the “right brained/left brained” lay theory of brain lateralization has been on the ropes for awhile and the results of a new two year study confirm that there is no such thing as ‘right-brained’ or ‘left-brained’ personality types. maybe the title to “drawing on the right side of the brain” (which is a great book regardless of the limits of it’s central metaphor ) should be changed to drawing on the top of the brain. whether right or left or top or bottom, all the current brain theories you can imagine are deeply linked to the the computational metaphor which is, of course, merely a metaphor.
Tag Archives: brain
Fast Time and the Aging Mind
folks studying time perception have found, counterintuitively, that the idea that time speeds up as you get older appears to be a myth. if fact, as you get older you’re recording memories differently, “…first memories are dense. The routines of later life are sketchy. The past wasn’t really slower than the present. It just feels that way.”. when i first learned about the psychology of time perception, i discovered a simple way test how first memories affect perception of time. drive somewhere new and pay attention to how long it feels it’s taking ( we’re talking touchy feely perceptions here, not elapsed time ), then drive back at about the same speed and pay attention to how long it feels. the trip back will usually feel dramatically faster. eloquently on the perception of fast time and the aging mind, “It’s simple: if you want time to slow down, become a student again. Learn something that requires sustained effort; do something novel.” [ via daringfireball ]