Things smell funny lately

For the past few days or maybe a week, many things have smelled... odd... to me. On Tuesday, Spaghetti-Os smelled like rosemary. A cheeseburger smelled like fresh cut paper (or cardboard?) Wednesday, and even more disturbingly, last night a cheeseburger smelled like nothing at all! It had mustard on it. How can I not smell at least the mustard? Potato chips and french fries both smell somewhat sour, but they taste okay. My body's waste products smell like old fish; conversely, bad breath smells fecal. Today, driving in traffic, I was sure I should be smelling icky car exhaust smells, but what my nose reported was a pot of freshly drained pasta.

This is mildly disturbing. What is going on with my body? Does this have something to do with the new nutritional supplements I just started? I am sure at least the bit about my body's waste products does indeed relate to that; among other things, I'm taking 1.8g of "marine lipid concentrate", whatever that may be, twice a day. But what's going on with my olfactory sense?

Small victories

Hee, I broke sixty thousand! Now I'm getting nervous about clicking GO for the next round. :-)

My build isn't done yet, though, so here I go...

AGTOL, chapter 2

I'm reading this book and posting my thoughts about it. My post about chapter 1 is here.

" 'Science does not describe and explain nature,' Heisenberg concluded, but 'nature as exposed to our method of questioning.' " What we ask shapes what we can learn. What we don't ask is powerful. In the post referenced above, I had a taste of this, when thinking about the search for laws that govern emotions. That had simply never occurred to me, so I never examined the idea, never learned anything about it. It was a blind spot in my thoughts. I wonder how many others I have! It would be enjoyable, challenging, and mind-expanding to find a few more.

"We are accustomed to thinking of these adaptations as gradual and progressive, but [...] the fossil record belies this impression. Rather than a series of smooth transitions, the evolutionary process is punctuated with bursts of metamorphosis." This helps explain one of the things that has bugged me for a while: how, if evolution really is the force behind the complex developments of life, we got here so darn fast.

The explanations of the three major chunks of brain are eerie. I've read Oliver Sacks' descriptions of various kinds of neocortical processing glitches; those are disturbing and thought-provoking, and I find myself wondering what it would really be like to have a condition like one of those. Odder still is thinking about the oldest part of the brain, the reptilian brain, making sure I breathe and my heart beats and my blood salinity is regulated. I had thought most of that was regulated chemically, without any central processing required.

It's also intriguing that this reptilian brain is responsible for things as diverse as heart rate and turf battles. It can't make me walk, but it can give me an urge to defend my territory.

The discussion of the limbic brain reminded me of something I always thought was odd. Mammalian young cry when they're lost, distressed, or separated from their parents. Somehow I had always considered that pretty dysfunctional. In a world full of predators, wouldn't it be smarter to shut up? Apparently not. Mammalian parents are sufficiently protective of and bonded to their young that the separation cry is a good gamble. The little one might get Mom back. But reptile young do not whine about a lost parent. Mom would just as soon eat them as save them. :-)

A new one about the neocortex (new for me): the phenomenon of blindsight. I wonder what that would be like.

I think it's REALLY WEIRD that the readiness wave (an EEG signature showing that physical motion is about to begin) passes BEFORE a person experiences a decision to move. Um. So where IS the original decision, how far back is it, why aren't we aware of it, and what is it that we are aware of as a decision? Weird.

I like the explanation of why we cannot WILL ourselves to love someone, or to be happy: basically, will arrived with and only deals with the neocortex. This adds some supportive explanation to something I've felt was true for a long time. Not that I believe there is nothing we can do to affect our emotions, but plain old willpower isn't the answer. I know a few people who really ought to read this book. Reexamining just this one assumption could help them a lot.

The Friday Five

plagiarized from chiefted

1. What flavor donut is your favorite?
Blueberry, at the moment. When I was little, lemon filled or Boston Cream.

2. Are you wearing socks right this instant? What do they look like?
Yes, thick white cotton ankle-height socks. They're my standard. If I could find taller ones that stayed soft after several washings, I'd want those.

3. What's the temperature where you are?
Just a tad cooler than I'd like.

4. Pretend you're eating a salad, what kind of dressing does it have?
Either ranch or honey mustard.

5. White or wheat?
Either, or rye, but no sourdough!

Doctors

Thanks for the recommendation, mactavish. Looks like I have a need for a doctor a bit sooner than I thought I might. Neural mumble. Great. I feel like such a hypochondriac! First I have a lump which turns out to be nothing, now I have a malfunctioning nose. Just wait until I get older and have anything REAL wrong with me. I'll be my doctor's worst nightmare.

I called to make an appointment, and I can't do that until I have "registered". I got transferred to registration, which is closed. Back to the appointment desk to see if I can at least get penciled in for a timeslot. No -- not until "your name is in the computer". I was soooo tempted to tell them that of course I was in the computer. After all, I'm SURE my name happens to appear in their computer somewhere. ;-) But no, I'll play nice. This time. ;-)

joedecker, didn't you just have an appointment with a new GP you really liked? I could try calling him, too.