Category: Brain

Brain, Drugs, Health, History, Media&Culture, PsychologyLeave a comment

Acid media

Fernando Kaskais

Courtesy the DEA . All other images supplied by the author. How perforated squares of trippy blotter paper allowed outlaw chemists and wizard-alchemists to dose the world with LSD Erik Davis is an author, award-winning journalist, sometimes podcaster, and popular speaker based in San Francisco, US. His books include Nomad Codes: Adventures in Modern Esoterica (2010), High Weirdness: Drugs, Esoterica, and Visionary Experience in the 70s (2019) and Blotter: The Untold Story of an Acid Medium (2024). First synthesised in 1938 but not tasted until 1943, acid is essentially a creature of the postwar era. As such, it enters the human world alongside an explosion in consumer advertising, … Continue reading Acid media

Brain, Metaphysics, Money, Philosophy, PsychologyLeave a comment

ECONOMICS ASSUMES HUMAN BEINGS HAVE FREE WILL

Fernando Kaskais

Every waking moment we humans live out a constant fact underlying all economic science: we act. By RICHARD W. STEVENS  “Free will denial is a cornerstone of materialist–determinist ideology,” wrote Dr. Michael Egnor here in February 2024. The deniers say we are “purely physical machines, meat robots.” Dr. Egnor cited well-known people who have prominently denied humans have free will. Dr. Egnor challenged deniers to demonstrate through their own actions that they truly have no free will. They will fail for Dr. Egnor’s stated reasons, plus one more: economics. The science of economics describes the behaviors of individual humans as they pursue their … Continue reading ECONOMICS ASSUMES HUMAN BEINGS HAVE FREE WILL

Brain, Drugs, Health, PsychologyLeave a comment

Eyes wide shut: Why psychedelic trips intensify with eyes closed

Fernando Kaskais

Visual stimuli, like watching videos, can diminish the potentially therapeutic effects of psychedelics, recent research suggests. KEY TAKEAWAYS By Saga Briggs You’ve likely heard the phrase “set and setting” when it comes to psychedelics: The quality of a trip depends on the mindset you have and the environment you’re in when you kick off a trip. But while it’s a common claim, there hasn’t been much research on the effects of set and setting on the psychedelic experience.  To bridge that gap, a recent study systematically examined these kinds of effects, including those that result from keeping your eyes open or closed … Continue reading Eyes wide shut: Why psychedelic trips intensify with eyes closed

Brain, Living, Media&Culture, Philosophy, PsychologyLeave a comment

Our tools shape our selves

Fernando Kaskais

Photo by Gary Hershorn/Getty For Bernard Stiegler, a visionary philosopher of our digital age, technics is the defining feature of human experience Bryan Norton is a Mellon Fellow at the Stanford Humanities Center. His research focuses on media and the environment in German romanticism and idealism, in addition to contemporary philosophy, technology and art. He is currently completing a book manuscript titled Planetary Idealism: the Technics of Nature in German Romanticism and editing a volume on Bernard Stiegler with Mark Hansen, titled Negentropic Orientations: Bernard Stiegler and the Future of the Digital. It has become almost impossible to separate the effects of digital … Continue reading Our tools shape our selves

Brain, Living, Psychology, ScienceLeave a comment

How “somatic markers” can transform your decision-making

Fernando Kaskais

Ditch the old brain vs. heart assumptions, and instead think about a heart-led brain. KEY TAKEAWAYS By Jonny Thomson According to Buzzfeed, I’m an emotional kind of guy. Using their peer-reviewed, data-led research, I answered a series of questions about Disney characters and favorite holiday locations, only to find out that I’m all emotion. Ever since, my days have been a passion-soaked mania. I laugh at inappropriate things, I swear at the TV, I eat pizza for every meal, and I can’t be bothered to look after my toddler at 5 a.m. There’s no room for calculated thought anymore, and … Continue reading How “somatic markers” can transform your decision-making

Brain, Living, Media&Culture, PsychologyLeave a comment

The magic of the mundane

Fernando Kaskais

Dining on the frontstage. Photo by Martin Parr/Magnum Pioneering sociologist Erving Goffman realised that every action is deeply revealing of the social norms by which we live Lucy McDonald is a lecturer in ethics at King’s College London. Her work has appeared in the Journal of Moral Philosophy and the Australasian Journal of Philosophy, among others. Think back to the last time you fell over in a public place. What did you do next? Perhaps you immediately righted yourself and carried on exactly as before. I bet you didn’t, though. I bet you first stole a furtive glance at your surroundings to see if … Continue reading The magic of the mundane

Brain, Manipulation, Psychology, ScienceLeave a comment

Prevalence of Female Psychopaths: More Common than Believed

Fernando Kaskais

Image: The image is credited to Neuroscience News Summary: Researchers provide novel insights into female psychopathy, challenging the conventional 6:1 male-to-female psychopath ratio with new evidence suggesting a closer 1.2:1 ratio. Author: Jamie Forsyth The research indicates that societal gender biases have obscured the true nature and prevalence of female psychopaths, who often employ manipulation and seduction rather than violence to achieve their goals. This revelation not only calls for a reassessment of psychopathy across genders but also signals significant implications for criminal justice and corporate leadership. Key Facts: Source: Anglia Ruskin University Female psychopaths are up to five times more common than previously … Continue reading Prevalence of Female Psychopaths: More Common than Believed

Brain, Health, Philosophy, Psychology, ScienceLeave a comment

Rethinking the homunculus

Fernando Kaskais

Dagmar Turner, a violinist, during surgery to remove her brain tumour, January 2020. Photo courtesy King’s College Hospital, London When we discovered that the brain contained a map of the body it revolutionised neuroscience. But it’s time for an update Moheb Costandi is a molecular and developmental neurobiologist, author and freelance science writer. He is the author of Neuroplasticity (2016) and Body Am I (2024), and writes the blog Neurophilosophy. He lives in London. The homunculus is one of the most iconic images in neurology and neuroscience. Usually visualised as a series of disproportionately sized body parts splayed across a section of the brain, it … Continue reading Rethinking the homunculus

Brain, Curiositys, Freak Religion, Philosophy, PsychologyLeave a comment

Thinking about God may encourage risk taking

Fernando Kaskais

Here’s how belief in a higher power can act like a psychological safety net. By Jim Davies Most God-fearing Americans feel the Almighty has got their back: Some 97 percent of those who believe in the God of the Bible say God has protected them at some point. So how does believing one has a buffer against harm affect a person’s approach to risk? Do believers take more risks, thinking God will ultimately save them from bad outcomes, or do they take fewer, fearing God would want them to feel the effects of risky decisions? York University psychologist Cindel White and colleagues … Continue reading Thinking about God may encourage risk taking

Brain, Health, Politics, PsychologyLeave a comment

Psychiatrists Raise Concerns Over an Uptick in School Referrals

Fernando Kaskais

Visual: DigitalVision Vectors via Getty Images Psychiatric evaluations are meant to keep students safe. But psychiatrists say schools misuse and misunderstand them. BY REBECCA REDELMEIER THE 9-YEAR-OLD had been drawing images of guns at school and pretending to point the weapons at other students. He’d become more withdrawn, and had stared angrily at a teacher. The principal suspended him for a week. Educators were unsure whether it was safe for him to return to school — and, if so, how best to support him. So, as schools around the country are increasingly inclined to do amid heightened concern over school violence and threats, administrators sent the child to … Continue reading Psychiatrists Raise Concerns Over an Uptick in School Referrals