Wednesday, November 14, 2012

More on genius

So I just noticed that the recent Scientific American issue is all about genius, including this interesting assertion about what it is like to think like a genius (and can people promote this sort of thinking in their own brains?). From the (free) summary of the (subscription only) article "Boost Creativity with Electric Brain Stimulation":


A great idea comes all of a sudden. In the depths of the mind, networks of brain cells perform a sublime symphony, and a twinkle of insight pops into consciousness. Unexpected as they are, these lightbulb moments seem impossible to orchestrate. Recent studies suggest otherwise. By freeing the mind of some of its inhibitions, we might improve creative problem solving.

The human brain constantly filters thoughts and feelings. Only a small fraction of the stimuli impressed on us by our environment ascends to the level of conscious awareness. Prior learning enforces mental shortcuts that determine which sensations are deemed worthy of our attention. Our laboratory is investigating whether we can weaken these biases and boost openness to new ideas by temporarily diminishing the neural activity in specific brain areas.

I thought this was interesting, that part of the key to being more genius is what is coming into our conscious awareness, particularly as a person who has forced awareness of many mundane decisions into my conscious thought even from a very young age. Perhaps even more the money quote with regards to the connection between this article on genius and sociopaths having unique insight:

Genius, rare as it is, must demand a qualitatively different view of the world than what most of us experience. Austrian physician Hans Asperger, whose name is associated with the eponymous condition on the autism spectrum suggested that, '"a dash of autism' might set brilliant minds apart. We have been investigating this hypothesis by using weak electric current to modulate brain activity in healthy people in our laboratory. The effects fade in an hour, preserving normal cognition. This method of brain stimulation is safe and portable - a 'creativity cap' - that anyone might use to spur creativity on demand.

Carrie Mathison from the Showtime drama Homeland anyone? Particularly on the tails of the recent article on how to raise a genius, I like this idea that genius demands a qualitatively different view of the world than what most people experience. Especially when that requirement is taken into consideration, it does seem a damn shame to kill off sociopathic babies once they can be identified as aberrant, no?

81 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. i think something triggered me's narc

      Delete
    2. so me what's your iq?

      Delete
    3. i'll show you mine 96
      now show me yours

      Delete
    4. ofc me is above all the freaks that post here
      she problebe considers here the the boss of everyone here

      Delete
  2. :) Good Morning Everybody!!!!! Good Morning Blades!!!!

    How are you all today?

    ReplyDelete
  3. The world would be a very boring place if we killed off sociopath babies. We need an awareness day to stop this horror. Long live the sociopaths! I'll spearhead the campaign, so please send me as much money as you can. I thank you, and all the baby sociopaths thank you, too.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Dr Alia's lab was at the end of the hall.

    Actually, she had a small wing. No one knew what she did except the very high ups, such as the head of the CIA and the president.

    Alia was tight lipped. In her native Russia, you could get killed from loose lips. In the US, you could, too. It was just not as obvious.

    She did not let loose. She did not drink. When the others would go out for a few drinks, she demurred.

    No one knew much about her love life. She had no significant other. She seemed to have no friends.

    No one asked. She didn't tell. The woman respected her, but they did not know her.

    The called her lab Frankenstein, but never to her face.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. you sound like you are ready for another nap on the sofa

      Delete
    2. Alia's secretive and quite aloof, isn't she. I think the author has it right.

      Delete
  5. There was an elegant man who came to Dr Alia's lab on a frequent basis.

    The woman were worldly wise and had seen theirshare of charismatic men. They were beautiful woman and beautiful woman get treated as such.

    Such is society, dear reader. Don't blame me.

    At any rate, one man caused each of the woman to take a step back. They did not discuss it among themselves, as they felt silly. They felt like silly school girls.

    He was moderately tall. He had dark hair and piercing eyes. The eyes laughed. They smirked. They mocked. They looked deep inside you.

