Intelligent only at intervals

Hello all,
I have a question about the brain as many people do. It seems that intelligence for me is based on intervals such as today I had to write a paper for a college class and the writing was the best I had done in months because I was thinking clearly and focused intently on the writing. It seems I can only focus when my brain is active which most the time it seems inactive, sometimes I will go for days without an intelligent thought entering my mind. I wonder sometimes if it is cause of the foods I am eating or what. Does anyone know why my mind just goes blank and then sometimes is close to genius? Any ideas?

That is an interesting question actually. I "suffer" from the same thing. Most of the time I'm average joe, then completely out of the blue, I'll come up with something really profound, or my mind will go into overdrive and I'll completely re-code from scratch & finish that application I've spent the last month desperately trying to program in one day.

Then other times it's like my brain has taken a holiday. I'll go for weeks where even just normal basic living skills & thought processes seem like a challenge.

Your local coal powered power plant probably shut down for the weekend. Hence, stopping the release of the mercury vapors.



[edit on 23-10-2004 by psilocin]

What led you to this theory?

Originally posted by psilocin
Your local coal powered power plant probably shut down for the weekend. Hence, stopping the release of the mercury vapors.



[edit on 23-10-2004 by psilocin]

Sugar.

Many people don�t know it, but sugar should be avoided in greater quantities. You can�t avoid sugar completely, I think. You will get it in your body one way or another. So try and use as little as possible to minimize the "damage". I recommend using honey as a sweetener in tea instead of sugar. At least if it�s refined sugar you normally use. If you can�t or won�t use honey, use unrefined (or brown) sugar at least. Your brain uses a lot of energy digesting that sugar. Don�t eat sugar or sugarcontaining products (i.e. CocaCola or chocolate) if you need instant brainpower for some reason (IQ test or similar).

My two cents, see if it helps...

I have to admit, I drink CocaCola and eat chocolate.
But I would avoid it (if I remember to) if I got a situation that requires brainpower.

[edit on 2004/10/23 by Hellmutt]

Creativity and other types of thought are very much affected by things like food intake, mood, and sleep.

There are so many factor that effect thought it best to find out which one effect you the most. For me Getting enough sleep is a big factor and food intake plays little role. Other people can be the opposite though, working fine with little sleep but needing regular sugar intake.

lay off the ganga college boy! j/k

Well, I think that sugar is important, but in the opposed sense of what Hellmutt said.

Obviously, too much sugar is harmful, but the brain only needs two things: oxygen and energy.

The quickest form of energy is provided by sugar, it enters the blood circulation after 3 minutes of eating it.

You also need a good source of oxygen, so if you are doing some cerebral work, avoid smoke, dust, etc.

Other things that affect the brain are:
Caffeine, nicotine and alcohol.

.
I believe that thought is a complex process that has several different aspects. My own, admittedly unscientific, opinion:

The right hemisphere of the brain engages in parallel processing, sifting vast amounts of random information and associations for whatever seems important or relevant to your activities.

Once the parallel processing has highlighted some interesting information, the left hemisphere of the brain engages in serial processing, juxtaposing the bits of information in an attempt to form meaning, or what we normally consider thought.

So I think there are at least two modes to thinking, one is more a passive collecting, and one is more an active synthesis. We normally only notice the active synthesis, or ideas. But that doesn�t mean our brain isn�t doing anything when it is passively collecting information.
.

TheBigD, I have noticed this same thing with writers block. I am writing a screenplay, and sometimes just cannot generate anything that clicks. I find that when I have a few beers, my creativity increases. I believe it has to do with relaxing. Of course, do not make final drafts of anything after drinking, as you may find that it was a lot of rambling when you sober up, but some of it might be decent work.