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Comment by Sydni Moser on July 31, 2010 at 6:39am

Lost in a Book
By Jeremy Shere
June 3, 2009 - Moment of Science

Have you ever got so caught up in a really good story that you loose all awareness of your surroundings? Well, there’s a study that explains what’s going on in the brain when we get caught up in a story.

Basically, according to the study, when you read a story that engages you, your brain creates detailed and vivid simulations of the details in the story. When you read, your brain is activated as though you’re actually observing, imagining, or doing the things you’re reading about.

The point is that reading isn’t a passive activity where the brain is just processing language. It’s much more dynamic and active. Say you’re reading a book about baseball, the brain reacts in ways similar to how it would if you were actually playing baseball, or watching a game, or imagining yourself hitting a ball, or whatever.

The researchers studied readers’ brains using an MRI scanner. But because the readers had to remain perfectly still, their heads were immobilized as they read the story one word at a time on a computer screen.

Even reading stories in that strange, one-word-at-a-time way, the readers’ brains were still activated to create mental simulations of the story. Maybe being lost in a good book doesn’t mean you’re zoned out. It’s more like your brain is tuned in.

http://indianapublicmedia.org/amomentofscience/lost-book/

Comment by Adrian on July 30, 2010 at 9:55pm

I get the Irish diminutive, Aido. Or there's my work nickname, The Beast!

Comment by Adrian on July 30, 2010 at 2:48pm

Re Adriana vs Adrian - Adriana definitely cuter!

Comment by Sydni Moser on July 30, 2010 at 9:30am

Anne Rice: 'I Quit Being A Christian'
The Huffington Post
By Jessie Kunhardt
07-29-10

Anne Rice, the bestselling novelist most popularly known for "Interview with the Vampire" and her other creepy vampire novels, announced on Wednesday via Facebook that she has officially renounced Christianity. It's a bold move for the author who has become well-known for her vehement religiosity; the majority of her frequent tweets are related to religion in some way. The author has also recently launched a new series of novels about angels, which debuted in October 2009 with "Angel Time."

Rice declared on her Facebook account that she is "an outsider" in the Christian community:

I refuse to be anti-gay. I refuse to be anti-feminist. I refuse to be anti-artificial birth control. I refuse to be anti-Democrat. I refuse to be anti-secular humanism. I refuse to be anti-science. I refuse to be anti-life.

Rice affirmed that though she has decided to leave the Christian institution, she "remain[s] committed to Christ as always."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/07/29/anne-rice-i-quit-being-a_n...

Comment by Adrian on July 29, 2010 at 11:50pm

For those who haven't already seen it, TAs very own AngietheAntiTheist is doing a chapter by chapter review (demolition?) on Rick Warrens "The Purpose Driven Life" on her YouTube channel. She just posted chapter 7, so only another 33 to go! You can catch the very start of the series at http://www.youtube.com/user/AngieAntiTheist#p/u/9/ywDNQZelUJk

Comment by Sydni Moser on July 5, 2010 at 9:11am

TIME.com invites authors Gary Shteyngart, Alan Furst, Kate Moses, Teddy Wayne and Elif Batuman to share their summer reads

http://www.time.com/time/video/player/0,32068,107250700001_2001507,...

Comment by Dallas the Phallus on June 30, 2010 at 5:56pm

The Complete, Uncensored History of the Beat Generation
Who were the Beats and how did their work and lives alter the course of American literature? We'll talk this hour with Bill Morgan author of the new book "The Typewriter Is Holy: The Complete, Uncensored History of the Beat Generation" (Free Press, 2010). Jerome Weeks will guest-host.

Listen here.

Comment by Dallas the Phallus on June 7, 2010 at 6:01pm

Looks like a potentially interesting book: Demonic Males: Apes and the Origins of Human Violence. Anyone read it?

Comment by Miles on May 25, 2010 at 8:15pm

I am coming mid-stream to this conversation, but I just read The Faith Instinct by Nicholas Wade. He comes down on the side of religion having originally provided an adaptive advantage for group cohesion in hunter gatherers. Worth a look for the evolutionary explanation of religion.

Comment by Nelson on May 25, 2010 at 4:34pm

don't ever say i don't get you anything...Lord of the Flies.pdf

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