![[dr. bob]](/dr-bob-sm.gif)
Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 21 of 21. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by zeugma on December 20, 2005, at 15:51:33
Functioning and living. Until fairly recently i could do neither. Now I suppose I function (or did, until this week and the week before) but it feels like it is taking too great a toll on me. I don't really see it as a choice because living is not a state natural to myself either (well a form of living yes, not one i felt had much to differentiate it from a dream state, which was and is the problem...). anyway i feel like i am breaking down.i function as best i can. but it is an artificial form of functioning (lots of stimulants, lots of antidepressants, which i need, but still they take their toll on me). but the feeling of non-living, when combined w/ total non-functioning, felt more congruent in its awful way than some combination of non-living w/ actual functioning.
things were never congruent. but at least unilateral in their awfulness. and non-living leads pretty quickly to non-functioning anyway, which i see happening now (i.e. experiencing problems on the job).
what happens when life is at its most minimal (i.e. no job, no self-worth, nothing) is that a pure survival instinct kicks in. what made me well enough to function thus far is the survival instinct, the fear that i had reached the bottom point and if i went any further down i would be dead. functioning better has taken this fear away, but it feels like the survival instinct (perpetual fear) was the engine that has gotten me this far, and that when it relaxes, everything starts to fall apart.
maybe this is a sign that i'm becoming terrified again, and will pull myself together. but maybe not. i actually felt complacent last night (bought a new lamp, assorted other possessions for my apt. which is in dire shape- survival instinct relaxed- couldn't wake up the next morning. so it goes. what wakes me up is terror at losing the little i have. should i maintain that terrified state deliberately, so as to function? well i've been doing that until very recently.)
maybe survival instinct is kicking in. or maybe instead of buying furniture, i should have added to my alarm clock collection.
-z
Posted by alexandra_k2 on December 20, 2005, at 16:46:35
In reply to survival instinct, posted by zeugma on December 20, 2005, at 15:51:33
((((z))))
sometimes life does feel like that...
a getting through kind of thing to do...
survival instinct...
or something...hope
where has the hope gone?
dysthymia killed it...
or it died and dysthymia was the result...
:-(i don't know what i'm saying...
i wish you would feel happy
i wish you did
i wish you happiness
no more getting through
i wish you enjoyment and enthusiasm and happinessi know you feel it sometimes.
enthusiasm...
((((z))))
Posted by zeugma on December 20, 2005, at 19:03:26
In reply to Re: survival instinct, posted by alexandra_k2 on December 20, 2005, at 16:46:35
> ((((z))))
> sometimes life does feel like that...
> a getting through kind of thing to do...
> survival instinct...
> or something...>>just slogging through sounds OK now. It felt positively awful two and a half hours ago, though :-(
>
> hope
> where has the hope gone?
> dysthymia killed it...
> or it died and dysthymia was the result...
> :-(
>
> i don't know what i'm saying...
> i wish you would feel happy
> i wish you did
> i wish you happiness
> no more getting through
> i wish you enjoyment and enthusiasm and happiness
>
> i know you feel it sometimes.
> enthusiasm...
> ((((z))))thank you alexandra.yes i feel it sometimes. it can be so counterproductive though, when the enthusiasm disappears without the knowledge of the misery that i go through. i am talking about the oppressions, the crimes against reason that get me passionate about science and knowledge in general (a U.S. Federal Court judge, a very conservative Republican, just decided against a school district that taught Intelligent Design, and he used language that would be considered incredibly uncivil on this board, so i will provide no links- it does console me though that i am not the only person who gets upset about what gets taught, what people consider knowledge, etc.: that is the thing besides survival instinct that has kept me going [also note that neither he nor i consider this in any way a struggle of science against and religion- it is about religion posing as science. it is quite dangerous to have things that are not science pose as such. the nazis pretended to have scientific justifications for their genocidal programs. again, not calling backers of ID as it's known here nazis- but we suffer enough in the name of science, nuclear weapons and cell phones everywhere- don;t get these heinous things mixed up with ideology and winding up making a mash of everything we know- there's my enthusiasm, for endless parenthetical rants]).
