Brain and Behavior Institute, 2002

BRAIN AND BEHAVIOR INSTITUTE 2002

Forum 3- What is Emily Dickison saying in the poem to the right. Is the brain bigger than the sky? the self?

The Brain - is wider than the Sky -
For - put them side by side -
The one the other will contain
With ease - and You - beside-

The Brain is deeper than the sea -
For - hold them - Blue to Bue -
The one the other will absorb -
As sponges - Buckets - do

The Brain is just the weight of God -
For - Heft them - Pound for Pound -
And they will differ - if they do -
As syllable from Sound -

Name:  Aliya and Hope
Username:  aliyabradle@aol.com
Subject:  Ten Percent
Date:  2002-07-08 11:31:03
Message Id:  2170
Comments:
Assuming that what scientist say is true - most humans use only ten percent of their brain. This means that there is a host of untapped resources that we have at our disposal. It is said that if you do things differently you can "grow" new brain cells and this may be the direction Emily was going towards.

The brain is all encompasing and can hold the sky for the sky is a mere concept. If it is true that all we see is a series of light bouncing off our eyes and giving us perceptions - than the sky is as big or small as we see fit.

If we think it, visualize it we can make it happen and this is the power of thought. As we try to educate our students to utilize the ten percent of the brain that we know how to use - wouldn't it be nice if someone could teach us (the educators) how to use the some of the other ninety percent?

Name:  Ray, Shellie, Dawn
Username:  Anonymous
Subject:  Thinking about the brain
Date:  2002-07-08 11:39:52
Message Id:  2171
Comments:
The story we hear in this poem: It is about a woman profoundly in awe of the powers of the brain and its ability to preoccupy itself with the complexities of others.

We think the brian is wide enough to contain the sky and you besides.

This implies that the brain's capacity to understand is infinite but its ability to hold knowledge is finite.

Name:  Brian & Joan Malin
Username:  malinb1@yahoo.com
Subject:  Brain Poem
Date:  2002-07-08 11:51:37
Message Id:  2172
Comments:
The brain enccmpasses all you know. It contains all your understanding of what surrounds you, and yet is not restricted to anything around you. The brain can encorporate the self - and beyond. You know more that just sensory input - you can Create your own reality. If God is all-knowing and everywhere then,when we interact with the universe - we do it through the brain -our connector to the Universe.

Name:  Lois Mackey, Cynthia Brown
Username:  cybrown@phila.k12pa.us/loismackey@yahoo.com
Subject:  Thinking about the brain.
Date:  2002-07-08 11:56:34
Message Id:  2173
Comments:
Lois and Cynthia thought very carefully about Emily Dickenson and the poem "Thinking About the Brain".
The poem is a comparison to the omnipotence of GOD! We are made in the image of HIM therefore, the concepts of the brain are limitless and boundless. We cannot justify the comparison of one brain to another.
What is the validity of measuring one persons IQ against another?
Yes, the brain is wider than the sky. For we are bound only by our own curiosity in our individual brain development.

Name:
Username:  robtfarber@cs.com
Subject:  Dickerson's poem
Date:  2002-07-08 11:57:20
Message Id:  2174
Comments:
The brain is able to take in the universe. It has the capacity to leap time and distance in thinking and making sense of the universe.
Dickerson missed the fact that a brain does not work in a vaccuum rather each brain is linked to thousands, nay millions of other brains living and dead thru LANGUAGE. While each brain is magnificant, it is the sharing of information and ideas that allows the individual brain to take in the universe.
The "decade of the brain"[1990-2000] was also the time that electronic brains or computers became available. While each computer could perform seemly fantastic feats, the linkage of computers via the web is what has begun to change our world. This electronic communication is causing an explosion of ideas and knowledge. No government can control the spread of ideas and the sharing of knowledge.
As we try to develop "artifical intelligence" for computers, we may gain many new insights about brain functions. Unlike computers, we know that each brain is hard wired differently and therefore each individual brain may react to the same set of stimuli in a different way. Anyone who have raised several children already knows the truth of this.
The networking of web of electronic brains to billions of organic brains will produce changes in our world which are not predictable at this time. The world as we know it will change rapidly in the next few decades.
The only prediction that I am willing to make is that mankind will move toward a universal language. No brain, electronic or ogranic, can function without language. Language is the key to the linkages which make brain so tremendously powerful.

Name:  Sam Howell, Charles Foster
Username:  Anonymous
Subject:  The Brain and the Sky
Date:  2002-07-08 11:58:46
Message Id:  2175
Comments:
Both brain and the sky are seemingly infinite. Science has been able to better measure sky than it has the brain.

Name:  Tunde, Sharon, Gerry and Dana
Username:  Anonymous
Subject:  "Zanny Brainy"
Date:  2002-07-08 11:59:59
Message Id:  2176
Comments:
***The brain encompasses an infinite amount of information - the capacity to store is indeed wider than the sky.

***We are born with the innate passionate desire and thirst to learn (think about the exhileration of a primary student entering school).

***The ways of the BRAIN are diverse. Thinking will be different and unique in every being!

The brain is a power of unspeakable knowledge
It is infinite in depth to help bring out the best
Generic influences tend to change the way of thinking
but, the ultimate goal is to stimulate linking

Name:  Michael Boyd/RaMona Adams
Username:  mboyd@aol.com
Subject:  Michael Boyd/RaMona Adams
Date:  2002-07-08 12:02:30
Message Id:  2177
Comments:
The poem written by Emily Dickinson was very interesting. It tells a story figuritively of how the brain is wider than the sky. This is saying that the thoughts of or the capacity of the brain is limitless. Another metaphor she used when comparing the brain is the sea - plethora of information. In the sea there are various types of life form. There are plants, fish, mammals, crustaceans, etc. The brain is just like the sea. It contains a vast network of information and thoughts.

Figuratively, she compared the brain to the sea. The brain is a gift from God that is deep and profound. It cannot be weighed nor can it be understood. We have different thoughts as different syllables form different sounds.

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