#The Entangled Brain 🧠

[xtruss]

The Entangled Brain 🧠

The Brain Is Much Less Like A Machine Than It Is Like The Murmurations of A Flock of Starlings Or An Orchestral Symphony

— Luiz Pessoa | Edited By Sam Dresser | 19 May 2025

Photo By Sarah Mason/Getty Images

When thousands of starlings swoop and swirl in the evening sky, creating patterns called murmurations, no single bird is choreographing this aerial ballet. Each bird follows simple rules of interaction with its closest neighbours, yet out of these local interactions emerges a complex, coordinated dance that can respond swiftly to predators and environmental changes. This same principle of emergence – where sophisticated behaviours arise not from central control but from the interactions themselves – appears across nature and human society.

Consider how market prices emerge from countless individual trading decisions, none of which alone contains the ‘right’ price. Each trader acts on partial information and personal strategies, yet their collective interaction produces a dynamic system that integrates information from across the globe. Human language evolves through a similar process of emergence. No individual or committee decides that ‘LOL’ should enter common usage or that the meaning of ‘cool’ should expand beyond temperature (even in French-speaking countries). Instead, these changes result from millions of daily linguistic interactions, with new patterns of speech bubbling up from the collective behaviour of speakers.

These examples highlight a key characteristic of highly interconnected systems: the rich interplay of constituent parts generates properties that defy reductive analysis. This principle of emergence, evident across seemingly unrelated fields, provides a powerful lens for examining one of our era’s most elusive mysteries: how the brain works.

The core idea of emergence inspired me to develop the concept I call the entangled brain: the need to understand the brain as an interactionally complex system where functions emerge from distributed, overlapping networks of regions rather than being localised to specific areas. Though the framework described here is still a minority view in neuroscience, we’re witnessing a gradual paradigm transition (rather than a revolution), with increasing numbers of researchers acknowledging the limitations of more traditional ways of thinking.

Complexity science is an interdisciplinary field that studies systems composed of many interacting components whose collective behaviours give rise to collective properties – phenomena that cannot be fully explained by analysing individual parts in isolation. These systems, such as ecosystems, economies or – as we will see – the brain, are characterised by nonlinear dynamics, adaptability, self-organisation, and networked interactions that span multiple spatial and temporal scales. Before exploring the ideas leading to the entangled brain framework, let’s revisit some of the historical developments of the field of neuroscience to set the stage.

In 1899, Cécile and Oskar Vogt, aged 24 and 29 respectively, arrived in Berlin to establish the Neurological Centre, initially a private institution for the anatomical study of the human brain that in 1902 was expanded to the Neurobiological Laboratory, and then the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Brain Research in 1914. Cécile Vogt was one of only two women in the entire institute. (In Prussia, until 1908, women were not granted access to regular university education, let alone the possibility to have a scientific career.) She obtained her doctoral degree from the University of Paris in 1900, while her husband Oskar obtained a doctorate for his thesis on the corpus callosum from the University of Jena in 1894.

In 1901, Korbinian Brodmann, who had concluded his doctorate in Leipzig in 1898, joined the group headed by the Vogts and was encouraged by them to undertake a systematic study of the cells of the cerebral cortex using tissue sections stained with a new cell-marking method. (The cortex is the outer brain surface with grooves and bulges; the subcortex comprises other cell masses that sit underneath.) The Vogts, and Brodmann working separately, were part of a first wave of anatomists trying to establish a complete map of the cerebral cortex, with the ultimate goal of understanding how brain structure and function are related. In a nutshell, where does a mental function such as an emotion reside in the brain?

Neurons – a key cell type of the nervous system – are diverse, and several cell classes can be determined based on both their shape and size. Researchers used these properties, as well as spatial differences in distribution and density, to define the boundaries between potential sectors. In this manner, Brodmann subdivided the cortex into approximately 50 regions (also called areas) per hemisphere. The Vogts, in contrast, thought that there might be more than 200 of them, each with its own distinguishing cytoarchitectonic pattern (that is, cell-related organisation).

It Is An Idea That Comes Close To Being An Axiom In Biology: Function Is Tied To Structure

Brodmann’s map is the one that caught on and stuck, likely because neuroanatomists opposed too vigorous a subdivision of the cortex, and today students and researchers alike still refer to cortical parts by invoking his map. Although relatively little was known about the functions of cortical regions at the time, Brodmann believed that his partition identified ‘organs of the mind’ – he was convinced that each cortical area subserved a particular function. Indeed, when he joined the Vogts’ laboratory, they had encouraged him to try to understand the organisation of the cortex in light of their main thesis that different cytoarchitectonically defined areas are responsible for specific physiological responses and functions.

