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May 27, 2006
"I hope it feels so good to be right. There's nothing more exhilarating than pointing out the shortcomings of others, is there?"
A new scientific study provides evidence that the brain stores memories we cannot consciously recall: via
In the current study, Cabeza and his colleagues used a sophisticated imaging technique to detect brain activity in the medial temporal lobes (MTL) of test subjects exposed to "new" and "old" experiences. Located deep inside the brain, the MTL is known to play a role in a person's ability to determine whether something happened in the past.
The researchers first showed 16 study subjects a list of words. The subjects were then placed in a device called a magnetic resonance imaging scanner and shown another list of words, some of them "old" words previously viewed and others "new" words not previously viewed. The researchers observed brain activity, by measuring changes in blood flow picked up by the scanner, while participants looked at the words one at a time.
When subjects viewed an old word, they exhibited heightened activity in the rear portion of the MTL, whether or not they correctly stated that the word was old, Cabeza said. "This indicates that the brain has the correct answer even if we don't consciously think we've seen the word before," he said.
So why would a person make a mistake when asked about an event's oldness, if his or her brain holds the correct answer?
The researchers found that when a subject correctly reported seeing a "new" word, the scanner indicated that there was heightened activity mainly in a front portion of the MTL, rather than in the rear portion, as happens with old words. But when a subject mistakenly classified as new a word that was actually old, activity increased in both parts of the MTL, Cabeza said. This may lead the MTL to give mixed messages, resulting in an incorrect conscious response, he said.
Cannes adored Clerks II, according to Kevin Smith: via
When the flick ended and the credits started rolling, a standing ovation began that lasted a full eight minutes. It was surreal and wonderful, and it just kept going and going. I looked to Harvey (Weinstein, our boss), that old Cannes war-horse, to see if the cast and I should start heading out of the theater: as it was two in the morning and the applause wasn’t showing any signs of stopping. But from two aisles back, he responded with a waving “No” finger at me, mouthing the words “Don’t move.” So we all stayed put.
By the time the credits ended, I figured the audience was done applauding as well.
But they weren’t.
They just kept on clapping.
The other day Bush admitted "Bring 'em on!" was a mistake, without actually apologizing for it. He pulled out the classic "I'm sorry if you misinterpreted me" line.
On Thursday, Bush said the remark was "kind of tough talk, you know, that sent the wrong message to people."
"I learned some lessons about expressing myself maybe in a little more sophisticated manner, you know. "Wanted, dead or alive"; that kind of talk. I think in certain parts of the world it was misinterpreted," he said.
Posted by Jon Rubin at May 27, 2006 11:58 PM
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