Think Again Podcast ep. 28 – RATS/RISKS/REWARDS – (feat. neuroscientist and musician Daniel Levitin)

Smart people. Surprise topics. Deep fun. This week, musician and neuroscientist Daniel Levitin.

 Jason Gots
22 December, 2015

   

 

Think Again is a spontaneous, braineous variety show where the world's brightest minds grapple with surprise topics. 

"Now newness is coming at us continuously. And the brain hasn’t evolved to deal with that onslaught of newness. There has to be some sculpting of the input. Otherwise it just becomes random noise." – Daniel Levitin

Do you see yourself as in control of your destiny, or do you see things the other way around? Join Neuroscientist Daniel Levitin, author of The Organized Mind, and Think Again host Jason Gots for a fascinating, high-energy exploration of human agency in the age of digital overload.

Listen to Think Again Podcast ep. 28 – RATS/RISKS/REWARDS – (feat. neuroscientist and musician Daniel Levitin)

U.S. should sell ‘useless’ Montana to Canada for $1 trillion, says new petition

That's one way to reduce the national debt.

Change.org
Politics & Current Affairs
  • The tongue-in-cheek petition, whose stated aim is to reduce the national debt, has been signed more than 8,600 times as of Tuesday.
  • Selling Montana, the fourth largest state in the country, would constitute the largest land deal since the Louisiana Purchase.
  • The national debt is often a source of concern for individuals, but the chances of the U.S. defaulting on its debts are relatively low — in part because the bulk of the national debt is owned by the American public.
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comedy policy money united states economics

Study: Memories of music cannot be lost to Alzheimer's and dementia

The part of your brain responsible for ASMR catalogs music, and appears to be a stronghold against Alzheimer's and dementia.

The parts of the brain highlighted in red and yellow are thought to control your sense of attention and memory. (image c/o Brain Network Lab)
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Some music inspires you to move your feet, some inspires you to get out there and change the world. In any case, and to move hurriedly on to the point of this article, it's fair to say that music moves people in special ways. 

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What makes someone gay? Science is trying to get it straight.

Evolutionarily speaking, being gay is still something of an enigma

content.jwplatform.com
Videos
  • Heterosexual people have been less interesting to scientists than gay people, in terms of where they come from, because, evolutionarily speaking, being gay doesn't lead to a higher "higher reproductive fitness" — meaning, it doesn't lead to more babies.
  • Across cultures, gay boys tend to be more interested in spending time with their mothers.
  • We still don't really know why gay people are attracted to each other.
biology evolution gay lgbt sex gender alice dreger