research than the result of our mighty nostrils. 1
â Itâs important to clarify the difference between illusions and hallucinations . Illusions are when the senses detect something but interpret it wrongly, so you end up perceiving something other than what the thing actually is. By contrast, if you smell something with no source , this is a hallucination; perceiving something that isnât actually there, which suggests something isnât working as it should deep in the sensory-processing areas of the brain. Illusions are a quirk of the brainâs workings; hallucinations are more serious.
â¡ Not that the eyes arenât impressive, because they are. The eyes are so complex that theyâre often cited (not a pun) by creationists and others opposed to evolution as clear proof that natural selection isnât real; the eye is so intricate it couldnât just âhappenâ and therefore must be the work of a powerful creator. But if you truly look at the workings of the eye, then this creator must have designed the eye on a Friday afternoon, or while hung over on the morning shift, because a lot of it doesnât make much sense.
§ Modern camera and computing technology means itâs much easier (and considerably less uncomfortable) to track eye movements. Some marketing companies have even used eye scanners mounted on trolleys to observe what customers are looking at in stores. Before this, head-mounted laser trackers were used. Science is so advanced these days that lasers are now old-fashioned. This is a cool thing to realize.
¶ For the record, some people claim that theyâve had eye surgery and their eye was âtaken outâ and left dangling on their cheek at the end of the optic nerve, like in a Tex Avery cartoon. This is impossible; there is some give in the optic nerve, but certainly not enough to support the eye like a grotesque conker on a string. Eye surgery usually involves pulling the eyelids back, holding the eye in place with clamps, and numbing injections, so it feels weird from the patientâs perspective. But the firmness of the eye socket and fragility of the optic nerve means popping the eye out would effectively destroy it, which isnât a great move for an ophthalmic surgeon.
# Exactly how we âfocusâ aural attention is unclear. We donât swivel our ears towards interesting sounds. One possibility comes from a study by Edward Chang and Nima Mesgarani of the University of California, San Francisco, who looked at the auditory cortex of three epilepsy patients who had electrodes implanted in the relevant regions (to record and help localize seizure activity, not for fun or anything). 13 When asked to focus on a specific audio stream out of two or more heard at once, only the one being paid attention to produced any activity in the auditory cortex. The brain somehow suppresses any competing information, allowing full attention to be paid to the voice being listened to. This suggests your brain really can âtune someone out,â like when they wonât stop droning on about their tedious hedgehog-spotting hobby.
6
Personality: a testing concept
The complex and confusing properties of personality
Personality. Everybody has one (except maybe those who enter politics). But what is a personality? Roughly, itâs a combination of an individualâs tendencies, beliefs, ways of thinking and behaving. Itâs clearly some âhigherâ function, a combination of all the sophisticated and advanced mental processes humans seem uniquely capable of thanks to our gargantuan brains. But, surprisingly, many think personality doesnât come from the brain at all.
Historically, people believed in dualism; the idea that the mind and body are separate. The brain, whatever you think of it, is still part of the body; itâs a physical organ. Dualists would argue that the more intangible, philosophical elements of a person
â Itâs important to clarify the difference between illusions and hallucinations . Illusions are when the senses detect something but interpret it wrongly, so you end up perceiving something other than what the thing actually is. By contrast, if you smell something with no source , this is a hallucination; perceiving something that isnât actually there, which suggests something isnât working as it should deep in the sensory-processing areas of the brain. Illusions are a quirk of the brainâs workings; hallucinations are more serious.
â¡ Not that the eyes arenât impressive, because they are. The eyes are so complex that theyâre often cited (not a pun) by creationists and others opposed to evolution as clear proof that natural selection isnât real; the eye is so intricate it couldnât just âhappenâ and therefore must be the work of a powerful creator. But if you truly look at the workings of the eye, then this creator must have designed the eye on a Friday afternoon, or while hung over on the morning shift, because a lot of it doesnât make much sense.
§ Modern camera and computing technology means itâs much easier (and considerably less uncomfortable) to track eye movements. Some marketing companies have even used eye scanners mounted on trolleys to observe what customers are looking at in stores. Before this, head-mounted laser trackers were used. Science is so advanced these days that lasers are now old-fashioned. This is a cool thing to realize.
¶ For the record, some people claim that theyâve had eye surgery and their eye was âtaken outâ and left dangling on their cheek at the end of the optic nerve, like in a Tex Avery cartoon. This is impossible; there is some give in the optic nerve, but certainly not enough to support the eye like a grotesque conker on a string. Eye surgery usually involves pulling the eyelids back, holding the eye in place with clamps, and numbing injections, so it feels weird from the patientâs perspective. But the firmness of the eye socket and fragility of the optic nerve means popping the eye out would effectively destroy it, which isnât a great move for an ophthalmic surgeon.
# Exactly how we âfocusâ aural attention is unclear. We donât swivel our ears towards interesting sounds. One possibility comes from a study by Edward Chang and Nima Mesgarani of the University of California, San Francisco, who looked at the auditory cortex of three epilepsy patients who had electrodes implanted in the relevant regions (to record and help localize seizure activity, not for fun or anything). 13 When asked to focus on a specific audio stream out of two or more heard at once, only the one being paid attention to produced any activity in the auditory cortex. The brain somehow suppresses any competing information, allowing full attention to be paid to the voice being listened to. This suggests your brain really can âtune someone out,â like when they wonât stop droning on about their tedious hedgehog-spotting hobby.
6
Personality: a testing concept
The complex and confusing properties of personality
Personality. Everybody has one (except maybe those who enter politics). But what is a personality? Roughly, itâs a combination of an individualâs tendencies, beliefs, ways of thinking and behaving. Itâs clearly some âhigherâ function, a combination of all the sophisticated and advanced mental processes humans seem uniquely capable of thanks to our gargantuan brains. But, surprisingly, many think personality doesnât come from the brain at all.
Historically, people believed in dualism; the idea that the mind and body are separate. The brain, whatever you think of it, is still part of the body; itâs a physical organ. Dualists would argue that the more intangible, philosophical elements of a person
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