i am in a hyper-REM state from sleep deprivation and that is contributing. i fell asleep 2 hrs. ago and had very painful hypnagogic hallucinations. i stayed up too late last night.
thanks
(((alexandra)))
-z
Posted by zeugma on December 20, 2005, at 19:23:15
In reply to Re: survival instinct » alexandra_k2, posted by zeugma on December 20, 2005, at 19:03:26
of course i get enthusiastic about a lot of other things too. i shouldn't go on here. i'm in a near dream state, not feeling well at all. terrible headache.
i feel epileptic. except that i've heard that epiletic seizures aren't painful :-(
-z
Posted by Phillipa on December 20, 2005, at 21:00:16
In reply to Re: survival instinct, posted by zeugma on December 20, 2005, at 19:23:15
Zeugma maybe you need to get some sleep. Fondly, Phillipa
Posted by Gabbix2 on December 20, 2005, at 22:07:00
In reply to Re: survival instinct, posted by zeugma on December 20, 2005, at 19:23:15
Oh Zeugma, I so wish I could send you something to magically soothe you.
Terror is the feeling I relate to the most. And my heart goes out to you. I would much prefer depression to unending horror.
It's something I can't even describe, I was in that state for almost 5 years with little reprieve.
Mind warping, world spinning.. fear.
The Doctors always wanted to know what i was afraid of, I'd say "everything and nothing"
They seemed to think that anxiety or fear was connected to apprehension, or worry, and to me it wasn't even comparable.That survival instinct can be a tricky thing..
When I made the decision to suicide I'd suddenly obsessively fear death, which had only seemed to be a comfort the day before.I used to get people to write to me, just mundane daily things they do.. because it seemed ironically, magical to me, that there was life, ordinariness, even happiness out there.
Well, all that was my feeble attempt at empathizing. I've been free of it for two years, but I'll never be convinced that it's gone for good.
I hope you find some comfort.
And I'm really sorry you have to endure this.
Posted by alesta on December 21, 2005, at 12:26:32
In reply to survival instinct, posted by zeugma on December 20, 2005, at 15:51:33
i hurriedly hit the submit your post buttons at the end there...i must've hit the wrong thing or whatever cause i don't see my post here. dagnabbit i hate that. sorry z.:) guess i have to retype this later when i have time. unless it just hasn't showed up yet somehow...although my other one already has, so i doubt it.:(((
Posted by zeugma on December 21, 2005, at 15:30:22
In reply to Re: survival instinct » zeugma, posted by Phillipa on December 20, 2005, at 21:00:16
> Zeugma maybe you need to get some sleep. Fondly, Phillipa
perfectly right P, I did.-z
Posted by Damos on December 21, 2005, at 15:42:23
In reply to survival instinct, posted by zeugma on December 20, 2005, at 15:51:33
Hey Z~
Mate I don't know quite know how to respond, I really don't. Wish Babble could be like the power grid, and that each of us had a gizmo kinda like the thingamejigs that they slip over your finger in hospital that you could connect to a USB port, and when you were on babble you'd be able to connect to the love and energy of all the other babblers and have that actual sense of connection.
D*mn I'm so slack I haven't even asked you about the test results - sorry.
I know you have enormous passion and enthusiasm for things and so much to offer. And I reckon we've hardly scratched the surface of a tiny portion of the things that really matter to you in our conversations, which have been too few and far between - my fault.
Sorry you feel the way you do. The head down trudge through an alien landscape is hard. Lack of feeling and lack of restful sleep make things harder still. Holding on to hope simply because it's the only thing left is hard too. But I hope you will come here, or to our inboxes and continue to connect with us in whetever way you can because it matters to us that you do, it means something to us, you have significant meaning to us.
