Neuroscience of Obliviousness

Interesting neuroscience article at io9.com, filed under the heading “No Future,” but tagged with the more inticing words Your brain won’t allow you to believe the apocalypse could actually happen.

io9.com’s article impetus is a Nature Neroscience article titled How unrealistic optimism is maintained in the face of reality, which, in large part, is hidden behind a paywall, but we can glean this bit of information from the io9.com piece, which is quoted from the Nature Neuroscience article.

We found that optimism was related to diminished coding of undesirable information about the future in a region of the frontal cortex (right IFG) that has been identified as being sensitive to negative estimation errors . . . this human propensity toward optimism is facilitated by the brain’s failure to code errors in estimation when those call for pessimistic updates. This failure results in selective updating, which supports unrealistic optimism that is resistant to change.

Interestingly enough, the overly optimistic do have a counter balance, the depressed.

There is one fascinating exception to this rule, though. As the researchers note, the only people who consistently offer accurate estimates of bad things happening to them are clinically depressed. So — perfect depression is perfect awareness?

Linked via Fred Lapides.

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 01/21 at 09:05 AM

  1. I prefer the Capt. Yossarian character in catch-22.  His paranoia kept him alive.

    I don’t believe it is possible to predict future events with any specificity or accuracy.  That is I cannot tell you that tomorrow we will get an earthquake or on Monday the banks won’t open.  But I do believe you can predict the future in a general way.  I am aware that millions of Jews in Europe left before Hitler’s horror unfolded, they made tough choices based on inadequate information.  I don’t know when or exactly what it will look like but we are going to endure another great depression.  We are staring into the Abyss and some of us are recoiling in fear while others are looking at the view.  It no longer seems a matter of “if” but rather “when”.  I suspect that “when” it happens it will happen fairly quickly.  Perhaps over a long weekend we will hear the government has declared a bank holiday and the ATM’s aren’t working and slowly the news leaks out bits and pieces of what is going on.  You will have maybe 24 hours maybe 72 hours to go to the store and buy extra food and necessities because most people will still be more concerned with American Idol or some sports team.  But sooner or later it will dawn on everyone that something is wrong.  Then it will be pretty much too late.  Like the video we all saw during Hurricane Katrina where people were looting Walmarts for the necessities (big screen TV’s and sneakers) and then a long slide into far worse then you could have imagined.  Scenes we all saw, like that 250 policeman tackling the 98 pound little grandmother in her own house to wrestle her little gun from her hands will play out everywhere.  Confiscating your property will even make sense in the new world order after a collapse.
    But here is what YOU need to know: 

    1. It’s later then you think.

    2. Food will be worth more then money in the future.

    3. Someone you know intends to either sponge off you or take what you have when things get tough.

    4. Someone you don’t know intends to either sponge off you or take what you have when things get tough.

    5. By the time it becomes obvious to everyone it will be too late to prepare.

    6. If you don’t prepare then you are the one planning on sponging off someone you know or to take what they have when things get tough.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  01/21  at  12:56 PM

  2. Hey Venlet, you know what I tell my kid? Here’s what I tell my kid:

    -Watch how he treats the waitress before you marry him.

    -The good guys always win. Even when they lose, the good guys always win.

    -Don’t bellyache.

    Now you go on and have a good Sunday. I sure hope you’re a gramp soon.

    Posted by Erin O'Brien  on  01/22  at  08:32 AM

  3. GWTW, I’d say you’re clearly considering future possibilities without succumbing to fatalism.

    Posted by John Venlet  on  01/22  at  09:59 AM

  4. -Watch how he treats the waitress before you marry him.

    I took lessons in this from my Dad.  Good advice.

    I sure hope you’re a gramp soon.

    Thanks, Erin.  I think my daughter’s hopes to be a mother soon are bit more pressing than my hopes to be a Grandpa soon.

    Posted by John Venlet  on  01/22  at  10:03 AM

  5. I’m happy for you, John; that bit of goodness is stronger than all the badness.

    Since predicting is my passion, I can only say that I think GWTW has it spot-on, word for word.  I agree with every drop of it; that alone is unusual for me.  #1 and #5 are the most relevant now, IMO.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  01/22  at  05:39 PM

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