Posts tagged wired magazine
A Tier 3 Hobbit fan “writes Aragorn/Finrod time-traveling slashfic.”
I think Wired Magazine knows a little too much about online Tolkien fandom. From “Rules for Hobbits” by Monica Kim.
In the past decade, scientists have come to realize that our memories are not inert packets of data and they don’t remain constant. Even though every memory feels like an honest representation, that sense of authenticity is the biggest lie of all. […] The very act of remembering changes the memory itself. New research is showing that every time we recall an event, the structure of that memory in the brain is altered in light of the present moment, warped by our current feelings and knowledge.
Jonah Lehrer, “The Forgetting Pill.” Wired, March 2012.
I found this tidbit of information fascinating. It makes perfect sense, now that I think about it, and puts several important things into perspective. To remember events, the memories must change in accordance with current circumstances. This is why witness testimony becomes useless after an extended period of time.
Also, for centuries humans have defined themselves by their memories. They make us who we are. If we can’t trust them from moment to moment, it feels almost like a rug’s been pulled out from under our feet. Maybe we’re a lot less stable than we thought.
One Pill to Erase Your Worst Memories. Want To Try it?: The New Science of Forgetting
- John Lehrer, Wired.
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, anyone? Yikes!
Whether it’s games, alcohol, painted figurines, film continuity, or conversations where we’re convinced someone doesn’t like us because of something we said, nerds obsess. We zealously deconstruct. We have a very active internal monologue. I think many of the things we undertake are, in part, attempts to drown out that monologue … A “nerdist” - or creative nerd - shares all of these traits but controls them in a way that allows them to deconstruct an idea and map out a plan so the idea can come to life. A nerdist can learn to turn off that internal monologue and calm the mind, the better to think about getting to the next level and its advanced set of rewards and challenges. Nerdist = obsession + direction.
When nerds run out of things in the external world to deconstruct and analyze, guess where they go? Inward. We become the object of our own deconstruction protocols; an auto-cannibalism of sorts … A simple mantra has guided me through the darkest bouts of autocerebral asphyxiation: You don’t have to believe everything you think. I know, right?? If you are having trouble uploading positive images to your ego satellites, here is a great tactic: Ignore your f—-ing brain altogether.
