012 – Discovery of Dark Matter
Discovery of Dark Matter, brain teaser, pin of the week, climate change news, negative molecules in space, creation of matter, possible asteroid hitting earth, monkey deodorant, concrete pyramids, Ali rap, and listener feedback.
Music on todays show comes courtesy of Pod Safe Audio:
mjc – Trance Mentality
Ocean Alexander – Hummingbird
The Cheebacabra – Operation Anaconda
Spacemission – Ich Liebe Nur Mich
DJ Topshelf – Set me free
DJ Topshelf – The Edge of Illusion
Punam Verma – Hush
V R 4 3vA – Tume Kitna Pyaar Hai
mjc – The Sphinx
Punam Verma – Out of the blue
DJ Topshelf – Weapons of mass SIDuction
In reference to the bushfires in Australia, here’s a listener photo and one I took:
Richard’s photo:
My image, taken at about 8am – so it was day time:
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January 16th, 2007 at 18:07
Hi Ordinary Guy,
I’m writing in response to some reader feedback, which questioned the nature of brain potential, and whether or not we use more than 10% of its capacity. You answered it appropriately, but I thought I would contribute some extra information, for curiosity’s sake.
This is one of the most well-known “brain myths” around the world, but its origins aren’t clearly identified. Responsibility is often dumped on our poor friend Einstein, but truthfully, he never once suggested – nor supported – this notion. The only thing he is guilty of is noting that most people don’t apply themselves very well, or concentrate as much as they should.
The rumour *probably* came from 19th century pseudo-science, where Phrenologists claimed that “the brain is localized”, and therefore there must be (large) portions that are nothing more than the mental equivalent of fairy floss. This was because – at the time – they thought the ‘lumpy’ bits of brain were well-exercised, and the ‘less-lumpy’ bits were untrained and underused.
Nowadays, the myth is largely purported by psychics – who use it in their age-old argument that “the only difference between us and them, is that we have learned to use the other 90%”. This is not to downplay or discredit believers of E.S.P, but it begs the question that since this argument has been scientifically lugged, what is the next stance they will take?
It’s also a widely acclaimed expression of Scientologists, who printed it in a number of their public-display brochures, and then tried to hide their embarrassed, red faces by going very quiet on the matter. They no longer use the argument currently, but even so – L. Ron Hubbard – who is one of Scientology’s big names, was a hard-and-fast believer of this myth, who borrowed it from controversial psychologist William James, who claimed that it was simply ‘received wisdom’ from someone who – I suppose – was involved with 19th century Phrenologists whose only means of discerning ‘facts’ was by touching the skulls of lots of dead people.
Likewise, though, it’s ludicrous to suggest that we use 100% of our brain 100% of the time. Chemistry aside, it’s only logical to conclude that we would burn out quickly under such conditions.
Currently, techniques such as EEG’s, MRI-scans, cerebral blood flow measures, etc, have shown conclusively that the once-labeled ‘silent cortex’ of our brain is anything but; more accurately, it is simply responsible for more subtle activities, such as aspects of our imagination and personality.
January 17th, 2007 at 01:57
Peter,
Excellent comment – I thank you for your detailed and interesting response. I will give an update on your feedback in episode 14!
OG