Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with mind

Blue air in, Brown air out

Secret Life of Gravy — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 07:22:31 -0800

Do you ever use visualization techniques such as imaginary trepanation? I use a number of visualizations (such as imagining your pelvis has an elevator when you do kegal exercises: 1st floor, second floor, 3rd floor and up to the penthouse and back down again to the sub-basement) and my family find it...eccentric. Actually my 16-year-old finds it weird. I ask for two reasons: to find out how odd it is and to find out if I am missing any good tricks.

I started as a child by performing imaginary trepanation when I had a headache. I would lie with my head on one side, imagine a hole on the side touching the pillow, and allow the poison to drip out. Sometimes I would also imagine a corresponding hole on the top side and pour cold water through the top hole so that it would wash away the poison on its way out through the bottom hole.

I still do that. I also visualize the air in color when I am doing deep breathing exercises: clear, blue, invigorating air, with a hint of mint going in, dusty, greenish-brown air going out.

When I am stretching, I imagine Spiderman-type silk webs shooting out from my fingers, toes, and top of my head which fasten to the ceilings and walls and pull slightly.

When I am tired/achy during exercise, I imagine myself a robot which can perform more smoothly and for longer periods of time than a mere mortal.

I'm sure there are others but these are the ones I use daily (except that I use the headache one only when I have a headache.)

Do you do any of these? Something different?

I need to run chkdsk on my brain...

Salvor Hardin — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 21:35:01 -0800

My mind is blown, it's not my own, where did my idea go? I'm feeling fine, but I've lost my mind! Help? Three days ago, while walking somewhere, I came up with a cool idea. A really cool idea. I mean, an astoundingly awesome idea.

And now I can't remember what it is.

Do you have any tips for recovering memories like this? I was distracted by something immediately after getting the idea, and I guess it didn't get stored into permanent memory in my brain.

It probably wasn't as incredibly brilliant as I am remembering, but it's been persistently bugging me that I've forgotten what it is. I really don't remember anything about it, except that I was excited about it. This has happened before, but it's never been so frustrating for so long! It feels like a big pothole in my mind.

So, mefites, do you have any tips, tricks, mindhacks, etc, for remembering stuff like this? Should I stare at a candle cross-eyed while huffing ginkgo-biloba vapour? Hang upside down blindfolded and think about it as hard as possible? I've tried NOT thinking about it, but it hasn't worked, and it keeps coming back to haunt me. Have you found anything that works for this? I don't even know if there's anything that can help, but I'm open to suggestions. Thanks!

365 days of not being able to remember

monkey!knife!fight! — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 03:39:23 -0800

365 days of something...argh. I had this book a few years (4? 5?) back that was a "do something cool and different every day" sort of thing. I can't for the life of me remember the title - and googling for "365 days book" isn't really working. Some of the things were really hard, and some were easy, along the lines of "smile at a stranger". It was nicely illustrated, and the cover was yellow with black type (rosewood? something along those lines).

I'm coming up completely empty, and I know this isn't a whole lot of information, but I'm hoping that one of you brilliant people will have it on the tip of your bookshelf.

Do you remember the day you started thinking in your current spoken language?

querty — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 00:10:45 -0800

Those who have learned to speak and think in another language, do you remember the age (and day) you started thinking in your current spoken language? I thought about this while reading At what age do your memories begin?

I think this is an important question (especially for immigrants who spoke a different language) because for example, let's say a Japanese man started learning French at the age of 35, he might be able to master the French language; but I would highly doubt that he would be able to think in French because he has been conditioned so long under the Japanese language. So one might say that kids under a certain age would have an advantage in learning a second language.

And it would be interesting to know if anybody out there actually remembers the day when their brain switched to another language.

Are there studies/research done based on this?

Say termites took over your mind...

