A sharp mind can make the difference between a good memory and a foggy one, not to mention the mind exerts a powerful influence on our mood, self-esteem, and overall outlook on life.
Below I've compiled 23 fascinating research-backed facts about the human mind that I hope you'll find as intriguing as I do:
1. The mind is often defined as a system of one's mental processes or psychic abilities.
2. Philosophers have used a broad array of metaphors to describe this complex organ, including a television switchboard, a blank sheet, or a hydraulic device with disparate forces operating in it.
3. Attempts to grasp the inner workings of the mind stretch back at least to the ancient Greeks. For one, Leibniz and Descartes believed the mind acquired knowledge via reasoning and thinking (i.e., rationalism). Plato, for his part, contended that the mind gained knowledge through virtue, independently of sense experience.
4. Historically, there have been three major schools of thought that illustrate the relationship of the mind and brain: (1) dualism, which argues that the mind exists independently from the brain, (2) idealism, which argues that only mental phenomena exist, and (3) materialism, which makes the case that the mind is identical to the physical processes of the brain.
5. Brand names have a strong influence on the mind. For example, studies have shown that, unlike Pepsi, the Coke label has activated parts of the brain in participants associated with the mind, like memory and self-image.
6. Studies show that children who learn to play a musical instrument can develop their mental skills further than those who don't learn one.
7. The term "mind" comes from the Old English gemynd, or "memory," and the Proto-Indo-European verbal root *men-, meaning "to think, remember."
8. It is estimated that a human brain produces anywhere from 12,000 to 50,000 thoughts, depending on how contemplative a person is.
9. A group of scientists have come up with a way for epilepsy patients with electrodes planted inside their brains to control a computer noise with their minds.
10. The Stanford Prison Experiment took average people and randomly assigned them to be either prisoners or guards. After a few days, both groups became immersed in their respective roles. The experiment revealed how readily the mind accepts authority.
11. In the mind of suicidal people, not only did time seem to move much slower, but such individuals struggled to think about the future.
12. The conscious mind includes feelings, memories, and perceptions within our current awareness. The precocious mind includes thoughts we are thinking at the moment but can easily draw into our conscious mind. The subconscious mind is the psychic activity that operates below the level of awareness.
13. Everyday sights, sounds, and smells can trigger the subconscious mind. For instance, people become more cooperative if they read words like "reliable," more competitive if they see a briefcase, and more inclined to clean if there's a faint smell of cleaning liquid in the air.
14. When the mind recalls a memory, it's never the original one. In fact, the mere act of remembering is an act of creative remagination, with the latter memory consisting of entirely new bits of information.
15. Scientists believe the mind forgets in order to think more quickly, avoid information overload, avoid emotional hangovers, and assimilate new information.
16. During the Milgram Experiment, 65% of volunteers gave what they thought was a fatal dose of electric shock to someone when instructed to do so, despite less than 1% of them saying they would in a pre-experiment survey. The study showed that the human mind does not necessarily operate based on personality but rather on the roles we're asked to play. What's more, people's stated intentions may differ from their what they actually do.
17. The mind can practice new tasks, such as learning a new piece of music, during REM sleep, which also appears to boost performance with tasks involving procedural/how-to memory (e.g., riding a bike).
18. Advertisers employ mind illusions to make their products more appealing to the eye. For example, bottles if maple syrup are narrow at the base but bulge in the middle because that's where a person is most likely to look.
19. The mind can block out things it wishes to ignore, such as a person's own body odor.
20. Some researchers contend that the internet is changing the structure of our brains, which impacts the mind's ability to think and learn. The internet overstimulates the part of the brain involved in temporary memory, making creativity and deep thinking all the more difficult.
21. A study of 1 million students in New York showed that those who are lunches without dyes, preservatives, and other additives performed 14% better on IQ tears.
22. The mind wanders about 30% of the time and sometimes as much as 70%.
23. Scientists are unsure what makes a person unable to remember long-term memories. New research shows people don't necessarily forget -- they merely lose the ability to retrieve older memories.
Which of these did you find most interesting?
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