Smarts.......

[txdinghysailor]

But what controls the amygdala? It is the means by which people happen to remember things, but why does it choose certain memories to pull out of storage?

[HisChildForever]

[quote name='txdinghysailor' post='1795511' date='Mar 2 2009, 08:00 PM']But what controls the amygdala? It is the means by which people happen to remember things, but why does it choose certain memories to pull out of storage?[/quote]

This is an interesting article that is too long to post: [url="http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/exchange/node/1749"]http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/exchange/node/1749[/url]
It focuses on the role the amygdala plays in fear but there are explanations as to how the amygdala functions.

More information (on the amygdala): [url="http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-the-amygdala.htm"]http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-the-amygdala.htm[/url]

Semantic Memory: [url="http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-semantic-memory.htm"]http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-semantic-memory.htm[/url]

[txdinghysailor]

Still, if someone randomly asks you a question you don't know the answer too, you look dumb. What decides what question they ask?

[HisChildForever]

This is probably more what you are looking for:

Source: [url="http://www.wisegeek.com/how-does-human-memory-work.htm"]http://www.wisegeek.com/how-does-human-memory-work.htm[/url]

Human memory consists of information patterns being stored temporarily or permanently in the interconnection patterns and synaptic weightings among neurons in the brain. Although specific brain regions such as the hippocampus, amygdala, cerebellum, and basal ganglia have been implicated as being highly involved in specific aspects of memory, many researchers believe that memory may be a "field phenomenon" of the brain - not localized strongly in any one point, but in the entirety of the interconnective map that makes up the brain. This would be consistent with the observation that evolution prefers redundancy and animals with critical functions localized in any particular brain structure would be more subject to the degenerative threats of malnutrition or injury than those with distributed functions.

There are three ways of classifying memory. They include duration of memory retention, information type, and temporal direction. Duration of retention is seen as the most universal and useful.

From the perspective of duration of memory retention, there are three memory types: sensory memory, short term memory (STM) and long term memory (LTM). Sensory memory operates 200-500 ms immediately after a perceptual event and can hold approximately 12 items for a negligible quantity of time. Occasionally, experiences that begin as sensory memories transfer to short term memory, which can hold 5, plus or minus 2 items without rehearsal for somewhere between a minute to an hour. Short term memory is responsible for the "phonological loop" - our internal monologue reciting something to remember it.

The type of memory that is most pervasive, and with the largest capacity, is long-term memory. Long-term memories are built especially well through repetition and training and the complex web of memories that associate freely with other memories. Sometimes this web of long-term memories is called knowledge.

Within long-term memory, there are declarative (explicit) and procedural (implicit) memories. Procedural memories are motor-based and controlled by older sections of the brain. They include things like learning how to ride a bike. Declarative memory, which further breaks down into semantic and episodic/autobiographical memories, are at the core of what we consider the human experience. Semantic memories are abstract knowledge and the recital of facts, and episodic memories contain stories. The two types of declarative memory are intimately interrelated. If anything in this article was new to you, you've just added some substantial information to your semantic memory database.

[txdinghysailor]

Still, if someone randomly asks you a question you don't know the answer too, you look dumb. What decides what question they ask?

[HisChildForever]

[quote name='txdinghysailor' post='1795531' date='Mar 2 2009, 08:09 PM']Still, if someone randomly asks you a question you don't know the answer too, you look dumb. What decides what question they ask?[/quote]

You tell me. Why did you just ask me that question?

[txdinghysailor]

[quote name='HisChildForever' post='1795538' date='Mar 2 2009, 09:10 PM']You tell me. Why did you just ask me that question?[/quote]

Seemed like a good idea to me. But had it been someone else who had started this argument, they might've asked an entirely different question.

[HisChildForever]

[quote name='txdinghysailor' post='1795541' date='Mar 2 2009, 08:12 PM']Seemed like a good idea to me. But had it been someone else who had started this argument, they might've asked an entirely different question.[/quote]

Well read the biological explanations I provided if you are that curious about memory.

[txdinghysailor]

I did read them, but it still doesn't answer my question. What decides what information gets remembered?

[HisChildForever]

[quote name='txdinghysailor' post='1795544' date='Mar 2 2009, 08:17 PM']I did read them, but it still doesn't answer my question. What decides what information gets remembered?[/quote]

Post #24.

