intellect
Insightful post about reason, abstract thinking, and science, highlighting gifted science fiction influencers.
Creating a Link
As a person with no particular background in science or math I've always been interested in Quantum Mechanics. The only problem was every time I tried do research or watch a video on it, I honestly couldn't even grasp the most basic concepts. Not because it was impossibly hard, but because anyone with a degree tends to dive straight into the mathematics of how they "believe" this sub atomic realm operates. I'm no expert but I think I may be able to break the basics down in a way that doesn't require you to be a particle physicist.
By Shea Matthew6 years ago in Futurism
Why My Clairvoyance Drives Me Crazy
Being a psychic has its perks in that you will never, ever, be surprised by a surprise party. It is very hard to surprise me because it takes me very little time to figure out who is doing that. Clairvoyants receive visions, symbols, and pictures. I get visions of stuff happening to the living, such as when somebody is busy attempting suicide. Oh, that power is just scary because I once saw somebody I knew stepping in front of a car. Let’s not go there, because the issue with this person is pretty crazy-making and this article is not about them, it is about how a clairvoyant perceives things.
By Iria Vasquez-Paez8 years ago in Futurism
My Psychic Brain Didn’t Shut Up in the Past
My brain confused me back when I didn’t know I had schizophrenia, much less was educated on what it was. If I could Quantum Leap-style time travel, I would go back to high school and get myself medication. Back then, I had a hard time with the off-switch. Not being on any medication whatsoever can cause brain damage. Alcohol can also cause brain damage. With schizophrenia, you are already born with structural differences in your anatomy because of the design of your brain since conception. Schizophrenia causes a loss of gray matter in the brain, as well as in the temporal and frontal lobes.
By Iria Vasquez-Paez8 years ago in Futurism
Solipsism: The Easy Version
Whether it be a core belief, an edgier option to chose amongst a sea of nihilistic millennials, or a coping mechanism, you may have found yourself identifying as someone who either outright believes that the universe and all that (appears to) exists around them is merely inside of their mind, or you simply acknowledge that you can’t know for sure that anything other than you and your existence actually exists. If you think you might be one of these people, but just can’t seem to articulate your views, this article is here to help you out, you budding little solipsist, you. If you’re not one of these people, stick around anyway... please.
By Mathew Moody8 years ago in Futurism
The Human Condition
The strangest part of life and death to me is that time always carries on. You live your life to its fullest, or to its lowest, and when you die time carries on. ‘You’ become a decomposing mass of inanimate molecules. Your body stops working. Your memories are lost. Your experiences, your secrets. Every detail about your suppressed or gratifying moments are vanquished. You no longer exist the way you were. Your brain dies. This constructed identity of ‘you’ dies.
By Oliver White8 years ago in Futurism
Consciousness or Ignorance
Today, it seems life as a human can be very...dramatic, to say the least. Everyone is caught up in the next new thing, the newest drama between one celebrity to another, or even what the president said about a whole ethnic group of people. Drama, as it stands, is definitely not lacking in our current "social" media reigned society; the feeling of dread and depression around every corner of this beloved country, soaked up a by a mask we each put on. For many of us, it's and ongoing battle to stay sane in a world that has gone crazy. If you're reading this, I'm sure you feel the same. Inching closer to the day where our mistakes as a race of humans, and our ignorance of this planet will eventually tear us apart to a point of retribution, spitting us off the planet like a virus. To me, we have a short time to make a very important choice; life or death, love or hate, consciousness of the choices we make, or ignorance to the fact of us tearing the planet down.
By Isaac Moore8 years ago in Futurism
Fish in Water
A fish presumably doesn’t know it’s in water. Other than the rare event when it might leap from the water to evade a predator, or even to become one, it lives primarily below the surface. This analogy is something that’s had me thinking for a good few months now, but in regard to human existence. It’s only a short essay but I hope you find it interesting.
By Ashley Kent8 years ago in Futurism
Where Is My Mind's Eye?
For a long time, I thought I was just a normal everyday human being. Turns out, I'm not even that. It never occurred to me that I was missing out on some spectacular part of living, until recently (after bingeing Sherlock on Netflix) I began to question peoples' brains and way of thinking. I was enthralled with the idea of having a "mind palace" where you could store your memories in an organized structure for future reference. I've always had troubles with my memories. I rely prominently on photos to jog my mind and help me to recall certain situations I've been in, or even the faces of people I know when I can't seem to remember exactly what they look like. So because of this, you can understand my interest in the mind palace. I decided to look into it to try and understand how it's done and maybe, just maybe, begin to train my own brain to store memories in an orderly fashion.
By Outside In8 years ago in Futurism
Why All Beliefs Are Limiting
Reality is defined as "the world or the state of things as they actually exist, as opposed to an idealistic or notional idea of them." So how is it decided of what "actually exists"? For argument's sake, we could say reality is backed up by "proof," and proof is made up of "evidence" that is defined as "facts or information indicating whether something is true." So what is true? By definition it is "something in accordance with reality." With that being said, isn't "proof" just an idea that checks out with our current state of reality? And if that is true, our accepted version of reality is only the current most popular belief at any given time. Remember when everyone thought the world was flat? Probably not because you weren't alive, but regardless it was the "accepted reality" in the past, yet it wasn't reality at all. Minds are currently evolving, but in order to make sense of the present moment, we define it in the least complicated way we know how. This is what leads us to form beliefs: an acceptance that something is true or not, or that it does or does not exist.
By Summer Sheehan8 years ago in Futurism
Are We Truly Real?
We are a real, living, breathing human being. This is probably a concept that you don't think much about because in our minds it's just a given. Humans are as real as this rock or that tree. But how do you know with certainty that what you are experiencing right now is really reality?
By Walt Duncan8 years ago in Futurism
The Brain and Communication
Low Road and High Road Every time our brain elaborates information, it can choose to follow two very distinct routes. The low road is tied to the oldest part of the brain governing emotional responses and acting through established patterns of behavior called heuristics. These shortcuts bypass conscious reasoning and act as automatic responses to stimuli encountered before, especially in situations of stress.
By Fabia Scali-Warner8 years ago in Futurism
