What do you wonder about the human mind? Inspire me!

[Rummy]

This is a simple little thread.

What have you ever wondered about the human mind and how it works? Why are there more road accidents and road rage in hot weather? Is working from home more stressful for women than men? Are women smarter than men? Are we only motivated to do things that we find interesting?

 

Ok, 3 questions is all I can manage, because I lack creativity/imagination and thinking of stuff when I really need to. Next year, I'm going to have to do another project, like what I did this year but bigger. I'm sposed to have gotten a rough idea of what I wanted to do sometime around...before easter. Only, I can't think of anything that interests me enough! I want to do something interesting so I feel motivated to work. Basically, it can be anything within the field of psychology(a pretty broad field), and I am looking for ideas. So tell me, what have you ever wondered about the human mind? Anything at all, all suggestions are welcome, no matter how stupid or complicated they are! I'll simplify things for my cause

[Gaijin von Snikbah]

Okay. I got one for you.

 

Can music be healthy? (As in improving ones health.)

[Mundi]

I´ve always imagined the human mind being a huge "spider web" of memories, with every memory stringed to a memory of another thing

I don´t i can give an example without drawing it up, kinda hard writing a spider web :Þ

[Shorty]

I've always wondered how the memory works and why parts of it are hard to access. For example when you can't remember the name of an actor, yet it's in your mind somewhere. You manage to remember eventually without help from someone, so it was deep in your memories all along - why is it that we're unable to reach those memories when its all inside our heads?

 

 

 

too tired for coherent typing

[mariosmentor]

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

[ipaul]

Can anyone really change who they are in any way that matters? (their personality I suppose...)

[4q2]

Genetic memory....

Does it exist ?

[Raining_again]

I wonder will scientists/neurologists ever invent a method for humans to be able to make full function of our entire brain?

[Ellmeister]

Why are things on the 'tip of our tongues', usually we can't figure it out but its in our brains somewhere >_<

[The Bard]

How does Deja Vu come about? It's fuckin wierd sometimes.

[Kurtle Squad]

My mind is always ahead of me. Like, I'll need a pair of Scissors/Knife/Spoon and my hand makes the movement before I remember what I want:heh:

[Konfucius]

I wonder how talent is developed. Some people understand complicated math without much problems or are good artist without any educational background...

[Dyson]

Why do we cry? By this I mean, why is it that when we get sad, liquid comes out of our eyeballs? Such a stupid bodily function.

 

And of course;

How do I know the red I see isn't blue to you?

 

Also, how come some people can click their joints, and others can't?

Why is it some people are unable to whistle? etc.

[Guest Jordan]

How does Deja Vu come about? It's fuckin wierd sometimes.

 

I heard a theory that the smartest of the population has Deja Vu. Its an (huge spelling error coming up) extrasensorary function, it just comes down to this.

 

Do you think our brain does something because we dream it, then act it out? Or do you think that our minds are so productive when we're asleep that we can predict the future?

[Mundi]

What is good and evil? Are those just mere words we use to justify our action that wouldn´t under normal circumstances be allowed? And allow us to judge people more easily.

 

Do we use stereotypes to make the world seem more easier by categorizing people in to certain groups of people so we can freely praise or judge people we would categorize into these groups?

[Jamba]

What is good and evil? Are those just mere words we use to justify our action that wouldn´t under normal circumstances be allowed? And allow us to judge people more easily.

 

In terms of reality, good and evil are abstract notions created by people under the pretence of categorising behaviour in an effort to justify certain moral values.

 

Genetic memory....

Does it exist ?

 

Not in the sense that you're inferring, i think. Genetic memory simply means that all of the actions that have occured to change the genetic code of a certain being will be carried through generations due to the nature of reproduction on a genetic level. Warning though, sexual reproduction seriously shakes this up (which is a good thing) which makes it a bitch to trace things back.

 

Suggesting that memory in the brain could from DNA is highly unlikely due to several reasons. For starters, the sexual reproductive cells (sperm and egg) are located VERY far from the brain. Therefore any experience had and captured by the brain would not be tranferred to any genetic level in the sperm or egg cells. So it would not be passed onto the next generation. Also bear in mind that memeory (in a cognitive sense) comes from the arrangement and rearrangement of neurones, a process that would need to affect the genetic code of every cell in the vacinity, mapping these movements particularly. The chance of this being possibile is slim (from my understanding).

[Monopolyman]

I think I might be able to suggest a few things here, as a done A-level psychology (not necessarily degree level, but still...)

 

Can anyone really change who they are in any way that matters? (their personality I suppose...)

 

That is the root of a debate, really. Some psychologists think that people have no free will and everything is determined by external or internal factors beyond you're control, so in that sense, you can't solely change yourself. However, some psychologists believe in free will, and those who do follow a concept known as self-actualisation, which basically means some people are constantly changing themselves for the better, in it's simplest terms, so I suppose you can change your personality, if it is for the better.

