The thought-provoking thread

[discombobulation]

About time we had a thread for those mind-blowing videos you stumble across that change your perception of the world.

Or those articles that elaborate on a niche of the universe that you would have otherwise had no idea about.

And content that stirs discussion, thought-experiments and other generally positive increases in cortical metabolism.

Try to avoid just simple news stories that state facts – hopefully this will help engender some interesting discussions.

And if you try to troll this thread, I'll find out where you live and punch you and everyone you know in the cunt .

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I'm going to start things off with a couple of things that have interested me recently:



An intriguing and charismatic talk. Largely dealing with perception studies and neuroscience, but the delivery and select choice of examples makes it worth the watch – and, of course, the potential implications in regards to clinical conditions is fascinating to think about and hold real potential IMO.



I should be shot for not watching this series earlier, but better late than never. One of my favourite sections so far – the scale is so deftly portrayed, and the words chosen have such poise. 15 billion year heritage. Awe-inspiring.



Sam Harris talks about free will. A great talk. Though he does not really say anything fundamentally novel, his ability to communicate ideas concisely and eloquently is something I really admire. To tackle (and make accessible and digestible) such a broad topic in 50 minutes is quite a task. Plus the concept of rejecting free will is controversial and/or likely to be actively rejected by many people – largely because it is not an intuitive realisation given the general coherence of consciousness and the illusion of the ego.



A talk on memory techniques and an insight into memory competitions. Quite interesting, though the guys delivery is a bit strained at times. A bit late for finals, but I've started reading up on med this summer and started testing out his general concept with some difficult-to-remember sections. Making up fantastical psychedelic bullshit stories is potentially one of my fortés, particularly with the range of ridiculous imagery that is imbibed through this forum – the technique really clicked with me and the recall was surprisingly effective and accurate.



Though many of you would have seen this, it is still phenomenal. The more I read about music and its neural processing, the more fascinating it becomes. Both in a nitty-gritty perception-study way, and in a more abstract way (the highly disseminated neural activation patterns associated with music). I'll also lap up pretty much anything Oliver Sacks has done (I'm trying to hunt down his older documentaries as we speak).
I'm also reposting this here because the documentary requires additional funding for completion – there is a kickstarter page up HERE. I've pledged $25 because I love music and neurology, period.

Stuxnet: possibly the most malicious malware ever written

Just finished reading this article. The level of intricacy in the malware and the ramifications for security are truly mindboggling. Like something out of a Hollywood blockbuster.

An article about Prince Jefri. One of the richest, most lavish motherfuckers ever.

I was reading this (and mentioned it) when I made that voice clip in that retarded thread haha. At times hilarious, at times incredulous – this guys exploits and evasive techniques make for a fascinating read.

Sam Harris and Bruce Schneier debate on the role of profiling in airport security

After reading Sam Harris' post suggesting profiling in airport security, I was intrigued at his proposition. But my initial reaction was that he had overstepped into areas where his knowledge was not on par and that even though some of his suggestions might appeal to 'common sense' applying such principles in real life comes with a host of other issues that he was unaware of. Such issues are exactly what is elucidated upon by Bruce Schneier in this debate. Though I started off slightly on Harris' side, by the end of it I completely understood where Schneier was coming from (and agreed with his stance). Overall an interesting exposé on airport security and the rationale behind implementation of various protocols.

[AlphaXray]

[discombobulation]

Originally Posted by AlphaXray

Yep, great talk. And a very unique viewpoint.



Making the argument (quite persuasively, I might add) that the brain has evolved primarily to advance one process – enacting movement. Very interesting viewpoint, and one for which I need to read up on more.



One of my favourite TED talks ever. The message is so simple, but is so powerful. This shit makes me veer further away from introversion and closer towards extroversion. That's a pretty powerful concept right there, if you ask me.

[AlphaXray]

Originally Posted by discombobulation

This shit makes me veer further away from introversion and closer towards extroversion. That's a pretty powerful concept right there, if you ask me.

