Benefiting at work from Brain Based Insights

I have no idea. My parents always told me that the longer second toe indicated greater intelligence. he hee. I hate to say, I still kinda believe it. ;)

Rebecca, I laughed when I read your comment because in Nova Scotia -- where I grew up, we thought big feet meant smarter! Thanks for stopping by and staying alert to the real answers with us:-)

Ellen this is interesting because in human species men seem on the whole to be slightly taller than women with a tad bit bigger bone structure. My guess would be that their brains would be slightly larger. I'm not assuming anything though since women's brains differ physically from men's.

How interesting, Robyn, and I never thought of that. Now I have to go back to this study to assure myself - there were at least some women there to push for the accurate balance on the questions, experiments and result interpretation. See, as soon as we raise the "bigger is better" idea - we run into too many angles:-)

Yet - we keep raising it - and I find the tests compelling. I also love the way you splash new colors onto questions, Robyn. Thanks for pulling it off again on this one.

We've only just begun to find answers - so dice are still in the air!

I'm glad you shared that women had a part in this research study. That would help the reliability of the findings. Still, because male and female brains differ in humans, the testing administered should take in consideration that multiple intellgences also come into play here. I'm sure many more studies are in order before there is anything truly conclusive. :-)

I read Einstein's brain was 15% wider than normal. Google it : )

Ellen, didn't I read or hear somewhere that brain convolutions had something to do with it? Well, my thought processes certainly qualify, don't you think? :D

What about Dr. Gordon Bell's work over at IBM where he's working on "supplementing" his brain with external memory devices? Do you think that will change the equation?

Cool ideas here Robert - and here's why so:-) The more connectors -- the brighter one is. Luckily we gain dendrite brain cell connections daily - based on what we do:-)

Dr. Bell's work is dead on! The simplest form of external memory devices are lists you create to remember targets that day though:-). Whenever you out source bits of information from your working memory -- you add to that capability for the use of extra knowledge.

Here's an example. You are driving with a friend and get lost. You stop and ask directions. There are 5 turns to remember from what was given by the person you asked. Write these down rather than try to remember them. You free up your working memory for focused ocnversation, and you ensure the memory is kept by the brief triggers you jotted down.

It's a bit like outsourcing your memory and it works miracles:-) Is that also what you are referring to here?

"outsourcing your brain" - hey, I like that! In one sense, blogging has been called "external memory" by several people because it's a record of where the blogger is at that time. Makes a neat and accessible series of records that's easily searched.

I guess the, by outsourcing enough functions, my brain can then sit back and do "project management" functions rather than spend so much time with nitpicking details. That makes sense to me - it's what I do for a living as a project manager at my engineering firm.

As long as the ol' brain doesn't turn into a couch potato from sittin' around too much! :D

Hey Bob, I like to think of it as in project manager - since the brain still has to organize and manage all the outsourceed parts -- and have you ever seen a project manager become a coach potato? From your own blog over at middle zone musings (http://middlezonemusings.com) I'd say there's not much sitting around chance:-)

Ah, that's true... sitting around doesn't work for me. If I'm not out getting into trouble, it comes looking for me!

"The Brain as Project Manager". Sounds like a future post title for you!