I was watching a program on Nova (TV) the other day about the universe, and it made me think again about how vast and complex our universe really is. There seems to be no end to it -- at least we can't find an end. And even "empty space" is much more complex than we thought. It's certainly not empty and we're still not sure what all it contains in the way of "strange" particles.
Einstein showed us that space is curved by matter and that helped clear up a few problems. But it also created a few new ones. Are we ever going to be able to completely explain everything about the universe? It always seems that when we finally explain something that has puzzled us for years, the solution creates more problems. Somehow I think this will continue on indefinitely. I'm convinced, in fact, that we'll never be able to explain everything. We may come close, and things will no doubt continue to get more and more complicated, but there will always be problems left to solve. In a sense it would be a shame if we did discover a theory that explained everything. It would mean we would have no new problems to work on. Somehow I don't think we'll ever have to worry about this; I don't believe it will every happen.
Furthermore, I'm just as convinced that there is other life in the universe beyond Earth -- in fact, I'm also convinced that much of this life is advanced (as advanced as we are). We are finding large numbers of planets around nearby stars, and with 200 billion stars in our galaxy, there has to be millions and likely billions of planets out there. And beyond our galaxy there are hundreds of billions of other galaxies with just as many stars as our galaxy. The probablity that some of them have advanced life in them is overwheming. After all, all you need is the proper conditions for life to form; they include water in liquid form, a satisfactory atmosphere and moderate temperatures. If I had to guess I'd say there are millions of advanced civilizations out there somewhere. Anyway, it's interesting to think about.
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Can Dreams Make You Smarter and More Creative?
To answer this we have to look at what sleep is, and what it involves. To most of us it seems that we lie down at night, lose consciousness, then wake up in the morning, and that's all there is to it. But there's actually a lot more to it than this. One of the reasons we know this is because of a machine called the electroencephlograph that records EEGs, or "brain waves." If the electrodes from this machine are attached to your head they give a record of the "neuron firing" that is going on in your brain as you sleep. And this record gives us impotant information.
Your brain generates several types of waves. They are referred to by the first letters of the Greek alphabet: alpha, beta, gamma and theta. These waves tell us that your body goes through five stages when you sleep -- all the way from light sleep, through deep and very deep sleep to what is called REM (rapid eye movement) sleep. And it's during REM sleep that you dream.
We refer to the above as "stages" of sleep, and your body goes through these five stages in about 90 minutes. Since you sleep for 7 or 8 hours you pass through four or five of these stages every night, and during each of the REM stages you dream for about ten minutes. This means you dream for about an hour every night; the only dream you ever remember, however, (assuming you do remember it) is the last one just before you wake up.
So, what is the importance of dreaming, and is it good for anything? It might surprise you, but it can be helpful in your life. Research has shown that sleep is particularly important in consolidating new learning. In other words, if you "sleep" on something that you just learned, it will help you remember it. In essence, it will drive it deeper into your memory. The important thing, however, is that as much of your sleep as possible be REM sleep. Indeed, the more REM sleep you get after learning something, the better you will recall it later.
But not only does REM sleep help you learn faster, it is also helpful in relation to creativity. It's well-known that people who go to sleep after trying unsuccessfully to solve a problem, frequently wake up with the solution.
Can you take advantage of this? Indeed, you can. You can, in fact, learn to use REM sleep to both increase your creativity and to learn faster. Four steps are important in accomplishing this.
1. Write down your problem, or summarize what you want to learn better.
2. Review and think about it before you go to bed.
3. Think about it again when you are in bed, just before you go to sleep. Let it sink into your
subconscious.
4. When you wake up in the morning, write down your dream before you forget it.
Your brain generates several types of waves. They are referred to by the first letters of the Greek alphabet: alpha, beta, gamma and theta. These waves tell us that your body goes through five stages when you sleep -- all the way from light sleep, through deep and very deep sleep to what is called REM (rapid eye movement) sleep. And it's during REM sleep that you dream.
We refer to the above as "stages" of sleep, and your body goes through these five stages in about 90 minutes. Since you sleep for 7 or 8 hours you pass through four or five of these stages every night, and during each of the REM stages you dream for about ten minutes. This means you dream for about an hour every night; the only dream you ever remember, however, (assuming you do remember it) is the last one just before you wake up.
So, what is the importance of dreaming, and is it good for anything? It might surprise you, but it can be helpful in your life. Research has shown that sleep is particularly important in consolidating new learning. In other words, if you "sleep" on something that you just learned, it will help you remember it. In essence, it will drive it deeper into your memory. The important thing, however, is that as much of your sleep as possible be REM sleep. Indeed, the more REM sleep you get after learning something, the better you will recall it later.
But not only does REM sleep help you learn faster, it is also helpful in relation to creativity. It's well-known that people who go to sleep after trying unsuccessfully to solve a problem, frequently wake up with the solution.
Can you take advantage of this? Indeed, you can. You can, in fact, learn to use REM sleep to both increase your creativity and to learn faster. Four steps are important in accomplishing this.
1. Write down your problem, or summarize what you want to learn better.
2. Review and think about it before you go to bed.
3. Think about it again when you are in bed, just before you go to sleep. Let it sink into your
subconscious.
4. When you wake up in the morning, write down your dream before you forget it.
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