DrmDoc

The effect of penalties is to deter unlawful behaviors that inflict intentional harm. This change in Russia's domestic violence laws eases penalties for those who willfully inflict harm on vulnerable family members and individuals. Aren't changes that ease "the character of the sanction" meant to remedy unlawful behaviors a weakening of the boundaries deterring those behaviors? Whether physical harm or not is done, violence is unacceptable in a civilized society. Isn't this change effectively a sanctioning of some measure of unacceptable violence?

Although I don't recall ever reading or hearing such stories, science have found no evidence of a specific brain area or part dedicated to religious thoughts or spirituality. There have been research on the subject as this NatGeo article, Your Brain on God, explores. According to the research described in the article, there is no single "God spot"; however, a Canadian neuroscientist, Mario Beauregard, "discovered that memories of a spiritual connection with God were accompanied by increased activity in the caudate nucleus, a small region that plays a role in learning, memory and developing feelings of love. But they had five other neural hot spots, including the insula, which monitors body sensations and governs social emotions."

The brain does indeed produce consciousness but the process isn't that simple. The brain requires a sensory apparatus and sensory input to complete the process. By "conscious object" I presume you are referring to the brain as consciousness incarnate suggesting that it doesn't require any support or input to produce consciousness. If that is your opinion, I disagree. To produce consciousness, the brain requires a means by which it may acquire awareness of itself and its environment. In isolation from its physical sensory systems, the brain is incapable of seeing, feeling pain, or experiencing any sensation of life experience. Those sensations are how we are able to define ourselves and make distinctions about our environment. Through the physical sensory systems of the body the brain is made aware of its environment and its perceptual distinctions from that environment. A measure of intelligence could be how well we understand and use information from our sensory environment. How well we acquire, understand, retain, and use information are products of our brain's functional matrix. That matrix requires input and stimulation to maintain optimal production output and function. For example, we forget what we've learned when we infrequently access those memories because we tend to retain information that we engage frequently and information that significantly impact our survival needs and a subset of social experiences. Essentially, the brain is not in and of itself conscious without stimuli and a sensory structure to experience that stimuli.

Doh!

Superb example of the alt-fact effect. Is there no cure for gullibility?

There are sequences of exchanges between groups of neurons that do occur during the sensory perception, assessment and response process but not between single neurons firing one at a time. The clearest evidence of this is actually shown by how visual sensory information is transferred from the eye into brain structure. Visual sensory is received in the eye, as a collective of information, by a collective of rods and cones that collectively convert that information into a collective of neural impulses. Those collective impulses are forwarded via the optic nerve initially to the lateral geniculate nucleus of the thalamus where it is then collectively forwarded to the striate cortex of the occipital lobe where groups of neurons collectively receive and decipher the collective visual information those impulses convey. As you may now better understand, the sequence of visual sensory perception involves collective exchanges between singular groups of neural components rather than sequential exchanges between singular neurons. Rather than one at a time, neurons fire collectively, which is logically the most efficient way to perceive, process, and respond to collective sensory information.

Neurologically, the process of visual recognition is fairly fluid, which means it's not a stop and start process of recognition then memory association. All visual sensory, whether or not previously experienced, is primarily relayed to the visual cortex where it initiates a cascade of neural responses that provide recognition through prior associations. The process is like a particle shaped to follow a specific groove where it may travel to either a dedicated portal (prior experience, assessment, and memory) or create said portal (new experience, assessment, and memory). When the particle reaches or creates that portal, recognition is initiated. That recognition and its collective associations are then relayed to full consciousness and consolidated--with other attributes--as either a prior or new perception for a behavioral response. As to the physics of it all, I have no opinion.

If I may, bankruptcy is indeed a way to clear one's debts but also a way to protect one's assets and profits from creditors. In Trump's world, bankruptcy is a way to forcibly renegotiate vendor contracts and union obligations to reduce previously agreed upon expenses, which maximizes profits from poorly conceived business ventures.

I think the most valid point being made here is that Donald Trump didn't write that book himself. If you buy that book, you're buying someone else's approach to the "Art Of The Deal", not Trump's. Trump was merely a muse for the book's true author.

I think we are at the beginning of a cycle of greed and ruthlessness akin to that which began in the 80's under Reagan. It's unfortunate that Trump's methods could be viewed by people in other nations as a model for their success. I think they will be incredibly disappointed because Donald's achievements aren't what he says or what they seem.

Wow, Phi. Don't hold back, tell us how you really feel.

My money's on incompetence.