(((((z)))))
Posted by zeugma on December 21, 2005, at 16:15:47
In reply to Re: survival instinct *poss Trig* » zeugma, posted by Gabbix2 on December 20, 2005, at 22:07:00
> Oh Zeugma, I so wish I could send you something to magically soothe you.
thank you Gabbi. Your kind words are soothing, especially since you do understand.
>
> Terror is the feeling I relate to the most. And my heart goes out to you. I would much prefer depression to unending horror.
> It's something I can't even describe, I was in that state for almost 5 years with little reprieve.
> Mind warping, world spinning.. fear.
> The Doctors always wanted to know what i was afraid of, I'd say "everything and nothing"
> They seemed to think that anxiety or fear was connected to apprehension, or worry, and to me it wasn't even comparable.>>It isn't, This is why CBT was a disaster. The therapist kept asking, "So what thoughts go through your head when you stand there on the supermarket line? What are you thinking that is causing the fear?" And my reply was similar to yours. It was terror, and the more I analyzed it, per CBT instructions, the more intense it became, to which she could only reply, "That's not supposed to happen"; given that I was meticulously following the CBT program in detail and it was causing a drastic worsening of my condition. It drove me to the point where I considered hospitalizing myself. Fortunately, I terminated the therapy (against her strong objections) and no hospital was needed. (By the way, therapy has ALWAYS worsened my condition. No matter what method the therapist practiced. IMO, there is a method which might have benefited me: simply listening to what I had to say. But that is a method which no school of therapy I have come across promotes.Or at least, no representative of any therapy has made it part of their practice, so far as it has been practiced on me. And there are therapists I have been subjected to who have done more than simply not listen.)
>
> That survival instinct can be a tricky thing..
> When I made the decision to suicide I'd suddenly obsessively fear death, which had only seemed to be a comfort the day before.
>
I know exactly what you mean. I would calm myself, at the most severe moments of depression, with the thought that I would eventually die, and so not experience the terror and pain any more. But then I would start examining my body for signs of deadly diseases, and this created a morbid preoccupation that was itself terrifying. As a child I did not expect to reach adulthood. Many times I didn't expect to wake up the next morning (or I should say, the next day).
> I used to get people to write to me, just mundane daily things they do.. because it seemed ironically, magical to me, that there was life, ordinariness, even happiness out there.
>
I would watch others in amazement that they could do mundane activities. I would see people crossing the street and would imagine that they could see the cars without straining to see them, and this shocked me. I told a close friend about ten years ago that my life was a 'worst-case scenario.' Meaning, not that every terrible that could happen had happened to me, but that there was so little of *me* <essence of me, feeling of being alive> to go around that that little had to be concentrated on pure survival. No therapist, to whom I've explained this at length to (meaning, every one of them) seemed to show the slightest grasp of what I was saying. Maybe they didn't grasp it- which would have been fine- but then they would have asked me what I was talking about! Or admitted they didn't understand! Ah, listening skills...
> Well, all that was my feeble attempt at empathizing. I've been free of it for two years, but I'll never be convinced that it's gone for good.
>
Far from feeble. I am very, very happy that you have been free from it, and ardently wish that it doesn't come back. I am afraid of its absence- hence the panic when I focused on something other than survival (like buying new furniture). But that fear, unlike the kind of nameless terror I suffered from before, is somewhat amenable to analysis of its causes, and does have a rational base in that fear of starving, for instance, has motivated me to eat when all I wanted to do was stay in bed for weeks at a time. Fear of that nature is adaptive. As is the fear that I could sleep through multiple alarms (because I do in fact sleep through them, and did yesterday, much to my enormous chagrin).> I hope you find some comfort.
I have, and also in your words which are kind and empathetic ((Gabbi))
>-z
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
Posted by zeugma on December 21, 2005, at 16:20:15
In reply to oh man...where's my post that i wrote?, posted by alesta on December 21, 2005, at 12:26:32
> i hurriedly hit the submit your post buttons at the end there...i must've hit the wrong thing or whatever cause i don't see my post here. dagnabbit i hate that. sorry z.:) guess i have to retype this later when i have time. unless it just hasn't showed up yet somehow...although my other one already has, so i doubt it.:(((>>
ah dear a, today was a better one b/c of what you wrote yesterday-feeling much calmer :-)
(((alesta)))
i am so thankful for our interchanges.
