Shortly
after noon local time. You trimmed grass this morning then waited until
mid-morning to mow. Carol helped. A tree specialist stopped by and gave an
estimate for tree trimming. You answered some email and found an opinion
article on ‘Feedspot’ from Scientific American on the brain capacity myth used
in the film Lucy which you are hoping to see tomorrow morning with Carol and
Mary Lou (who is coming down in the morning).
1224 hours. Here is the article. I know the movie review
said the film is ridiculous but summer fun. I love Morgan Freeman and Scarlet
Johansson so I am ready for a good summer movie about revenge to the guys who
gave her a sack of drugs to carry in her body.
** **
Lucy Film Hinges on Brain Capacity Myth
By Kate Wong | July 25,
2014 |
The views expressed are those
of the author and are not necessarily those of
Scientific American.
Scarlett Johansson plays a woman who unlocks her brain
power in the movie Lucy. Image: Universal Pictures
On July 25, French film
writer/director Luc Besson’s action thriller Lucy opens in theaters
nationwide. The premise is that the title character, played by Scarlett
Johansson, is exposed to a drug that unlocks her mind, giving her superhuman
powers of cognition. The movie production notes [PDF] elaborate:
“…It has long been
hypothesized that human beings only use a small percentage of our cerebral
capacity at any given time. For centuries, speculative science has postulated
what would occur if mankind could actually evolve past that limit. Indeed, what
would happen to our consciousness and newfound abilities if every region of the
brain was concurrently active? If each one of the 86 billion densely packed
neurons in a human brain fired at once, could that person become, in fact,
superhuman?”
The notion that we humans
have massive reserves of gray matter just sitting there waiting to be summoned
into service has obvious appeal, but there is no scientific evidence to support
it. And what’s odd about Besson’s reliance on this myth is that, according to
the production notes, he allegedly set out to make the storyline scientifically
plausible:
“Although Besson believed
that the idea of expanding one’s brain capacity made for tremendous
action-thriller material, he was particularly intent on grounding—at least in
part—Lucy in scientific fact.”
Apparently he missed or
ignored the many scientists who would have surely informed him that the idea
that we use only a small portion of our brain (10 percent, the story usually
goes) is wrong. As Barry L. Beyerstein of the Brain Behavior Laboratory at
Simon Fraser University in Vancouver explained in a piece for Scientific
American:
“…the brain, like all our
other organs, has been shaped by natural selection. Brain tissue is
metabolically expensive both to grow and to run, and it strains credulity to
think that evolution would have permitted squandering of resources on a scale
necessary to build and maintain such a massively underutilized organ. Moreover,
doubts are fueled by ample evidence from clinical neurology. Losing far less
than 90 percent of the brain to accident or disease has catastrophic
consequences. What is more, observing the effects of head injury reveals that
there does not seem to be any area of the brain that can be destroyed by
strokes, head trauma, or other manner, without leaving the patient with some
kind of functional deficit. Likewise, electrical stimulation of points in the
brain during neurosurgery has failed so far to uncover any dormant areas where
no percept, emotion or movement is elicited by applying these tiny currents….”
Neither do we regularly use
only a little bit of the brain at a time, as science writer Robynne Boyd
reported in a piece for Scientific American. She quoted neurologist
Barry Gordon of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine:
“”It turns out though, that
we use virtually every part of the brain, and that [most of] the brain is
active almost all the time,” Gordon adds. “Let’s put it this way: the brain
represents three percent of the body’s weight and uses 20 percent of the body’s
energy.”
Yet just because we are
already using our entire brain does not mean we can’t enhance its powers.
Exercise and diet can boost cognitive performance. And some researchers
think cognitive training can make people smarter.
As for cognitive-enhancing
drugs, the few that are available, such as Ritalin and Provigil, are quite the
opposite of the compound Lucy is exposed to in the film. Rather than
stimulating all of the brain’s neurons to sense everything in one’s
environment, these drugs work to help people zero in. The results are a mixed
bag, however, as my colleague Gary Stix has observed:
“Most of today’s cognitive
enhancers improve our ability to focus—but most benefits accrue to those with
attention deficits. They allow the child with ADHD to learn the multiplication
tables, but for those with average attention spans or better, these drugs can
sometimes usher in comic mishaps.