There is a deep logic that the Vogts and Brodmann were following. In fact, it is an idea that comes close to being an axiom in biology: function is tied to structure. In the case at hand, parts of the cortex that are structurally different (contain different cell types, cell arrangements, cell density, and so on) carry out different functions. In this manner, they believed they could understand how function is individuated from a detailed characterisation of the underlying microanatomy. They were in search of the functional units of the cortex – where the function could be sensory, motor, cognitive and so on.

Unlike other organs of the body that have more clear-cut boundaries, the cortex’s potential subdivisions are not readily apparent at a macroscopic level. One of the central goals of many neuroanatomists in the first half of the 20th century was to investigate such ‘organs of the mind’ (an objective that persists to this day). A corollary of this research programme was that individual brain regions – say, Brodmann’s area 17 in the back of the brain – implemented specialised mechanisms, in this case related to processing visual sensory stimuli. Therefore, it was vital to understand the operation of individual parts since the area/region was the rightful mechanistic unit to understand how the nervous system works.

Neuroscientists’ interest in brain regions was motivated by the notion that each region executes a particular function. For example, we could say that the function of the primary visual cortex is visual perception, or perhaps a more basic visual mechanism, such as detecting ‘edges’ (sharp light-to-dark transitions) in images. The same type of description can be applied to other sensory and motor areas of the brain. This exercise becomes considerably less straightforward for brain areas that are much less sensory or motor, as their workings become exceedingly difficult to determine and describe. Nevertheless, in theory, we can imagine extending the idea to all parts of the brain. The result of this endeavour would be a list of area-function pairs: L = {(A1, F1), (A2, F2), … , (An, Fn)}, where areas A implement functions F.

There is, however, a serious problem with this endeavour. To date, no such list has been systematically generated. Indeed, current knowledge strongly suggests that this strategy will not yield a simple area-function list. What may start as a simple (A1, F1) pair, is gradually revised as research progresses, and eventually grows to include a list of functions, such that area A1 participates in a series of functions F1, F2, … , Fk. From a basic one-to-one A1 → F1 mapping, the picture evolves to a one-to-many mapping: A1 → {F1, F2, … , Fk}.

If the mapping between structure and function is not one-to-one, then what kind of system is the brain? This is the question the entangled brain concept sets out to tackle. It��s useful to consider two types of information: anatomical and functional. Let’s start with the brain’s massive combinatorial anatomical connectivity. Neurons are constantly exchanging electrochemical signals with one another. Signalling between them is aided by physical cell extensions, called axons, that protrude beyond the cell body for distances from less than 1 mm to around 15 mm in the central nervous system. Axons travelling longer distances typically bundle together along what are called white-matter tracts to distinguish them from tissue composed of neuronal cell bodies, which is called grey matter. Anatomical connectivity, then, can be viewed as a system of roads and highways that supports cell signalling in the brain.

While most connections are local, the brain also maintains an impressive network of medium- and long-distance pathways. To give a rough sense of the dimensions involved, axonal lengths within local brain circuits (such as those within a single Brodmann area) have lengths from less than 1 mm to just under 1 cm. Connections between adjacent and nearby regions can extend between 0.5 to 4 cm, and connections between areas in different lobes, such as between the frontal and the occipital lobes, can reach 15 cm or more.

Although details vary across mammalian species, there’s evidence that the brains of macaque monkeys (a species that has a brain organisation resembling that of humans) are densely interconnected. For example, when scientists looked at any two regions in the cortex, they found that about 60 per cent of the time there’s a direct connection between them (although the strength of the pathway decreases between regions that are farther apart). Notably, the cortex organises medium- and long-distance communication through special regions that act like major transportation hubs, routing and coordinating signals across the entire cortex, much like how major airports serve as central connection points in the global air transportation network.