-z
>
>
Posted by zeugma on December 21, 2005, at 16:39:10
In reply to Re: survival instinct » zeugma, posted by Damos on December 21, 2005, at 15:42:23
> Hey Z~
>
> Mate I don't know quite know how to respond, I really don't.>>yes you do.
<Wish Babble could be like the power grid, and that each of us had a gizmo kinda like the thingamejigs that they slip over your finger in hospital that you could connect to a USB port, and when you were on babble you'd be able to connect to the love and energy of all the other babblers and have that actual sense of connection.>>thankfully my USB ports are actually working, so I can plug myself in here for the connection you speak of. It *is* an actual sense of connection.(and i like the metaphor)
>
> D*mn I'm so slack I haven't even asked you about the test results - sorry.
>
you have a good memory. I don't have diabetes. I have a wretchedly dry mouth. And thank you for reminding me, because I had forgotten to pop my hourly saliva pill- amusingly it is the one that alesta had recommended a year or two ago that my pharmacy keeps in constant stock for me now, after i had depleted their shelves of every other product in hopes of keeping my tongue from clacking against the roof of my mouth. <tongue feels better now>
> I know you have enormous passion and enthusiasm for things and so much to offer. And I reckon we've hardly scratched the surface of a tiny portion of the things that really matter to you in our conversations, which have been too few and far between - my fault.
>
mine. most of what i write- to you and others- goes where alesta's missing post went, but in my case on purpose, because i don't like to express what i'm thinking because it's negative or stupid or whatever.> Sorry you feel the way you do. The head down trudge through an alien landscape is hard. Lack of feeling and lack of restful sleep make things harder still. Holding on to hope simply because it's the only thing left is hard too. But I hope you will come here, or to our inboxes and continue to connect with us in whetever way you can because it matters to us that you do, it means something to us, you have significant meaning to us.
>
so do you. and this place as a whole. and the "head down trudge through an alien landscape" as you so well put it is something (sadly) you have experienced too. but i do come here even when my posts disappear, and what you say matters to me a lot. (((damos)))thank you
-z
Posted by Gabbix2 on December 21, 2005, at 21:31:19
In reply to Re: survival instinct *poss Trig* » Gabbix2, posted by zeugma on December 21, 2005, at 16:15:47
>
> thank you Gabbi. Your kind words are soothing, especially since you do understand.I am so glad. Even a little warmth feels amazing when you're in that netherworld
>
> It isn't, This is why CBT was a disaster.It was a disaster for me as well. Additionally so were relaxation techniques.. I'd immediately associate the techniqes with the terror, and if it wasn't there it reared it's ugly head.
Just like Pavlov's dog.. except well you know, I didn't salivate.> > That survival instinct can be a tricky thing..
> > When I made the decision to suicide I'd suddenly obsessively fear death, which had only seemed to be a comfort the day before.
> >
> I know exactly what you mean. I would calm myself, at the most severe moments of depression, with the thought that I would eventually die, and so not experience the terror and pain any more. But then I would start examining my body for signs of deadly diseases, and this created a morbid preoccupation that was itself terrifying. As a child I did not expect to reach adulthood. Many times I didn't expect to wake up the next morning (or I should say, the next day).
> > I used to get people to write to me, just mundane daily things they do.. because it seemed ironically, magical to me, that there was life, ordinariness, even happiness out there.
> >
> I would watch others in amazement that they could do mundane activities. I would see people crossing the street and would imagine that they could see the cars without straining to see them, and this shocked me. I told a close friend about ten years ago that my life was a 'worst-case scenario.' Meaning, not that every terrible that could happen had happened to me, but that there was so little of *me* <essence of me, feeling of being alive> to go around that that little had to be concentrated on pure survival. No therapist, to whom I've explained this at length to (meaning, every one of them) seemed to show the slightest grasp of what I was saying. Maybe they didn't grasp it- which would have been fine- but then they would have asked me what I was talking about! Or admitted they didn't understand! Ah, listening skills...yes, I've had no success with therapy either.