 

My mind is always ahead of me. Like, I'll need a pair of Scissors/Knife/Spoon and my hand makes the movement before I remember what I want:heh:

 

I assume that it is because you see an image before you can think of a name. The movement you're hand makes are reflex, I suppose

 

ive always wondered whether or not people are born evil thru inheritance/design or is every1 born with the same mental statistics and one only goes on to gain "evil characteristics" after life experiences...

 

as i read this story the other day about this woman, who was told her son had the eyes of the devil from a nun when he was 2 years old... basically, when the boy hit 16 he raped his own mother and then tried to murder her...

 

thoughts?

 

I think that people learn these characteristics, rather than born with them. Either through positive reinforcement when they do commit an evil deed, or just learned ideas from others whilst growing up. I can't really see anyone inheriting 'evil', but mental illness...

 

What is good and evil? Are those just mere words we use to justify our action that wouldn´t under normal circumstances be allowed? And allow us to judge people more easily.

 

Do we use stereotypes to make the world seem more easier by categorizing people in to certain groups of people so we can freely praise or judge people we would categorize into these groups?

 

More philosophical here, but I always thought that good and evil were subjective. For example, most people condemn the the Holocaust as evil, but the Nazi's believed that they were doing good. As for stereotyping, I think it's just like caricatures. We are more likely to recognize caricatures of people rather than an ordinary drawing of them. Similarly, you would more likely to pinpoint what is or where a person is from a stereotypical description of a person rather than an accurate description.

 

Some of this stuff may be a bit 'no shit sherlock', but still..

[Kurtle Squad]

I assume that it is because you see an image before you can think of a name. The movement you're hand makes are reflex, I suppose

Nono...My hands make the movements (semi consiously) before I get the image:heh:

[Gaijin von Snikbah]

What is wrong with the mind of George Bush? Is he an alien?

[Hellfire]

What is wrong with the mind of George Bush? Is he an alien?

 

He's a failed cloning experiment.

[nekunando]

And of course;

How do I know the red I see isn't blue to you?

 

Yeh, I've wondered this! I imagine everyone (well.. basically everyone) see's the same colours. But wouldn't it be weird if what you knew as green would be red to me or something.

 

Madness

 

I'm also interested in that sometimes when you just.. eat something.. or smell something and it instantly triggers something in your head that you remember. Though that isn't weird.

 

Then there's just times when random thoughts would come into your head. Like there's times when, say, I am walking past someone in the town (a complete stranger) and say, if I punched him in the face for no reason, how would he react.? I wouldn't do it, but it would be so out of the blue. I'd love to be able to rewind time (like in Prince of Persia ). What I'm saying is: WHY would I think of that? What made my mind think of that?

[4q2]

How do I know the red I see isn't blue to you?

 

You dont.

Its open to interpretation by what the eyeballs can see and what they feed back to the brain. The eyeballs (or ears) are not a precision instrument in the sense of they are not the exact same in construction....Therefore I would presume there are going to be at least slight deviations in what the brain receives as a colour.

In the real world the light given off by a colour is at a set frequency, the brain just associates that frequency to whatever is learnt/taught as a colour when the brain makes associations.

(If you can understand that, well done....cos I cant think of any more straight forward explaination in words

 

Also, how come some people can click their joints, and others can't?

Something to do with bodily function and gas buildup on the joints the last time I read...I suppose its genetic.

 

Why is it some people are unable to whistle? etc.

Because they are crap at learning t3h whistle 5ki11z. (Count me in on that one)

[Rapture1984]

How is it possible to dream about something before it happens? Or when it does happen does your memory of your dream change to make you think that you dreamt it?

[Rummy]

Wow, alot of questions in this thread, I've been avoiding answering them because a, I didn't originally intend to and b, I'm not an expert and c, there's alot of them!

I have gotten a couple of vague ideas of the sort I wasafter, though none of the sort that would jump out at me. I guess I phrased the original post wrong.

[Kurtle Squad]

You dont.

Its open to interpretation by what the eyeballs can see and what they feed back to the brain. The eyeballs (or ears) are not a precision instrument in the sense of they are not the exact same in construction....Therefore I would presume there are going to be at least slight deviations in what the brain receives as a colour.

In the real world the light given off by a colour is at a set frequency, the brain just associates that frequency to whatever is learnt/taught as a colour when the brain makes associations.

(If you can understand that, well done....cos I cant think of any more straight forward explaination in words

It's all to do with the eyes and what message they send to the brain (learned about is in shitology (psychology).

 

My eyes to actually see different tints of colours, though it's more obvious with certain colours etc etc etc. I usually notice when watching TV and end up only watching with one eye (lazy biatcheds), then realising and using both, wtf...that red was different a second ago.

(One of my eyes seems to show more faded colours)