[ardillacid]

[quote name='txdinghysailor' post='1795541' date='Mar 2 2009, 08:12 PM']Seemed like a good idea to me. But had it been someone else who had started this argument, they might've asked an entirely different question.[/quote]
free will

[HisChildForever]

Back to "luck" -

Am I wrong in saying that Catholics are discouraged from believing in it? Does "luck" fall under superstition?

[txdinghysailor]

[quote name='HisChildForever' post='1795556' date='Mar 2 2009, 09:27 PM']Post #24.[/quote]

what decides what the amlga thingy remembers?

[HisChildForever]

[quote name='txdinghysailor' post='1795566' date='Mar 2 2009, 08:33 PM']what decides what the amlga thingy remembers?[/quote]

Oh my goodness.

This (from Post #24) explains the different kinds of memory and how memory is retained (remember the amygdala, among other parts of the brain, are involved in memory):

[quote]There are three ways of classifying memory. They include duration of memory retention, information type, and temporal direction. Duration of retention is seen as the most universal and useful.

From the perspective of duration of memory retention, there are three memory types: sensory memory, short term memory (STM) and long term memory (LTM). Sensory memory operates 200-500 ms immediately after a perceptual event and can hold approximately 12 items for a negligible quantity of time. Occasionally, experiences that begin as sensory memories transfer to short term memory, which can hold 5, plus or minus 2 items without rehearsal for somewhere between a minute to an hour. Short term memory is responsible for the "phonological loop" - our internal monologue reciting something to remember it.

The type of memory that is most pervasive, and with the largest capacity, is long-term memory. Long-term memories are built especially well through repetition and training and the complex web of memories that associate freely with other memories. Sometimes this web of long-term memories is called knowledge.

Within long-term memory, there are declarative (explicit) and procedural (implicit) memories. Procedural memories are motor-based and controlled by older sections of the brain. They include things like learning how to ride a bike. Declarative memory, which further breaks down into semantic and episodic/autobiographical memories, are at the core of what we consider the human experience. Semantic memories are abstract knowledge and the recital of facts, and episodic memories contain stories. The two types of declarative memory are intimately interrelated. If anything in this article was new to you, you've just added some substantial information to your semantic memory database.[/quote]

If that still does not answer your question, utilize Google.

[txdinghysailor]

ok. btw this whole argument was kind of a joke. I know there are smart people, and there are dumb people. But I thought one time "gosh, mayeb i'm not smart, maybe i'm just lucky", and I thought it was funny, and I wanted to see if anyone would bite on this argument...

[HisChildForever]

[quote name='txdinghysailor' post='1795574' date='Mar 2 2009, 08:38 PM']ok. btw this whole argument was kind of a joke. I know there are smart people, and there are dumb people. But I thought one time "gosh, mayeb i'm not smart, maybe i'm just lucky", and I thought it was funny, and I wanted to see if anyone would bite on this argument...[/quote]

Right, I believe this.

[txdinghysailor]

Yeah trust me, I'm not so unobservant that I don't realize that there are a LOT of dumb people in the world... I used to tutor physics, so I think I've actually talked to most of the dumb people lol

[HisChildForever]

[quote name='txdinghysailor' post='1795583' date='Mar 2 2009, 08:43 PM']Yeah trust me, I'm not so unobservant that I don't realize that there are a LOT of dumb people in the world... I used to tutor physics, so I think I've actually talked to most of the dumb people lol[/quote]

I would not necessarily use the word "dumb." More like severely lacking common sense (to your first use of "dumb").

Insinuating that people who do not understand physics are dumb is just plain rude.

Edited March 3, 2009 by HisChildForever

[txdinghysailor]

[quote name='HisChildForever' post='1795585' date='Mar 2 2009, 09:45 PM']Insinuating that people who do not understand physics are dumb is just plain rude.[/quote]

No physics. I'm talking about people who couldn't understand simple algebra! Physics is tough, but if you can't do the algebra to solve for even one unknown, you're just dumb.

Edited March 3, 2009 by txdinghysailor

[HisChildForever]

[quote name='txdinghysailor' post='1795591' date='Mar 2 2009, 08:48 PM']No physics. I'm talking about people who couldn't understand simple algebra! Physics is tough, but if you can't do the algebra to solve for even one unknown, you're just dumb.[/quote]

You should have clarified. Still rude though. Many people with mental disabilities cannot do math.