Instead of cramming for the
[Chinese Proficiency Test], as you might have intended, you are liable to get
sidetracked into the most mundane of trivialities: you might get up from your
textbooks for a drink of water and spend the next two days replacing the leaky
plumbing in your kitchen sink. The focus of attention ‘sticks’ to whatever is
in front of your face and a friend with a verbal crowbar has to pry you away.”
From – Feedspot and Scientific
American (opinion)
** **
1246
hours. I like the article and certainly I agree with the science but the
reviews say it is a fun summer movie with lots of effects and good
characterizations by Morgan and Scarlett. It is certainly worth spending some
matinee money on.
How many calories do you think you expend on
writing most every day orndorff – Amorella
1312 hours. Maybe fifty to a hundred calories. It takes
calories to exist, to sit in the chair, but for finger energy very little and
extra thought, next to nothing, perhaps no extra thought at all because I would
be thinking about something else instead. I don’t think mental fun takes much
‘work’.
Your new dehumidifier arrived a few minutes
ago. You might as well work on it orndorff, don’t you think? – Amorella
1330 hours. I trimmed and mowed the grass. I’m taking a
break. I just finished half a peanut butter and raisin sandwich for lunch. I’ll
get it done.
Post. – Amorella
1553
hours. The new dehumidifier is up and running, the old one is setting outside
the basement door for the trash Sunday night. I checked ‘livestrongDOTcom’ and
this is what it says about calories spent typing.
** **
Calories Burned During Typing
Last Updated: Oct 21, 2013 | By Bridget Coila
Many people spend a large portion of
their work days typing and doing other computer activities. While the calorie
burn of typing is minimal, it does expend more energy than simply sitting
quietly or reading.
Calories
According to Harvard Health
Publications, typing on a computer burns 41 calories per half hour for a
125-pound person. A 155-pound person burns 51 calories typing for 30 minutes
and a 185-pound person burns 61 calories doing the same job.
From -
http://www.livestrongDOTcom/article/308292-calories-burned-during-typing/
** **
1558
hours. So, at 290 pounds I assume I burn about 100 calories an hour. It doesn’t
seem like I burn any. I checked with ‘FitdayDOTcom’ and, for my height, weight
and age I use 77 calories an hour just sitting. So accordingly, I assume I use
maybe 25 calories an hour typing. Not much, just as I thought.
I
have yet to work on these last three chapters. I’m tired. I know we are going
to the grocery in a bit.
You are not required to complete the work
today orndorff or tomorrow either for that matter. To save a bit of money it is
best to send the eMS to BookBaby before the end of the month that’s all. Post. –
Amorella
Post, boy. - Amorella
In
surprise Carol decided to eat out tonight so you headed to Smashburgers then to
Graeters, the bank and Kroger’s on Mason-Montgomery Road for several sacks of
groceries. Once home you finished trimming the small west square in the west
back yard and have had time to complete chapter nineteen which took some time
because of format problems, something you will have to deal with when these
chapters are complete. – Amorella
2004 hours. Carol is on the phone with Marsha about meeting her and David in August. It took a while to correct the format then
to correct each indention in “The Brothers 19” segment. I don’t understand how
these things happen from time to time. I want everything uniform before sending
it in for e-publication. I do discover errors. I told Carol that I was about
ready to give her money for the publication costs. She drops it in her vacation
fund so I feel better paying for it out of my money and still get the use of it
on vacations and trips. It works out. I don’t want any writing costs to come
out of our general fund. I would feel guilty using our money for my hobby. It
wouldn’t seem right to me because writing is a private adventure. Once
published, I told her to go ahead and read them. The first books are upstairs
but I have never seen her open one. She knows how to get onto my blog but I don’t
think she ever has. Perhaps because she knows Kim is on the blog from time to
time and that Uncle Ernie and Aunt Patsy have read the books. It works for us.
No comments:
Post a Comment