NationStates Jolt Archive

According to the Spiegel, a person who works in a French tax office does rather fine with only a small fraction of a brain:

The commonly spouted wisdom that people only use 10 percent of their brain power may have been dismissed as a myth, but one French man seems to be managing fine with just a small fraction of his actual brain.
In fact the man, who works as a civil servant in southern France, has succeeded in living an entirely normal life despite a huge fluid-filled cavity taking up most of the space where his brain should be.
Source: http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/0,1518,495607,00.html

Does that confirm your stereotypes? :)

Buh?

How can he be alive with no brain? Biology weeps.

According to the Spiegel, a person who works in a French tax office does rather fine with only a small fraction of a brain:

Source: http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/0,1518,495607,00.html

Does that confirm your stereotypes? :)

Oh, they've already been confirmed for me. State employee, and all that. :p By the third week, your central nervous system should be performing the job on its own, with the brain in standby mode. ;)

Of course goverment workers have no brains. That's why they work for the government!

no fair I want storage space in my head too!

Tests showed that the man's IQ is 75 -- the average is 100 -- but he was not considered physically or mentally disabled.

clearly they have not met average people :p

clearly they have not met average people :p

Or you just know nothing about IQ testing. The average is always 100, and the test is designed so that instead of people scoring on a range, the range is fit to people's scores.

Buh?

How can he be alive with no brain? Biology weeps.

He does have a brain, but a much smaller one due to the place, the cavity take up.

Or you just know nothing about IQ testing. The average is always 100, and the test is designed so that instead of people scoring on a range, the range is fit to people's scores.

http://www.answers.com/smart-arse :p

Hmm... I seem to remember a C4 documentary on this... not the same person... apparently not having most of your brain is fairly common.

Anyway, the documentary said something about the central part of the brain isn't used all that much - only the surface of the brain. That's why it's so wrinkly - to increase surface area. The main higher level computations take part on the surface so that it is easier to keep the brain cool.

Trying to use the centre of the brain would be like trying to use your laptop in the middle of a desert when someone has stolen your heatsink, your fan has died, and you have no shade. The centre of the brain is mainly used for connecting one part of the brain's surface to another - think the ultimate spaghetti junction.

If I remembered all that, then perhaps I do have most of brain. There's hope for me yet. :)

Hmm... I seem to remember a C4 documentary on this... not the same person... apparently not having most of your brain is fairly common.

Must have been an explosive documentary.

Anyway, the documentary said something about the central part of the brain isn't used all that much - only the surface of the brain. That's why it's so wrinkly - to increase surface area. The main higher level computations take part on the surface so that it is easier to keep the brain cool.

Trying to use the centre of the brain would be like trying to use your laptop in the middle of a desert when someone has stolen your heatsink, your fan has died, and you have no shade. The centre of the brain is mainly used for connecting one part of the brain's surface to another - think the ultimate spaghetti junction.

If I remembered all that, then perhaps I do have most of brain. There's hope for me yet. :)
See, that's what I figured, which is why this report didn't bother me as much as it might have.

Must have been an explosive documentary.

See, that's what I figured, which is why this report didn't bother me as much as it might have.
Well, stilll, I mean if the sections are not able to interact, I would asume serious defects to be likely.

Anyway, the documentary said something about the central part of the brain isn't used all that much - only the surface of the brain. That's why it's so wrinkly - to increase surface area. The main higher level computations take part on the surface so that it is easier to keep the brain cool.

Fuck, we're computer.

Maybe if people removed their skulls, and attached skull-like heat sinks to their brains...

Of course goverment workers have no brains. That's why they work for the government!

Actually, I work for the government because they pay me $17.51/hr, and I can leave when I'm finished with my work, not when the clock says I can (there have been times that I only worked 6 hours, but due to my contract, got paid for 9).


For the record, I'm a postal carrier.

Must have been an explosive documentary.Shush, feeble american. C4 stands for Channel 4, which is a broadcaster in the UK. :p

Meh. Saw something similar in Strange Stories Amazing Facts II from Reader's Digest. Was a guy in university with just a strip of brain, but he was doing insane maths stuff.

Fuck, we're computer.

Maybe if people removed their skulls, and attached skull-like heat sinks to their brains...
What about phase change?

Fuck, we're computer.

Maybe if people removed their skulls, and attached skull-like heat sinks to their brains...

Brains of the FUTURE!!!

Of course goverment workers have no brains. That's why they work for the government!

Right. As recent developments in politics made clear, government work is a haven for those who don't quite measure up on the intellectual scale...

Right. As recent developments in politics made clear, government work is a haven for those who don't quite measure up on the intellectual scale...

And what does this say about the average citizen who voted for them?

Who said you need brains to work for the government?
Who said you need brains to make duplicate threads in NS?
http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=533456

Buh?

How can he be alive with no brain? Biology weeps.

He has a small, compacted brain and the body's vital processes are handled in the brain stem which was not affected by this.

Very interesting though. I wonder if he can feel water sloshing around.

Brains make one over-qualified to perform government work. In fact, a dead person would probably perform just as well as any normal government employee, and might even get more work done.

What about phase change?Brain-flavoured slush ice?