adaptations - sleep and consciousness.
REM sleep may help developing brains mature. Premature babies have 75 per cent REM sleep, 10 per cent more than full-term babys. Similarly, a newborn kitten puppy rat or hamster experiences only REM sleep, while a newborn guinea pig (which is much more developed at birth) has almost no REM sleep at all.
Scientists have not been able to explain a 1998 study showing a bright light shone on the backs of human knees can reset the brain’s sleep-wake clock.
British Ministry of Defense researchers have been able to reset soldiers’ body clocks so they can go without sleep for up to 36 hrs. Tiny optical fibres embedded in special spectacles project a ring of bright white light (with a spectrum identical to a sunrise) around the edge of soldiers’ retinas, fooling them into thinking they have just woken up. The system was first used on US pilots during the bombing of Kosovo.
Seventeen hours of sustained wakefulness leads to a decrease in performance equivalent to a blood alcohol-level of 0.05%.
The 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill off Alaska, the Challenger space shuttle disaster and the Chernobyl nuclear accident have all been attributed to human errors in which sleep-deprivation played a role.
The NRMA estimates fatigue is involved in one in 6 fatal road accidents.
Exposure to noise at night can suppress immune function even if the sleeper doesn’t wake. Unfamiliar noise, and noise during the first and last two hours of sleep, has the greatest disruptive effect on the sleep cycle.
The “natural alarm clock” which enables some people to wake up more or less when they want to is caused by a burst of the stress hormone adrenocorticotropin. Researchers say this reflects an unconscious anticipation of the stress of waking up.
Some sleeping tablets, such as barbiturates suppress REM sleep, which can be harmful over a long period.
In insomnia following bereavement, sleeping pills can disrupt grieving.
Tiny luminous rays from a digital alarm clock can be enough to disrupt the sleep cycle even if you do not fully wake. The light turns off a “neural switch” in the brain, causing levels of a key sleep chemical to decline within minutes.
To drop off we must cool off; body temperature and the brain’s sleep-wake cycle are closely linked. That’s why hot summer nights can cause a restless sleep. The blood flow mechanism that transfers core body heat to the skin works best between 18 and 30 degrees. But later in life, the comfort zone shrinks to between 23 and 25 degrees - one reason why older people have more sleep disorders.
A night on the grog will help you get to sleep but it will be a light slumber and you won’t dream much.
After five nights of partial sleep deprivation, three drinks will have the same effect on your body as six would when you’ve slept enough.
Humans sleep on average around three hours less than other primates like chimps, rhesus monkeys, squirrel monkeys and baboons, all of whom sleep for 10 hours.
Ducks at risk of attack by predators are able to balance the need for sleep and survival, keeping one half of the brain awake while the other slips into sleep mode.
Ten per cent of snorers have sleep apnoea, a disorder which causes sufferers to stop breathing up to 300 times a night and significantly increases the risk of suffering a heart attack or stroke.
Snoring occurs only in non-REM sleep
Teenagers need as much sleep as small children (about 10 hrs) while those over 65 need the least of all (about six hours). For the average adult aged 25-55, eight hours is considered optimal
Some studies suggest women need up to an hour’s extra sleep a night compared to men, and not getting it may be one reason women are much more susceptible to depression than men.
Feeling tired can feel normal after a short time. Those deliberately deprived of sleep for research initially noticed greatly the effects on their alertness, mood and physical performance, but the awareness dropped off after the first few days.
Diaries from the pre-electric-light-globe Victorian era show adults slept nine to 10 hours a night with periods of rest changing with the seasons in line with sunrise and sunsets.
Most of what we know about sleep we’ve learned in the past 25 years.
As a group, 18 to 24 year-olds deprived of sleep suffer more from impaired performance than older adults.
The extra-hour of sleep received when clocks are put back at the start of daylight in Canada has been found to coincide with a fall in the number of road accidents.
CITB Quote of the day: "Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover" - Mark Twain
Patent Bending is a reality television series based on actually building some of the weird, fantastical ideas inventors have patented over the last century. Once physically realised, the flaws in these ideas tend to be humourously obvious and explain the ideas' lack of commercial success.
