5 ms·

I have always wondered whether new ideas are seeded by cosmic rays disturbing neurons in the brain..

by stuartcw 5y ago

adenozine 5y ago
That's actually mind blowing to think about. Thanks for sharing this.
- SketchySeaBeast 5y ago
  > That's actually mind blowing to think about. That would be too many cosmic rays. And the "flipped the wrong neuron" possibility is much scarier in my mind. And probably in everyone else's brain as well.
deepsun 5y ago
That'd mean people underground (or under thick layer of concrete, like in skyscrapers) are not creative.
- dleslie 5y ago
  Sounds like we have a hypothesis and a test environment; now we just need a test for creativity and we can start doing science!
- supernova87a 5y ago
  But grad students are often sent to work in the basement, and yet they need to have the most ideas!
- moistbar 5y ago
  I guess you could say they'd be... Living under a rock. Yeah, yeah, I'm leaving. Put the weapons away...
AlanSE 5y ago
I suspect that modern processors are closer to quantum limits than what neurons are.
gotostatement 5y ago
seems too low-level, no? the temporary excitation of a single neuron would most likely just fade away into the equilibrating process of the brain
- CameronNemo 5y ago
  >In chaos theory, the butterfly effect is the sensitive dependence on initial conditions in which a small change in one state of a deterministic nonlinear system can result in large differences in a later state. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butterfly_effect https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butterfly_effect
  - gotostatement 5y ago
    Is there reason to believe the brain is chaotic on that level? The reason I doubt it because any stable biological system has as one of its primary tasks - if not its #1 primary task - to maintain equilibrium. Otherwise it would collapse into chaos due to the inherent imprecision of molecular phenomena. So I would be very surprised if you could stimulate a neuron - not even a neuron, but an electron inside a neuron - and cause something as complex as an idea to form. More likely it would be equilibrated away
    - MauranKilom 5y ago
      Well, cosmic rays can cause perceptions: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmic_ray_visual_phenomena https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmic_ray_visual_phenomena That said, just saying "chaos theory means any change can cause anything" is a terribly weak argument for "cosmic rays cause ideas". Not to mention all the reasons why it's implausible as a significant idea generator.
deleted 5y ago
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Already__Taken 5y ago
I always wondered if that random stabbing pain in your rib or kidney etc was a comic ray to the nerve.

I have always wondered whether new ideas are seeded by cosmic rays disturbing neurons in the brain..

adenozine 5y ago

That's actually mind blowing to think about. Thanks for sharing this.

SketchySeaBeast 5y ago
> That's actually mind blowing to think about. That would be too many cosmic rays. And the "flipped the wrong neuron" possibility is much scarier in my mind. And probably in everyone else's brain as well.

deepsun 5y ago

That'd mean people underground (or under thick layer of concrete, like in skyscrapers) are not creative.

dleslie 5y ago
Sounds like we have a hypothesis and a test environment; now we just need a test for creativity and we can start doing science!
supernova87a 5y ago
But grad students are often sent to work in the basement, and yet they need to have the most ideas!
moistbar 5y ago
I guess you could say they'd be... Living under a rock. Yeah, yeah, I'm leaving. Put the weapons away...

AlanSE 5y ago

I suspect that modern processors are closer to quantum limits than what neurons are.

gotostatement 5y ago

seems too low-level, no? the temporary excitation of a single neuron would most likely just fade away into the equilibrating process of the brain

CameronNemo 5y ago
>In chaos theory, the butterfly effect is the sensitive dependence on initial conditions in which a small change in one state of a deterministic nonlinear system can result in large differences in a later state. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butterfly_effect https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butterfly_effect
- gotostatement 5y ago
  Is there reason to believe the brain is chaotic on that level? The reason I doubt it because any stable biological system has as one of its primary tasks - if not its #1 primary task - to maintain equilibrium. Otherwise it would collapse into chaos due to the inherent imprecision of molecular phenomena. So I would be very surprised if you could stimulate a neuron - not even a neuron, but an electron inside a neuron - and cause something as complex as an idea to form. More likely it would be equilibrated away
  - MauranKilom 5y ago
    Well, cosmic rays can cause perceptions: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmic_ray_visual_phenomena https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmic_ray_visual_phenomena That said, just saying "chaos theory means any change can cause anything" is a terribly weak argument for "cosmic rays cause ideas". Not to mention all the reasons why it's implausible as a significant idea generator.

deleted 5y ago

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Already__Taken 5y ago

I always wondered if that random stabbing pain in your rib or kidney etc was a comic ray to the nerve.