In America's climate of bigotry and fear, Trump marketed himself very successfully. The art of success is about understanding your market, which involves understanding its needs and servicing those needs proficiently and economically. Trump catered to the basic, most intransient need of the America people, which is the need to feel secure. He inflamed their fears, then presented himself as the person most able to squelch the flames of those fears. You don't need Trump's book to achieve his level of success. More often, all you need are gullible supporters and consumers whose fears blind them to facts and reason. In business or ambition, knowing the marketplace's needs and providing the right product to satisfy those needs is where success begins.

He wasn't elected by a majority of the American people but rather by a quirk of America's electoral system. His success is deception; it's his remarkable ability to get others to believe as he does and believe what he says. Using other peoples money and labor without fair exchanges, using tax loopholes to avoid paying one's fair share, and repeatedly declaring bankruptcy aren't my idea of success. If you are interested in the art of deception, then you will likely find his book compelling.

How? I'm a bit of a skeptic, so I think critically...I wouldn't buy the book though. I don't need nor want Donald's advice nor do I support his ventures.

According to Berkley News, scientist have created a new form of matter (time crystals) that reportedly "repeat in time because they are kicked periodically, sort of like tapping Jell-O repeatedly to get it to jiggle". Also, here is a DNews video report discussing the methods scientists used to create this new matter. I don't understand the science, but it seems a very interesting article. Enjoy!

Really? Just how much is the Trump administration paying you to spew this alt-fact? I defer you to iNow's post for real facts.

Donald was referring to unreported terror attacks like the Bowling Green Massacre that occurred in Kellyanne Conway's mind, which the media and, possibly, Kellyanne didn't and doesn't have access to. On events entirely in Conway's and Trump's world of imagination, I think we can forgive the media for not reporting fake news--which is something the Donald really hates.

This "streams of consciousness" idea is primarily philosophical rather than scientific. Mind wandering references an insufficient measure of mental focus essential to the demands of some focal task. An inability to maintain mental focus could be caused by a variety of physical or environmental distractions, as well as, insufficiently stimulating or compelling attention focals or tasks.

This Wiki-link on the neuronal aspects of hearing is a good place to start your search for answers about what happens in the brain. This article describes the path of sound information from the ear to the primary auditory cortex where sound is initially received and processed. For a more detailed perspective, you should also consider a review of the auditory system. I hope this helps.

Because I don't require fairytales or allegories to compel my morality or to assuage my fears, anxieties, or uncertainties.

Although simple methods do exist, you're asking for reasons related to amusement rather than medical care. This is a horrible idea and no competent neuroscientist or physician would ever suggest a way to induce paralysis for non-medical reasons.

Let's... You're half correct, my comments included both Dodd-Frank and the DOL Fiduciary Rule. The proposed rules were an update of ERISA rules enacted in 1974 to reflect the changing investment landscape. The Department of Labor (DOL) Fiduciary Rule this administration has suspended is based on the simple principle that retirement advisors should "put the best interests of their clients above their own financial interests", so why is this an argument? If you have a broker or financial adviser, your response here suggests that you could care less whether the advice you receive financially benefits your advisors only or lines their pockets with extraordinary and unnecessary fees expensed from your accounts. If that is true, then you are not the prudent investor you profess to be. Which proves you actually have no idea what Dodd-Frank is and what it did for you. Dodd-Frank was a response to the 2007-2010 financial crisis wherein every retirement account was adversely affected by a substantial collapse of overextended derivative investments and lack of sufficient consumer protections in the market. Dobb-Frank made investment brokers tell you that your high-yield investment--the source of that "more today without Dodd-Frank" that you would have made--is a derivative based on junk bonds and mortgages. The DOL Fiduciary Rule would also have made your advisors tell you that they were being paid 20% or more off the top to sell you those high-yield, risky investments. Whether or not you engage in stable or risky investments, a collapse in the stock market always creates a domino effect that impacts every retirement account and most assets. Although you believe Dodd-Frank stalled growth, in reality it brought stability and less risk to your retirement investments.

And you're not a one percenter? Your prudent investments will certainly go the way as many other prudent investments did if Wall Street is freed to run unchecked as it did before Dodd-Frank--but you're immune, right? Your investments didn't lose a penny of value during this past recession and they don't need no stinking financial protection, right? Although the markets have rebound under Dodd-Frank, it's incredibly naïve to believe your investments don't need Dodd-Frank's continued protection--but, it is your money and, like you said, "Who cares?"

If you​ have a retirement account, make investments, use banks, or own property, then it is your financial protections that this administration is removing...now do you understand? These are protections put in place to avoid the kind of financial collapse and nation-wide depression unleashed on our nation under the last Republican administration--which is something you probably believe isn't necessary.