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You're Smarter When You're Horizontal
Ant writes "According to this Discovery Channel article, people are smarter and more creative lying down than standing up. Darren Lipnicki, a researcher from the school of psychology at the Australian National University (ANU) believes this helps to explain Archimedes' eureka moment. He found that people solve anagrams more quickly when they are on their backs than on their feet. His finding relates to the difference in brain chemistry, specifically the release of the neurotransmitter noradrenaline, when lying down or standing up. While noradrenaline is normally associated with cognitive ability and attention, it is also believed to impair creative thinking. And less is released while lying down. (Seen on Shacknews)."
If anyone needs me, I'll be under my desk.
-- 'The' Lord and Master Bitman On High, Master Of All
I, for one, welcome our new street-walking overlords.
My wife does not seem to think so. Wonder why?
Having done so much with so little for so long, I now can do anything with nothing at all.
I do enjoy getting horizontal in creative new ways..Wink ,wink ,nudge, nudge ,man of the world ,man of the world
The only things certain in war are Propaganda and Death. You can never be sure which is which though
but it easier to doze off while lying down to.
I thought we were supposed to get perpendicular? So I have to choose between being smart and being able to remember?
Programming is an Art. I am an Artist. Does that mean I get to wear a daft hat?
...that archimedes did not have a modern laying down bathtub but instead the older variety where one sits down.
Wanna get smarter?
Nothing to see here. Move along.
So that's why Einstein slept 10 hours every day!
When I have a challange that I've been working on for a while. And being the obsessive person I am. I will think about it until the moment I passout. With that said, I lost track of how many times I've come up with the solution to one an issue I've been working on.. just as I'm about to pass out. And my wife thought I was weird. Ha! In her face!!
I have noticed my increased ability to solve problems I had during the day that were postponed while lying in bed, but my primary theory had to do with warmth that speeds up chemical reactions ...
Whenever I'm doing maths problems I like to lie down. I get some weird looks, but I do feel like it helps me solve them. Things make more sense, and I'm more comfortable.
I am trolling
"Trust me, honey, you'll actually be smarter when you're lying down."
Duh, Jujitsu is easier too!
Last year in halls I didn't have enough desk space with my computer and did all my work lying on my stomache on the floor. It was surprisingly comfortable and I've kept it up for the most part since, even though I now have desk space to work.
Currently got a nice patch there to do my revision in.
So can I now have a viable excuse for sleeping on the job? ^_~
Honestly though, I remember one night a couple years ago where I was trying to solve a circuit problem that was giving me a really hard time, so I gave up and slept on it. Somehow, I solved the problem in my dream and when I woke up, I knew the answer and I just had to write down the solution on paper. It was like one of the coolest moment in my life, which is also kind of pathetic if I think about it. >_>
Hero of Allacrost, a FOSS RPG for *NIX/*BSD/OS X/Win
I always lie down when I'm thinking about a serious problem.
what sig?
I wonder if this has anything to do with the way people tend to look upwards when visualizing something and trying to concentrate/remember.
:)
Feh, probably not. Oh well.
Not representing or approved by my company or anybody else.
I'm a fscking genius when I'm in the shower, and comparitively dumb as a post when walking around doing my day-to-day activities. I can't figure out how to get in-the-shower smartness without the social stigma of wet & nakedness. Any ideas?
This is strange if you think about it from an evolutionary point of view.
You would think that, if anything, the brain would be designed for optimum efficiency/intelligence when standing up, since that's when it's needed the most. Cavemen didn't need to do heavy thinking while lying on their backs, about to fall asleep: they needed to be sharpest while upright, hunting animals, looking for food, and so forth.
This space intentionally left blank.
I almost always get my best ideas when I go on walks. I've heard this was true of Einstein and other famous thinkers.
-paul
anybody who's read the Kama Sutra already knows that.
Cogito Eggo Sum, I think therefore I'm a waffle
Once again someone has "discovered" the obvious and reported it as news. Well, I suppose it never hurts to have this sort of thing put into writing so managers will believe it. Perhaps we'll get lucky and someone will "discover" that cots in the break room will help those who need a quick nap but don't have time to drive all the way home and back.
I often don't like the choices people make, but I like the fact that people make choices. That's why I'm a conservative.
...I'll sleep better. My brain's always hard at work trying to solve problems I really don't want to be working on at 3am.
Doesn't it make you feel good to know that our freedoms are protected by politicans, lawyers and journalists.
Shamelessly copied from here.