Guy_Inamonkeysuit — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 06:28:38 -0800

Could an AI zombify another? I write a science fiction from time to time. My latest story is set in a Balkanized America circa 2060. It'll be about 5,000-6,000 words long, and I've got roughly 3500 words so far. My lead character has developed a self-contained termite colony for he hopes will be used by space travelers or in the "Third World" (it produces methane and edible adults). Individual bugs are networked by nanos, controlled by an AI. Figure several thousand member units.

The plot revolves around a chance encounter (in the field, essentially) with another AI-controlled group, an illegal slave force of perhaps twenty, thirty units. I want the termite AI to take over the slave AI. I'm not systems-savvy enough to contrive a convincing way for this to be accomplished. For the sake of the tale, the explanation should be short and sweet, but I don't mind lots of detail for my own edification. Does anyone have a suggestion as to what I could say?

"Rules of Thumb" and "Instincts" of the Human Mind

pbh — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 11:34:43 -0800

What "rules of thumb" or "instincts" of the human mind are commonly applicable? A few months ago, I was reading Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert Cialdini. Cialdini seems to suggest that we have hard-wired instinctual responses to many types of situations. For example, he cites a religious organisation giving out flowers in the hopes of triggering a reciprocity response, where the receiver feels like they need to give something back. The message seems to be "if {someone gives you an item} then {you feel a social obligation to give something back, even if you don't know them}."

I am curious about two closely related questions:

What instinctual rules, in as close to an "if A then B" form as possible, govern human-human interactions?
What rules, again in as close to "if A then B" form, govern our own minds?

I am curious about pretty much any instinctual interaction that might occur in (my) daily life, from negotiation to introspection.

I have found that popular non-fiction seems to have these themes, but also seems to take a really long time to get to the point and sometimes does not explicitly cite scientific results. (Nonetheless, book recommendations would be OK.) Arguably, books like How to Win Friends and Influence People, The Game, Getting to Yes, and Never Eat Alone all fall into the mould of "if A then B" human-human interactions (though I don't have any particular emphasis on the self-help genre). In terms of our own minds, I suppose I mean things like Dan Gilbert's work, where he says things like "if {you are prevented from selecting among several alternatives} then {you will be happier than if you were given a choice}." Some rules might be easier stated in a direct form rather than "if A then B," for example Gilbert suggests that we vastly overestimate the effect of any particular event on our personal happiness.

I would also be curious about particular psychological experiments along these lines, but I still only want the brief takeaway point (possibly with some background/setup). For example, in the Milgram experiment it was kind of shown that "if {an authority figure tells someone to do something} then {they will do pretty much anything, up to and including killing someone}."

I need sleep.

reenum — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 07:38:17 -0800

How can I make my office more comfortable so that I can take naps over lunch? From time to time, I battle insomnia. This necessitates me having to take a nap over lunch. I know this isn't the best way to deal with it, but please humor me.

Here is my setup: I have my own office with a closing door. I have an L-shaped desk and a reclining office chair. There is ample floor space.

I need to figure out a way to make my power naps work for me. I also can't have anything too obvious, so cots and the like are out. I've heard of people suggesting yoga mats and the like, but I want to hear from others who are able to sleep at the office.

What sorts of things should I have that allow me to sleep well for that one hour in the middle of the day?

What are the great life changing books no one has ever heard of?

champthom — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 17:02:51 -0800

What are some underrated but mind altering books? It's hard to explain what I'm looking for but the best I can describe is "the best books they don't want you to know about."

I'm curious in finding books that are relatively obscure yet so profound and mind altering. I'd like to try and find some books that come close to the Necronomicon or some book L Ron Hubbard supposedly wrote which are suppose to drive the readers to the point of insanity because they have such an impact.

I say obscure because I'm pretty familiar with the list of books that change people's life - The Bible, The Book of Mormon, Atlas Shrugged are a few that come to mind. I'm more looking for a list of books that have the same effect but you never see on any sort of list like that. While not the best example, for me personally, Victor Frankl's Man's Search for Meaning had a profound impact and I only found out about the book from a co-worker. Another case I found while looking in books about life changing books is this book which apparently had a tremendous influence on some guy's life.