But that’s just part of the story. Beyond the extensive interconnections found in the cortex, there are multiple ‘connectional systems’ that weave together regions even further. The entire cortex connects to deeper brain structures. We can think of the brain as having distinct sectors. Simplifying somewhat, these are the cortex, the subcortical parts that are physically beneath the cortex in humans, and the brainstem. In the 1980s, it became clear that the cortex and subcortex are part of extensive connectional loops – from cortex to subcortex back to cortex. We now know that the multiple sectors are amply interlinked. What is more, a subcortical structure such as the thalamus, viewed in the past as a relatively passive steppingstone conveying signals to the cortex, is so sweepingly interconnected with the entire cortex that it is perhaps better to think in terms of a cortical-thalamic system. Even subcortical areas believed to mainly control basic functions, like the hypothalamus, which regulates hunger and body temperature among others, have widespread connections throughout the brain. This creates an incredibly intricate connectional web where signals can travel between disparate parts through multiple routes, hence the idea of ‘combinatorial’ connectivity.

What are the implications of the connectional organisation of the brain? The dense nexus of pathways allows for remarkable flexibility in how the brain processes information and controls behaviour. Signals of all types can be exchanged and integrated in multiple ways. All this potential mixing strongly challenges how we traditionally think of the mind and brain in terms of simplistic labels such as ‘perception’, ‘cognition’, ‘emotion’ and ‘action’. I will return to this point later, but the standard view is further challenged by a second principle of brain organisation: highly distributed functional coordination.

Groups of Neurons That Fire In A Coherent Fashion Indicate That They Are Functionally Interrelated

The Roman Empire’s roads, critical to its success, were extensive enough to circle the globe about twice over. In addition to obvious military applications, the road network supported trade, as well as cultural and administrative integration. These economic and cultural relationships and coordination between disparate parts of the empire were sustained by the incredible physical infrastructure known as the cursus publicus. Likewise, in the brain we need to move beyond the anatomical domain (the roads) to functional properties (such as economic and cultural relationships between different parts of the Roman Empire), all the more because neuroscientists themselves often focus too much on anatomical features.

In the brain, functional relationships between neuronal signals are detected across multiple spatial scales – from the local scale of neurons within a brain area to larger scales involving signals originating from the grey matter of different lobes (such as the frontal and parietal lobes, many centimetres apart). By signals, we mean the electrical activity of neurons that is directly recorded via microelectrodes inserted into grey matter (ie, neuronal tissue), measured indirectly when using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in humans, or possibly via other measurement techniques.

What kinds of functional relationships are detected? An important one is that signals from different sites exhibit synchronised neuronal activity. This is notable because groups of neurons that fire in a coherent fashion indicate that they are functionally interrelated, and potentially part of a common process. Different types of signal coordination are believed to reflect processes such as attention and memory, among others. Additional types of relationships are detected mathematically, too, such as whether the strength of the response in one brain area is related to the temporal evolution of signals in a disparate location. In the brain, we identify signal relationships that are indicators of joint functions between regions, much like detecting cultural exchanges between separate parts of the Roman Empire via evidence of shared artefacts or language patterns.

When signals are measured from two sites within a local patch (say, a few millimetres across), it is not too surprising to find notable functional relationships between them (eg, their neuronal activity is correlated), as neurons likely receive similar inputs and are locally connected. Yet, we also observe functional relationships between neuronal signals from locations that are situated much farther apart and, critically, between brain parts that are not directly anatomically connected – there is no direct axonal connection between them.

How does this happen? There is evidence that signal coordination between regions depends more on the total number of possible communication routes between them than on the existence of direct connections between points A and B. For example, although regions A and B are not anatomically connected, they both connect to region C, which thus serves as a bridge between them. Even more circuitous paths can unite A and B, much like flying between two cities that have no direct flights and require multiple layovers. In such a manner, the brain creates functional partnerships that take advantage of all possible ways through its intricate pathways. This helps explain how the brain can be so remarkably flexible, sustaining different partnerships between regions depending on what we’re doing, thinking or feeling at any given moment.

When we consider the highways traversing the brain and how signals establish behaviourally relevant relationships across the central nervous system, we come to an important insight. In a highly interconnected system, to understand function, we need to shift away from thinking in terms of individual brain regions. The functional unit is not to be found at the level of the brain area, as commonly proposed. Instead, we need to consider neuronal ensembles distributed across multiple brain regions, much like the murmuration of starlings forms a single pattern from the collective behaviour of individual birds.

