The human mind

I just attended a performance of Bach’s Goldberg variations by 66 year old Angela Hewitt. On the piano this incredibly complex piece of music has about 27000 notes. She played the entire piece in one sitting live, without a single sheet of music.

Miller’s law asserts the average human being can remember 7 to 9 numbers….this woman retained 27000 notes….because of the musical context, the tune if you like. I still find it amazing.

With all the talk of AI perhaps the human brain also has the capacity to evolve further, possibly in conjunction with AI. Just a random thought.

The concern is that AI would reduce the necessity to think, making people more stupid...we will have to find a way to prevent that

I agree Draad, it makes things just far too easy for the upcoming generation, resulting in stunting the natural growth or evolution of critical thinking

It's very much down to "muscle memory", Moz.

What I've learned, on guitar anyway, is that the most difficult things to learn burn into memory the deepest. But it's not really memory because it happens without much thought.

A bit like if I asked you to whistle Happy Birthday. You mouth makes the shapes, your lungs push out the air and your mind is somewhere in the back guiding the process. But it doesn't really feel like memory, and it doesn't feel like the muscle memory that brings about a golf swing. It's somewhere in the middle. It's somehow less memento and less muscle memory...but it's there and the evidence for it is clear.

No doubt her performance was amazing.

It's just that if you asked her, she'd likely say that she plays most of it without thinking.

To me, that's the interesting part. If you're not thinking about it, we say it's muscle memory, but muscles don't actually have memory, then where is it coming from?

The problem has been identified that students in the USA are abusing AI to do their assignments and the result is that complaints are developing where students come ot of colleges with degrees are in fact worthless, I think AI is a good development from a complex administration point of view - but quoting AI iro of some aspects are in fact not a good idea,

Lets take for example politics - what is fed into the system by for instance the media is roblematic since it becomes partitions and what is being delivered can be opinionated garbage,

Plum when I was in academics and couldn’t crack a problem, I used to ‘load’ the problem just before going to sleep. Quite often when I woke up it would be obvious….just another weird way the noggin works.

Back to Bach, this woman had incredible style….the floating hands, the head back, rhythm. All consistent with the muscle memory theory.

Wax on wax off...they say it takes 10 000 hours to start mastering something...that goes for rugby too...that's why it's so difficult to change position ...all muscle memory, reacting instinctively...subconscious reaction.

Moz

Like most people, I've had numerous hobbies. Music is one that has effortlessly kept me interested for, geez 25 years now, and it's partly due to the idea that somewhere between the conscious and subconscious mind, and muscle memory, there is there is a channel that one is able to tune into.

It sounds like Angela lives in/on that channel.

I think this guy does too...

Very cool performance…..is that your instrument? My daughter composes piano pieces that sound like movie themes and has a CD out. But there’s little interest in that kind of thing.

I read recently that the brains of a man and women are somewhat significantly different.

Men apparently on average have brains 10-15% larger, even when normalised to the same relative body size.

The smaller brains of women rely more on grey matter.

Grey matter is a bit like circuit chips on a computer motherboard, or roads on a highway that allow both hemispheres of the brain to integrate better.

Interesting….grey matter vs size! Amazing how much computing ability can be built into a tiny package. Take a racing pigeon that gets home from 700 miles.

‘A pigeon brain is small, about the size of a walnut or index finger tip. While small, they possess a significant number of neurons and have demonstrated remarkable cognitive abilities. Pigeon brains weigh around 2 grams’

No more derogatory comments about a ‘bird brain’. I would guess a peanut is closer than a walnut.

Birds, as decedents of Dinosaurs have proven that intelligence can evolve from reptiles, not just mammals.

So the mass extinction 66 million years ago from the meteorite that hit earth created the gap for intelligence to evolve, but mammals got ahead of what was left of the dinosaurs.

An African grey is the smartest animal that is not a mammal. Studies are not clear, but some people "believe" that some African greys have some understanding of language when speaking it beyond just memorising and repeating. They can say hello when someone gets home, and they seem to know what certain objects are by name.

