Do thoughts have a language of their own? Read full article Continue reading page |1|2 What is the relationship between language and thought?
The quest to create artificial intelligence may have come up with some unexpected answers THE idea of machines that think and act as intelligently as humans can generate strong emotions. This may explain why one of the most important accomplishments in the field of artificial intelligence has gone largely unnoticed: that some of the advances in AI can be used by ordinary people to improve their own natural intelligence and communication skills. Chief among these advances is a form of logic called computational logic. According to one school of philosophy, our thoughts have a language-like structure that is independent of natural language: this is what students of language call the language of thought (LOT) hypothesis. The LOT hypothesis contrasts with the mildly contrary view that human thinking is actually conducted in natural language, and thus we could not think intelligently without it. The evolutionary reason why rock music excites us: it reminds us of animal distress calls.
No regrets! Old people who learn not to regret the past are happier about the present - and cope better with stress. By Tamara Cohen Published: 18:01 GMT, 19 April 2012 | Updated: 18:07 GMT, 19 April 2012 No regrets?
Learning to banish your regrets could be a survival mechanism critical to a happy old age If you HAVE had a few regrets, it might be to best to let them go, as dwelling on what might have been makes for a miserable old age, a study suggests. German scientists say regrets naturally decrease as we get older – as we try to make the most of the time we have left and have fewer opportunities for second chances. Younger people feel them far more acutely, as from an evolutionary perspective it is more important they learn not to repeat their mistakes.
But old people who've learnt to repress them most effectively feel less stress and control OTHER emotions more effectively. Learning to banish your regrets could be a survival mechanism critical to a happy old age. After each box, they could decide to bank the money or carry on in search of more - rather like the gameshow Who Wants to be a Millionaire? Cambridge Uni to complete Charles Darwin's last (and most creepy) experiment into human emotion. By Eddie Wrenn Published: 12:37 GMT, 15 May 2012 | Updated: 07:59 GMT, 16 May 2012 One of Charles Darwin's last experiments - which seems more like a trick the evolutionist enjoyed playing on his dinner guests - has been re-born for the digital age.
The pioneer of the theory of evolution owned a collection of photographs showing a French man having his face contorted via electrical shock treatment into a range of grimaces. So, sometime between dessert and a final drink in Darwin's home in 1868, Darwin would confront his poor dinner guests with the images and ask them to describe the man's expressions in their own words.
Darwin then collated the responses from the 24 guests who, instead of walking out or punching him on the nose, answered his questions, and used these 'crowd-sourced' answers to find the definitive description for each face. The look of love? How a woman's glance can tell a man if she's interested (or whether to walk away now) Why optimists usually win: Simply thinking positive thoughts can lead people to overcome tough challenges. Thinking positively plants a 'suggestion' in the mindCan change behaviour to drive you towards outcome'Suggestion' is much more powerful than thought By Rob Waugh Published: 13:34 GMT, 8 June 2012 | Updated: 13:34 GMT, 8 June 2012 Victory!
Simply anticipating something good can gear up hidden circuits in the brain to drive you towards it Thinking positively about something really might make it happen, psychologists say. Simply anticipating something good can gear up hidden circuits in the brain to drive you towards it. How Neuroscientists and Magicians Are Conjuring Brain Insights. Apollo Robbins (right) in action removing the wristwatch of Mariette DiChristina.
(Credit: Flip Phillips.) “I see you have a watch with a buckle.” Standing at my side, Apollo Robbins held my wrist lightly as he turned my hand over and back. I knew exactly what was coming but I fell for it anyway. “Yes,” I said, trying to keep an eye on him, “that looks pretty easy for you to take off, but my rings would be harder.”
While I considered the answer, he had already removed my watch and put it on his own wrist behind his back, unseen. Robbins had just skillfully managed my attentional spotlight—that is, the focus of awareness at any given moment. Why you proably won't experience your own traumatic death. Exercise will not make you happy. The secret of controlling your anger? Forget meditation - using your 'wrong' hand to stir the coffee could help. By Rob Waugh Published: 15:41 GMT, 9 March 2012 | Updated: 17:20 GMT, 9 March 2012 People who find themselves on the verge of yelling at queue-jumpers or crafty colleagues could be helped by a simple - if slightly odd - exercise.
Right handers should get into the habit of using a computer mouse, stirring a cup of coffee or opening a door with their left hand - and left-handers should do the opposite. Are we hard-wired to be rebellious? How part of our brain 'controls whether we fit in with the crowd' By Tamara Cohen Updated: 17:43 GMT, 20 February 2012 As in James Dean’s Rebel Without a Cause, there are always those who refuse to follow the crowd.
Now scientists have discovered for the first time that being rebellious may be hard-wired in our brains. Researchers found that the extent to which people changed their minds to fit in with the crowd was directly linked to the size of a specific area of their brains. Discovery: Scientists have found that the size of an area of the brain, known as the lateral orbitofrontal cortex and located behind the eyes, could be responsible for how much we change our minds to fit in with a crowd. Brain scan test using 'fake' Rembrandt painting, shows great art is all in the mind. By Rob Waugh Updated: 09:08 GMT, 7 December 2011 Rembrandt's Self Portrait as a Young Man, 1634: Rembrandt was chosen because there are several high-profile fakes of his portraits - but MRI scans show our brains respond differently from thinking a portrait is a fake Being told a painting is fake instantly reduces our sense of 'reward', even if we are looking at the real thing.
Looking at an original stimulates parts of the brain that deal with rewarding experiences such as tasting good food or winning a bet. But when told it was not legitimate the area that is associated with planning and strategy showed a complex range of activity instead. The researchers said that their findings showed how our response to art is ‘not rational’. They also said it showed that there are more than one areas of the brain involved with judgements about art. The experiment involved 14 participants who underwent brain scans as they looked at pictures of Rembrandt portraits. Scientists identify bits in songs that make you cry. By Damien Gayle Updated: 16:23 GMT, 14 February 2012 She romped home with six Grammy awards on Sunday night, three of them for her hit Rolling In The Deep.
Nevertheless it's Someone Like You that has pushed Adele to iconic status, thanks mainly to its power to reduce audiences to tears. Emblems Of Awareness. This article is part of Demystifying the Mind, a special report on the new science of consciousness.
The next installments will appear in the February 25 and March 10 issues of Science News. Michael Morgenstern DEGREES OF THOUGHT | Awareness typically tracks with wakefulness — especially in normal states of consciousness (bold). People in coma or under general anesthesia score low on both measures, appearing asleep with no signs of awareness. Sometimes, wakefulness and awareness become uncoupled, such as among people in a persistent vegetative state. Stanford Univ. Self As Symbol.