29 JUN 2011 by ideonexus

 Infant Behavior as a Key to Human Behavior

Staring at that skull, I was struck by the fact that this ancient child was somebody's baby long ago. Perhaps she was sick, or maybe he e was accident-prone, or perhaps this baby was some predator's dinner. Standing there, I could picture him or her long ago, I, smiling, laughing, and reaching out to grab a mother's breast. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. From a biological point of view, the Taung child represents a specific stage of development for Australopithecines, our ...
Folksonomies: evolution infancy instinct
Folksonomies: evolution infancy instinct
  1  notes

There are secrets to why humans are the way they are in how our children behave.

23 JAN 2011 by ideonexus

 Can you stop thinking?

Can you stop thinking? Perhaps you have practiced meditation or some other method of calming the mind. If so you will know that the task is not trivial. If you have not, I suggest you try now to empty your mind for a minute or so (or if you cannot face it now, try it sometime when you have nothing 'better' to do, waiting for the kettle to boil, or the computer to boot up, for example). When any thought comes along, as it certainly will, just acknowledge it and let it go. Do not get tangled up...
Folksonomies: memetics
Folksonomies: memetics
  1  notes

Our brains cannot stop thinking, processing the memes contained in our brains. There is not biological imperative for this, but there is a memetic explanation for it.