Robin McDonald

Lives w/a Grey, a Pionus, a Cocker Spaniel & an Orange Kitty5y

African Greys are not “pets,” they are “companions;” there is a BIG difference. That is perhaps one of the first concepts a prospective Grey owner needs to consider. Greys are nothing like dogs or cats - animals who love you pretty unconditionally as long as you don’t abuse them. Studies show Greys have the intellectual capacity of a 3–5 year old, so while not like a toddler in many ways, in others, exactly like a toddler.

For example. Greys (and all parrots) NEED socialization - lots of it, every day, and since in the wild, Greys live in flocks, if you adopt a Grey into your family, YOU (and anyone else in your home) will become its flock. Like toddlers, Greys seek attention, any attention, and they will find a way to get it. If you don’t respond to their needs with “positive” attention, they will find a way to get “negative” attention - chewing something they know is “off-limits” like a windowsill, book, etc. or dumping the cat’s bowl onto the floor (ours actually thinks she’s “helping” the cat when she does this..).

We were fortunate to have an amazing Avian Vet at our local Vet Clinic, and she spent several hours with us on the phone when we were considering adding a Grey to our household, helping us understand the realities of living with a parrot in general, and a Grey in specific. There are thousands of parrots of all kinds living in Rescues in the US - people think they’re cute, like that they talk or whatever, and pet stores will sell to anyone, without looking at the likelihood of a successful experience for the bird or the owner. We were inexperienced w/birds, and were afraid we might not be able to care for a bird with a history, so we adopted a baby Grey, but knowing what we do now, I think we could have helped an abandoned or abused bird - although I wouldn’t give up our Mojo for anything - she makes us all smile at least 100 times every day - from her “Hi Ollie” when I uncover her sleep cage and carry her downstairs for her breakfast of oatmeal (w/LOTS of raisins…), snow peas, sugar snaps, carrots, red beets, grapes & squash, until I tuck her back in at night after a bedtime pistachio feast and a “snuggle,” - she roosts on my arm so I can “scritch” the feathers on her head & neck & sing (she prefers songs from “Sound of Music” at night…).

If you are considering a Grey, read as much as you can first, or plan a visit to someone who owns one (most owners would be happy to share their experiences). You’ll need to plan on spending lots of time with your Grey in order to gain her/his trust. Also, Greys live a long time, so the relationship you create is one that will continue throughout most of, or all of the rest of your life, including whatever changes occur - marriage, divorce, children, job changes, retirement, etc. If you cannot see yourself committing to care for a Grey through all those phases, and the unexpected changes as well, perhaps Grey ownership is not for you, or maybe you could consider adopting one of the thousands of older Greys in rescues - birds whose owners died, realized they weren’t cut out for bird care or just couldn’t continue to care for them for whatever reason.

Sharing our lives with our Grey has been incredible; Mojo is flighted (it’s sort of like having a 747 in the house). She’s only in her “big” cage if we’re out or someone who’s visiting is afraid of birds, and has a “triangle stand” in the kitchen for breakfast & “bird dinner” as well as one on the coffee table to join us for lunch and the dining room table where she enjoys bites of whatever we’re having for dinner. She’s a prodigious talker, whistler and singer - all those abilities that make Greys famous. We’re also lucky to have a great “parrot sitter” for when we travel or emergencies, and of course our incredible Avian Vet. All that said, parrots are not for everyone, but if your lifestyle is compatible, and you want a parrot companion, Greys are amazing little creatures, very attuned to your moods, fast friends with our cat and dog, and a great addition to our family.

Yeah, Moz. Guitar is my instrument. Mainly classical because plugging the electric in isn't usually convenient.

But my favourite instrument to listen to is the violin. It just seems to be able to go where other instruments cant.

We had two parrots at one point…a delightful female and a super aggressive male. Let him out the cage and he would do dive bombing attacks on anybody who wasn’t moving. Our male Rott got hold of him once, but incredibly just held him, much to everybody’s chagrin not even a feather was lost,

Plum agree on the violin….the most atmospheric instrument, what power from that small case.

cvbnm

"But my favourite instrument to listen to is the violin. It just seems to be able to go where other instruments cant."

Not your classical tune, but absolutely excellent at full volume, with max bass

LOVE IT DA!!!

That song doesn't give a damn about giving a damn!

The video takes the cake. Like WTF!?

The guy with the steampunk earphones haha

Brilliant.

Yeah, brilliant tune and short story telling.... classic