Tag: neuroscience

Optimal Design Performance Under Stress

Charles_Thévenin_-_Reddition_de_la_ville_d'UlmNapoleon may very well have been a high performer under stress

In Stress makes programmer’s dumber I brought additional attention to the fine work of Alan G. Carter in his essays called The Programmer’s Stone. Not only did I learn that stress caused a measurable decline in the cognitive ability to use juxtapositional thinking (JT) for complex design work (general complex level of thinking/problem solving). But apparently the great majority of commenters on this blog, from Hacker News and the subreddit programming were all very familiar with this phenomenon. (My fiance is pressing her stress relief ducky at this very moment, and I’m doing my best to remain in the writing flow ;) ) (more…)

Protect Your Peace of Mind, Construct an Optimal Workspace

Don’t Compromise Your Work Environment

The moment you accept a less than ideal work environment you are also accepting lower quality work and less value for your time. It’s easy to let your work space slide, or to accept a cubicle echo chamber when times are tight. This is one negotiation you can’t afford to yield on. (more…)

Human Condition: Flow is Action & Experiencing

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The Flow State Mirrors Aspects of Taoism

After reading a few books that try and capture the concept of Taoism I’ve found the best way of describing it is orchestrating your life to be in “the flow” maximally. Considering what defines the human condition lead me to believe it is related to an experiential factor. We like to learn, interact, taste, puzzle, challenge, coast, and fly. We’re drawn to so many different interests, topics, and areas. And there’s nothing quite like seeing a person shining “in the flow of the moment”, except of course, being that person. (more…)

Imagine Our Mind Without Bounds

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Neural Interfaces May Teach Us More About Consciousness

The key to our consciousness may not be the brain itself, but the waves that continually travel throughout the structure.  Much like highways, our complex neural networks are simply infrastructure for our electromagnetic (and chemical) thought waves to traverse and interact.  By focusing our learning about brain waves, neural interface devices will help us understand what gives us a sense of consciousness.  In addition the potential for replicating artificial infrastructure exterior to our bodies, but accessible to our conscious minds could be possible.  Yeah I know, it’s a far out idea but consider our brain’s division.  It is composed of two main hemispheres and multiple clusters, and there is somewhat redundant data storage in various portions of our mind.  Yet with all these interacting clusters, we have one consciousness.

Mind Outside of Body

As our body functions via gene regulatory networks, our consciousness emerges from an incredible complex network of signals. If network signals are the source of our sense of consciousness, what does this imply about the restriction on where our minds can dwell?  While imagining this thought experiment, I considered potential requirements for a functioning external environment that the mind could spread to. Any extension to our mind would require similar brain-like infrastructure to our own physical brain: (more…)