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Dean Burnett

@garwboy

10 Dec

There's something about the #DowningStreetParty furore that's been bugging me since it kicked off, and I finally figured out what it is

All the media types/platforms condemning Johnson for disrespecting grieving relatives? In my experience, they've not treated us much better

/1

I lost Dad to Covid very early in the pandemic, so I've been part of the 'grieving relative' demographic for nearly 2 years. This government has essentially spat in our faces on a weekly basis since then.

Much the media now going all fire-and-brimstone didn't bat an eyelid

/2

It might be just my subjective experience, but as someone from the grieving relative community with a pre-existing media profile, I figured mainstream media types would be interested in my perspective.

Nope, not so much.

/3

Read 13 tweets

Dean Burnett

@garwboy

9 Dec

https://twitter.com/garwboy/status/1468723261781463042

People have asked that I explain why this sort of reporting is blatant nonsense.

So here's a #BrainStuff thread about it

Does working from home affect your brain?

Yes

So does working from the office. Or from the moon. Or not working at all. THAT'S HOW BRAINS WORK!

/1

https://twitter.com/garwboy/status/1468723261781463042

It's reminiscent of the scaremongering news stories that you still occasionally get, the ones which argue that [Insert latest technological thing] is bad, because it 'changes children's brains'.

Yes, that's true. But so do books, and playing outside, the 'healthy' stuff

/2

EVERYTHING brings about changes in our brain. If it were static, rigid, unchanging, it would be completely useless. Might as well lodge a coconut in our skulls and have done with it. The brain changing in response to our experiences is the default norm.

/3

Read 16 tweets

Dean Burnett

@garwboy

1 Dec

@elisjames

Ok, the legendary @elisjames asked why he struggles to remember new info in his forties but can still readily recall countless minor details from childhood

I could only really answer this if I'd done a PhD in memory retrieval mechanisms. And I did. So here we go

#BrainStuff

/1

https://twitter.com/elisjames/status/1466170982993960969

As a rule, the memories we acquire during childhood are more impactful, more enduring, than those we acquire later in life. For various reasons.

First and foremost, things are just 'newer' then. The experiences we have, the info we take in, makes a bigger impression

/2

After all, childhood is the part of our life where we're figuring out how... 'everything' works, in the world around us. So anything we take in then will form the basis of everything we acquire later on. First impressions, and all that.

/3

Read 19 tweets

Dean Burnett

@garwboy

29 Oct

OK, seen this Tweet shared a lot lately. I get why; it implies some scary, but cool, stuff. But it's misleading by omission, and a good example of why Evolutionary psychology is regularly co-opted by those with ideological agendas.

Here's why

Yes, it's more #BrainStuff

/1

I'll say up front; as far as I'm aware, nobody knows with 100% certainty why the Uncanny valley effect exists.

BUT, it doesn't automatically follow that there were shapeshifting human-resembling predators in our deep past. There are far more logical, and likely, explanations

/2

For instance, the uncanny valley effect may be the result of corpses.

A dead human looks just like a live one, but without all the subtle cues and animations that living humans give off constantly. Much like 'realistic' androids, animations etc.

/3

Read 15 tweets

Dean Burnett

@garwboy

8 Oct

This Sunday is #WorldMentalHealthDay2021, so here is a #BrainStuff thread about one of the less often discussed, and more readily stigmatised, disorders; addiction.

What happens in the brain to make addiction so harmful? Suffice to say, it's not 'just a matter of willpower'

/1

At present, practically all 'recognised' forms of addiction concern a type of psychoactive chemical substance. Alcohol, nicotine, caffeine, heroin, cocaine, etc.

The only 'official' non-chemical type of addiction so far is gambling.

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P…

/2

There's much debate as to whether other types of addiction should be recognised, like shopping, porn/sex addiction, video games or social media etc.

These are all essentially marked 'TBC' right now. They may end up being recognised addictions, they may need a new label

/3

Read 32 tweets

Dean Burnett

@garwboy

7 Oct

Today would have been my father Peter's 60th birthday.

But he died of #Covid19 last year. So, the big celebration we'd have had is never going to happen. And that'll always be painful.

However, the best possible tribute is to share more tales of his adventures

#DadsAntics

/1

As landlord of a valley pub, Dad, a gregarious larger-than-life sort, was always putting on community fundraising events with the guys from the bar. They were often sporting events, usually rugby, but one time it was a charity tug of war match.

/2

It took place by the nearby river, next to the (now disused) railway track. Dad and all his mates from the bar on one team, a load of guys from a 'rival' pub on the other. The river between the two teams, so whoever loses gets dragged into the river and soaked. What larks.

/3

Read 43 tweets

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