Tetris effect
Screenshot of a tetromino game. People who play video puzzle games like this for a long time may see moving images like this at the edges of their visual fields, when they close their eyes, or when they are drifting off to sleep. The Tetris effect (also known as Tetris Syndrome) occurs when people devote so much time and attention to an activity that it begins to pattern their thoughts, mental images, and dreams.
English 50 Exercises for Story Writers
English 50 – Intro to Creative Writing: Exercises for Story Writers Basic Theory: What is a short story? As soon as someone delivers a definition, some good writer will write a story that proves the theory wrong. About the only thing we can say for sure is that short stories are short and that they are written in what we call prose. Some attributes, however, seem to show up more often than not.
10 Brilliant Social Psychology Studies
Ten of the most influential social psychology experiments. “I have been primarily interested in how and why ordinary people do unusual things, things that seem alien to their natures.Why do good people sometimes act evil?Why do smart people sometimes do dumb or irrational things?” –Philip Zimbardo
6 Real World Da Vinci Codes
Thanks to Dan Brown, everyone has one of two responses to the idea that there are hidden codes in ancient works: Either you immediately believe them, because of that mind-blowing Da Vinci Code book, or you immediately mock them, because of that bullshit Da Vinci Code book. The truth is somewhere in the middle. There are, after all, some fairly weird encoded messages that actual academic types have identified. And some of them are even about Freemasons. The Michelangelo Code
Dunning–Kruger effect
Cognitive bias in which people with low ability at a task overestimate their ability In the field of psychology, the Dunning–Kruger effect is a cognitive bias in which people with low ability at a task overestimate their ability. It is related to the cognitive bias of illusory superiority and comes from the inability of people to recognize their lack of ability. Without the self-awareness of metacognition, people cannot objectively evaluate their competence or incompetence. As described by social psychologists David Dunning and Justin Kruger, the bias results from an internal illusion in people of low ability and from an external misperception in people of high ability; that is, "the miscalibration of the incompetent stems from an error about the self, whereas the miscalibration of the highly competent stems from an error about others".[1] Colloquially, people experiencing this bias are said to be "on Mount Stupid".[2][3] Original study[edit]
Rosenhan experiment
Experiment to determine the validity of psychiatric diagnosis Rosenhan's study was done in eight parts. The first part involved the use of healthy associates or "pseudopatients" (three women and five men, including Rosenhan himself) who briefly feigned auditory hallucinations in an attempt to gain admission to 12 psychiatric hospitals in five states in the United States. All were admitted and diagnosed with psychiatric disorders. After admission, the pseudopatients acted normally and told staff that they felt fine and had no longer experienced any additional hallucinations. All were forced to admit to having a mental illness and had to agree to take antipsychotic drugs as a condition of their release.
untitled
Introduction Robert Monroe developed and patented a binaural-beat technology called the Hemi-Sync auditory-guidance system. The Monroe Institute, a 501c(3) nonprofit research and educational organization, uses this Hemi-Sync system within an educational process. During this process individuals listen to a combination of multiplexed audio binaural beats that are mixed with music, pink sound, and/or the natural sound of surf. Binaural-beat stimulation, coupled with the effects of the other components within the Hemi-Sync process, encourages access to focused, meditative, and alert states of consciousness. Ancient cultures used the natural power of sound and music to safely influence states of consciousness in religious ceremonies and to promote psychological and physical health.
In the Shadow of Hegel: How Does Thought Arise Out of Matter?
What's the Big Idea? Before neuroscience and quantum physics, there was Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel. The 19th century German idealist revolutionized Western thought, and every great thinker since has been working in his shadow, says Slavoj Žižek, the Slovenian philosopher and cultural critic. Watch the video interview: Often seen as a precursor to Marxists and existentialists, Hegel believed that knowledge is not static, but dynamic.
Exploring the Superconscious
Interview with Dr Edward Bynum, author of Dark Light Consciousness Author: Jair Robles We are all familiar with its symbolic representations, be it from the caduceus used by modern medicine, the winged serpent of Prehispanic Mesoamerican cultures or the dragons commonly seen at most Asian celebrations. It is said to represent a dormant energy that lies within every one of us, at the base of the spine, and that when this energy is awakened and driven into the brain it opens up our access to higher states of consciousness and our connection to the divine. Much of the disciplines and practices developed by the ancient traditions and practiced at the mystery schools were geared to this sole purpose.
Philosopher of mind David Papineau on the puzzle of consciousness - The Philosopher's Zone
Consciousness presents a serious puzzle for philosophy. The deeper neuroscientists dig into our soggy grey matter, the more elusive the concept becomes. But it doesn’t need to be, leading philosopher of mind David Papineau tells Joe Gelonesi.
Sequences
A sequence is a series of multiple posts on Less Wrong on the same topic, to coherently and fully explore a particular thesis. Reading the sequences is the most systematic way to approach the Less Wrong archives. If you'd like an abridged index of the sequences, try XiXiDu's guide, or Academian's guide targeted at people who already have a science background. Benito's Guide aims to systematically fill the reader in on the most important ideas discussed on LessWrong (not just in the sequences). It also begins with a series of videos, which are a friendly introduction, and useful if you enjoy talks and interviews. If you prefer books over blog posts, Thinking and Deciding by Jonathan Baron and Good and Real by Gary Drescher have been mentioned as books that overlap significantly with the sequences.
