What kind of little things do you do to help with your mind? Like books or blogs you read, or things that improve memory. Games you play that could help you learn a new language? Let's not let our brains go to mush people!
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What kind of little things do you do to help with your mind? Like books or blogs you read, or things that improve memory. Games you play that could help you learn a new language? Let's not let our brains go to mush people!
I never miss an episode of Jeopardy.
I read 4 or 5 books a weeks, and I've tried to incorporate other things into my daily life to keep me sharp.
I have a fairly long commute, so audio books and audio self-help books have been a fun way to add to my drive.
I am trying to learn a second language, so playing those tapes while I drive helps me absorb more.
Kandie thats alot of books! Which ones have u read so far that u liked the most?
Eating fish or taking a fish oil pill I've heard improves memory, also I like to read the online paper and the neatorama blog for fun nerdy updates.
Scrabble, I play a ton of scrabble and crosswords too! I'm going to try and see if there are any good memory and language learning aps to play on my iPhone. I think there's some for the nintendo ds has anyone tried them?
I love logic puzzles too! I am going through my huge collection of them. I also am reading a lot. Oh and I found out about a company that offers free online courses through my library so I am taking technical writing, human resource management, and internet marketing. Not only does it help sharpen my job skills, it helps me learn new things.
I always watch the news and and I am really big into true crime shows. Nancy Grace as well. I like to follow up on the big cases that air. I had watched the entire Casey Anthony trial from beginning to end. I do read books, I am in school, so I can't get past that. I read non-fiction, and of course the books I get from class. At my "vanilla" job when it's slow which is often, I play solitaire. :D
I read that doing Sudoku puzzles is good for the mind.
Brain foods etc:
* Get your omega-3s. More and more evidence indicates that omega-3 fatty acids are particularly beneficial for brain health. Fish is a particularly rich source of omega-3. Other non-fish sources of omega-3s include walnuts, ground flaxseed, flaxseed oil, pumpkin seeds, and soybeans.
* Limit saturated fat. Research shows that diets high in saturated fat increase your risk of dementia and impair concentration and memory.
*Eat more fruit and vegetables. Produce is packed with antioxidants, substances that protect your brain cells from damage.
* Drink wine in moderation. Keeping your alcohol consumption in check is key, since alcohol kills brain cells. But in moderation (around 1 glass a day for women; 2 for men), alcohol may actually improve memory and cognition. Red wine appears to be the best option, as it is rich in resveratrol, a flavonoid that boosts blood flow in the brain and reduces the risk of Alzheimer’s disease. Other resveratrol-packed options include grape juice, cranberry juice, fresh grapes and berries, and peanuts.
Memory, like muscular strength, requires you to “use it or lose it.” The more you work out your brain, the better you’ll be able to process and remember information. The best brain exercising activities break your routine and challenge you to use and develop new brain pathways. The activity can be virtually anything, so long as it meets the following three criteria:
Use it or lose it:
1. It’s new. No matter how intellectually demanding the activity, if it’s something you’re already good at, it’s not a good brain exercise. The activity needs to be something that’s unfamiliar and out of your comfort zone.
2. It’s challenging. Anything that takes some mental effort and expands your knowledge will work. Examples include learning a new language, instrument, or sport, or tackling a challenging crossword or Sudoku puzzle.
3. It’s fun. The more interested and engaged you are in the activity, the more likely you’ll be to continue doing it and the greater the benefits you’ll experience.
Play games like Chess, Go, RISK, Monopoly, poker and pool but only if you are going to learn how to play to win.
I read a lot, do crosswords, Sudoku and logic puzzles.
I buy a paper on Sundays and by the following Sunday I've usually had time to just about read the bastard before it becomes a lining for the rat cage.
I did enough education at uni-am lazy now!But I do always try to read. Even on the internet. I read about nature and I read new scientist.
I'm shit at anything mathematical though :(
I type stuff and listen to my iPod. Not exactly intellectually stimulating.
I read.
I get Vanity Fair every month. Even though I don't read it cover to cover, I do find articles that interest me.
I love words and what they mean and where they came from so when I come across a word I don't know, I look up not only its defiintion but its etymology as well.
I love art museums and whenever I go home to visit my parents, I like to check out the upcoming events to see if there's anything I might like to see.
I love classical music. I love opera and the ballet. (I want to see The Nutcracker for my birthday.)
I always keep a notepad by my computer so that while I'm working, if I think of something, even if it's a song I'd like to add to my iPod, I'll write it down.
If I read something with a Spanish or Italian phrase in it, I'll say the phrase out loud to myself and try to pronounce it correctly.
Whenever I talk to my dad and there's a foreign word or phrase involved, I've asked him to correct me on the pronunciation if I'm pronouncing it wrong. Granted, we'll spend the next five minutes on how to pronounce that word, but I'd rather that than run the risk of saying it wrong to someone else.
Even watching The Big Bang Theory helps. I'm not a physicist, but I'm familiar with Schrodinger's Cat. It's the most basic way of explaining Quantum Physics:
Schrodinger's Cat:
Take one ordinary cat, one large box, a particle detector, a radiation source, a bottle of cyanide gas. Hook up the detector so that if it detects a particle from the radiation source, it will open the cyanide gas. Set it up inside the box in such a way that there will be a 50% probability of a particle being detected from the radiation source within a five minute period. Add the cat to the box.
Theory says that the cat will enter a quantum state where it is 50% alive and 50% dead until the experimenter looks inside the box.
Does anyone remember an episode from the first season where Leonard was presenting a paper, much to the objections of Sheldon?
Leonard thought he'd open with a joke: A farmer notices his chickens are getting sick and not laying any eggs. He calls in a physicist to help him. The physicist takes a good look at the chickens and does some calculations, he suddenly stops and says "I've got it, but it would only work with spherical chickens and a vacuum."
I was laughing because Penny looked blank while all the guys were laughing hysterically.
I played the clip for my dad, and he started laughing because he understood the joke. Then he explained it to me:
Physicists always deal with things in perfect situations where everything is uniform and without external factors.
Now, whenever I watch that episode, I laugh for two reasons.
Today, I was listening to Killing in the Name by Rage Against the Machine. Their album cover shows a picture of a self-immolating monk who was protesting the Vietnamese government's treatment of Buddhists at the time (which was like 1963).
I got bored at work (as I usually do) and I looked up the etymology of immolate.
It comes from the Latin immolō which means “I sacrifice”.