I was a hardcore introvert before dabbling in drugs. Psychedelics are what brought me out of my shell and pointed out what should have been glaringly obvious, but I was stuck and couldn't see clearly.

[FreshFlesh]

Well check out disco thread after I'm done watching Prometheeeooooooooossss.

[earthly vulgarity]

thanks so much for this thread, made my saturday night

[De Profoundis]

http://www.smnnews.com/board/showthread.php?t=249647

[Claude]

I actually read Joshua Foer's Moonwalking with Einstein. It has actually come in handy a couple of times during finals last month. I made a pretty good memory palace out of my childhood home lol

[ChAAPY]

Awesome thread. Anything with Oliver Sacs is great to watch. I assume you've seen Musical Minds?

I think the first time I saw this was here.

[discombobulation]

Originally Posted by AlphaXray

I was a hardcore introvert before dabbling in drugs. Psychedelics are what brought me out of my shell and pointed out what should have been glaringly obvious, but I was stuck and couldn't see clearly.

Yeah I was thinking about trying LSD, but my perspective changed quite significantly due to exposure to other things so I'm quite content with where I am right now. No real incentive to try anything at the moment, in other words.

Originally Posted by earthly vulgarity

thanks so much for this thread, made my saturday night

Sweet! Keep exploring, related videos and things for example, and make sure to post back your finds here and start up discussion on anything that piques your interest.

Originally Posted by Claude

I actually read Joshua Foer's Moonwalking with Einstein. It has actually come in handy a couple of times during finals last month. I made a pretty good memory palace out of my childhood home lol

Hahaha that is awesome. I will have to turn my home in HK into a 'memory palace', I remember that place so intricately...I'm sure I could navigate the whole place and turn all the light switches on and off with my eyes closed.

Originally Posted by ChAAPY

Awesome thread. Anything with Oliver Sacs is great to watch. I assume you've seen Musical Minds?

Yes! Such a fascinating programme. I recently watched one of his older recent documentaries titled "Imagine the Man Who Forgot How to Read and Other Stories". Was extremely interesting. Amongst other cases, it revealed that Oliver Sacks has prosopagnosia (face blindness, he cannot remember faces), and briefly explored how he copes with the condition. Endlessly stimulating stuff.

I have tried to find his older documentaries, particularly his older documentary series titled 'The Mind Traveler'. I think three of the episodes are available on youtube, but the rest seem to be lost to the world. I have seen bootleg copies of episodes going on amazon for US$70, though I think some institutions in the US have copies of them in their AV libraries. I might write to the BBC and get them to make them available online, somehow. Because they were literally aired ONCE in 1997 and never again, what a travesty.

Originally Posted by ChAAPY

I think the first time I saw this was here.

Ah thanks for posting these, been meaning to get around to watching them for a while now! Hopefully slot them into my schedule later tonight.

KEEP IT COMING DOUCHES

[discombobulation]

Originally Posted by De Profoundis

http://www.smnnews.com/board/showthread.php?t=249647

PREPARE YOUR CUNT FOR ANNIHILATION

[Infidelis]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-OzTWY2J8E

a fantastic documentary on the clinical and scientific history of nutrition.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cb2z8HAr7QY

some classic Peter Singer on charity.

[Spew]

Is this going to turn into a TED thread?

[Darcangelo]

The Joy of Painting

[Cognitive Defeat]

Great idea for a thread. I just wish I had enough free time to keep up with what will potentially be posted.

[ShadowHunter]

oh fuck, i have so much going on in my life.. anyway, off the top off my drunken head if you found stxunet fascinating you should read up on that "flame" thing i posted in the news thread. waaaay tooo drunk to remember, sorrry

[discombobulation]

Originally Posted by Spew

Is this going to turn into a TED thread?

I suspect that quite a lot of content will be from there, but there I'm hoping more obscure stuff will rise out of the background too!

Of course, nothing wrong with posting TED talks! Though, some of them are kinda shitty to be honest hah.

Originally Posted by Cognitive Defeat

Great idea for a thread. I just wish I had enough free time to keep up with what will potentially be posted.