So, what are the most personally influential books, the books that change lives, that are relatively unknown?

How to become more confident in my life?

Anonymous — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 14:49:09 -0800

I've lacked confidence in every aspect of my life, and it's holding me back. What can I do? Since I was a young boy, I've felt like I wasn't good enough to be successful. I never felt like I was as athletic or smart as others. In college and grad school, this sense of being a fraud and not smart or talented enough carried over.

This feeling has pervaded my entire life. I didn't apply for internships and scholarships in college. I didn't apply for jobs or scholarships in grad school. In these instances, I felt like there was no point in applying because I wouldn't get them. There would also be times when I would be paralyzed by fear of applying and being rejected, and would go sleep or watch TV.

Now, I'm in a dead end job, and am too unconfident to try and get another job. I look at jobs and my mind instantly goes to reasons why I won't be qualified for the job. Other times, I'm very fearful of being rejected. This is severely hampering my ability to advance my career.

This lack of confidence has also extended into my romantic life. I never approach women because I assume they'll say no because I'm too fat or ugly. As a result, I didn't have my first girlfriend until 25, and have only had 2 serious relationships in my 30 years. My lack of confidence has me worried that I will never find anyone or die alone.

I've been in therapy for a couple of years, and have been tangentially discussing these issues. I just recently realized through talking with my therapist that this lack of confidence is why I never take risks and why I've been held back in my life.

Are there any methods that any of you have used to get over this sort of problem? Are there any books or sites I can consult when I can't see my therapist or that will give me additional insight?

Thanks for any help. If you need to follow up, I've set up a throwaway e-mail at unconfidentman@gmail.com

My mind wanders too much. What's worked for you to make it stop?

jabronimus — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 14:10:15 -0800

My mind wanders too much. What's worked for you to make it stop? Hi everyone:

So, the question I posted above pretty much sums up my situation - my mind wanders too much, and I want to hear from other people who've had this same problem what they did about it and how they overcame it.

So, some background about me: I'm currently a 3rd year medical student at a fairly prestigious American medical school. All my life, I've been told I was smart - for elementary and middle school, I went to a private school where I was the top of my class, went to a "gifted" high school, and then went to a pretty good university for my undergraduate education. And now, I'm in medical school. So, I'm fairly confident that intelligence is not my issue.

However, I started to notice in middle school that I was having a hard time paying attention in class. I didn't have any trouble in my science and math classes, but I had a really hard time in my english/history/social sciences/foreign languages classes. I somehow did well in most of my classes (even the ones I had difficulty with), but this was a problem that carried on into my high school and college years.

So now, I'm in medical school, and believe me, it has been hell. There's so much to memorize, and my brain just seems to refuse to work with me. The problem got so bad that a year ago, I went to a psychiatrist who gave me a diagnosis of attention deficit, and gave me medications to help with my attention.

So, what's my problem? My problem is that the medications make me feel really sick, such as giving me a lot of unpleasant abdominal side effects. Plus, the medications don't help me concentrate that much, and they make me really anxious and depressed.

Plus, I kinda don't think I have an actual, clinically diagnosable case of attention deficit. The rate of attention deficit in the country is supposed to be something like 5%, so I really think it's doubtful that I would have been able to get as far as I have with a clinically diagnosable case of this disease. I think it's much more likely that I skated by on my intelligence for as long as I could while putting out a minimum amount of effort - and believed that it was "fine" for me to do so because everyone around me was telling me how smart I was. (If I'm smart, then I don't have to work hard, right?) I feel like I've never trained myself to concentrate as a person in my position needs to, since I've believed for so long that a person who's "smart" shouldn't have to work hard. (I also kinda believe that our technologically immersed culture has contributed strongly to the preponderance of attention deficit cases that we hear about these days, and I think that I'm no exception to that.)

