What do you wonder about?
Pose your queries and answer
questions from others. Contact
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THIS EDITION’S QUESTION FOR DEBATE IS:
ARE WORDS VISIBLE IN OUR HEAD?
The Brain Dictionary
How does our brain organise the thousands of
words in our heads? This interactive brain map
from Nature Video claims to show which brain
areas respond to hearing different words and how
language is spread throughout the cortex and
across both hemispheres, showing groups of words
clustered together by meaning.
However do humans think in language all the
time? This map was created by scanning English
speakers, what happens in other languages or
in the brains of bilinguists? Does our brain even
register explicit words in regions of the brain or
does the map represent an understanding of the
semantics of thought or the general thoughts and
abstract concepts evoked by words? What do you
think (and where would it show up on the map!)
If this fascinates you why not explore the map
further at http://gallantlab.org/huth2016
Embed video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k61nJkx5aDQ
OTHER THINGS TO PONDER THIS EDITION:
“I wonder as I wander”
Does walking really help you think?
“Everybody has a secret world
inside of them. All of the people of
the world, I mean everybody. No
matter how dull and boring they are
on the outside, inside them they’ve
all got unimaginable, magnificent,
wonderful, stupid, amazing worlds.
Not just one world. Hundreds of
them. Thousands maybe.”
Neil Gaiman, The Sandman
Could you encapsulate your
philosophy of life in just three
sentences?
History shows us that disaffection
in society comes in waves and that
ignited by charismatic leaders mob
mentality easily leads to war. The
world seems to be full of war at the
moment, is disaffection greater at
the present time or does the product
of a “smaller” world with instant
media offer a greater awareness of
what has always been there?
Get Wondering and let us know your thoughts!
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