http://ranprieur.com/#9a417fe513f58988c3b5b1e84cfc57397194a79b 2023-07-10T22:00:46Z Ran Prieur http://ranprieur.com/ ranprieur@gmail.com http://ranprieur.com/#0612143bdf861166fb444ffa62929a6c58fb5a74 2023-07-10T22:00:46Z July 10. Today, some fun brainy links. Skunk Ledger is a blogger who I can't even summarize. But most recently, there's a satirical Opening Speech for a conference of neurotypicals who feel left out by the coolness of nerds. And Superrational is the story of a ridiculously rational teenage girl, written in the style of Twilight fanfic.

And a fascinating Hacker News thread about crossword puzzles with multiple solutions. I wonder if reality works the same way, if the field of whatever, from which we extract sense data and construct the world, could be interpreted as something radically different.

]]> http://ranprieur.com/#3400fecfc5540268a61b7419cdb7c1f35e50afcd 2023-07-07T19:30:06Z July 7. Psychology links. Mental Liquidity is about the skill of changing your mind, and not letting your beliefs become part of your identity.

Intelligence and thinking speed: Surprising relationship revealed: "The study discovered that people with higher fluid intelligence, which is a measure of problem-solving ability, actually took more time to solve difficult tasks compared to those with lower fluid intelligence."

The explanation is related to the distinction between System 1 and System 2 thinking, where System 1 is fast and automatic, and System 2 is slow and deliberate, but more accurate.

And an article on Brain bandwidth, the brain's limited capacity to do careful observation and processing.

]]> http://ranprieur.com/#48334a53237797dbad9bdd6ba876fe41a7fa4ae0 2023-07-05T17:10:37Z July 5. Last night was the annual blow shit up holiday, and I wonder, what is it about humans that they can never get enough stimulus? If there's reincarnation, in my next life I'd like to be a tuft of bunchgrass in an obscure canyon, just to get a rest.

Related, from the New Yorker, The Case Against Travel

And a good Reddit thread, What is something that has massively improved your mental health?

]]> http://ranprieur.com/#789eb8a7fb99e3d342f2013555c942a335555d85 2023-07-03T15:50:38Z July 3. This blog has not been a high priority for me lately. I've been putting more mental energy into writing fiction, making music playlists, making custom spirits for Spirit Island, and what I'm going to call "altered state of consciousness exercises".

The other day I picked up the classic 1969 book Altered States of Consciousness, and opened to a section on meditation. Everyone knows that you're supposed to "be here now". But be here now with what? A suggestion was to be here now with whatever you turn your attention to, when someone asks "How are you?"

If you succeed in being present, you can ask yourself this question: What's more troubling? That this moment will be completely forgotten? Or that it will never be forgotten? I'm sure people will answer both ways. The point is that it has to be one or the other, and neither one is something we go around thinking. And either one, if taken as true, will bring your mind into the present moment, whether to appreciate it before it slips away, or because you don't want to look bad in the Akashic records.

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