So, back to the crux of the matter: has anyone else out there found any non-pharmacologic techniques to deal with this same problem? And if so, what were they? I've read a few good things about meditation (read carefully - that's meditation, NOT medication), which I've started to do a little of (even though I don't really know HOW to meditate). I figure that if Buddhist monks can train themselves to concentrate so intensely through this technique, then maybe it can work for me in some little way as well. But, I'm looking for any advice anyone can give to help me with this issue.

Thanks in advance, guys and gals!

ELIZA and the efficacy of "professional" therapists versus the rest of us

XMLicious — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 14:48:35 -0800

Meta-Meta-RelationshipFilter: Have there been any scientific trials to study the efficacy of talk therapy that involved a placebo as control? I'm thinking, is there any definitive proof that a professional talk therapist is substantially more effective than just talking about shit with a friend who doesn't charge a fee (which, granted, RelationshipFilter isn't necessarily like), or even substantially more effective than simply sitting someone down, telling them "we're going to have conversations that will explore and fix your psychological problems" but then having a discussion about any old thing that will run the clock out?

My own experience with years of visiting a variety of talk therapists would appear to indicate that at least with the average therapist I've seen the answer would be "No, there is no substantial difference" but I'm curious to see what if anything science has said. I'm definitely not saying that RelationshipFilter is any replacement for hours of ongoing, focused personal discussion, I'm just curious as to whether "professionalism" in this area, even of practitioners who are licensed or certified, has any demonstrated and quantifiable value.

At what age do your memories begin?

Billegible — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 06:25:40 -0800

At what age do your memories begin? I've always been curious about this - how old are people, generally, when they start remembering things?
My first memories are from age 6; I know from family history that we moved that year, and the memory is of walking into the new house and seeing a familiar toy in an unfamiliar room. So maybe our first memory is always of an important, striking event that was big enough to write itself deep in our brain cells; or is there just an age when the brain starts to work that way?

Trying to avoid reverse Engrish.

Uther Bentrazor — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 06:21:14 -0800

Help me translate/verify/understand some Kanji! some background: When my sister was stationed in Japan, I asked her to find out what the symbol for "Mind" was. She ended up getting me a fancy calligraphy set with a stamp that has "Mind" on it, consisting of three symbols: "Truth", "Congressional House", "Metropolis" I scanned the stamp and and vectorized it in Illustrator (pic).

I want to use it in a shirt design, but I don't want to be one of those doofs who uses Japanese symbols without being sure of what it means, also I know Japanese words/concepts can be very different depending on use or context, so I don't want what says "Mind" on a calligraphy set to say "Brains" or "Umbrella" or something when printed elsewhere (probably a goofy example, but you get what I mean).

Drop some Knowledge, MeFi!

Learn mind control for free.

Meatbomb — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 09:57:04 -0800

Learn mind control for free. Meatbomb is going to learn to do the sort of psych-out / mind control that Derren Brown does. I will not pay any money for courses or books in pursuing this objective. I won't join any groups. I don't need any certification, you just need to give me the practical abilities.

Just as an example (but not limited to this): he does a trick with having a mark select a "yes or no" card, and similarly a "select the envelope that has the money" trick. It is clearly not sleight of hand, he is using suggestion and psych-out to win.

You need to show me how to be able to do this and similar.

So, you don't mind teaching me this, here and now, or pointing me to free resources that will provide me the training to learn, great, thanks.

Help me find a specific article about Intelligence

edmz — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 08:00:39 -0800

Help me find an article about intelligence that, if i recall correctly, describes the mind as a rubber band. It used autism as a way to explain the rubber band metaphor, saying how savants have their minds stretched so much in one direction that other areas of the brain don't develop as much.

The autism example is just extrapolating, the article explained how this happens for everybody, it's just more notorious with people that are brilliant in a way.

This article I found via the blog of an a-list blogger a couple of years ago, I think it accompanied a post regarding an autistic guy that could learn languages pretty quick.