There are many instances of distributed neuronal ensembles. Groups of neurons extending over cortical (say, prefrontal cortex and hippocampus) and subcortical (say, amygdala) regions form circuits that are important for learning what is threatening and what is safe. Such multiregion circuits are ubiquitous; fMRI studies in humans have shown that the brain is organised in terms of large-scale networks that stretch across the cortex as well as subcortical territories. For example, the so-called ‘salience network’ (suggested to be engaged when significant events are encountered) spans brain regions in the frontal and parietal lobes, among others, and can also be viewed as a neuronal ensemble.

Whether we consider ensembles in the case of brain circuits or large-scale networks, the associated neuronal groupings should be viewed as strongly context dependent and dynamic. That is to say, they are not fixed entities but instead form dynamically to meet current situational requirements. Accordingly, they will dynamically assemble and disassemble as per behavioural needs. The implication of this view is that whereas brain regions A, B and C might generally be active together in dealing with a specific type of behaviour, in some contexts, we will also observe an ensemble that encompasses region D, or instead the ensemble {A, C, D} that meets slightly different requirements. In all, neuronal ensembles constitute an extremely malleable functional unit.

Think of how an orchestra works during a complex piece of music. The string section might split into different groups, with some violins joining the woodwinds for one musical phrase while others harmonise with the cellos. Later, these groupings shift completely for a different passage. The brain works in a related way: rather than recruiting fixed regions, it forms flexible aggregations that assemble and disassemble based on what we’re doing, thinking or feeling. This builds on what we learned about the brain’s extensive physical connections and the coordinated activity across regions. These features make the formation of ensembles possible.

Brain Regions Can Participate In Multiple Networks Simultaneously And Shift Their Roles As Needed

As is common in science, these ideas have a long genealogy. In 1949, the Canadian psychologist Donald Hebb proposed that the brain’s ability to generate coherent thoughts derives from the spatiotemporal orchestration of neuronal activity. He hypothesised that a discrete, strongly interconnected group of active neurons called the cell assembly represents a distinct mental entity, such as a thought or an emotion. Yet, these ideas have taken a long time to mature, not least due to technical limitations in measuring signals simultaneously across the brain, and the relative insularity of experimental neuroscience from other disciplines, such as computer science, mathematics and physics.

Just as a symphony emerges from both the individual instruments and how they play together, brain function emerges from both the regions themselves and their dynamic interactions. Scientists are finding that we can’t understand complex mental processes by studying individual brain regions in isolation, any more than we could understand a symphony by listening to each instrument separately.

What’s particularly fascinating is that these brain assemblages overlap and change over time. Just as a violin might be part of the string section in one moment and join a smaller ensemble in the next, brain regions can participate in multiple networks simultaneously and shift their roles as needed. But note that, in this view, even brain networks aren’t seen as constituted of fixed sets of regions; instead, they are dynamic coalitions that form and dissolve based on the brain’s changing needs. This flexibility helps explain how the brain can support such a wide range of complex behaviours using a limited number of regions.

Categories such as perception, cognition, action, emotion and motivation are not only the titles of introductory textbooks, but reflect how psychologists and neuroscientists conceptualise the organisation of the mind and brain. They seek to subdivide the brain into territories that have preferences for processes that support a specific type of mental activity. Some parts handle perception, such as the back of the head and its involvement in vision, or the front of the brain and its role in cognition. And so on. The decomposition of the mind-brain adopted by many neuroscientists follows an organisation that is called modular. Modularity here refers to the idea that the brain consists of specialised, relatively independent components or modules that each handle specific mental functions, much like distinct parts in a machine that work together but perform separate operations.

Yet, a modular organisation, popular as it is among neuroscientists, is inconsistent with the principles of the anatomical and functional neuroarchitecture discussed here. The brain’s massive combinatorial connectivity and highly distributed functional coordination defy clean compartmentalisation. The extensive bidirectional pathways spanning the entire brain create crisscrossing connectional systems that dissolve potential boundaries between traditional mental domains (cognition, emotion, etc).

Anxiety, PTSD, Depression And So On Should Be Viewed As System-Level Entities

Brain regions dynamically affiliate with multiple networks in a context-dependent manner, forming coalitions that assemble and disassemble based on current demands. This interactional complexity means that functions aren’t localised to discrete modules but emerge from decentralised coordination across multiregion assemblies. The properties that emerge from these interactions cannot be reduced to individual components, making a strict modular framework inadequate for capturing the brain’s entangled nature.