    Zoe, casually, asked Alia the name of this gentleman. Alia said that he was no gentleman and his name was M.E.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oooo... the plot thickens!

      Delete
    2. Monica was given the hard cases.

      She was the most religious of the group. If anyone could be counted on to restrain herself, it would be Monica.

      She did not act like a religious nut.She simply tried to live by the Golden Rule and the maxim of do not sin.

      Do not sin was much harder than it looked when you went toe to toe with some things in life.

      Are you perfect, dear reader? If not, do not judge her.

      Delete
    3. Just start the bloodshed already.

      Delete
    4. Spy operations use immoral means.

      Morality does not fit into the picture when you have national security to consider.

      As such, Dr Alia was working on an small electromagnetic device, no bigger than a cigarette lighter that would make someone magnetically sexually attractive to the opposite sex.

      It was called Love Potion number 9 as it's code name.

      Alia needed to try it out. Ellicit worked on invisibility. Therein, lay the seeds of our sordid situation.

      Delete
    5. What was going on in Dr Alia's lab?

      She was studying most basic part of the human being --Sexuality.

      Delete
    6. Love Potion No 9... definitely needs to be tested. I wonder if it would work on M.E.

      Delete
    7. Lol. So the tight lipped Russian gets to have a lot of fun behind that closed door. And now I see why M.E. keeps visiting.

      Delete
    8. :) INTERESTING!!!!! Now M.E is in the plot!!!!!

      Today was an "On the couch" day for me! LOL! My doctor prescribed me some muscle relaxer with my xanax..... I got home after taking my methadone from the clinic, waited about 2 hours and took one xanax and 3 Flexeril muscle relaxers and I fell asleep for 6 solid hours! The muscler relaxers arent euphoric or anything, they just loosened me up ALOT and made me EXTREMELY sleepy! Iam gonna take 2 befor ebed tonight and hope I get a good nights sleep!

      Thanks for the new editions to "Up from the sofa"!!!!

      Iam gonna go save them right now!!!!

      Delete
  6. "So I just noticed that the recent Scientific American issue is all about genius, including this interesting assertion about what it is like to think like a genius …
    ...it does seem a damn shame to kill off sociopathic babies once they can be identified as aberrant, no?"


    Geniuses are sociopaths? Sociopaths are geniuses? Who's killing babies?

    ReplyDelete
  7. Virus it's all very confusing. hahaha! I think it's the Anon up there with a 96 IQ killing the babies so they don't grow up to be Cowboys... or genius sociopaths. Are all sociopaths genius? Nah, but they think they are. ;-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thinking to be a genius can have a positive or negative outcome. It can stimulate you to be more eager for new challenges or make you lazy and prone to boredom...

      Delete
  8. The creative aspect of genius certainly depends on thinking outside the box and on reducing the amount of filtered input. The unusual information storage methods and perspectives of people with psychotic disorders, psycho/sociopathy, and even ADHD, allows them to form obscure connections between things that may seem bizarre to others.

    This leaves the other two aspects: intelligence and discipline. Intelligence's role is to recognize false associations and faulty ideas, while discipline allows the genius to persevere at his work, which is a trait that others undervalue in the genius.

    Even with high creativity it takes time to come up with viable ideas, and more time and effort to test them. S/P people are on average significantly more intelligent than the population, but discipline is their weakness. This is not a weakness for them alone; the personality trait positively correlated with creativity (Psychoticism, see Eysenck), is very negatively correlated with Conscientiousness, the trait associated with discipline.

    At least the sociopath's resistance to emotional decision making allows them to pursue truth in cases where others would turn away (this happens often in controversial topics).

    ReplyDelete
  9. Dr. Alia unconsciously wrapped her lab coat more tightly against her body, the man's half-lidded gaze making her feel as if all of her lady parts were laid bare for the taking. A warm tingling started between her legs and spread causing her to blush from head to toe, all the while pinned beneath that knowing stare. Oh this was a dangerous man indeed...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Aaaand the inevitable porn. Finally.