I may be paraphrasing a lot, but I think this is more or less the essence of the article.

Please shut up the noise in my head

Anonymous — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 09:58:53 -0800

Strangestquestioneverfilter: There’s always music in my head. Make it stop. I constantly have music looping through my head. First thing in the morning, whenever I get home, when I’m brushing my teeth or sitting somewhere waiting for an appointment. Basically, whenever I’m alone and there’s not a television on or something, I have music playing in my head. It’s not like it’s voices or anything but it’s annoying. Before bed, I try to meditate a bit just to get things quieter in there and help me sleep, but as soon as I’m done meditating, the music comes back. If I happened to be playing a particular song in the car and it’s particularly catchy, the damn thing will not go away, (Note to Duffy: That ‘Mercy’ song? Yeah, cute … but ahhhhh!)
I’ve also tried visualizing myself turning off the I-pod or turning off the car radio and it really doesn’t help.
Please tell me I’m not nuts … and how to make it stop.

Top 5 tips for a Google Adwords newbie?

avocade — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 17:04:18 -0800

I'm going to start offer my services in iPhone and Ruby on Rails development via online ads, and have pretty much decided on the Google AdWords program. Thought I'd ask the hive mind to come back to me with a few helpful tips.

How detailed is your mental imagery / mental visualization?

horhey — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 22:55:11 -0800

I am curious about how detailed, or photographic/realistic the imagery in one's mind's eye is, and what in general would be considered "standard" for most people. Note I am not talking about "creative visualization" but I suppose it could be related. Specifically I am referring to simply the process of visualizing an object, face or scene in your mind's eye. When I visualize something in my 'mind's eye', it's very vague and impressionistic. As a visual artist (I am an illustrator) I find it disconcerting that I cannot regularly bring up vivid mental imagery.

I have had moments — usually before falling asleep — where vivid, detailed and realistic mental imagery comes into my mind's eye. But this is not something I can control or do so in waking hours. I have also had lucid dreams (where one realizes one is dreaming while dreaming) so I know my mind is capable of it.

A few years back I asked this question of friends, and most seemed to claim they had extremely vivid mental imagery. My problem here is that the answers were subjective — what I think of as vivid might not be the same as their definition. I explained it as follows: is the imagery photographic? If you could draw, could you use the mental imagery as a reference to draw from?

I am curious as to the general consensus of experience in this area — do most people have vague mental visualization, or is it common? Is there a way to cultivate this talent/ability if by nature you do not possess it?

Oddly, I had a difficult time finding out any sort of information on this topic via Google searching. It seems odd to me that this topic hasn't been explored more fully. Or perhaps I wasn't searching with the right terms.

Drunken reaction time?

coizero — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 22:12:05 -0800

When I'm sober and attempting to kill a fly, I can't hit it in time. When I'm tipsy, I swat it easily. In reading and conversation, I make connections sooner when drunk than when sober. I've always heard that alcoholism slows reaction time ... so what gives? NOTE: My drunken spelling and grammar errors definitely increase when drunk. Are various functions affected differently by alcohol?

What am I making my brain do to my body?

Anonymous — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 07:43:03 -0800

Can someone tell me what I am doing in my brain to cause this sensation in my body? Am I a monk? I am a 23 year old male in very good shape, and ever since I was in middle school I have been able to perform the following body hack. (I am posting this anon because several of my friends read Meta and I wish to keep these details a secret from the public.)

If my body is perfectly still (whether sitting in class or laying down), I can intensely focus on a part of my brain (it feels like the rear top side of my brain), and immediately flood my body with either a chemical or nervous sensation that gives an incredibly pleasurable feeling. It's sort of like the sensation one feels before reaching orgasm. I feel the sensation start in my head and quickly work its way down to my legs until my entire body feels the same way.