NONE Not saying it isn't possible, I just didn't have the motivation to keep searching for s omeone who had the slightest clue what my problem entailed.> > Well, all that was my feeble attempt at empathizing. I've been free of it for two years, but I'll never be convinced that it's gone for good.
> >
> Far from feeble. I am very, very happy that you have been free from it, and ardently wish that it doesn't come back. I am afraid of its absence- hence the panic when I focused on something other than survival (like buying new furniture). But that fear, unlike the kind of nameless terror I suffered from before, is somewhat amenable to analysis of its causes, and does have a rational base in that fear of starving, for instance, has motivated me to eat when all I wanted to do was stay in bed for weeks at a time. Fear of that nature is adaptive. As is the fear that I could sleep through multiple alarms (because I do in fact sleep through them, and did yesterday, much to my enormous chagrin).I've heard.. actually the only person I've read who acknowledged the nameless terror as a significant aspect of illness, was Andrew Solomon in "The Noonday Demon"
He spoke of people taking up fear sports just so they could have some sort of feeling of control over the terror they would be feeling anyway.
> > I hope you find some comfort.
>
> I have, and also in your words which are kind and empathetic ((Gabbi))((Zeugma))
> >
> >
> >
>
>
Posted by alexandra_k on December 21, 2005, at 23:22:17
In reply to Re: survival instinct, posted by zeugma on December 20, 2005, at 19:23:15
> i am talking about the oppressions, the crimes against reason that get me passionate about science and knowledge in general (a U.S. Federal Court judge, a very conservative Republican, just decided against a school district that taught Intelligent Design...
Yes. That hit the news over here last night.
:-)
I was a little disappointed in the commentary (we didn't hear the judge or what he said). I think... Creationism should be taught as part of philosophy of science, but not as science. The job of science... Is to teach the best current scientific knowledge we have... If you want to know *why* evolution by natural selection beats creationism as a scientific theory hands down then that is a topic for philosophy of science.> i feel epileptic. except that i've heard that epiletic seizures aren't painful :-(
no. in fact... people often report feeling mildly euphoric after having a seizure (which is why they thought to induce seizures (ECT) as a treatment for depression)
Posted by alexandra_k on December 21, 2005, at 23:29:33
In reply to Re: survival instinct *poss Trig* » Gabbix2, posted by zeugma on December 21, 2005, at 16:15:47
> The therapist kept asking, "So what thoughts go through your head when you stand there on the supermarket line? What are you thinking that is causing the fear?"
Grr.
I was raving about just that over on the psychology board. Next time anyone tries to tell you that tell them to look up: AFFECTIVE PRIMACY If they give you a dumb stare then ask them what thoughts were going through pavlov dog's mind when he heard the tone (the point is nothing at all because dogs don't have the capacity for verbal representation and much less 'cognitive error')> and the more I analyzed it, per CBT instructions, the more intense it became,
lol! You wanna be a case study???
<joke>> to which she could only reply, "That's not supposed to happen"; given that I was meticulously following the CBT program in detail and it was causing a drastic worsening of my condition.
It is known to do that for some other disorders too... Yeah. I hear you. I do.
> By the way, therapy has ALWAYS worsened my condition. No matter what method the therapist practiced.
Can I ask what methods you have tried?
> IMO, there is a method which might have benefited me: simply listening to what I had to say. But that is a method which no school of therapy I have come across promotes. Or at least, no representative of any therapy has made it part of their practice, so far as it has been practiced on me.
I'm sorry Zeugma :-(
I think... You have seen crap therapists.> And there are therapists I have been subjected to who have done more than simply not listen.)
