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Low self esteem makes you dumb - official
Register ^ | 11/21/03 | Lester Haines

Posted on 11/21/2003 1:53:52 PM PST by freedom44

Think positively or you could end up with a brain the size of a pea - that's the stark warning from scientists at Montreal's McGill University.

Dr Sonia Lupien has spent 15 years scanning the brains of OAPs and discovered that old timers with low self esteem were more likely to suffer from brain shrink and memory loss, the BBC reports.

Incredibly, those who didn't love themselves as much as they should have lost up to one fifth of their grey matter as a result. Unsurprisingly, they were also a few sandwiches short in the memory and learning departments.

Thankfully, Dr Lupien reckons there is hope, noting: "This atrophy of the brain that we thought was irreversible is reversible - some data on animals and some data on humans shows that that if you enrich the environment if you change some factors this brain structure can come back to normal levels."

Which is where Korean outfit DreamFree comes in. The company has developed the "Personal electroencephalogram", or Peeg - a PDA peripheral which is said to tickle your brain and stimulate positive brain waves.

It's basically a pair of specs with flashing lights plus headphones driven by a Microsoft Pocket PC application. Fire it up and you're subjected to a electronic son-et-lumière show which can alter brain wave frequency with beneficial results.

One ZDnet reporter found it "a bit like taking a nap while listening to a Kraftwerk album", although we at El Reg can't say we're overly familiar with this concept.

Mind you, since the Peeg sells for $300, perhaps those seeking to reverse brain atrophy caused by years of negative thinking would be better off simply crashing into their chair to the strains of electronic Europop, rather than shelling out hard cash. It probably won't work, but then you'll still have $300 to go and get drunk - the only tried and trusted method which instantly increases self-confidence and mental agility. ®


TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events
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1 posted on 11/21/2003 1:53:53 PM PST by freedom44
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To: freedom44
If this is true, I'm in some serious trouble.
2 posted on 11/21/2003 1:58:43 PM PST by Terpfen
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To: freedom44
Where can you get a new head if your brain grows too much?
3 posted on 11/21/2003 1:59:59 PM PST by Cicero (Marcus Tullius)
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To: freedom44
Explains 99.999% of Hollywood and the Euro-peons who have been screaming about Bush all week, yet to date, have yet to say one iota of one syllable in protest of Castro, Kim Jung Il,Al Qaida or Saddass Insane.
4 posted on 11/21/2003 2:00:29 PM PST by metalboy (I`m still waiting for the mass protests against Al Qaida and Saddam)
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To: freedom44
Correlation is not causation. I think you get low self-esteem from being a dumbass, not the other way around.

-ccm

5 posted on 11/21/2003 2:03:48 PM PST by ccmay
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To: ccmay
However, most of the dumbasses I know think they're hot stuff. How can you explain this?
6 posted on 11/21/2003 2:12:17 PM PST by proxy_user
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To: Terpfen
If this is true, I'm in some serious trouble.

Stop thinking like that!

7 posted on 11/21/2003 2:26:01 PM PST by Huck
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To: proxy_user
However, most of the dumbasses I know think they're hot stuff. How can you explain this?

I recently read an interesting study on that. The less competent you are, the less aware you are of your true competency level. Actually, I think that the study said less competent people greatly overestimate their competence, while more competent people tend to underestimate themselves. So if you are a dumbass, chances are you have no idea. Think about it.

8 posted on 11/21/2003 2:28:06 PM PST by Huck
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To: freedom44
Low self esteem makes you dumb - official

Yeah, and children with bigger feet have larger vocabularies, and can spell better. (psst...kids' feet grow as they get older). Thanks to John Allen Paulos (popular math writer, of such books as "Innumeracy" and "A Mathematician Reads the Newspaper") for this example.

9 posted on 11/21/2003 2:29:25 PM PST by TrappedInLiberalHell (Ban Aural Sects! Stop listening to Scientology books on tape!)
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To: freedom44
Is that why my head keeps rattling?
10 posted on 11/21/2003 2:32:35 PM PST by Little Ray (When in trouble, when in doubt, run in circles, scream and shout!)
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To: metalboy
Well, now we know what happended to Carter, Cronkite, Soros, and Dukakis and the other off the tracks libs.
11 posted on 11/21/2003 2:32:55 PM PST by stubernx98
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To: freedom44; Chad Fairbanks
So now when I am told that I am arrogant, that I think too much of myself, I can take it as a compliment?

12 posted on 11/21/2003 2:36:28 PM PST by CyberCowboy777 (He wore his gun outside his pants for all the honest world to feel.)
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To: freedom44
If you are dumb you SHOULD have low 'self-esteem'! High self-esteem of those who should instead be ashamed of themselves has helped to ruin today's society.
13 posted on 11/21/2003 2:38:07 PM PST by Maigret
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To: Huck
So if you are a dumbass, chances are you have no idea. Think about it

I'd rather NOT think about that thank you.

14 posted on 11/21/2003 2:44:27 PM PST by Holly_P
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To: proxy_user
However, most of the dumbasses I know think they're hot stuff. How can you explain this?

Legends in their own minds

I was always told if you hang around with successful people you would be successful yourself the theory is the same here as well but the successful people have to like you first ! I found out later in life that i am successful and the people i used to think were are'nt as smart as they exuded to be they happened to be in the right place at the right time their success was dependant upon timing not inteligence its a shame to because some of them were very smart but did'nt know how to apply their particular type of genious now they shlupf through life whining how they used to be on top.

I go through life knowing i got there on my own and as long as i want i'll stay there

Am i hot stuff ? NOPE just obeservant of others mistakes ! and willing to correct such changes as not to make those mistakes others have made !

15 posted on 11/21/2003 2:46:26 PM PST by ATOMIC_PUNK ("Veritas vos Liberabit")
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To: CyberCowboy777
Why not? I do. ;0)
16 posted on 11/21/2003 3:55:39 PM PST by Chad Fairbanks (All I want is a warm bed, a kind word and unlimited power.)
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To: freedom44
Low self esteem makes you dumb...

That explains the victim mentality of The Left...

17 posted on 11/21/2003 3:56:51 PM PST by Chad Fairbanks (All I want is a warm bed, a kind word and unlimited power.)
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To: freedom44
If this is true, why are kids in public schools getting dumber in direct proportion to the "self-esteem" training that is so much a part of their indoctrination education these days?
18 posted on 11/21/2003 4:01:58 PM PST by sweetliberty ("Better to keep silent and be thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.")
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To: freedom44
"the Peeg sells for $300"

At a store, my wife was showing me some doll that you press the palm, and it says "I love you!" and "you're the best!" and so on. That was a lot cheaper than $300.

19 posted on 11/21/2003 4:28:22 PM PST by roadcat
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To: Chad Fairbanks
With arrogance like ours we could be the smartest men on earth. ;~)

If only the rest of the world would recognize it.
20 posted on 11/21/2003 4:28:29 PM PST by CyberCowboy777 (He wore his gun outside his pants for all the honest world to feel.)
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