This sensation is especially strong in my knees, legs, groin area, and chest. Usually I cannot sustain this for over 10 consecutive seconds - it's almost like my brain gets fatigued at keeping this up. I discovered about 8 months ago that I can increase my heart rate by doing this, and If I hold my breath while doing this I can cause a pronounced 1-2 beat in my heart I can feel in my chest. I can actually speed up time it takes to get an erection by doing this brain hack by focusing the "sensation" on my groin area.

Also for what it's worth when I was 17 or so, I remember actually reaching full orgasm by doing this with no manual assistance whatsoever when i was laying in bed one night. I have not been able to replicate that scenario since that one time.

I really want to figure out what this condition is called or what I am actually doing to my body. Anyone have any sources, ideas, or comments?

what is the inner voice that Gilbert speaks of in Eat, Pray, Love?

mordecai — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 10:54:40 -0800

what is the inner voice that Gilbert speaks of in Eat, Pray, Love? I'm very intrigued by this rational inner voice that Elizabeth Gilbert speaks of when she had that breakdown on her bathroom floor in the middle of the night; the one that asked her to go back to bed.

my friend once had a very similar experience when she was at the traffic light and she lost all sense of who and where she was. her mind was gone and she was terrified. and as she stood there, staring at the green light, a voice in her told her to calm down and cross the road.

has anybody ever had similar experiences? what is it and how is it explained?

Brain, Mind and Soul Wiki Needed

watercarrier — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 13:21:44 -0800

Cutting edge strides and theories in neo-psychology - does an up and running, active Wiki exist? I'm looking for an ongoing, thriving wiki community involved in discussing the science, methodologies, theories and experiences of the brain/mind/soul from a spiritual/scientific standpoint. Is there one out there? Can you help me find it?

I can has engineer-mind?

lilithim — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 10:24:23 -0800

Any good books to help develop an analytic mind? I'm finding myself in a place where I've got some energy to devote to being more mentally well-rounded.
Being able to understand engineering, or investing, or law, it doesn't necessarily matter.
Any books/other resources that you read and found helpful to continue developing your thinking skills to solve problems.

Methods to achieve better tactical and strategic thinking?

DetonatedManiac — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 14:41:58 -0800

Lately I have been playing many strategy board games and not winning that much. I feel I need to become a more adept strategic / tactical thinker. What books, mental exercises or other things could help me? I noticed it especially in the middle of a 10 hour game of Twilight Imperium, and then the next day in the middle of an 11 hour long game of Axis and Allies. I suffer from strategic bog down, where I can see a number of diverging paths forward and cannot commit to one over the other and execute a unified strategy effectively.

I have also been playing many, much shorter euro games etc, and I have chalked up my lack of winning to the fact that I am playing most of them for the first time... but the more I lose the more I fear my losing streak is due to my lack of good strategic analysis of situations.

I'd say I am reasonably good at tactical decisions, but I know that I let tactical elements influence my strategic decision making too much (ie being too conservative and not knowing when a strategic risk is necessary). Also I have a tendency to get "psyched out" and make silly play errors due to trying to keep the game going and such.

So basically what could I do to improve the speed and strength of my strategic and tactical mind?

Books?
Philosophies?
Exercises?
Logic Puzzles?
computer software?

any ideas welcome. Thanks in advance!

How to craft a programmer's lens?

Burhanistan — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 19:54:37 -0800

Help me think in terms of programming metaphors. Recently I noticed when looking at certain situations relating to people and their respective environments, I was trying to distill aspects of them into software/hardware/computing metaphors. My knowledge of this field is at best intermediate, and being a lowly systems administrator I have no practical experience of coding or developing. I don't want to learn to code or develop, but I do want to read a few books detailing various programming models and languages that are not advanced comp. sci. texts but are above layperson level. Ostensibly, this would help me to build some mental frameworks to juxtapose to real-world situations. This is really borne out of my need to keep poking my brains to keep them from going to sleep. Thanks for any books, practical lessons, thought exercises, websites, etc that you suggest!