The God Con
  • The God Con
  • About
  • Purchase Book/Contact the Author
  • Index

​
​The God Con
Pay
Pray Obey​

Certainly not The Good Book,
But perhaps a good book.
Picture

Brain that Changes Itself, The; Norman Doidge; 2007; Penguin Books; 284 pgs; appendices; notes, index

9/1/2019

0 Comments

 
Picture
This is an interesting book, recommended to me by my friend D. Harper. It starts out very strong with a story about a woman who had lost her balance. That is, her vestibular complex had been destroyed and she had no balance. She felt like she was in a permanent state of free fall. If she stood, she fell immediately. Then they put  a small accelerometer under her tongue. The accelerometer would raise and lower bumps on the tongue contact to indicate how her head was moving. Miraculously, it worked. She was walking again in a short time, and could ultimately get by without the device for most for the day.


Her brain had rewired itself to take balance input not from the ear, but from her tongue! That is neuroplasticity, the subject of the book. This is NOT neuro-linguistic programming  (NLP) which is a crock.

As a computer scientist, I see computing analogies all over the place in this book. All your senses act as "ports", the technical term for how data gets into a computer.  It turns out if one port breaks, the brain can, with some work, relocate the input to another port. A great deal is made of the topological nature of the brain. What this means is that there is a map of your body (to pick one example), in your brain. This is no surprise. It means that if you touch yourself on two adjacent parts of your leg, there will to two adjacent parts of your brain that "light up".

Some pithy conclusions:
  • Neurons that fire together wire together.
  • Use it or loose it.
  • Neurons that fire apart wire apart.
  • Neurons out of sync fail to link.

These ideas imply a lot of possibilities. The brain is a big de-localized computing machine. If parts die, the functions can be relocated. If parts are not busy, they will get seconded for other uses. For example when you are blind your hearing improves, using bits (literally and figuratively) of our visual cortex for help. Knowing these mechanisms has led to real treatments for injured people.

I have little doubt, for example, that my brain map for my hands has gotten larger since I started practicing close up magic. The same would be true for learning to play an instrument.

The book starts out strong with deeply interesting experiments and outcomes, and finishes with weak examples that to me are little more than simple learning (which, of course, also changes your brain). Just imagining things (like rehearsing in your head)  can make long lasting changes to your brain.


One take away: Learn new stuff. All the time. It will keep your brain healthy longer… and you are your brain.  If your memory is getting iffy, exercise it!

0 Comments

    Author

    Lee Moller is a life-long skeptic and atheist and the author of The God Con.

    Archives

    March 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    May 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    November 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    March 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017

    Categories

    All
    Books
    Comment
    Critical Thinking And Skepticism
    Donald Trump
    Quotes
    RCC
    Reviews
    Science
    The God Con

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly
  • The God Con
  • About
  • Purchase Book/Contact the Author
  • Index