Yeah I feel like I'm already accruing a backlog. Still, I will work my way through it.

Originally Posted by ShadowHunter

oh fuck, i have so much going on in my life.. anyway, off the top off my drunken head if you found stxunet fascinating you should read up on that "flame" thing i posted in the news thread. waaaay tooo drunk to remember, sorrry

I was literally just reading about Flame in this article. Crazy stuff.

[discombobulation]

Originally Posted by ChAAPY

Just finished watching this, such a great point and delivered with wonderful flow and wit.

I notice that this problem is also quite prevalent in medicine, believe it or not. Now medicine isn't the most straightforward example, but there is a severely increased predilection towards playing things purely by the numbers. Everyone is taught to follow protocol, follow evidence and look for objective signs that something is working (even in practical procedures). People are losing that sense of free-thinking that leads to great clinical decisions and the mastery of practical procedures based on subjective feel. They are so afraid to be wrong that they fail to deliver the best care to the patient. Obviously there is a balance to this – you can't go off without any evidence or backing, but this almost irrational fear seems to be getting worse with each successive generation.

[Pwnsauce]

[DrippingInsanity]

Will watch/read everything here later. But, for now, I'll post this. Could practically make a separate thread solely dedicated to Sagan. hahaha

[earthly vulgarity]

Awesome books about the yaqui indian witchraft in sonora mexico, they talk about living a good, fufilling, proper life and becoming a "man of knowledge". Also about the crazy powers mushrooms and the "datura" plant can give one. This guy learns how to become a freakin crow. Allegedly real.

[discombobulation]

Slowly parsing my way through the stuff posted, keep it coming. The clip on why we are happy is interesting, especially when paired with the lack of free will. It basically highlights our hardwired reactive coping mechanisms to dealing with almost any diceroll offered to us by chance. Very cool.



More batshit crazy scientific endeavours, courtesy of Kiessao

[GrindYourMind]

Listen to Gershwins I Got Rhythm

Then sing the Flintstones song over it

MIND BLOWN

[Acatalepsy]

text to video of an email I wrote to Noam Chomsky if anyone is interested:

[discombobulation]

Originally Posted by Acatalepsy

text to video of an email I wrote to Noam Chomsky if anyone is interested:

I know nothing about philosophy, but think I ought to.

Is there any crash-course kinda resource? A set of essential talks that cuts through the waffly bullshit?

It just seems like there is so much discourse with few glaring epiphanies buried amongst it all, and I don't have time to sift through rafts of text to find them.

[Acatalepsy]

Originally Posted by discombobulation

I know nothing about philosophy, but think I ought to.

Is there any crash-course kinda resource? A set of essential talks that cuts through the waffly bullshit?

It just seems like there is so much discourse with few glaring epiphanies buried amongst it all, and I don't have time to sift through rafts of text to find them.

It depends on your interests, I guess. Philosophy is a vast field. I you want to learn about the stuff I mentioned in the video, you can just google Derrida, Lacan, Zizek etc... to get an idea of their work, then read ''The Raymond Tallis Reader'', which analyses it thoroughly. My main interest is in analytic philosophy, epistemology etc... essentially stuff which is related to my area of study! haha

[discombobulation]

A very brief clip regarding 'hybrots', essentially it is a robot which is controlled by hybrid computer consisting of both neurons and inorganic circuits.

When you think about it, this is pretty fucking crazy conceptually. You are synthesising (from scratch) a neural network with both inputs and outputs and some element of learning/neural plasticity as well. This kind of concept scaled up could be pretty ridiculous.

I think Shadowcunter knows the most about this kind of stuff...what do you think of this kind of applied cultured neural network? I think there are inherent limitations currently, especially with the 2D sheet of neurons and obviously the relative simplicity of such networks, but I don't know what the real ramifications are of these limitations.

[GrindYourMind]

Carlos Castaneda said if you could eat 6 feet of Datura root you'd become a God.


No Carlos, you'd die from scopolomine poisoning.

[DrippingInsanity]

[Darcangelo]

The Truman Show had me think'n..