Grounded theory is a general research method for behavioral science developed by the sociologists Barney Glaser (b. 1930) (trained in quantitative sociology by Paul Lazarsfeld) and Anselm Strauss (1916-1996) (trained in symbolic interactionism by Herbert Blumer)
Guerrilla Ontology
Guerrilla ontology is a practice described by Robert Anton Wilson as a method of dealing with people with extremely fixed world-views, such as religious fundamentalists and economic materialists.
"Monkey Tennis" is a British pop culture phrase, first used in the late 1990s and popular throughout the 2000s. Originating as a joke in a television sitcom, it has come to be commonly used as an example of the hypothetical lowest common denominator television programme that it is possible to make.
Tomorrow’s Company is a business-led think tank, its stated goal is to work as a catalyst to help realise their vision of "a future for business which makes equal sense to staff, shareholders and society."
Shalom in the Home
Shalom in the Home is a family relationship reality television series hosted by Rabbi Shmuley Boteach on TLC. The series debuted on April 10, 2006.
White Collar Zen is a book project by Steven Heine, who is primarily known for his research on medieval Japanese religion and society. The project deals with the principles of Zen Buddhism in relation to the contemporary workplace and professional leadership issues.
CITB Quote of the day: "Never memorize what you can look up in books" - Albert Einstein
This animation was created by comedian Mike Polk as a comedy piece and commentary. I saw it and realized its potential to help kick-off a series of posts on the topic of MISCONCEIVED and/or FORCED/DESTRUCTIVE life patterns commonly referred to as Belief Systems. This series of posts will help you identify destructive patterns (Belief Systems). We will offer guidance in identifying and correcting MISCONCEIVED patterns (Belief Systems).
Watch, Listen, Learn...
Don't Compromise!
LIFE PATTERNS 101
Truth is sometimes painful. This video touches on EVERY issue (Belief System) that can develop when people try to FORCE a Belief System upon a relationship. If you IDENTIFY the truth and accept it, then let it guide you, the result will be CHANGE in your Belief System. By changing your Belief System you break the pattern.
If you recognised ANY of the patterns (Belief Systems) in this video I STRONGLY encourage you to READ ON. This series of posts will offer some NEW concepts to help you understand and change your relationship patterns (Belief Systems). This article kicks off our "Belief System" series by helping you define (in a new way) important relationships.
LESSON ONE: Soul Mates 101
We have been mislead to believe there is only ONE Soul Mate for each of us. So we travel through our lives looking for the BIG ONE, the REAL DEAL, the EARTH SHAKING event that we have been assured will be SO OBVIOUS to us.
"MAKE IT WORK" - Tim Gunn
What happens when this process (EVENT) does not take place the way you have been led to believe it will? At that point most people take it upon themselves to FORCE (artificially create) these incorrect Belief Systemsto become true. In effect they begin to "Create Their Own (BUT INAPPROPRIATE) Reality". This results in living patterns (Belief Systems) like those portrayed in this animation.
This thinking pattern (Belief System) is SO WRONG in so many ways. Your thoughts are much more powerful than you realize - Your thoughts (Belief Systems) are like a massive iceberg that is mostly hidden beneath the surface, yet the part that is underwater is usually what sinks ships!
Wrong thinking, including ideas and misconceptions (Belief Systems) you formed as a child, could very well be affecting your life negatively right now.
LESSON TWO: Soul Mates - A NEW Belief System
In your lifetime, MANY Soul Mates will travel through your life.
Main Entry: Soul Mate Function: noun
1 : a person who is perfectly suited to another in temperament
2 : a person who strongly resembles another in attitudes or beliefs
3 : one of two persons compatible with each other in disposition, point of view, or sensitivity
What most do NOT understand is the FACT that in our lifetime many POTENTIAL Soul Mates are available AND seeking us out.
FACT: If you are busy with the WRONG person when a POTENTIAL Soul Mate seeks you out, that Soul Mate will keep on walking.
