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HalfMooner
Dingaling
Philippines
15831 Posts |
 Posted - 12/17/2007 : 12:46:18
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Sam Harris, the noted atheist writer and doctoral candidate in neurology at UCLA, has published a paper, "Functional Neuroimaging of Belief, Disbelief and Uncertainty."
The research shows that when a person determines whether a statement is true or false, primitive neural networks associated with smell and taste come into play.
From Time:| Harris and two co-authors ran 360 statements by 14 adult subject whose brain activities were then scanned by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) devices. It suggests that within the brain pan, at least, the distinction between objective and subjective is not so clear-cut. Although more complex assertions may get analyzed in so-called "higher" areas of the brain, all seem to get their final stamp of "belief" or disbelief in "primitive" locales traditionally associated with emotions or taste and odor. Even "2 + 2 = 4," on some level, is a question of taste. Thus, the statement "that just doesn't smell right to me" may be more literal than we thought. |
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“Biology is just physics that has begun to smell bad.” —HalfMooner
Here's a link to Moonscape News, and one to its Archive. |
Edited by - HalfMooner on 12/17/2007 17:24:16
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Dr. Mabuse
Septic Fiend
Sweden
9687 Posts |
Posted - 12/18/2007 : 08:16:58 [Permalink]
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This opens up a new avenue of exploitation of the common ignorant masses for commercialism: scented advertisement.
The need to educate people to apply critical thinking will me more important than ever. |
Dr. Mabuse - "When the going gets tough, the tough get Duct-tape..."
Dr. Mabuse whisper.mp3
"Equivocation is not just a job, for a creationist it's a way of life..." Dr. Mabuse
Support American Troops in Iraq:
Send them unarmed civilians for target practice..
Collateralmurder. |
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Dude
SFN Die Hard
USA
6891 Posts |
Posted - 12/18/2007 : 12:15:57 [Permalink]
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Thats nothing new Mab. Its been known for a long time that scent can strongly stimulate memory and emotions.
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Ignorance is preferable to error; and he is less remote from the truth who believes nothing, than he who believes what is wrong.
-- Thomas Jefferson
"god :: the last refuge of a man with no answers and no argument." - G. Carlin
Hope, n.
The handmaiden of desperation; the opiate of despair; the illegible signpost on the road to perdition. ~~ da filth |
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chaloobi
SFN Regular
1620 Posts |
Posted - 12/18/2007 : 12:42:53 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by Dude
Thats nothing new Mab. Its been known for a long time that scent can strongly stimulate memory and emotions.
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Magazines have scented adds for perfume and other body products. I don't believe scent would work well with programming like television or video games, however.
Logistically you have to have a resevoir of generic scents, presumably mixed and blown into the room from some device, that would need to be replenished regularly. And unlike sight and sound, when you turn off your tv, scent would still be in the room. Imagine Saving Private Ryan with the smells of battle. It would take a week for your home to smell good again.
And scent is such a viceral sense - the smell of death is far more revolting than the sight. I suppose you could have some kind of dispenser attached to your nose directly, sparing the rest of the house, but it would look and feel way too weird. And how could you enjoy your popcorn with deisel exhaust in your nose half the time while watching the 2015 remake of Convoy? |
-Chaloobi
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| Edited by - chaloobi on 12/18/2007 12:44:28 |
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Dr. Mabuse
Septic Fiend
Sweden
9687 Posts |
Posted - 12/18/2007 : 14:31:57 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by Dude
Thats nothing new Mab. Its been known for a long time that scent can strongly stimulate memory and emotions. |
That isn't new for me either.
It's the part about intellectually placing truth value, and the possibility of overriding critical thinking skills with smells.
Perhaps even developing a "programming smell", like a reverse truth-serum, but for imprinting information into a subject which might be illogical and false, and through the smell making the subject believe it's God's own truth. |
Dr. Mabuse - "When the going gets tough, the tough get Duct-tape..."
Dr. Mabuse whisper.mp3
"Equivocation is not just a job, for a creationist it's a way of life..." Dr. Mabuse
Support American Troops in Iraq:
Send them unarmed civilians for target practice..
Collateralmurder. |
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Sam Harris researches neurology of belief
