Spot a couple hotties at (your disgusting) gym spinning class, then go home to your partner and find it impossible to forget the way that Lycra shaped so perfectly shaped their asses? Science knows why!
Science Daily clues us in to a new study about why it’s so difficult to stop thinking something.
Mathematicians at Case Western Reserve University … found that just as thinking burns energy, stopping a thought burns energy — like stopping a truck on a downhill slope. “Maybe this explains why it is so tiring to relax and think about nothing,” said Daniela Calvetti, professor of mathematics, and one of the authors of a new brain study. Their work is published in an advanced online publication of Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow & Metabolism.
[…] To stop a thought, the brain uses inhibitory neurons to prevent excitatory neurons from passing information from one to another. “The inhibitory neurons are like a priest saying, ‘Don’t do it,'” Calvetti said. The “priest neurons” block information by releasing gamma aminobutyric acid, commonly called GABA, which counteracts the effect of the neurotransmitter glutamate by excitatory neurons.
And it’s like: Of course there’s a freakin’ priest metaphor in the very article I’ve turned into a post about sex.
PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS
To stop a thought, the brain uses inhibitory neurons to prevent excitatory neurons from passing information from one to another. “The inhibitory neurons are like a priest saying, ‘Don’t do it,'” Calvetti said. The “priest neurons” block information by releasing gamma aminobutyric acid, commonly called GABA, which counteracts the effect of the neurotransmitter glutamate by excitatory neurons.
If Priests are being brought into the mix, I think the correct wording is:
To stop a thought, the brain uses inhibitory neurons to prevent excitatory neurons from passing information from one to another. “The inhibitory neurons are like a priest saying, ‘Don’t do it,'” Calvetti said. The “priest neurons” block information by releasing gamma aminobutyric acid, commonly called NAMBLA, which counteracts the effect of the neurotransmitter glutamate by excitatory neurons.
Samwise
That makes me feel better about my utter failure to meditate. Everytime I try meditation, I end up thinking, “Don’t think about anything… don’t think about anything… oh crap, that’s a thought. STOP THINKING! Dammit, that was a thought too!”
Enron
Well, I guess my brain is on automatic pilot when it comes to sex and hot guys. That’s all I think about most of the day. Personally I don’t mind.
Will
@Samwise: I find mantras are the best way to get into meditation if your mind won’t shut up.
Even a brief state of no-mind is one of the most inexplicably joyous feelings.
Just because it takes energy doesn’t mean it’s impossible!
Jeffree
Meditation isn’t necessarily just a matter of “not thinking,” — it’s more about watching the thoughts arise and not getting tangled up in them. It’s a state where the focus on the breath–in and out– remains primary. The “discipline” involved comes from realizing that in the gap between thoughts, there is some wide open space which is relaxing, refreshing, AND gets easier to reach through practice.
There must be hundreds of ways to meditate but just a session or two of 10-15 minutes a day leaves you calmer, less stressed, and somehow boosts energy & focused.
No theology involved, no need to sign up or take vows or anything like that.
A good teacher can be of great help, but really anyone can do it. Lots of good books/articles available online.
For someone like me with ADD & who’s chronic worrier, it helps a lot. It’s not unlike the two minutes after the big O, and I don’t mean Oprah, when youre calm, relaxed and intensely aware of your surroundings. But you won’t feel the need to fall asleep or get up and fix omelettes for you & your mate !!
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i thinks that human behavior to thinks about sex.for young guy that not possible to stop from such thinking.That;s also a age effect.
Zaniell
Go for a run or keep doing pushups and lift weights, this will stop thoughts pretty well. I’d never do meditation, it just seems like a waste of time (and growing flabby ass during that wasted time meditating while u could be working out).
Zaniell
@Samwise: Lol why are u trying meditation even? Think about some hot guys, then do a set of pushups… then think about guys again, do a set of pullups, etc.. LOL u’ll be pretty happy at the end
Kevin (New Jersey, US)
@Samwise: I totally know what you’re saying about the “Stop thinking!” problem…
I find the best way is, instead of thinking about stopping thinking (like you say, that itself is a thought), use this observational technique on every thought that passes through your mind: acknowledge the thought and let it go. Don’t judge it, don’t analyze it, and don’t beat yourself up for having it. Just observe.
“That is a thought about thinking…. that is a thought about not thinking… that is a thought about ice cream… that is a thought about dust… ” Just observe and let the thoughts come: don’t engage them, but don’t fight them either. After about 5-10 minutes, your mind will slow down and get more silent. With practice, you get better at it. As we’re all so used to the inner monologue in our minds, a silent mind is really quite a surprise when you first achieve it.