Tuesday, June 16, 2020
Point-missing on new neurons
Via RCS, a good readable summary of the benefits of exercise for brain survival. Hits the important points without overly technical jargon.
Toward the end, the authors fall back into the tiresome Savannah Sabertooth crap, more or less defeating the good first part.
“Evolutionally we have a brain designed for laziness. Our ancestors were physically active because they had to be. They had to flee from the enemy and run to get food, but the rest of the time they took it easy to save calories because they didn't know when they’d see their next meal,” he says. “Our brains want us to save calories. And the brains we have today haven’t fundamentally changed since we were hunters and gatherers on the savannah. It’s still programmed for laziness whenever possible,” says Hjelle.Sheer nonsense. Straight out of the Tocqueville 47% Largesse mode of non-thought. No living thing tries to save calories. Measuring calories is something that researchers do because it's a repeatable measurement, not because it connects to purpose. Drunk streetlight. Living things are intended to WORK and be USEFUL. We need to sleep, but when we're not sleeping we WANT AND NEED to accomplish a purpose, whether physical or mental. LIFE IS PURPOSE. Laziness arises from FRUSTRATION. Laziness and depression are two names for the same natural response. When our need to be useful is repeatedly SMASHED AND PUNISHED by a culture and economy that is furiously and ferociously and intentionally KILLING all useful and meaningful activity, we stop trying and start dying. The notion that we are meant to be lazy doesn't even agree with the first part of the article, which clearly documents that we are meant to be exercising and working as much as possible from birth to death. If the authors had listened to their own main thesis they wouldn't have slipped back into the standard TED Talk evolution crap.
Labels: AI point-missing, Make or break
¶ 9:42 AM
