I originally published this article back in 2007, but I came across a great blog post from The Squiggle Sense that further talks about how rogue waves occur and their connection to the brain -- The Complementary Nature is Linear~Nonlinear -- and it seemed a natural idea to re-post this article along with the link to the new info. The Squiggle post can be a little heavy going, but hang in there! Hope you enjoy both! -- KS ----------------------------------------------- I came across a wonderful article that shows what happens in the ocean when rogue "monster" waves appear and capsize ships. What makes it wonderful and why am I writing about it here --- on a blog about the brain and neurofeedback? You may not see a connection between rogue waves on the ocean and what happens in the brain -- or why that matters for our lives. Good question. I hope by the end of my article you'll see why I was so delighted to come across this story as a teaching tool about the brain and how neurofeedback can work.   more »

Someone on one of my neurofeedback forums shared this beautiful not-quite-6-minute video of the universe from large to small: Sweet View.

The best bit for those of us intrigued by the brain is at the very end, so do stay tuned throughout....

Nonlinear complexity theorists tell us that the same principles are visible from every "size" of system in our universe - which is what makes this little video so impressive. I'd love to frame that last shot for my office!

Don't know what I'm talking about?

That's your sign you need to go watch -- then come back and share what you thought!

I joined a conversation over at the Shift in Action website which was hosted by a member named Rod Sherwin. He posed a question about how we can know when shifts in consciousness -- personal or societal -- are happening. How can we know when we experience not just big dramatic shifts in our ways of being, but even the little movements that might take us from 3 out of 10 on some scale of change to 3.5 out of 10? In working with people's brains using nonlinear methods of feedback, it is very common indeed that people experience changes - shifts in their ways of being, thinking, feeling, and/or acting - that they are just not aware of at the time of the shift. Every neurofeedback practitioner I speak to has stories of people changing in all sorts of both subtle and dramatic ways, but not seeing the change themselves or not realizing how big or important a shift it is. I think this is partly...   more »

I was watching the television program Nova on PBS (Absolute Zero) last night and they were taking about a phenomenon called a "Bose-Einstein condensate" Listening to the behaviour of particles and knowing that nature is generally shows what is called "self-similarity" (think of the repeating patterns of fractals..here's a wonderful animated example of self-similarity), I wondered if this idea of a Bose-Einstein condensate could apply to the human level as well. The principle of self-similarity means that you see repeating patterns at different levels as you zoom in and out So I played a bit...   more »

I was watching a program on the native navigators from the Hawaiian Islands some time ago (and it is a stunning place. Now on my list of places to visit. As I understood it, these navigators actually used a process very related to the brain’s functioning and why our brain and CARE works: 1) They learned the patterns of waves in and from different directions and destinations so they could recognize each one. ...   more »

I've come across a site with the most gorgeous images of brain activity I've ever seen. And these aren't just inspired works of art, they are actually images derived from EEG activity. Here's just a couple to inspire you to go and look at more....   more »

Here is an fun little video of 30 seconds. So, what does this have to do with the brain?Well, although this is intended to be an amusing video, it is a fun explanation of a principle of the physics of nonlinear systems -- what is popularly called the "butterfly effect". That sounded like a bit a mouthful, so let's back up just a bit...   more »

There's a fascinating discussion going on over at Dawud Miracle's blog about whether we have "parts" of ourselves or whether we are a "whole" misled by our language and habits of thought into thinking of ourselves in parts. (This guy is not just another web designer, eh?) I had to join such a conversation, but of course I approached the question from the perspective of the brain. (I couldn't help myself -- you'll understand ). To follow the whole conversation (or is that to follow all its parts??), you'll need to go catch up on Dawud's blog, but I thought I would share my thinking on this for my brain aficionados. (That's you.) So -- Why do we seem to have "parts"?   more »

Do you ever feel like money or time spent on developing yourself is "selfish"? And even if you don't think so, how often have you had it said or implied by others? Many people, women especially, have been raised to think if they are doing things for themselves instead of others they are somehow being "self-centred". ...    more »

I was recently noting the restriction many self-help and spiritual groups put on their members to avoid "the unwashed". Many groups emphasize the importance of avoiding those who do not think like the group. And this is not just the obvious "cults". Is this just "clique-ism" or is it something else?   more »