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Bigotry is abound, apprently, within these boards.  There is a level of supposed tolerance I will have no part of.  Obviously, it seems to be well-embraced here.  I have finally found something more fucked up than what I'm used to.  Congrats. - Ruby

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I finally understand politics.

Started by Requia ☣, September 04, 2009, 02:15:54 AM

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Requia ☣

It is of course no secret that politicians tend to go to extremely prestigious schools.  These schools aren't easy to get into, and require even more work to succeed in, often with mandatory percentages of failing grades given out, despite only the brightest (and richest) kids in America getting into them in the first place.

Once they get out, they do not of course run for office straight away, instead they work long hours doing some kind of menial intellectual task so that they can get even more networking done.  And of course, the elections themselves, not to mention the jobs, are high stress as fuck.  So they have to be coping with stress.

Well as it turns out, your brain copes with stress using these wonderful little chemicals called glucocorticoids.  Necessary if you want to function in that kind of life.  Unfortunately, these chemicals have a nasty little side effect, namely, they kill brain cells in the hippocampus, the part of the brain that interprets and stores new information.

In other words, being a politician causes brain damage.  :horrormirth:
Inflatable dolls are not recognized flotation devices.

Kai

QuoteWell as it turns out, your brain copes with stress using these wonderful little chemicals called glucocorticoids.  Necessary if you want to function in that kind of life.  Unfortunately, these chemicals have a nasty little side effect, namely, they kill brain cells in the hippocampus, the part of the brain that interprets and stores new information.

Citation needed.
If there is magic on this planet, it is contained in water. --Loren Eisley, The Immense Journey

Her Royal Majesty's Chief of Insect Genitalia Dissection
Grand Visser of the Six Legged Class
Chanticleer of the Holometabola Clade Church, Diptera Parish

Requia ☣

"Discovering Psychology"  Its a telecourse for intro psych I'm recording.
Inflatable dolls are not recognized flotation devices.

Kai

Quote from: Requia ☣ on September 04, 2009, 03:13:23 AM
"Discovering Psychology"  Its a telecourse for intro psych I'm recording.

I'm under a lot of stress. I seem to have no real trouble assimilating new information.
If there is magic on this planet, it is contained in water. --Loren Eisley, The Immense Journey

Her Royal Majesty's Chief of Insect Genitalia Dissection
Grand Visser of the Six Legged Class
Chanticleer of the Holometabola Clade Church, Diptera Parish

Requia ☣

A) It takes extended exposure.  Years, at minimum.

B) Individual cases are not indicative of the group.  At most it can demonstrate variation occurs.

C) It should be noted I'm playing this for laughs, not as a serious proposal.  (Also I want to see if Cain declares I'm wrong and politicians really lead irresponsible care free lives while sponging of their parents).
Inflatable dolls are not recognized flotation devices.

Soylent Green

And now I must ask a possibly retarded question:

Can doing shrooms regrow brain cells in the hippocampus?

Someone told me they did a while back, I called bullshit, but never found out if it was true or not.

Requia ☣

I'd need the proper term for the kind(s) of mushrooms people use to do research on its cognitive effects.
Inflatable dolls are not recognized flotation devices.

Bruno

What, you mean like species names?

Psilocybe cubensis is by far the most common, but there are probably a hundred or so active species.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Psilocybin_mushrooms
Formerly something else...

Requia ☣

Apparently the term used in the literature is psylocybin.

Not much work into its effects on the hippocampus.  It does suppress the hippocampus while its active.  One study found that there was no change in EEG for the hippocampus region when not actually on the drug (was done with monkeys, but the hippocampus is pretty standard for all mammals, it should be the same in humans).  The EEG study wasn't repeated (as in no one tried, not no repeatable results) that I can find either.  Makes it a bit tough to say how reliable the finding is.

My professional opinion is that that idea is 'total bullshit'.
Inflatable dolls are not recognized flotation devices.

Requia ☣

Sources

Horibe, M. (1974, March). The effects of psilocybin on EEG and behavior in monkeys. Activitas Nervosa Superior, 16(1), 40-42. Retrieved September 4, 2009, from PsycINFO database.

Passie, Torsten, Seifert, Juergen, Schneider, Udo & Emrich, Hinderk M. (2002). The pharmacology of psilocybin. Addiction Biology, 7 (4), 357-364. Retrieved September 04, 2009, from http://www.informaworld.com/10.1080/1355621021000005937
Inflatable dolls are not recognized flotation devices.

Requia ☣

It has the opposite effect when eating apparently, a study done in cats showed the hippocampus as being overactive while eating, and only underactive for other kinds of stimuli.  Not changing my conclusion though.

Adey, W., Bell, F., & Dennis, B. (1962). Effects of LSD-25, psilocybin and psilocin on temporal lobe EEG patterns & learned behavior in the cat. Neurology, 12(9), 591-602. Retrieved September 4, 2009, from PsycINFO database.
Inflatable dolls are not recognized flotation devices.

Sir Squid Diddimus


Cain

Here the long hours of free work are used to price out anyone below upper middle class.  The internships are a clever screening system, whereby anyone not already profiting from the current system is excluded because, lets face it, you cannot afford to do a 3 month internship in London for free unless someone is already paying your way.  I did one at Uni, but that was at the same time as my course, and I spent all summer working two jobs, so I could afford it.

However, usually there are copious amounts of free coffee.  And, as we know, coffee induces paranoia http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/too-much-coffee-can-induce-aggression-and-paranoia-584645.html

Triple Zero

AND THEN I POOMPED!!
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Ex-Soviet Bloc Sexual Attack Swede of Tomorrow™
e-prime disclaimer: let it seem fairly unclear I understand the apparent subjectivity of the above statements. maybe.

INFORMATION SO POWERFUL, YOU ACTUALLY NEED LESS.

Jenne

Penn & Teller did a "Bullshit" episode on stress...showed that it is all a hum, really.