perusing this exhaustive list of cognitive biases and it really is amazing that humans every have anything approaching a rational thought. for whatever reason, reading about research on confirmation bias has always been a favorite pastime. throw in cognitive dissonance, and motivated reasoning and you’ve got yourself a whole mess of irrationality.
Tag Archives: research
How the first plant came to be
new genetic research supports the theory that plants “owe their existence to a tiny alga eons ago that swallowed a cyanobacteria and turned it into an internal solar power plant.”. reminds me of the great symbiosis quote, “Life did not take over the globe by combat, but by networking.”
Magic Mushrooms Expand the Mind By Dampening Brain Activity
almost 60 years after the doors of perception was first published, in recent psilocybin research scientists discover that, “a lot of brain activity is actually dedicated to keeping the world very stable and ordinary and familiar and unsurprising.” i’m certain if i was a research subject my brain would have fun by playing no surprises on endless loop in the fmri tube.
Should You Run When You’re Sick?
presently testing the theory that running with a head cold won’t do more harm than good while following the “neck rule”, “Symptoms below the neck (chest cold, bronchial infection, body ache) require time off, while symptoms above the neck (runny nose, stuffiness, sneezing) don’t pose a risk to runners continuing workouts.”
Late-preterm babies at greater risk for problems later in childhood
new research from michigan state university shows that even late-preterm babies at greater risk for problems later in childhood:
“We found late-preterm babies are between two and three times more likely at age 6 to have lower IQs as well as higher levels of attention problems and symptoms of anxious, withdrawn behavior.”
there have been so many advances in neonatal care for preemies it’s often difficult for people to remember that every single week of gestation counts and there’s some basic wiring/development that needs finishing, even at 34+ weeks:
“Milford said the reason for the risk is that the brain simply isn’t developed enough at 34 to 36 weeks. “A lot of the development of higher-order functioning in the brain is occurring in the 34-to-36-week range,” she explained, adding that “there’s a reason that humans gestate for 40 weeks.” ”
with 168 kids in the study, born during 1983 and 1985, i wonder why didn’t they have a cohort of micropreemies? i premsume there weren’t enough long term survivors in the database.
it is a reminder that odin is getting to be about the age that we could/(should?) expect to see subtle behavioral/learning since he was, of course, born way before 34 weeks.
it’s strange to think that over 5 years ago we first grappling with how to make sense of the micropreemie odds.