Your Brain is a Time Machine

Your Brain is a Time Machine: The Neuroscience and Physics of Time
by Dean Buonomano
Published: May 2017

Great overview of how the fields of physics and neuroscience approach the study of time: how they overlap and where they butt heads. Historical context, thought experiments, and countless research studies form the framework for how our concept of time has evolved across fields of study. Circadian and biological rhythms inform our mental alarm clocks, but we also employ various levels of more precise neuro-timers to properly parse speech, music and memories. Sundials, crystal quartz watches and atomic clocks capture the external, more objective passage of time, though Einstein's theories of relativity counter any hope of leaning on time as an unqualified absolute.
One dichotomy I found super interesting is the battle of presentism vs eternalism. The former holds that the present, the NOW, is the only moment grounded in reality, while the past and future are inaccessible and only exist in our memories or mental projections, respectively. This is the theory supported by our conscious experience - we feel that each passing moment, each NOW, is somehow qualitatively different than any moment in time not currently being experienced. Eternalism on the other hand, posits that time is the fourth dimension and reality can be presented as a 4D variation of a cube --like a block of cheese where the present moment is merely a slice. This is the view supported by modern physics, because time is relative to the observer and there is no evidence to suggest (beyond our intuition) that the present moment is any more real than any other moment in time. The world of scifi rejoices.

4 out of 5 stars: Expansive and well-researched, I appreciated the author bringing us into the proverbial trenches of each explicitly detailed experiment. That said, though the chapters themselves had a purpose and flow, there were times that felt a bit meandering and unnecessary for the Bigger Picture being painted.

The Mind's Eye

The Mind's Eye 
by Oliver Sacks
Published Nov 2010

Each chapter details a unique neurological phenomenon of visual perception - delving into research, case studies, and historical accounts. We learn of a musician, slowly losing the ability to read words or music, aphasic patients with only the ability to mime and gesture, the phenomenon of alexia sine agraphia (losing the ability to read but not the ability to write a language), those who lose the ability to recognize faces or those who are born without the stereoptic ability to perceive depth. The last half of the book becomes surprisingly personal as Sacks shares his own experience with ocular melanoma.

4.5 out of 5 stars: As someone who's masters thesis investigated visual perception (*cough*), this book was straight up my alley. Oliver Sacks never fails to capture the beauty of neuroscience, and this was no exception.

I've Measured Out My Life in Coffee Pots

Fellow Caffeine Addicts, this is a note for you. I'd like propose an quasi-experiment based purely on information gleaned from a Futurama episode . We will be utilizing qualitative methods so if you want to participate, I will expect serious field notes of experiences and observations. Here's a rundown of the procedure:
Step 1: Drink 100 cups of coffee in a 24 hour period. (YouTube user incrediblydownfallen recommends you accomplish this to the tune of a Dethklok song and I am inclined to agree)



Step 2: Observe and document the phenomenological effects on time perception. You don't have to set your house/workplace on fire, but hey let's just face facts, it can only make things more interesting.



Allright, who's down? I've already started supersaturating my bloodstream with delicious Colombian-Dark-Roast goodness ...FOR SCIENCE! *twitch*


edit: Oh wait, just in case I'm legally obligated to write this somewhere, "Seriously though guys, I'm not actually advocating you drink yourself to death by means of heart explosion. Be responsible. No more than 63...64 cups a day. Anything more is just reckless."

The Sound of Surrealism

Isn't it fascinating how our brains have trained themselves to interpret reality? All we're doing is inputting vibrations from the environment. Somehow this assault of stimuli is translated into electrochemical signals and sorted into networks, popping out the other end as sound, color, and meaning. (It's magic! ...fucking magnets...)

After awhile we get pretty used to how things are supposed to sound, look and feel. I mean, we've built up a lifetime of experience to tell us what is or is not physically possible. And that is why surrealism rocks so hard. I like to think of it as the art of stomping on your expectations. Ironic, absurd, subconsciously extracted- call it what you will. Sometimes it means transcending reality by drawing inspiration from internal reservoirs (ex: dreams). Sometimes it means messing with the fundamental laws of nature (ex: melting clocks). Sometimes it means disturbing you on a fundamental level, forcing you to question what exactly it is that you've been experiencing all along.

So, here to wake you up from this perceptual operating system we call reality, I present Zeitguised, a 3D motion-design group, self-described as "the strange, obscure twin of contemporary zeitgeist imagineering." I found their videos browsing through Vimeo staffer's favorites (a very redeeming way to waste time, for sure).

This audio-visual candy comes from a six-act (but only three-minute) exhibit they aired for the opening of the Zirkel Gallery. It presents a hyperrealistic fusion of plants, human bodies, textures, sounds and architecture. Watch it fullscreen. With headphones. Relax let yourself travel to a reality controlled by sound waves and fueled with lysergic acid diethylamide. Delicious.

First up, the original Peripetics. And because I so love the way they describe themselves, this is an "installation of an irreversible axis on a dynamic timeline."

Don't worry, there's more : Peripetics Ex Machina features scenes, outtakes, and iterations of the exhibition that didn't make it into the final cut.

(and that is why I want to learn 3D modeling)

Other gems among their work include Room Zoo, commercials for the Toyota Aygo & Yaris TVC and Untitled Geometries: Booleay. They remind me a lot of ATTIK's work on the new Scion ad campaign, but that's a whole different can of worms (/blog post).

Honestly, I'm curious how watching these videos makes other people feel. After all, that's the best part about perception, maaaaaaan. Even when presented with the same stimuli, we all walk away with our own personal gut-feelings. Brilliant or nonsensical, you decide!

: : : : : Want MORE Zeitguised? Visit their portfolio, blog, or videos

And I've decided to make playlists again.Partly because it's fun to think of songs that are conceptually linked to posts and partly because I like documenting what I'm listening to. Unfortunately, seeqpod is dead and buried and took all of my previous playlists with it. So it goes. Cristina-from-the-future, this is for you.

The Sound of Surrealism

Alan Parsons, Beyond the Wizard's Sleeve, Chemical Bros, Lemon Jelly, MM MMM GOOD.