Yeah. I hear you there :-(
Posted by alesta on December 22, 2005, at 10:24:54
In reply to Re: oh man...where's my post that i wrote? » alesta, posted by zeugma on December 21, 2005, at 16:20:15
aw...thanks zeugma! i feel *so* much better, man...i didn't mean to cause you trouble, if i did. i'm *so* glad you feel better...thank goodness. i didn't mean to impose any expectations on you man. you are quite special to me, i think you realize. i am thankful too!!!
i am going through so much right now. someone actually *hit* me yesterday - never experienced that one before, lol (the chick is *insane*, literally). i have a *really* bad cold, possibly the flu, on top of bad allergies. so much for respiration. i feel *so* bad right now. i hardly slept last night, and am in a zombie-like state. ugh! i don't feel like myself. i've had this cold for a week already and it seems to be getting worse...i almost didn't post b/c i feel so out of it. i'm putting off some other posts until i feel better...may not make it to computer to post next day or so. but i am so relieved that we really are cool.:-) wish i could just go to bed and stay there a while...but it's bloody impossible. i look forward to reading posts here, even if i don't have the energy to reply the next day or so. thanks for...well, just thanks.:)
please take care!
you're a dear friend..:-)alesta.
Posted by zeugma on December 22, 2005, at 15:52:23
In reply to Re: oh man...where's my post that i wrote? » zeugma, posted by alesta on December 22, 2005, at 10:24:54
> aw...thanks zeugma! i feel *so* much better, man...i didn't mean to cause you trouble, if i did. >>
no, you have helped me a lot..
i'm *so* glad you feel better...thank goodness. i didn't mean to impose any expectations on you man. you are quite special to me, i think you realize. i am thankful too!!! >>
i am too.
>
> i am going through so much right now. someone actually *hit* me yesterday - never experienced that one before, lol (the chick is *insane*, literally).>>amazing you can laugh about it- i had a blender thrown at me once by an *insane* girl, but assailant's crazed status hardly makes it hurt less. (((alesta)))
i have a *really* bad cold, possibly the flu, on top of bad allergies. so much for respiration. i feel *so* bad right now. i hardly slept last night, and am in a zombie-like state. ugh! i don't feel like myself. i've had this cold for a week already and it seems to be getting worse...i almost didn't post b/c i feel so out of it.>>
yeah, i was that sick last week- a flu/cold thing that was debilitating. made me a zombie too.
i'm putting off some other posts until i feel better...may not make it to computer to post next day or so. but i am so relieved that we really are cool.:-) wish i could just go to bed and stay there a while...but it's bloody impossible. i look forward to reading posts here, even if i don't have the energy to reply the next day or so. thanks for...well, just thanks.:)
>
> please take care!
> you're a dear friend..:-)
>
> alesta.
>
you are a dear friend alesta. you would make a great playwright! you have such an ear for the life around you that your posts evoke your world through this dry internet medium. attunement, dear alesta. avoid insane chick and get some sleep-z
Posted by zeugma on December 22, 2005, at 16:11:20
In reply to Re: survival instinct, posted by alexandra_k on December 21, 2005, at 23:22:17
I was a little disappointed in the commentary (we didn't hear the judge or what he said). I think... Creationism should be taught as part of philosophy of science, but not as science. The job of science... Is to teach the best current scientific knowledge we have... If you want to know *why* evolution by natural selection beats creationism as a scientific theory hands down then that is a topic for philosophy of science.>>
I think the creationist view was prefigured in the writings of Deists in the 18th century, and David Hume's "Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion" is the definitive reply on the topic. Interestingly, the poet William Blake also hated the idea of Intelligent Design: he wrote a pair of tracts called "There Is No Natural Religion" that basically isolate the core of Hume's skepticism: "Man by his reasoning power can only compare and judge of what he has already perceiv'd," then arguing that as perception is only a "natural organ subject to Sense," it cannot infer anything supernatural from what has been perceived- a fascinating proposition he makes is that "From a perception of only 3 senses or 3 elements none could deduce a fourth or fifth"- compare with the difficulty of conceptualizing time as in any way analogous to the three dimensions of Euclidean space. It's ironic that Blake picks up on Hume's point about the limitations of induction, since it is clear that he detests every English philosopher except Berkeley (he also has quite a lot against Rousseau, as anyone familiar with his poetry would know).