      Delete
    2. I'm waiting for Ellicit and Haven to run amok with the mind control research. Haven has been doing so well with the self harm. But I think Ellicit will lure her to the dark side to use her research for perverse goals.

      Delete
    3. Her cute little tic tac nipples begain to strain against her silky black Victoria's Secret bra. Before today she had always thought that no one could make a girl feel fuckable like Victoria can, but standing in front of this man as her heart jackhammered against her rib cage and her matching panties began to feel as though soaked in warm honey, she knew better. She heard the rustle of a lab coat hitting the floor beside her, and turned to see Zoe unbuttoning her blouse with her intoxicated eyes locked on the familiar stranger. Dr. Alia thought this was a most natural response, and her fingers moved to part her coat when the door swung violently open and a pudgy bearded man came bouncing in. "Good morning everyone! Hi Zoe!" "GOD DAMMIT RICH!!" They both bellowed at him. In all the confusion, the mysterious M.E. slipped away unnoticed... TO BE CONTINUED

      Delete
    4. LOL Love it!!!!!!!!

      Delete
    5. Nooo! Damn you Rich!!!

      Delete
    6. Ellicit pulled Haven into a deserted laboratory, locking the door behind them. Haven's eyes went wide with fear and Ellicit smiled that cold, predatory smile she had mastered. "That's it. Gaze into my eyes, Haven. You don't want to resist me and you couldn't look away now even if you wanted to".

      Delete
    7. Ellicit's gaze---love it

      Delete
    8. I marvel at your work, anon. You do know how to wrap your words. But it is unfair that all anons share your credit. I recommend and please you to reveal yourself. Someone with such knowledge of forum members must have a name.

      Delete
    9. I agree Mee, that person knows how to keep the reader... interested. I doubt the authors would want to reveal themselves if they are forum regulars though.

      Delete
    10. Greetings from 10:07/11:07 :) I am quite regularly here, I just prefer the anonymous handle. Makes things more interesting

      Delete
    11. LOL! That is Hilarious anonymous!!!! But I agree with Mee here, make a name so all of the other Anons cant say it was them and we will know who you are ;)

      Good work though!

      It was getting pretty steamy until I had to ruin the party! LOL!

      Delete
    12. intoxicated mmmm

      thanks for the good idea mystery writer :)

      Delete
    13. not badly written

      Delete
    14. maybe Harlequin will publish it? but the heroine/heroines is/are supposed to resist.

      the resistance seems to be lacking.

      Delete
    15. oh and happy movember to Rich..

      Delete
    16. theme song for the movie version..

      little green bag

      Delete
    17. OMFG HAHAHA! I fucking love these! XD XD But I SWEAR I didn't write any of it, I just returned from a trip. Fuck I really hope nobody thinks I wrote any of this stuff. LMAO!

      Delete
  10. You are good ^^^

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Haven does you has razor sharp nipples?

      Delete
  11. My IQ is one point below genius, and it has brought me more difficulties than not. Sure of that

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's because in order to function well one has to have a developed emotional intellect as well, it provides more stimulation.

      Delete
  12. Last night I took some ecstasy with alcohol and now I am hungover. Have been all day. Thing is I have no idea who I am. I don't even know if I can consider myself a sociopath anymore. I have no idea if I feel something or not. I mean, I feel something but I have no idea what it is. I've been drinking coffee, smoking and listening to a single song the whole day. I know I am not normal. That is certain. But I am thinking I could be just a mentally unstable crazy person.

    Any of you know anything about it ?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. In other words, someone strike my fucking ego plz xd

      Delete
    2. My take would be that a sense of self is an ephemeral concept in anyone. Yours got attenuated from the drugs. This happened to one of my friends, too.

      You feel weird because what happened made you lose the"reality" of your sense of self.

      This happens with people, based on trauma, too. This is how people get PDs, imo.

      Delete
    3. Feel free to add whatever else you like.

