So I was doing my psychology homework, and like the good nerd that I am, I am fascinated by what I am learning about the brain and its functions. A small, three pound organ with the texture of Jell-o does pretty much everything in our bodies. Everything you feel, touch, smell, taste, and see is directed by the brain. It really boggles my mind how it can do so much. And that it can make us respond to stimulation in the environment in a matter of seconds.
It is the brain that is allowing me to type on my keyboard to blog this. It's the brain that is allowing me to fascinated by the topic in the first place. Without it, we wouldn't be able to do the things we normally take for granted or really, anything at all. I found that the size of the brain has nothing to do with intelligence. I've also learned about the left-brained and right-brained theory. Apparently, that is not a legitimate theory. Your left hemisphere controls the right portion of your body and vice-versa. There is a correlation between left-handed people being more artistic, while right-handed people are more logical and reasoned. This usually occurs because the hemisphere that is controlling the movement of the hand you are writing with is most likely better developed than the other due to constant use of it.
There was also this experiment I was reading about in the textbook. There is something called the hippothalamus that controls pleasure and stress. If stimulated, it causes an intense pleasurable experience. In this one experiment, rats were put in a cage where one wall of cage was wire with something that when the rat touched the bar, the rat's hippothalamus was stimulated. There was this one rat that hit this bar 2,000 times an hour for 20 hours straight- all to receive that rush of pleasure.
There's so much more fascinating things that the brain does, but this blog forum isn't enough room to hold everything. Now let your brain think this through and contemplate its wonder.
"Apparently, that is not a legitimate theory. Your left hemisphere controls..." So wait - is that whole paragraph about left/right functions "not a legitimate theory"?
ReplyDeleteAlso, I was sitting in on a Philosophy overview, and one of the things THEY talk about is: Are we conscious (and able to be "fascinated") simply due to the chemical reactions going on up there in our heads, because, if so, if it's all just physical and chemical, then everything we think and do, controlled by laws of science, should be PREDICTABLE. As in, our reactions and thoughts should be PREDETERMINED by our biology, so what's this about free will? On the other hand, what if our brains aren't just biological? What would it mean if the same biological structures, created artificially, were incapable of thought? If human beings possessed something ELSE that allowed us to be aware of ourselves?
Oh no no- I guess I wasn't as clear as I wanted to be. The right/left-brain theory says that you only use that one part of your brain and that's why you're called right or left brained. However, your brain uses both hemispheres, but one can be more developed. I hope that makes better sense now...
ReplyDeleteThat's an interesting topic you bring up. We discussed the first bit in my class (about the biological approach) but the second portion is interesting to look at.