Are you so afraid of the unknown that you MUST fill the void by FORCE even at the cost of NOT meeting a yet unknown Soul Mate? You fill that void with a COMPROMISE. MOST of the time you fill that void with the WRONG person.
LESSON THREE: A NEW BELIEF SYSTEM - A Reason - A Season - A Lifetime
People come into your life for a reason, others just a season and sometimes they stay a lifetime. When you know which it is, then you will know what to do. This is A NEW Belief System for most people. With this NEW Belief System you need not fear being alone. You will not be driven by fear and you can fully enjoy you destiny.
When someone is in your life for a REASON, it is usually to meet a need you have expressed. They have come to assist you through a difficulty, to provide you with guidance and support, or to aid you physically, emotionally or spiritually.
They are there for the reason you need them what ever it may be. Then, without any wrongdoing on your part, or perhaps at an inconvenient time, that person will say or do something to bring the relationship to an end. Sometimes they die. Sometimes they walk away. Sometimes they act up and force you to take a stand.
We must realize that when our need has been met, our desire fulfilled, their work is done. The request you made has been answered, and now it is time to move on. In this NEW Belief System, we need NOT fear being alonebecause we know other Soul Mates will follow.
Some people come into your life for a SEASON, because your turn has come to share, grow or learn. Their purpose may be to bring you peace or make you laugh. They may teach you something you have never done. They usually give you an unbelievable amount of joy. Believe it, it is real. But only for a season.
LIFETIME relationships teach you lifetime lessons, things you must build upon in order to have a solid emotional foundation. Your job is to accept the lesson, love the person, and put what you have learned to use in all other relationships and areas of your life.
"One of my core beliefs is that belief itself is a choice that can be made of our own free will" - Steve Pavlina (1971 - )
By applying these concepts you have a NEW choice in Belief Systems. Will you find yourself saying "Thank You For Being A Part Of My Life" (no matter if for a reason, a season or a lifetime) or will you continue to say "I Guess You'll Do - You Can Pick Me Up At Eight..."
EDITORS NOTE: I am an Ordained Minister and focus on pastoral counseling. In addition I have been a certified Neuro-linguistic Practitioner for over 20 years. In my current counseling practice I utilize a blend of talk based counseling with NLP programming techniques.
CITB Quote of the day: "The past is history. The future is a mystery. The only time that really counts on all levels is right now. Now is the time!" - Bodhidahrma
Posted by Thom Byxbe | Under Idea, Thought
Thursday Feb 28, 2008
At the heart of all things lies zen. Zen is a philosophy of being. It is a philosophy of existence. The Zen of Television is a person's existential views on television watching. It is a belief system. If one believes that television is a "window to the world," then watching television is how that person connects with the world around them. The reality is that by watching television, you do not really connect with any other living people -- you only really establish a relationship with your television set.
The images on television, however, are quite revealing. These images are also quite mesmerizing. Television images are also not your own thoughts or images. Television shows a world that its producers, writers and editors want the viewer to see. Television is propelled forward by advertising money. Television is entertainment. Television has good points and bad points, but nothing diminishes its hold on people's lives once they enter its grasp. People love their televisions.
Posted by Thom Byxbe | Under Thought
Wednesday Feb 27, 2008
The Mayans created the most sophisticated calendar system of all the known civilizations. Their knowledge of the celestial cycles thousands of years ago rivals our collective knowledge today. The Calendar has never erred. On December 21, 2012, our solar system will enter into its Galactic Day for the first time in Humanity's history. The Calendar has prophesied that as we move out of the darkness, great calamities will come with it. They warned us...
Never before in history has one date, one moment in time, been so significant to so many cultures, so many religions, so many scientists, so many governments and to so many people all around the world.
The ancient Maya believed the Earth's final day will be December 21, 2012. Native Americans, Egyptians, Chinese and others arrived at a similar conclusion, each without a knowledge of the other. The Maya claimed that this future end-time would include a solar shift, a Venus transit and mounting earthquakes.
2012 is sometimes claimed to be a great year of spiritual transformation (or apocalypse). Many sources interpret the completion of the thirteenth B'ak'tun cycle in the Long Count of the Maya calendar (which occurs on December 21 by the most widely held correlation) to mean there will be a major change in world order.
