I have played sports my whole life—swimming, tennis, basketball, track, cycling, fencing, soccer—you name it, I have probably tried it. Even though I loved working hard and competing, I still remember boys snidely remarking, “Girls can’t play sports” or “You run like such a girl!” I tried not to listen, but I would be lying if […]
Associative Learning
It feels like, culturally speaking, we’ve developed quite an interest in the role of fear, anxiety, and trauma in shaping our everyday lives. Popular works of fiction explore the trauma and anxieties of their characters in settings that range from the mundane to the fantastical; just look at the popularity of TV shows like Ted […]
Memory is such a fickle thing. Have you ever found yourself forgetting things that you should have remembered and remembered things that you should have forgotten? This happens to me all the time! I can completely forget where I placed my cell phone, even if placed minutes ago. However, I can remember lyrics to a […]
Imagine learning how to read and play music for the first time. It starts with a series of dots and lines thrown around on a piece of paper. Soon you learn how to interpret these so-called notes. You assign a letter name to each note, and then you figure out how to produce that note […]
I sometimes wish I had perfect memory. No more missed appointments! I’d never misplace my phone (it’s always on my bedroom dresser). And I’d always remember the name of that actress (whats-her-name, in that thing!), or my colleague (sorry….), or my friend (really??). Yep, life would be pretty sweet. Despite these fantasies, individuals with highly-superior […]
Cogito ergo sum. Thus spake René Descartes, usually translated into English as “I think, therefore I am.” Thinking is what makes us human—quite literally so because homo sapiens means “wise man”. So what does it mean to think, let alone to be wise? Much debate can be had about that question, but it seems safe […]
Asking your waiter what beers are on tap should come with a trigger warning, because the simple question may trigger a cognitive challenge. From Heineken to Becks and some other local boutique IPAs whose names you cannot even pronounce, the list can be so extensive that you are put into frantic rehearsal mode just to […]
There are a number of factors that make us fundamentally human. We eat. We sleep. We experience emotions. And unfortunately at some point, we all become sick. Where we tend to diverge is how we process and treat our sicknesses. Some people run immediately to the doctor’s office, or if you are anything like me, […]
When a person “doesn’t know right from left”, they are metaphorically confused, or unable to navigate the world. In the non-metaphorical meaning of the phrase, we’re talking about a person whose concepts of right and left are somehow undeveloped – and telling left from right is an ability that we definitely need in order to […]
Imagine standing in an isle of cereals and you want to find THE cereal that has been advertised to you as exceptionally yummy and at the same time, exceptionally healthy—and all that for a great price! What will influence your decision regarding what cereal box you’ll eventually place into your cart, and how could companies […]