PSYCHOLOGY OUTSIDE THE BOX

How good are you at recognizing when someone is lying?

Do you recall the TV show called Lie to Me that was popular a few years ago? The show followed the work of Dr. Cal Lightman (played by Tim Roth) and his colleagues. Apparently they had devised ways to detect when someone was lying or telling the truth by analyzing facial expressions, body movements, and changes in voice and speech.

In other words, the show was based on the idea that people, even very good liars, display some small and uncontrollable expressions that can be detected by someone trained to identify them. These beliefs are widespread across the general population and also among law-enforcement professionals.

But they are completely WRONG!

If you had a hidden talent just waiting to be released, what would you want it to be (only one choice)?

Usually, a genius is born that way so most of us already missed that opportunity. But sometimes a person who isn't born with special abilities, can develop them later in life following brain trauma, an illness, or head injury.

Could you imagine being hit in the head and waking up to find yourself a sudden musical star? Excuse me for a few seconds while I go bang my head against a brick wall.

It sounds like something from a movie but in fact such things have happened to DOZENS of people in the world that we know of.

What is the difference between a dream, a hallucination, and the real world? Sometimes there is no difference at all. They may be exactly the same as far as your brain is concerned.

The nature of reality has been debated by philosophers and scientists for thousands of years. I am not trying to settle the nature of reality issue today. My goal is to expand your ideas and thinking in this area just a little bit.

I say just a little bit because I don't want to overload your brain and have it explode. Strangely enough, there is a condition called exploding head syndrome. It sounds like something out of a horror movie but it's actually a real thing.

Since the 1950s, California's Disneyland has been known as "The Happiest Place On Earth". It's the only place where everyone can feel that childhood happiness. There is just one problem with Disneyland. You can't apply for citizenship to live there forever. If you could, it would quickly become the most crowded place on Earth.

But if you are looking for a place to live where you can stay longer than two weeks, the World Happiness Report that came out in March 2024 may be able to help.

We find year after year that life satisfaction is highest in the social democracies of northern Europe, the so-called Nordic countries: Finland, Iceland, Denmark, Sweden, and Norway. The Nordic winter tends to be long, dark, and cold but this does not seem to reduce their level of happiness. It certainly appears that the Nordic nations are doing something right.

Movies tell us that there are many threats to humanity's existence. And just as we know that EVERYTHING on the internet is TRUE, we can also be pretty sure that movies know exactly what they're talking about. It could be an alien invasion from outer space, a zombie apocalypse, or destruction by artificial intelligence that we have created.

I can't solve all of these problems in one podcast, so today I will focus on the zombie apocalypse.

For decades now, the idea of zombies has been popular in movies and television shows. While the idea of the undead may seem far-fetched, zombies can actually provide a better insight into the human brain. But in the event of a zombie apocalypse, you must also know and understand your enemy if you are to have any chance of survival. So I will help you do that. Be sure to take notes. I don't wanna have to repeat myself.

You would probably be offended if someone said your pain was all in your head. But guess what - that is actually true. Pain is constructed entirely in the brain. Just because pain is in your head does'nt make it less real. In fact it's your brain that literally creates what your body feels.

For example, if you accidentally hit your finger with a hammer, it might seem that you feel the pain immediately in your hand. But that is wrong. In reality, there is a very short delay that allows pain messages to be sent from nerve endings in your finger up your arm to your spinal cord and then to the correct area of the brain.

Only when the signals arrive at the brain do you feel the pain and then you say "Ouch", or some other four-letter word like feck or fack.

You can live with just one kidney or a single lung, but whoever thought you could live a normal life with only half a brain? Most of us can't even live without our cellphone for more than a few hours.

A human brain contains about 86 billion neurons or brain cells. A single brain cell isn't very smart by itself. But when they are connected in vast networks they produce intelligence, personality, memories, emotions, language, movement, and consciousness.

But what happens when we lose HALF of all our brain cells? Are we paralyzed and confined in a wheelchair? Can we see and hear and touch and feel? Can we still talk or think or do we just stare blankly into space? Are we conscious and aware or stuck in a neverending coma or vegetative state?

It sounds scary, but losing half a brain usually has a very happy ending.

I might as well give you the bad news right now. Referring to people as INTROVERTS or EXTROVERTS is wrong. It is a false dichotomy. Ambiverts who combine elements of both personality styles are far more common. If you read something that mentions introverts and extroverts, but not ambiverts, you are missing approximately 70% of people in the middle category. So anyone who refers to introversion and extroversion as a SIMPLE dichotomy, is just SIMPLE-MINDED, and is SIMPLY wrong. It's as SIMPLE as that. In reality, MOST of us are ambiverts MOST of the time. And really, the ambivert's ability to adjust his or her style to suit the situation makes a lot of sense.

Almost all North American adults, adolescents, and many children own a cellphone of some kind. The widespread use of cellphones makes it very important to identify any harmful effects.

Several years ago, there was a viral video claiming that cellphone radiation can cook popcorn. OMG that's nuts! We are cooking our brains! We are all in danger! Run away...run for your lives, but leave your phone behind! Your phone is a killer!

The popcorn video is cute and entertaining but that's never going to happen.

If phones emitted that much energy, your fingers would heat up and it would hurt like crazy. You would have to wear oven mitts to protect yourself. Very difficult to text your friends wearing oven mitts…I DARE you to try it.

They are certainly bundles of joy but so much more.

No moment is more life altering than when your first child is born. Gone are the days of thinking only of yourself. Or a semblance of free time. And forget about having a neat and tidy house. Ask any parent, and they'll acknowledge that having kids is expensive and exhausting.

Sixty or 70 years ago all couples were expected to have children and this was considered necessary for personal fulfillment. Today's situation is VERY different. We're in no danger of running out of people, so the notion that you've got some kind of "responsibility" to have children went out the window.

THERE IS NO LONGER A RIGHT OR WRONG ANSWER. So which choice would you regret more: having children or NOT having children?