Why is the brain so entangled, and thus so unlike human-engineered systems? Brains have evolved to provide adaptive responses to challenges faced by living beings, promoting survival and reproduction – not to solve isolated cognitive or emotional problems. In this context, even the mental vocabulary of neuroscience and psychology (attention, cognitive control, fear, etc), with origins disconnected from the study of animal behaviour, provides problematic theoretical pillars. Instead, approaches inspired by evolutionary considerations provide better scaffolds to sort out the relationships between brain structure and function.

The implications of the entangled brain are substantial for the understanding of healthy and unhealthy brain processes. It is common for scientists to seek a single, unique source of psychological distress. For example, anxiety or PTSD is the result of an overactive amygdala; depression is caused by deficient serotonin provision; drug addiction is produced by dopamine oversupply. But, according to the ideas described here, we should not expect unique determinants for psychological states.

Anxiety, PTSD, depression and so on should be viewed as system-level entities. Alterations across several brain circuits, spanning multiple brain regions, are almost certainly involved. As a direct consequence, healthy or unhealthy states should not be viewed as emotional, motivational or cognitive. Such classification is superficial and neglects the intermingling that results from anatomical and functional brain organisation.

We should also not expect to find a single culprit, not even at the level of distributed neuronal ensembles. The conditions in question are too heterogeneous and varied across individuals; they won’t map to a single alteration, including at the distributed level. In fact, we should not expect a temporally constant type of disturbance, as brain processes are highly context-dependent and dynamic. Variability in the very dynamics will contribute to how mental health experiences are manifested.

In the end, we need to stop seeking simple explanations for complex mind-brain processes, whether they are viewed as healthy or unhealthy. That’s perhaps the most general implication of the entangled brain view: that the functions of the brain, like the murmurations of starlings, are more complicated and more mysterious than its component parts.

— Luiz Pessoa is director of Maryland Neuroimaging Center, principal investigator at the Laboratory of Cognition and Emotion, and professor of psychology at the University of Maryland. He is the author of The Cognitive-Emotional Brain (2013) and The Entangled Brain (2022). Edited By Sam Dresser

[the-most-humble-blog]

🧠 HUMAN LOGIC IS A BIOLOGICAL TOOL, NOT A UNIVERSAL TRUTH — DEAL WITH IT 🧠

🔪 Your Brain’s Favorite Lie: That Logic Is “Objective”.

Let’s stop playing nice. Your logic—your beautiful, beloved, oh-so-precious sense of what “makes sense”—is not divine. It’s not universal. It’s not even reliable. It’s a biologically evolved, meat-based survival mechanism, no more sacred than your gag reflex or the way your pupils dilate in the dark.

You’re walking around with a 3-pound wet sponge between your ears—trained over millions of years not to “understand the universe,” but to keep your ugly, vulnerable ass alive just long enough to breed. That’s it. That’s your heritage. That’s the entire raison d’être of your logic: don’t get eaten, don’t starve, and hopefully, bone someone before you drop dead.

But somewhere along the line, that same glitchy chunk of gray matter started patting itself on the back. We started believing that our interpretations of reality somehow were reality—that our logic, rooted in the same neural sludge as tribal fear and monkey politics, could actually comprehend the totality of existence.

Newsflash: it can’t. It won’t. It was never meant to.

💀 Evolution Didn’t Build You for Truth—It Built You to Cope.

Why do we think the universe must obey our logic? Because it feels good. Because it comforts us. Because a cosmos that operates on cause-effect, fairness, and binary resolution is safe. But here’s the raw, uncaring truth: the universe doesn’t give a shit about what “makes sense” to you.

Your ancestors didn’t survive because they could contemplate quantum mechanics. They survived because they could run from predators, recognize tribal cues, and avoid eating poisonous berries. That’s what your brain is optimized for. You don’t “think” so much as you react, pattern-match, and rationalize after the fact.

Logic is just another story we tell ourselves—an illusion of control layered over biological impulses. And we’ve mistaken the map for the terrain. Worse—we’ve convinced ourselves that if something defies our version of logic, it must be false.

Nah. If anything defies your logic, that just means your logic is insufficient. And it is.

📉 Spaghetti Noodle vs Earthquake: A Metaphor for Your Mind.

Imagine trying to measure a 9.7-magnitude earthquake using a cooked spaghetti noodle.

That’s what it’s like when a human tries to understand the totality of the universe using evolved meat-brain logic. It bends. It flails. It doesn't register. And when it inevitably fails, what do we do? We don't question the noodle—we deny the earthquake.

