Radiolab: Limits
Radiolab: Limits (April 16, 2010). WOW. Mykala recommended I listen to this, and it has been far too long since she did so. Last night, I finally listened to the episode and it was amazing. I loved the part about the “central governor” theory — that there is a part of our minds that works all the time to tell us that we’re tired. You go running: central governor says “you’re tired”. And it’s not like a little itch you have to scratch — this is convincing, all-encompassing, total-body exhaustion. When you feel this, you apparently have between 25 and 50% of your reserve left.
You can just keep going: you train your mind right alongside your body. The second part: on the limits of the mind, specifically memory, is fascinating to hear, too. It’s important for us to forget as well as remember: our minds want to extract meaning, not retain random bits of information.