~ TBATLIAPRTBUOS ~ The Brain Apparently Thinks Logic Is A Precious Resource To Be Used Only Sparingly

~ WSDKTPOS-WTTRFI-SIEFNBF ~ We Still Don’t Know The Purpose Of Sleep – Whatever The True Reason For It – Sleep Is Essential For Normal Brain Functioning

~ TMRBTBASCTAHCUBAC-TPOALOAIM ~ The Memories Retrieved By The Brain Are Sometimes Comparable To A Hairball Coughed Up By A Cat – The Product Of A Lot Of Alarming Internal Mangling

~ MOWOBDIDTMYLAFAGAP-A-OOTWICDTIBMYMTMYFBAY-MUFAIWWBIAIC ~ Much Of What Our Brain Does Is Dedicated To Making You Look And Feel As Good As Possible – And – One Of The Ways It Can Do This Is By Modifying Your Memories To Make You Feel Better About Yourself – Making Us Feel As If We Were Better Informed And In Control

~ ASOSWAASTBITNFFH ~ A Sense Of Self-Worth And Achievement Seems To Be Integral To Normal Functioning For Humans

~ WBMOOWVOWOPTOATU ~ We Base Much Of Our World View On What Other People Think Of And Tell Us

~ IYPHS-IHLTYPTU-WHTWATWST ~ If Your Parents Have Superstitions – It’s Highly Likely That You’ll Pick Them Up – Without Having To Witness Anything That Would Support Them

~ TBSTSWTITSCHFNDROTC-TRORHNKOC-OOWITRATETHDSFAR-ORTA-‘F’ ~ The Brain Seems To Struggle With The Idea That Something Can Happen For No Discernible Reason Other Than Chance – The Rejection Of Randomness Has Numerous Knock-On Consequences – One Of Which Is The Reflex Assumption That Everything That Happens Does So For A Reason – Often Referred To As – ‘Fate’

~ FTBTEATA-ISTHTBSARI-B-ASATITO-STRCBA ~ For The Brain To Enjoy A Thrilling Activity – It Seems There Has To Be Some Actual Risk Involved – But – Also Some Ability To Influence The Outcome – So The Risks Can Be Avoided

~ FI-I-TAT-UI-WWI-AI-ASO ~ Fluid Intelligence – Is – The Ability To – Use Information – Work With It – Apply It – And So On

~ CI-I-TIYHSIM-A-CUTHYGTBOS ~ Crystallised Intelligence – Is – The Information You Have Stored In Memory – And – Can Utilise To Help You Get The Better Of Situations

~ FIDAWA-C-CIRSOAL ~ Fluid Intelligence Declines As We Age – Contrastingly – Crystallised Intelligence Remains Stable Over A Lifetime

~ LNTAPNSCBASCITB-TBIAPO-ICAWPATTDMOI ~ Learning New Things And Practising New Skills Can Bring About Structural Changes In The Brain – The Brain Is A Plastic Organ – It Can And Will Physically Adapt To The Demands Made Of It

~ ‘BT’-GAE-TI-AP-NAETAOTPCAIIGI-TJCYTBGASG-ATBIECENTHTEEETATTH ~ “Brain-Training” – Games And Exercises – There Is – At Present – No Accepted Evidence That Any Of These Products Cause An Increase In General Intelligence – They Just Cause You To Become Good At Specific Games

~ DMTIOEMF-N-‘SD’-MOTARNAAOSPSAMOA-TLTEOGIACAG ~ Drugs Meant To Improve Or Enhance Mental Function – Nootropics – “Smart Drugs” – Most Of These Are Relatively New And Affect Only Specific Processes Such As Memory Or Attention – Their Long-Term Effects On General Intelligence Are Currently Anyone’s Guess

~ WSATTIIF-TTTPWOT-ITTIV-TPB ~ When Students Are Told That Intelligence Is Fixed – They Tend To Perform Worse On Tests – If Told That It’s Variable – They Perform Better

~ TBHTPACWGN ~ The Brain Has To Pick And Choose What Gets Noticed

~ TMWAWSUOPTIITCW-ILRASP-B-IBOUDOA ~ The Most Worrying And Wide-Spread Use Of Personality Tests Is In The Corporate World – It Looks Rigorous And Sounds Proper – But – It’s Based On Untested Decades-Old Assumptions

~ FLAPVOECBD-ICRTBTASOLH ~ Feeling Like A Passive Victim Of Events Can Be Damaging – It Can Reduce The Brain To A State Of Learned Helplessness

~ DTAIOAPTICAH-WCPTIIHIBTPAROO ~ Despite The Apparent Individuality Of A Person’s Tastes In Comedy And Humour – We Can Prove That It Is Heavily Influenced By The Presence And Reactions Of Others