      Delete
    4. Yeah Remi, its called don't mix X with alcohol. It's a waste of good drugs and almost always comes with a nasty hangover. Smoke some bud about an hour before you pop a pill, then lay off of the bud and alcohol. Waaay better that way :)

      Delete
    5. yeah you don't want to burst that self bubble completely now, just take it on a fun ride



      Delete
    6. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
    7. Monica, you know those personality tests where they say if you can't figure out the answer then go to how you felt as a child? I have to do that a lot with them . I like my childhood self better anyway.

      Delete
    8. How do you mean, Zoe? That sounds interesting.

      Delete
    9. drugs can be mind expanding, and the self is this tight little illusion we carry around. why does it sound interesting, m? what does it mean to you? sometimes drugs can help break you out.

      Delete
    10. It sounds really good because my inner child is kind of healthy. If I could hookup with her, I think I would be pretty healthy.

      I know people who have done drugs and managed to let go of harmful personality constructs.

      People do this with NDE's( near death experiences) where they let go of the ego and get free.

      I am afraid of drugs. I am close enough to the edge without them~

      However, I would like to accept my inner child, her feelings, wants and needs without guilt and shame.

      This is my problem, in a nutshell.

      Delete
    11. why are you afraid of losing control?



      Delete
    12. I am scared to death of losing control, Zoe. My guitar teacher is teaching me to sing and he said he never saw someone so pent up

      Delete
    13. yeah but maybe you should ask yourself why.

      if you lose control of your thoughts they might take you places you don't want to go. you might follow feelings and impulses you normally don't. is that why?

      Delete
    14. Yes, my thoughts and feelings and my sexuality are held tightly
      I survived. I am not in a mental institution. I survived by holding on tightly but it is horrible, too.
      My stomach hurts all the time.

      Delete
    15. i hate, in a big way. I am sexual in a big way. I am selfish, in a big way.
      I am all these things and I am scared to death of them.

      Delete
    16. maybe you're not as sexual, selfish and hateful as you think? maybe you're just angry.


      Delete
    17. Yes, I think I have so much anger that I could go nuclear with it.

      Delete
    18. how do you express it?

      Delete
    19. I am afraid of it. I put it in my stomach and cannot eat.

      Delete
    20. that's not good

      Delete
    21. I appreciate all you said, Zoe. I am trying to own all I think and feel. My actions are good, most of the time.

      It is the fight with my feelings and thoughts. Thanks for being my bud :D

      Delete
  13. Do you mean me, or another person, Rembrant?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Uhm, please Monica, stop being such a pushover. Get a hold of yourself and figure yourself out and what you want and stop giving a crap about what people think and go get what you need. What's your problem ?

      You got abused while you were a child. Didn't you get over it? How can you not? I mean. What bugs you still? That it happened? Do you still feel pain because it happened ? What is it?

      Delete
    2. Why are you ragging on me, Rembrant? Do you really want to know the answer or are you just trying to abuse me~

      Delete
    3. What bugs her is that what mommy did to her turned her on. The shame still eats her alive. Doesn't it monica

      Delete
  14. alturism is not using lube when you bend over for the ppl that fuck you over

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. why NOT using lube??? Why not grease up and butt fuck willingly?? i don't get that at all unless you like a raw ripped anus. Oh yeah I guess that would be what you'd get from abuse.

      Delete
    2. ^ ^ ^ ^ ^

      ::sigh::

      Everyone, take note of the deductive mind of the gENiuS !

      If only ..

      Delete
  15. Helping someone out is indeed a good way to get laid, or at least can get you a referral."

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. if you are a girle like in that picture and need help getting laid you are an aspie or a lost cause

      Delete

Comments on posts over 14 days are SPAM filtered and may not show up right away or at all.

Join Amazon Prime - Watch Over 40,000 Movies

.

Comments are unmoderated. Blog owner is not responsible for third party content. By leaving comments on the blog, commenters give license to the blog owner to reprint attributed comments in any form.