Ghostly Presences: Scientists Shed Light on the Unseen Forces Shaping Our Social Reality
Invisible presences manipulate the brain’s social counting mechanisms.
If you had to estimate the number of people in a room, without counting them one-by-one, by nature you would overcount them. That’s because, simply put from a Darwinian perspective of how we have evolved, it’s better to overcount potentially harmful agents and predators than to underestimate them.
This overcounting social behaviour is shown to be true in humans as well as animals. It’s certainly better to detect too many tigers (even if absent) during a jungle excursion than to miss a hungry one!
Now, EPFL neuroscientists show that if you experience hallucinations, especially when related to an illness like Parkinson’s disease, then you will overestimate the number of people in a room to a greater degree. They also show that if you have hallucinations but are asked to estimate the number of boxes in a room, which are inanimate control objects, then no extra over-estimation occurs, shedding light on the social nature of this overcounting. The results are published in Nature Communications.
-
23:03
TimcastIRL
8 hours agoBill O’Reilly Says Biden Will DROP OUT, Tucker Carlson Says Obama Wants Biden GONE
73.2K248 -
30:30
Stephen Gardner
1 day ago🔴BREAKING: Trump Trashes Biden while welcoming Kamala Harris
157K335 -
3:18:11
Fresh and Fit
20 hours agoBody Count Matters ONLY For Women. Change My Mind.
158K165 -
8:00
Adam Does Movies
1 day agoKILL Movie Review - Get Off The Train Already!
66.3K4 -
6:11
Praxis Homesteading and Survival Skills
1 day agoNo One Puts Solar Panels Here... But they SHOULD!
70.9K50 -
6:58
scoutthedoggie
1 day agoAirsoft War Games at The Fort Scotland
66.6K2 -
3:01
Hack
1 day ago3 Ideas about making DIY gadget projects for a smartphone
66.9K16 -
13:35
RealReaper
14 hours agoThe Acolyte Episode 6 Nothing Happens
49.6K9 -
17:25
CarlCrusher
21 hours agoIn Search of the Lost Lair of the Nevada Skinwalker
48K14 -
22:05
DepressedGinger
1 day ago*UNHINGED* Libs threaten to k*ll Trump, get visit from secret service
40.9K39