Polar Shift
Polar Shift is a theory that on December 21st 2012 Earth will experience earthquakes, volcanic eruptions or other natural disasters. In 2012 the next polar reversal will take place on earth. This means that the North Pole will be changed into the South Pole. Scientifically this can only be explained by the fact that the earth will start rotating in the opposite direction, together with a huge disaster of unknown proportions.
Magnetic Somersaults
In the first quarter of 2001, the Sun switched magnetic poles. This occurs every eleven years. Prior to this the Sun's north magnetic pole was at the north rotational pole. Now the Sun's north magnetic pole is at its south pole. Since opposite poles attract, the magnetic poles of the Earth and Sun are now at their most stable.
Just about the time of 2012 Winter Solstice, the Sun's poles will switch back. During this switch there will be a tendency for the Sun's magnetic field to pull the Earth's field with it.
If the Earth's magnetic poles switch, this would put stress on the planet aggravating earthquakes and volcanos, not to mention destruction of the electrical power distribution grid. And, if the switch happens fast enough don't ever expect your computer to work again. But if you have old tube type equipment, keep it. It should survive just fine. It will work if you can find electricity.
December 21 2012 THE END
A recent Google search of the date "December 21 2012" produced 147,000 results. There are entire websites dedicated to this moment in time. There are blogs, discussion boards, chat rooms and scientific studies.
I have read stories the last few months about underground cities and government actions that make sense if we are preparing for an ELE (Extinction Level Event). Take a look at the underground complex at Yamantau that the Russians are building. Could this be a haven for surviving a solar blast? And the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is investing along with the Rockefeller Foundation, Monsanto Corporation, Syngenta Foundation and the Government of Norway, in what is called the "doomsday seed bank". Officially the project is named the Svalbard Global Seed Vault on the Norwegian island of Spitsbergen.
We offer this story as food for thought. There will be much more excitement and controversy as December 21, 2012 draws closer. We plan to explore anything that offers credibility to the many theory's surrounding this topic. Please give us your feedback and opinions.
TWB
CITB Quote of the day: "The most incomprehensible thing about the world is that it is comprehensible." - Albert Einstein
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I have long believed in the mind body connection. I have noticed recently more and more stories like the one below. Often these type of stories just scrape the surface in an attempt to not offend common current thinking. This story was published by the Telegraph.co.uk which bills itself as "Britain's No.1 quality newspaper website". While I have used excerpts from this story to make a larger "Thought Provoking" point, I have included a link to the entire story.
People who know my writings are well aware that I am not a fan of IDIOT television. Please understand I am NOT anti-television. I am NOT a snob who only watches PBS and the BBC. I am not an arrogant intellectual who only watches C-SPAN and the National Geographic Channel.
I attribute the NUMBING DOWN of America to the mindless, value-impaired, consumption-driven TV programming that America's media giants are bringing into our lives and those of our children. This is done simply to obtain more and more advertising dollars no matter what the cost to the basic human fabric of our society. We are seduced into a trance-like state by subliminal manipulation. Commercial messages tell us that if we use "Spackle Brand" toothpaste we will lose weight, instantly become more confident and popular, we will become the perfect Mom or Dad and using "Spackle" to brush our teeth will drive men and women wild with sexual desire.
These shows let you sit at the sidelines of life and become a "Monday Morning Quarterback" calling game winning plays with uncanny accuracy. They allow you a sky box view of real world challenges. This is television at its best. Television that for a brief moment allows you to live vicariously. You can experience life's lowest lows as well as life's highest highs from the safety of your armchair.
The shark cornea has been used in eye surgery, since its cornea is similar to a human cornea.
Close to fifty percent of the bacteria in the mouth lives on the surface of our tongue.
The aorta, which is the largest artery located in the body, is about the diameter of a garden hose.
The human heart beat roughly 35 million times a year.
The human face is made up of 14 bones.
Of all the oxygen that a human breathes, twenty percent goes to the brain.
The longest case of hiccups on record was by an American pig farmer, whose hiccups persisted from 1922 through 1987.
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