Impressions of Mind Wide Open - Steven Johnson
EEE
location: Landscape Challenged Illinois
listening to: 16 Horsepower, black music from the 70's & and still going broke from Paste Magazine
registered: 2002.08.26
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Well, I've finished Johnson's book and liked it a great deal. It solved some questions that I've had and offered insight into other areas. For example, one thing that has bothered me for some time is when I've been in a great mood, then something throws it off kilter. Johnson points out that when in conversations with people (and this is usually what has happened to me) something can be said or heard that gets to us and while the conscious brain picks it up, it takes time for the chemicals in the brain to catch up. This is why some time later one can be asking, "hm, what happened to my great mood?" So why that happens is now solved.Also, has anyone noticed that there are friends out there that seem to just unlock parts of us that allows us to think and express our thoughts so clearly, while when talking to others we can't think of a word to say? Johnson surmises that this is because subconsciously we are in a ballet with the person we are talking to. We throw each other cues and signals and respond accordingly. With some we dance together so gracefully, while with others we are stepping all over their toes. Don't know if this makes sense or not.Over the past few years I've been reading a little bit more about the left and right hemispheres of the brain and this book touches on it. Sadly, I think I must be resigned to just listening to music, rather than playing or making it - it seems in some of us the two hemispheres just don't work together like in other people. Johnson also gets into why women are perceived as more hormonal than men (because we perceive this because of their regularity), when in reality, men are just as hormonal as women, just that we get a pass; how our brain likes to stay on one track, therefore when we feel depressed, we recall more depressing things and keep the ball rolling; how negative memories are retained in more detail than positive ones for the purpose of helping us survive (because as a species, we really are quite young). There is also subjects on laughing, tickling, how drugs work on the brain and other things. All in all, it's a good book to read.
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Well, I've finished Johnson's book and liked it a great deal. It solved some questions that I've had and offered insight into other areas. For example, one thing that has bothered me for some time is when I've been in a great mood, then something throws it off kilter. Johnson points out that when in conversations with people (and this is usually what has happened to me) something can be said or heard that gets to us and while the conscious brain picks it up, it takes time for the chemicals in the brain to catch up. This is why some time later one can be asking, "hm, what happened to my great mood?" So why that happens is now solved.Also, has anyone noticed that there are friends out there that seem to just unlock parts of us that allows us to think and express our thoughts so clearly, while when talking to others we can't think of a word to say? Johnson surmises that this is because subconsciously we are in a ballet with the person we are talking to. We throw each other cues and signals and respond accordingly. With some we dance together so gracefully, while with others we are stepping all over their toes. Don't know if this makes sense or not.Over the past few years I've been reading a little bit more about the left and right hemispheres of the brain and this book touches on it. Sadly, I think I must be resigned to just listening to music, rather than playing or making it - it seems in some of us the two hemispheres just don't work together like in other people. Johnson also gets into why women are perceived as more hormonal than men (because we perceive this because of their regularity), when in reality, men are just as hormonal as women, just that we get a pass; how our brain likes to stay on one track, therefore when we feel depressed, we recall more depressing things and keep the ball rolling; how negative memories are retained in more detail than positive ones for the purpose of helping us survive (because as a species, we really are quite young). There is also subjects on laughing, tickling, how drugs work on the brain and other things. All in all, it's a good book to read.