-z
Posted by zeugma on December 22, 2005, at 17:22:14
In reply to Re: survival instinct » alexandra_k, posted by zeugma on December 22, 2005, at 16:11:20
look at this fascinating take on the subject:
Laterality: Asymmetries of Body, Brain, and Cognition
Publisher: Psychology Press, part of the Taylor & Francis Group
Issue: Volume 9, Number 4 / October 2004
Pages: 433 - 447
URL: Linking Options
DOI: 10.1080/13576500342000266Interhemispheric interaction and beliefs on our origin: Degree of handedness predicts beliefs in creationism versus evolution
Christopher Lee Niebauer A1, Stephen D. Christman A2, Scott A. Reid A3, Kilian J. Garvey A4A1 Slippery Rock University, PA, USA
A2 University of Toledo, OH, USA
A3 University of Texas, Brownsville, TX, USA
A4 The University of New England, Biddeford, ME, USA
Abstract:
It has been suggested that strongly handed individuals have attenuated systems for updating beliefs compared to mixed handers (Niebauer, Aselage, & Schutte, 2002). The current research extended this theory to individual differences in updating beliefs concerning our origins. Although the theory of evolution has gained overwhelming success in the sciences, a significant percentage of the population believes in biblical creationist accounts of human origins that are inconsistent with accepted, contemporary scientific views. If strongly handed individuals possess attenuated systems for updating beliefs, they might be more likely to believe in creationism. In two studies, strongly handed participants were more likely to believe in creationism while mixed-handed participants were more likely to believe in evolution. A model of how interhemispheric interaction functions in maintaining and updating beliefs is discussed. Specifically, mixed-handedness seems to be associated with a lower threshold for updating beliefs.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I have very mixed handedness. I suppose I'm technically ambidextrous, though not dextrous, if you know what I mean. The authors say that that this is not an unmitigated blessing- for them the non-dominant hemisphere functions as an 'anomaly detector' and tries to constantly refute whatever is accepted as being not up to date enough. Well there are plenty of anomalies to be found, and sometimes I feel like they get me too bothered- better sometimes to stick with received wisdom, i suppose- though i can't be sincere when i say that. At all.Blake and Hume are temperamental and philosophical opposites, but they were equal outcasts from the establishments of their day, and no doubt neither would take these speculations on handedness on faith. It would be interesting however to wonder if their degree of handedness correlated with their skepticism about what had been 'handed' down.
-z
Posted by alexandra_k on December 22, 2005, at 18:47:17
In reply to fascinating addendum, posted by zeugma on December 22, 2005, at 17:22:14
OMG
that is just too funny!!!!
ROFL!
:-)
Posted by alesta on December 29, 2005, at 15:15:35
In reply to Re: oh man...where's my post that i wrote? » alesta, posted by zeugma on December 22, 2005, at 15:52:23
> you are a dear friend alesta. you would make a great playwright! you have such an ear for the life around you that your posts evoke your world through this dry internet medium. attunement, dear alesta. avoid insane chick and get some sleep
>
> -z
>thanks for the playwright comment, z.:)..i would never have thought that about myself lol. you surprise me sometimes with the things you see in me.:) well, you know i think you have an amazing way with the english language..the way you word things..it is quite sublime to read...when you get in that feeling mode. i think i like that one best.:) a poet you are zeugma. and a good friend. (sorry..i feel quite "dry" today...as my mood is one of feeling very cut off from the world around me.)
alesta..:-)
This is the end of the thread.
Psycho-Babble Social | Extras | FAQ
Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.org
Script revised: February 4, 2008
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/cgi-bin/pb/mget.pl
Copyright 2006-17 Robert Hsiung.
Owned and operated by Dr. Bob LLC and not the University of Chicago.