When we were younger, we used to call them “Brain Farts” but they turn into “Senior Moments” as we age. Everyone, at some point in their lives, has had them. Those mysterious junctures when thought escapes us, and we cannot — for the life of us — remember what we were going to say or do.
It happened today as I was pondering what I might write about. I thought of a great idea but continued to read some other articles of the day, to see if a better topic might emerge. When I went back to that sector of my brain, where just a few moments prior, a tremendous idea had lived, the thought had somehow escaped. Vanished. Vamoose. Hit the road, Jack.
Oh, I dug around in there for a few moments. Deep in the dark recesses. I found some other things while I was searching around. The time when I was four and dropped a stack of bricks on my foot. The fact that I’m almost out of cabbage. The lightbulb in the living room lamp needs to be changed. But, dang it. The brilliant topic was gone.
The mind amazes me, every day. Sometimes, I might be in the kitchen, doing this or that, yammering away as I sometimes will, with Mary paying no attention to me whatsoever. Then it happens. I will crack myself up. I’ll laugh and laugh. And then, as if that were not enough, I have to make the proclamation. “Oh god. I’m cracking myself up.” Mary will sometimes respond — dryly — “Apparently.”
Oh. So it goes. People — smart people — spend their entire lives studying the human brain and how it works. They’ve figured out quite a lot about that stuff that sits in our heads. But much still remains a mystery.
You know, how in the old movies, one guy would say to the other, “You big fathead.” Well, it is a little bit true. There are about 3.3 pounds of human brain above our necks. And. Sixty percent of that is made of fat. Fatheads. It is the fattiest organ in the human body. But fat doesn’t mean dumb. Those fatty acids are crucial for our brains’ performance.
And here is a little tip for parents. When your kids ask why they aren’t allowed to do something, and you respond with that very lame profound response, “Because I said so” you now have better ammunition. Our brains are not fully formed until age 25. Scientists have found too, that brain development begins from the back of the brain and works its way to the front. That means, our frontal lobes — which control planning and reasoning — are the last to develop. So, NOW you can say to your kids, “Because your brain is not developed yet. You can start making your own plans when you are 25, but I’d still like you to move out by the time you’re 18.”
But really, our brains are quite amazing. The storage capacity is limitless, I am told. Research has found that the human brain consists of about 86 billion neurons. Each neuron forms connections to other neurons, which could add up to 1 quadrillion (1,000 trillion) connections. That number is excruciatingly large. And these connections increase our storage capacity. Never quit learning.
Brains are fast too. Again, that research says our brain information travels up to an impressive 268 miles per hour. How they conduct the speed test, I do not know. But, if there is a disruption on that “impulse path” we may have an epileptic seizure.
OR, if it is just a minor glitch in the path, a bump in the road, MY theory suggests those are the times when we experience “brain farts” or “senior moments.” Or. As I like to call them — detours.
So as you can see, I was detoured from my very good topic today, whatever it may have been. It is in there somewhere with my social security number, and my fourth-grade teacher, Mrs. Hamilton.
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I was taught that the human brain was the crowning glory of evolution so far, but I think it’s a very poor scheme for survival.
— Kurt Vonnegut
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No matter how closely you examine the water, glucose, and electrolyte salts in the human brain, you can’t find the point where these molecules became conscious.
— Deepak Chopra
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“No brain at all, some of them [people], only grey fluff that’s blown into their heads by mistake, and they don’t Think.”
― A.A. Milne, The House at Pooh Corner
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