~ TBHASEVOPDTCWO ~ The Brain Has A Surprisingly Extensive Variety Of Processes Dedicated To Communicating With Others

~ OBAVAARARF ~ Our Brains Are Very Adept At Recognising And Reading Faces

~ FITD-T-AWASRWMYMATALR ~ Foot-In-The-Door – Technique – Agreeing With A Small Request Will Make You More Amenable To A Larger Request

~ DITF-T-BITPBMWI-‘STD’-MOL-YFB-TADT-‘MIU’-TT ~ Door-In-The-Face – Technique – But It’s The Person Being Manipulated Who Is – “Slamming The Door” – Metaphorically Or Literally – You Feel Bad – There’s A Desire To – “Make It Up” – To Them

~ RBU-ATSBRTP-PP ~ Relationship Break-Up – Activates The Same Brain Regions That Process – Physical Pain

~ BPOAGCOOJ-EOS-WO-OBP-‘BL’-O-‘BR’ ~ Being Part Of A Group Can Override Our Judgement – Even Our Senses – Worryingly Often – Our Brains Prioritise – ‘Being Liked’ – Over – ‘Being Right’

~ FADB-TMSOIIOP-MAIAFPWCL ~ For A Developing Brain – The Main Source Of Information Is Other People – Mimicry And Imitation Are Fundamental Processes Whereby Children Learn

~ ‘MN’-NTA-B-WWPASA-A-WWOTAFSE-STBRAPTBOOAAFL ~ “Mirror Neurons” – Neurons That Activate – Both – When We Perform A Specific Action – And – When We Observe That Action From Someone Else – Suggesting The Brain Recognizes And Processes The Behaviour Of Others At A Fundamental Level

~ OBPTUOPAAGTRFIIUS ~ Our Brains Prefer To Use Other People As A Go-To Reference For Information In Uncertain Scenarios

~ GWOAAMEXTIMWIA-GP-IVCAWGDMICC-ICBLOPBAC-A/O-OOTBA ~ Groups Will Often Adopt A More Extreme Conclusion Than Individual Members Would If Alone – Group Polarisation – It’s Very Common And Warps Group Decision-Making In Countless Circumstances – It Can Be Limited Or Prevented By Allowing Criticism – And/Or – Outside Opinions To Be Aired

~ CD-TAMOL-AMBLMG-WDAOI ~ Countless Decisions – That Affect Millions Of Lives – Are Made By Like-Minded Groups – Who Don’t Allow Outside Input

~ PAWTBR-JNTFR ~ People Are Willing To Be Rebels – Just Not The First Rebel

~ OBCUTFG-A-TOTWTT ~ Our Brains Compel Us To From Groups – And – Turn On Those Who Threaten Them

~ TMPACSLI-THIIFTTATNAIOTWO-B-ALAWDDSSLPTMPPICORC ~ The More Privileged And Comfortable Someone’s Life Is – The Harder It Is For Them To Appreciate The Needs And Issues Of Those Worse Off – But – As Long As We Don’t Do Something Stupid Like Put The Most Pampered People In Charge Of Running Countries – We Should Be OK

~ TBIATWIFAJ-WGBGR-A-BBIP-U-TIT-B-TBISIIOBTWSTIA-SWBVFTM ~ The Brain Inherently Assumes The World Is Fair And Just – Where Good Behavior Gets Rewarded – And – Bad Behaviour Is Punished – Unfortunately – This Isn’t True – But – The Bias Is So Ingrained In Our Brains That We Stick To It Anyway – So We Blame Victims For Their Misfortune

~ PALCOV-ITTCITATS-O-ITWTTVWCL ~ People Are Less Critical Of Victims – If They Themselves Can Intervene To Alleviate Their Suffering – Or – If They Were Told The Victims Were Compensated Later

~ DIAGASPTDEAR-NDAS ~ Depression Is A Genuine And Serious Problem That Deserves Empathy And Respect – Not Dismissal And Scorn

~ DINL-EWPAEIPAFTOB-A-IOBHDTEIAA-TIOEEIOL ~ Depression Is Not Logical – Everything We Perceive And Experience Is Processed And Filtered Through Our Brain – And – If Our Brain Has Determined That Everything Is Absolutely Awful – That’ll Impact On Everything Else In Our Lives

~ AOSAOIPWDASCTS-EHOWTDTIRE ~ Accusations Of Selfishness Also Often Imply People With Depression Are Somehow Choosing Their Situation – Exactly How Or Why They’d Do This Is Rarely Explained

~ ITMW-TBTTTWBOOBI-GOS-IITIOTF-TWGP ~ In The Modern World – The Biggest Threat To The Well-Being Of Our Brains Is – Good Old Stress – If It’s Too Intense Or Too Frequent – Then We Get Problems