"This doesn't make sense!" we scream. "That can't be true!" we bark. "It contradicts reason!" we whine.

Your reason? Please. Your “reason” is the product of biochemical slop shaped by evolutionary shortcuts and social conditioning. You’re trying to compress infinite reality through the Play-Doh Fun Factory that is the prefrontal cortex—and you think the result is objective truth?

Try harder.

👁 Our Logic Is Not Only Limited—It’s Delusional 👁

Humans are addicted to the idea that things must “make sense.” But that urge isn’t noble. It’s a coping mechanism—a neurotic tic that keeps us from curling into a ball and sobbing at the abyss.

We don’t want truth. We want familiarity. We want logic to confirm our biases, reinforce our sense of superiority, and keep our mental snow globes intact.

This is why people still argue against things like:

Multiverse theories (“that just doesn’t make sense!”)

Non-binary time constructs (“how can time not be linear?”)

Quantum entanglement (“spooky action at a distance sounds made-up!”)

AI emergence (“machines can’t think!”)

We call them “impossible” because they offend the Church of Human Logic. But the universe doesn’t follow our rules—it just does what it does, whether or not it fits inside our skulls.

🧬 Logic Is a Neural Shortcut, Not a Cosmic Law 🧬

Every logical deduction you make, every syllogism you love, is just a cascade of neurons firing in meat jelly. And while that may feel profound, it’s no more “objective” than a cat reacting to a laser pointer.

Let’s break it down clinically:

Neural pathways = habitual responses

Reasoning = post-hoc justification

“Logic” = pattern recognition + cultural programming

Sure, logic feels universal because it's consistent within certain frameworks. But that’s the trap. You build your logic inside a container, and then get mad when things outside that container don’t obey the same rules.

That's not a flaw in reality. That's a flaw in you.

📚 Science Bends the Knee, Too 📚

Even science—our most sacred institution of “objectivity”—is limited by human logic. We create models of reality not because they are reality, but because they’re the best our senses and brains can grasp.

Think about it:

Newton’s laws were “truth” until Einstein showed up.

Euclidean geometry was “truth” until curved space said “lol nope.”

Classical logic ruled until Gödel proved that even logic can’t fully explain itself.

We’re not marching toward truth. We’re crawling through fog, occasionally bumping into reality, scribbling notes about what it might be—then mistaking those notes for the cosmos itself.

And every time the fog clears a bit more, we realize how hilariously wrong we were. But instead of accepting that we're built to misunderstand, we cling to the delusion that next time we’ll finally “get it.”

Spoiler: we won’t.

🌌 Alien Minds Would Find Us Adorable 🌌

Imagine a being with cognition not rooted in flesh. A silicon-based intelligence. A 4D consciousness. A non-corporeal entity who doesn’t rely on dopamine hits to feel “true.”

What would they think of our logic?

They’d laugh.

Our logic would seem as quaint as a toddler’s crayon drawing of a black hole. Our syllogisms? A joke. Our “laws of physics”? Regional dialects of a much deeper syntax. To them, we’d be flatlanders trying to explain volume.

And the real kicker? They wouldn’t even hate us for it. They’d just look at our little blogs and tweets and peer-reviewed papers and whisper: “Aw, they’re trying.”

💣 You Are Not a Philosopher-King. You Are a Biochemical Coin Flip.

Don’t get it twisted. You are not some detached, floating brain being logical for logic’s sake. Every thought you have is drenched in emotion, evolution, and instinct. Even your "rationality" is soaked in bias and cultural conditioning.

Let’s prove it:

Ever “logically” justify a bad relationship because you feared loneliness?

Ever dismiss an argument you didn’t like even though it made sense?

Ever ignore data that threatened your worldview, then called it “flawed”?

Congratulations. You’re human. You don’t want truth. You want safety. And logic, for most of you, is just a mask your fears wear to sound smart.

🪓 We Have to Kill the God of Logic Before It Kills Us.

Our worship of logic as some kind of untouchable deity has consequences:

It blinds us to truths that don’t “compute.”

It makes us hostile to mystery, paradox, and ambiguity.

It turns us into arrogant gatekeepers of “rationality,” dismissing what we can’t explain.

That’s why Western culture mocks intuition, fears spirituality, and rejects phenomena it can’t immediately dissect. If it doesn’t bow to the metric system or wear a lab coat, it’s seen as “woo.”

