The Neuroscience of Decision Making Explained in 30 Seconds - Wired Science Is it possible to explain the neuroscience of decision making in 30 seconds? I had a go as one of my contributions to a new book called 30-Second Brain that’s released in the USA today. Here’s what I wrote: From Plato’s charioteer controlling the horse of passion, to Freud’s instinctual id suppressed by the ego, there’s a long tradition of seeing reason and emotion as being in opposition to one another. Translating this perspective to neuroscience, one might imagine that successful decision making depends on the rational frontal lobes controlling the animalistic instincts arising from emotional brain regions that evolved earlier (including the limbic system, found deeper in the brain). If 30-seconds is too long for you, here’s the message in 3-seconds: Feelings provide the basis for human reason—brain-damaged patients left devoid of emotion struggle to make the most elementary decisions. Homepage image: Alexander Boden/Flickr
Study offers evidence of unconscious thinking impacting conscious decision making (Medical Xpress)—A trio of researchers with the University of New South Wales, has found evidence to support the notion that unconscious thinking does impact conscious thinking, without the person even knowing it. In their paper published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Alexandra Vlassova, Chris Donkin, and Joel Pearson describe the many experiments they conducted with volunteers and why their findings are important. Psychologists (and others) have debated for a long time whether the conscious decisions people make are influenced by unconscious information. Does some part of our brain hold information that somehow has a backdoor to our conscious thought-making process, without our knowing it? Some prior research has suggested that might be the case—it might explain, for example, why people make seemingly illogical decisions sometimes. Explore further: Ever-so-slight delay improves decision-making accuracy
Orfeo: A Dialog between Robert Hunter and Terence McKenna This is Part OnePart TwoPart ThreePart FourPart Five (current) Terence, in reading your books I was struck with how closely your DMT experiments paralleled my own. I wasn't surprised by the confirmation, as you might guess. I considered myself a serious DMT explorer between 1967-69. I stopped only because I was told to, in no uncertain terms, by the Boss of that place. Three times, in fact, to my dismay. Robert Hunter Greetings Bob-- I was interested in what you had to say about being an explorer of the DMT world until the management told you to stay away. I enjoy the idea of a slow moving dialog, I hope this can continue. Best, T Terence, I suppose the "facts" of DMT might as well be written in cunieform on our breastbones for all the good it does to know about it, as opposed to "dwelling in the know of it." My personal take on the "secret" of DMT: it was long, hard work making this world real. My take could be way off base but anything more Gnostic is off-putting. DMT is self-selecting.
Blue Lotus : The Entheogen of Ancient Egypt | Psychedelic Adventure For over 3000 years the Blue Lotus was used by priesthood of ancient Egypt for its medicinal properties and as a spiritual sacrament. The Blue Lotus generally produces mild psychoactive effects that are purported to have a "divine" essence, which brings upon the feelings of tranquility and subtle euphoria. Nymphaea caerulea, also known as the Egyptian blue lily or sacred blue lotus, is a blue water-lily in the genus Nymphaea that grows along the Nile and other places such as the Indian Subcontinent and Thailand. The main effect you will probably sense is a pleasant feeling of warmth around the head and upper body; a very comfortable, dreamy feeling, with a slight stimulant effect. Many people relate to an expanded state of awareness with feelings of a psychic opening of the higher chakras, especially the 6th, or the third-eye. The sacred flower seems to produce a subtle, high-level, expanded state of consciousness that may have been used in ceremonial meditation and magic. References :
tmom2012 Terence Mckenna with brother Dennis J. Mckenna and author John Major Jenkins, were the prime originators of the Mayan 2012 ethos, and are credited as such on the N.A.S.A. website under the title; "The Great Doomsday Scare" which credits Terence and Dennis's book; "The Invisible Landscape: Mind, Hallucinogens, and the I Ching", with; "at least getting the (astronomical) date right". A more enlightened and humoristic view has been taken by John Horgan in Scientific American of June 6th, 2012, in an interesting article based on his meeting with Terence Mckenna in May 1999. The Terence Mckenna OmniBus 2012, [TMOM2012], is a series of 12 clips released monthly by Headspace Studios through 2012. TMOM2012 features previously unseen interviews culled from our 'Lost Mckenna tapes' archive restored to High Definition with added dimensions of music, sounds, color and special effects to make this series worthy of representing Terence Mckenna's mojo for generations to come.
Psychedelics & Consciousness (Short Documentary) | Social Consciousness A short documentary about psychedelics and their beneficial potential, featuring Jason Silva, Terence McKenna, Graham Hancock and Joe Rogan. Created by Omega Point “Psychedelics are illegal not because a loving government is concerned that you may jump out of a third story window. Psychedelics are illegal because they dissolve opinion structures and culturally laid down models of behaviour and information processing. They open you up to the possibility that everything you know is wrong.” ―Terence McKenna “Today a young man on acid realized that all matter is merely energy condensed to a slow vibration, that we are all one consciousness experiencing itself subjectively, there is no such thing as death, life is only a dream, and we are the imagination of ourselves. “When the state sends us to prison for essentially exploring our own consciousness, this is a grotesque abuse of human rights. Related Posts
Cancer Cells Decompose after Several Days, with the Use of this Herb - Fine Living Advice Scientists have discovered that the root of this plant works “better” than chemotherapy because it “kills” completely the cells infected with cancer. In addition it acts as a diuretic, which stimulates the secretion of bile, cleanses the liver, helps with allergies and reduces cholesterol. See also: Russian Remedy that Cured many from Cancer! It contains many important vitamins and minerals like vitamin B6, thiamin, riboflavin, vitamin C, iron, calcium, potassium, folic acid and magnesium. It contains up to 535% of the required dose of vitamin C and 110% of the recommended daily dose of vitamin A. University of Windsor Canada made an initial study of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and the results gave new hope to cancer patients. John Di Carlo, 72 year-old man, who was personally convinced of the healing properties of dandelion, has been subjected to intense and “aggressive” chemotherapy to fight for his health. See also: 3 Carcinogenic Foods that you should Avoid! Related
Found In The Archives: Military LSD Testing : The Picture Show Welcome to a new, regular miniseries on The Picture Show. On the first of each month, Found in the Archives will feature archival films and found images selected by Rich Remsberg. In my day job, I work as an archival image researcher on documentaries for PBS, National Geographic, the History Channel, museum exhibits and independent films. It's my responsibility to find the vintage film footage and still photos that make historical documentaries historical. In the course of each project, I come across interesting visual material that, for a variety of reasons, doesn't make it into the finished programs. Sifting through this slag heap is where some of the most compelling pictures and stories are found. Sometimes bemusing, sometimes fairly disturbing, these histories don't always fit so easily into a tidy narrative, and I love them for the way they add dimension and complications to the conventional notions of history. National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, Md.