-- $SIGNATURE
I am not an arrogant person. And I do respect the opinions of other people. But I never manage to concentrate and make reasonable decisions, being in a horizontal position. And by the way, I always read such articles with doubts and skepticism: all people are different and I hate it when some scientists try to find a common principle which is typical for the whole human kind.
Vitaly Friedman,
Saarbruecken, Germany,
vitaly.friedman
vitaly.friedman -> creative.web.design.saarbruecken.germany
This is pretty damn cool if you ask me. All this time I thought we came up with solutions to complex problems (or even the band who does a particular song) while in bed was because we were more relaxed as we were getting ready to pass out and fall asleep. However, that could still be the case. Maybe there mere act of lying down puts the body in a more relaxed state and thus we get our solutions. More studies please!
"He uses statistics as a drunken man uses lampposts...for support rather than illumination." - Andrew Lang
This is all wrong. Don't you know you can store more data if you Get Perpendicular?
She never needed anyone to get her round the track
But when she's on her back
She had the knowledge to get her into college
But when she's on her back
She had the knowledge to get her what she wanted
...about 12 hours before I first read of this.
Got time? Spend some of it coding or testing
doesn't it follow that it's easier to pump fresh blood to the brain when lying down - thus, more nourished neurons? give me a Phd!
I drink to make you more interesting
What's the mystery of Archimedes' "eureka" moment? He was asked to tell whether a king's crown was really gold, or fake. All anyone else could do was weigh it, and it weighed the right amount. When Archimedes sat in a tub, it overflowed, and he realized he could measure the complex volume, and therefore the density, of the crown. Excited, he ran naked through the streets, shouting "eureka" (I've got it!) through the town.
It seems unlikely that he was any more supine in the tub than he'd been while sleeping that morning. The key to his insight was in the overflowing, not in any postural biochemical enhancement.
--
make install -not war
I'll sing to him, each spring to him,
And worship the trousers that cling to him.
Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered am I
When he talks, he is seeking words to get off his chest
Horizontally speaking, he's at his very best.
Lorenz Hart
To hear this song rendered by perhaps the greatest jazz/show tune voice of the 20th Century, check out Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Rodgers and Hart Songbook.
...lappivator.cyberknights.com.au, please let me know if you improve the design.
Got time? Spend some of it coding or testing
Dunno about all this, being horizontal has a high correlation with activities that move all your blood from the big head to the little head.
It's pretty much common knowledge people think better while on the throne, so to speak. Using the lav, for those of us on the other side of the pond.
Has anyone looked into another similar explanation for eureka moments while in the littlest room?
--- Jump!! Fire!! Bullet time!! - Lego version of the Matrix
has "discovered" the obvious and reported it as news.
Well, no. Someone has actually taken the care to devise a scientific experiment to verify an anecdotal legend. Anecdotal evidence has no scientific value beside hinting that such an experiment would be interesting.
There is a HUGE difference between "everybody 'just knows' it is true", and "an experiment showed that there is a statistically significant difference in the resolving of anagrams depending on posture." The first is just a believe, the second, science.
Yes people do proof "obvious" things, hey there is even a proof that 1+1=2, however, it is still important as some anecdotal "truth" are, in fact, plain wrong. (i.e. astrology)
In addition to this, the research offered an explanation (neurotransmitters) for the anecdotal truth.
I have discovered a truly remarkable proof for my post which this sig is too small to contain.
...quit typing earlier in the day.
lappyvator.cyberknights.com.au
Got time? Spend some of it coding or testing
I'd like to suggest more comfortable, reclining chairs at locations like Universities for example
This probably has something to do with the fact that most of us humans sleep lying down. When you lay down, your body/mind naturally starts to relax. After a few moments your "monkey-mind" can settle and leave room for more creative expression/problem solving. As long as you aren't tired when you do this sort of test (so you don't risk drifting off to sleep), you should have a much more clear/focused mind in less than 5 minutes. I know that I cherish the 20-30 minutes that I am in bed before I go to sleep. I can think much more clearly and visualization is heightened substantially. In the morning, I have the same experience. Whenever I lay down I find I can concentrate and focus a lot better than when I am sitting up, but again, I think that is because I have laying down associated with rest/relaxation. It's all about tuning out the situations of the day and focusing on a specific task.
You create your own reality - Leave mine to me.
Of course it doesn't make sense from evolutionary points of view. That's because evolution doesn't make sense. If you doubt me, ask people here http://www.icr.org/