But here’s the paradox:

The deepest truths may be the ones that never fit inside your head. And if you cling to logic too tightly, you’ll miss them. Hell—you might not even know they exist.

⚠️ So What Now? Do We Just Give Up? ⚠️

No. We don’t throw logic away. We just stop treating it like a universal measuring stick.

We use it like what it is: a tool. A hammer, not a temple. A flashlight, not the sun. Logic is helpful within a context. It’s fantastic for building bridges, writing code, or diagnosing illnesses. But it breaks down when used on the unquantifiable, the infinite, the beyond-the-body.

Here’s how we survive without losing our minds:

Stay skeptical of your own thoughts. If it “makes sense,” ask: to whom? Why? Is that logic—or is it just comfort?

Let mystery exist. You don’t need to solve every riddle. Some truths aren’t puzzles—they’re paintings.

Defer to the unknown. Accept that your brain is not the final word. Sometimes silence is smarter than syllogisms.

Interrogate the framework. When you say “this doesn’t make sense,” maybe the problem isn’t the idea—it’s the limits of your logic.

Don’t gatekeep reality. Just because you can’t wrap your mind around something doesn’t mean it’s false. It might just mean you’re not ready.

🎤 Final Thought: You’re a Dumb Little God—And That’s Beautiful.

You are a confused primate running wetware logic on blood and breath. You hallucinate meaning. You invent consistency. You call those inventions “truth.”

And the universe? The universe just is. It doesn’t bend for your brain. It doesn’t wait for your approval. It doesn’t owe you legibility.

So maybe the wisest thing you’ll ever do is this:

Stop pretending you’re built to understand everything. Start living like you’re here to witness the absurdity and be humbled by it.

Now go question everything—especially yourself.

🔥 REBLOG if your logic just got kicked in the teeth. 🔥 FOLLOW if you’re ready for more digital crowbars to the ego. 🔥 COMMENT if your meat-brain is having an existential meltdown right now.

[gallifreyinstituteforlearning]

Hello, let's say one would like to court a Gallifreyan: what would be the (general) best course of action and what is best to avoid.

How should you court a Gallifreyan?

Of course! Courting a Gallifreyan can be a bit of a minefield, so here's a general overview of pointers you may find helpful:

🧠 Be intellectually stimulating: Gallifreyans have brains bigger than their egos, and they adore a good intellectual debate. Your comprehensive knowledge of 21st-century reality TV shows won't score points, but a deep dive into the existential implications of time travel might just do the trick.

🍽️ Pick the right meal: Go for refined dishes or dishes that have historical or cultural importance. Gallifreyan taste buds are finely tuned instruments: a diverse range of flavours is welcome, while a chilli pepper apocalypse is probably not.

❌ Avoid mind games: Attempting strange human customs like "hard to get" with a five-dimensional being is idiotic. Not only could most Gallifreyans find these concepts primitive and pointless, but also confusing.

🫨 Don't be overly emotional or impulsive: A lot of Gallifreyans value control and stoicism over emotions. Engaging them on an emotional level is extremely rewarding, but it can take a while to get there. Trying to do this too early can scare them off.

🙏 Be forgiving: Gallifreyans, and Time Lords especially, can be insensitive and pompous. Their sense of superiority might slip out ('Oh, you still use linear time? Quaint!'). Don't take any of this personally, or else you're in for a very short courtship.

🌍 Choose good date locations: Your date's idea of a wild night likely involves a lecture on quantum entanglement rather than a rave. Keep your date locations less Ministry of Sound and more BBC4/PBS.

🤫 Keep it quiet: Don't pick overly crowded or chaotic places to go - a bustling environment might distract their telepathic senses, turning your date into a telepathic traffic jam where they're too busy listening to what all the drivers are saying to bother listening to you.

👏 Laud their achievements: Nothing warms Gallifreyan hearts like recognition of their brilliance, so remember to nod and say, 'ooo, you're so clever!' every so often.

🤲 Show respect for Gallifreyan traditions and customs: Even if you don't fully understand them, acknowledging and appreciating their cultural heritage can go a long way.

😍 Take it slow: Many Gallifreyans don't place the same level of importance on physical intimacy that some humans do. Make sure to build a foundation of mutual consent and respect before exploring that aspect of the relationship if you require it.

🔮 Embrace Telepathy: Just as some humans might require physical intimacy, for some Gallifreyans, intimacy might involve a telepathic connection. