For today’s class, you read the first chapter from Michael O’Shea’s The Brain. Spend the first ten minutes of class writing a summary of your reading in your notebook. After class, type up your handwritten summary, save it on your computer/drive, and copy-and-paste it into a comment to this blog post. To receive credit, this has to be done before our next class.
ENG1101 D371 English Composition I, SPR2015
Official site for ENG1101 D371
I just finished reading Micheal Oshay’s “The Brain”. I’ve always been fascinated by the brain,especially when I took a psychology course and it was how the brain works. It’s amazing and down right mind blowing(no pun intended),to find out how fast the eyes move when reading and to know that the brain is in charge of that and so many other things at the same time. When you think about just walking,and how fast the brian has to interpret what we see and moving our legs,our arms,talking etc… It’s nothing short of a miracle. What really stood out for me was the statement from Micheal Oshay is when he said “how consciousness arises from a physical machine”. Thinking about that too long can make you dizzy,but for me it’s further eveidence that there’s something greater and more supreme than everything I can imagine.
The brain is one of the most complex organs in the human body. It dictates from us inhaling, to our hearts pumping, to processing things such as touch and taste. The brain is self aware and this is its most amazing feature. It allows us to choose freely, whether its a decision for the near future or whether its something simple like extra pickles on a burger. The brain has to constantly process data on whats happening both inside and outside our bodies. It connects words, feelings and actions to memories, and helps us better understand the world around us. Oshea uses a fascinated tone as he talks about the brain, as if he is trying to get us to see the “magical tool” that is the human brain, even though parts of the reading sound like a neuroscience textbook.
Mohammad A.Diakite 02/09/15
10 minutes writing base on Oshea’s chapter one
According to the first chapter of the brain by Oshea, there are many facts about the brain that many people don’t know about. The human brain is unique; it is considered the smartest machine on earth. We are able to read some things even if they are not of orders. How fantastic is that? We are able to memorize things. We are even able to predict the future. Our brain works almost the same as a machine (computers, etc). This passage was not like any other passage, while reading it, it made me think and explore more about my own brain. After reading the first chapter of the book, there are many questions and facts Oshea wants you to consider and research.
This reading, I would say by far, is the most interesting reading I’ve read in English class. In Michael O’Shea’s The Brain, he writes about how parts of the brain affects human behavior, the connection to our body parts and mind. What I found that really fascinated me is that this reading is very much related to psychology; How the brain functions, parts of the brain that affects human behavior and why we do certain things that are involuntary. For instance, O’Shea spoke about what the brain is doing while someone is reading. The brain focuses on reading the words and blocks out all other external distractions around you. In the meanwhile , your brain is focusing on the background distractions without interrupting your conscious awareness. However, In any moment, your brain can redirect your attention away from the reading to something that may be more important or interesting. I found that part very interesting because most of the time, I feel like I have a short attention span. One moment I could be focusing on reading something or getting a task done and in a split second, my attention is directed on something else without realizing. The reading states that thoughts are always passing through your brain while you may be focused on reading. It competes for your consciousness, distracts you from what you are doing. It always happens to me. I’ve learned from O’Shea’s reading, how the eye sees words when someone is reading. Your brain commands your eyes to make rapid movements from left to right which is called saccades. Your eyes do not flow across the words, they are interrupted by fixed positions on each word and you are not aware of it the whole time. Another part of the reading that fascinated me was that the brain can recognize a word as a whole no matter what order the letters are in, as long as the first and last letters are in the right place. How cool is that? The brain is one phenomenal organ.
O’shea the brain explains the basic concepts of how a brain functions in different scenarios. A human brain is said to be ” highly evolved” and ” stupendously complex “Machine”, Compared to a computer or manmade machines. A brain is the center point of the human existence, without it we would be below the food chain. It makes the most complex decision given a scenario for it to process. It’s made up of different biological materials such as organic molecules, proteins, lipids, and carbohydrates with a few traces of other elements. O’shea is very informative and detailed, O’shea explains the complexity of how a brain process in for explain reading a text and how the brain tries to encode those messages into wirings which make up our brain
After reading Michael O’shea’s “The Brain”, I’ve learned more about the brain that I’ve never knew before. It gives a very good introduction to the basic neuroanatomy of the brain, and explains many important brain functions. This book is up to date in some of the more recent discoveries, including some current controversies like grandma neuron, the idea that the brain has a neuron devoted just for recognizing each family member. I’m really glad I’ve gotten a chance to read this introduction because it was very informative and it’s basically like a textbook in a way.
Michael O’Shea’s “The Brain” contained many facts about the brain of which I didn’t know about. The way he spoke about the brain in his book you could tell he was fascinated and passionate about it. His enthusiasm engage me into his writing. Despite it having countless amount of information it didn’t seem like a boring textbook that just threw facts at you and expected you to memorize it and keep you engaged. I learned that about 20 percent of the volume of the brain is occupied by blood vessels. These blood vessels supply the oxygen and glucose that the brain needs. This chapter was very informative and showed me how our brain is an extraordinary organ which makes us very unique and powerful.
In Michael O’Shea’s, “ The Brain”, O’shea shares his captivation and beauty of the brain. From its’ unique abilities, like reminiscing about the good times and the bad, the laughs we share and the tears we cry, nothing is out of the brain’s reach. Being the vital component of the central nervous system, the brain is continuously interacting with the outside world. O’shea goes on to explain the biology of the brain. He touches on everything scientific: sensory receptor neurons, axon, nerve cells neurotransmitters’, etc. He inserted a passage, which I enjoyed, and using our motor skills, the brain unconsciously decoded it. What I appreciated most about O’shea’s reading was how passionate he spoke of the brain. Although the reading was a little difficult for me to comprehend; I’m skimming reader; it was refreshing because it made me reread the chapter and fully grasps O’shea’s excitement for the brain.
Michael O’Shea ” The Brain” taught me so many different aspects of the brain that I never knew about. The brain works in such mysterious ways and it is control of everything you do.It is amazing how your brain can pick up on many different things and store so much information. The brain also has a big part in the way you think and process your thoughts.
For starters this chapter was very interesting. The idea that the brain is conceited is pretty cool when you sit down and think about it. This chapter kept me wanting to read more. When reading this, it didn’t feel as though I was reading a textbook which made me want to continue reading it. The brain needs glucose. It never occurred to me that the brain uses up a good amount of energy as it records and processes everything we see, hear, feel, think etc. Reading what the brain is made up of makes me question why I never thought about it. By reading further into the chapter, I have developed a new found respect for my brain. I appreciate it more that I did before. It truly is amazing.
O’Shea’s chapter 1 “Thinking about the brain” reading was very intriguing. To me the bottom line of O’Shea Chapter 1“Thinking about the brain” was a break down about the brain and how to do a simple movement involves many other parts of the body. I would compare the breakdown process O’Shea explains with a tree with its roots drawn image while also thinking about what the tree is made up of. I compare it to this image because we all are able to see the top and obvious parts, the trunk, the branches, the leaves to a tree. The brain’s physical looks is the obvious part and O’Shea would agree. However, we then have the next part of the image; the unseen and not aware of part of the tree, the roots or in O’Shea case the conscious. Then we have what both the roots and brain is actually made of, cells. But it doesn’t stop there it goes even deeper what these cells are made up of . In O’Shea’s case its how these nerve cells are connected to one another to develop our mentality, emotions, actions and at the same time responding to these things. Next, is comparing the topic being discussed to something similar. In the plant’s case it would be compare to an animals cell and for O’Shea its comparing it to a modern computer. Comparing helps show similarities and differences between the two objects and if one’s better than the other and if so how can we fuse the two to create something more beneficial to the human race. In the reading he does compare them and also mentions a future study of creating a computer just like the brain but more detail on whether or not is possible is in another chapter. Following this up is bringing an example that everyone is familiar with and connecting with what is being explain. He brings up reading and mentions what part of the conscious brain is needed (concentration and attention) and what body part that connects to (the eye). He then explains the eye and how it needs electrical signals to have the information be process into the brain. He also breaks down these electrical signals and how is it that we are able to respond to what we see. As you can see everything is spreading and connecting with one another and that is how the tree with roots drawn image came to mind. I believe that is what he was trying to get across his audience about how everything spreads yet is connect and it became a cycle for everything we do that we aren’t aware of.
