Organize Your Mind

An organized mind reduces stress, says Dr. Oz.

Techniques:

• Drawing
• Apps
• DeCluter
• Brain Dump
• Thoughts on Paper
• Video

Out-of-Body

Out of Body Simulation

Dr. Persinger's work with magnetic stimulation of the brain has resulted in his God Helmet.  The High-Tech motorcycle helmet fires directed fields at specific areas of the brain in order to simulate Out of Body experiences.

Prediction

On Intelligence by Jeff Hawkins offers that the mind is a prediction machine.  We predict.  We predict more than you may think.  

Bayes' Theorem is Nate Silver's key to managing predictions.

Self Comes to Mind by Antonio Damasio talks about how homeostasis comes about and how predictions are essential.  The brain began to predict "good" by sensing the molecules like dopamine or oxytocin.  

Three very enlightening and enjoyable books

Twitter:
@numenta Jeff Hawkins of Numenta
Nate Silver @fivethirtyeight
Antonio Damasio

Man Vs Machine

"The machine does not isolate man from the great problems of nature but plunges him more deeply into them."
  -- Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

In the 1870's the legendary steel driver, John Henry, took on the machine in the form of a steam powered hammer.  He won, but at what cost.  Fast forward to the late 1990's where one Grand Master of Chess, Gary Kasparov takes on the culmination of hundreds of thousands of man hours in brain power are compressed into a single machine -- IBM's Deep Blue.

IBM's Deep Blue defeats Chess Champion Gary Kasparov.  Nate Silver has a wonderful discussion of the match in his book, The Signal and the Noise.  What do intelligent men do well, what do computers do well, where is one better than the other.

Brute force it what the computer does better than any man, yet is that enough to win at chess.  Yet, as pointed out in Moonwalking with Einstein by Joshua Foer, the Chess Master isn't better at memorizing the individual pieces on a board, the Chess Master is memorized a huge collection of patterns.  And he know the significance of each pattern.

Twitter: Joshua Foer @joshuafoer Nate Silver @fivethirtyeight

Subliminal

If the grace of God miraculously operates, it probably operates through the subliminal door.

-- Williams James

Subliminal: How Your Unconscious Mind Rules Your Behavior


@lmlodinow

Children and Education

EconTalk with Russ Roberts had a wonderful interview with Paul Tough (@PaulTough) on his ideas about Education, Children and Success.  His book is How Children Succeed.

Some of the heros of the book include:

Angela Duckwort - Grit

Geoffrey Canada - Harlem Children's Zones

Elizabeth Spiegel - Chess

William Julius Wilson - Bad Neighborhoods

Terms: Curiosity, Conscientiousness, Grit and Self-confidence

Neurology of Memory

Dean Buonomano (Good Hand) discusses how the memory is structured -- Declarative and Procedural. The American Academy of Neurology hosts the podcast. The video covers his book, Brain Bugs.

MP3 of Podcast

Entire Neurology Podcast

American Academy of Neurology PSAs

Neuroplasticity

"Thought changes structure"
  --Norman Doidge

In with the new, out with the old.  The idea that the brain forms in childhood, then that is the brain you have for the rest of your life -- this idea is on the way out.  Your thoughts can change your brain is the new buzz.  

Start your journey by following the Big Ideas link to Dr Norman Doidge on Brain Neuroplasticity.  The Brain Science Podcast, with host Dr. Ginger Campbell, has some wonderful interviews on the subject.

It could be claimed that the thought of brain plasticity goes back to William James in "Principles of Psychology".  However, until recent technological advances in neuroimaging, the science of Neuroplasticity was difficult to measure.  

The proof is in the pudding.  Read how Barbara Arrowsmith-Young Rebuilt Her Brain. 

Researchers in the field:

• Eric Kandel
• Dr Norman Doidge
• Barbara Arrowsmith-Young

Discovery Channel Medical Encyclopedia WhatIsNeuroPlasticity

Twitter:  @eatonarrowsmith