Today I discovered a great (if sporadic) section of the New York Times whose aim is to report on brain research. Yesterday’s article was on education, and how cognitive science is going to effect the way we teach children, since most teaching methods prior have been the result of tradition and assumption. For example, this article claims that"most entering preschoolers could perform rudimentary division,” whereas in my preschool we just learned how to count to ten.
It will be interesting to see if these methods are actually adapted and how they could effect the next generation. My math skills are incredibly weak and, although a lot of it has to do with the fact that I was too shy as a kid to explain that I didn’t understand things, I also think that my basic skills are to blame.
A group called Building Blocks is testing this idea of early math immersion and seems to have already garnered great results. The best part? They believe that by targeting certain parts of the brain it can even effect self-control. Maybe we can get rid of the 4th graders on Ritalin? (side note: Microsoft Word recognizes the word Ritalin. We’re doomed).
Another great article is from November 26th, and it focuses on psychosurgery. I had never heard of this but apparently there are new procedures which may help to cure depression, anxiety, obesity, and OCD among other things by DRILLING HOLES INTO PART OF YOUR BRAIN. There have been mixed results: some have gotten better, some haven’t changed, and an unfortunate few have gotten much worse. One even lost the ability to care for herself after it went awry.
However, I’m not completely opposed to such an extreme method. As someone who has dealt with depression, it seems most medication and therapies are almost as strenuous to endure as surgery would be, and often feel futile. Even when certain patterns of thought can be recognized, it is not always within the means of a patient to eradicate them or act otherwise. That negative self-awareness can be terribly frustrating and dis-heartening, and I’m sure it would be an amazing relief if this surgery could eventually be a safe option.
There are a few more articles to be found in this section but I won’t summarize them all, though one in particular caught my eye. Apparently, it has become possible to erase memories a la Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. This can be done to erase experiences of trauma or even just to fix a bad habit, yet it raises so many more questions about just how important these memories are to who YOU are as a person.
Also: “If traumatic memories are like malicious stalkers, then troubling memories — and a healthy dread of them — form the foundation of a moral conscience”
They mention in the article the tendency of artists and writers to explore the notions of consciousness and identity that are now being explored by neuroscientists (see this article about identity from the same section). I read a great book on this about a year or two ago called “Proust Was a Neuroscientist” by Jonah Lehrer in which he took examples of works by Cezanne, Stravinsky, Walt Whitman, and of course Proust (among others), and analyzed how their particular understanding of the process of human nature relates to scientific theory today. Amazing book, and also partially the topic of my colloquium for Gallatin, though with less science involved.
What am I trying to say?
Basically just that I find these new developments fascinating. I wonder how an in-depth understanding of the brain will effect the way we understand ourselves and relate to one another. What will happen if we can edit ourselves so easily?
Also- I feel like these developments are all a pretty big slap in the face for religion, the way we have starting defining what makes us human in the most practical of terms. Would we be much further along scientifically if religion hadn’t gotten in the way? (oh no- I think I might have gotten that from the ridiculous alternative universe episode of Family Guy. It is also the second time I’ve mentioned that show today).
Enough about the brain, I have to transcribe, but first:
The title of this post comes from a great poem by Wallace Stevens called The Man with the Blue Guitar from 1937. It’s too long to post but here it is along with a few bonus poems. If you’ve never read him, you probably should (thanks Kyle! You probably forgot but you recommended him ages ago)
Also, in looking at poetry earlier I came across this:
Democracy! Bah! When I hear that I reach for my feather boa!
-Allen Ginsberg
Yes.
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