The brain is such a complicated thing to talk about. O’shea made this book to understand the brain a little better. His style of writing was very factual and felt almost like a textbook but he still keeps the reader hooked because of the way he writes. He made the brain almost feel like its own character stating how the brain is conceited since we use our own brain to think about our brains. He explains the vast amount of things the brain can actually do and how complicated it is. Trillions of our nerve cells interconnect to pronounce a simple word. Talking about the brain itself is so deep you can go on forever. Everything you do, say, whether voluntary or not revolves all the way back to your brain. O’shea targeted audience would probably have to be people that are really interested in learning little details of the brain that not many people think about. He fills his work with various facts. We usually refer to the brain as an individual things that controls everything we do when in fact its really a part or a system that circulates all around our body. The brain contains so much information you could write book after book about it
The brain, 1.2 kg in weight, contains around 100 billion cells dealing with the nervous system. The cells themselves are electrically in capable of friends bring anything besides on or off, think of this like human binary. The cells from cells for a hive mind which means that the on/off of each is taken into account so that the brain itself can produce multiple possibilities. These possibilities represent thoughts, memories and many other things. The brain can be described as a bit of a conundrum, your brain is the way you think about your brain. The brain is the heart of all human activity. The brain allows you to visualize, think and remember what you choose. Many questions have been asked about the brain, how does it work?, What processes are required for the amalgamation of a thought?. The brain itself is puzzling at best. The brain is part of an extended system, combining with your body to produce the one miracle known to man, man itself. The brain issues instructions to do body based on information it receives and analyzes, the information being a constant barrage of raw data in need of compilation. Specialized cells which are called sensory neural receptors are the sensors feeding information to the brain. The brain can be compared to a computer. This is a paradox as the brain thought of the computer which is compared to the brain. A computer has a certain number of components that are subordinate to the processor which controls most of the functions. The brain is very much similar in this respect, in which your body parts or subordinate to the brain. Humans also tend to live in a blissful ignorance, That is to say humans do not take action normally unless something terrible happens. Human nature is basically reaction based, which still confuses many people. Something interesting about the mind is it’s ability to decipher, and example of this is on page 7 of the reading which is the scrambled letters example. Your brain receives electronic signals, interprets and deciphers them, and feeds the now compiled information to thePart of the brain that makes any important decisions. Nerves which carry this information are specialized for speed and accuracy, the average speed is roughly 120 m/s, that’s really fast. The accuracy is almost 100%. Nobody really knows the exact figures for accuracy, as of today there is no method known to man that is able to measure the speed and accuracy of the nerves in the human body. An EEG would shed some light on it but not enough to give a complete understanding. The brain is a complex piece of human existence, we keep the rice for all tourney and still not completely understand all things that they’re are to know about the human brain.
Michael O’Shea’s first chapter of “the brain” is a very interesting work of literature. He introduces us to the brain and almost immediately attempts to confuse us with a conceited paradox of our own brain thinking of our own brains, or simply of itself. With a very textbook like diction and a range of positively connotated vocabulary, he goes on to explain all of the functions that the brain is responsible for because one cannot assume that one’s own brain is only responsible for what goes on inside his/her head. The brain is responsible for everything that happens on the inside and the outside of one’s own body.
Micheal O’Shea’s book The Brain gives broad overview of the structure and function of human brain. It starts by describing what is happening as one reads the lines of a text, and introduces them main aspects of brain research in the process. The biochemical and physical interactions of neurons and wide range of other brain functions are very informative and interesting to me. For example, on page nine, when author threw questions about words and images, without a biology background I could understand the relationship between brain neurons and functions. Likewise author gives very clear and insightful explanations and examples overall.
I was always captivated and interested in knowing with everything worked around us and within us. What causes us to make the decision we make? With reading the first chapter of The Brain by Michael O’Shea, I understood a bit more that its all part of the brain and how it functions. As said by Michael O’Shea that it gives you distinctive abilities and I strongly agree with that. We can recall the beautiful memories of our past, memories which we would want to cherish, or to remind us of our future plans and stuff we must and want to do. The brain is like a reminder which reminds us of the stuff we have to do, or want to do, or anything we want to recall. It helps us to think while we are in a situation where we might feel stuck. Or it’s even more like a machine which helps us function throughout our day. We can capture every moment with our eyes and save it in the brain, or even recall those moments to tell to others. Since this is just the starting the first chapter fascinated me to continue reading more about the brain and learn how it functions and what it can do.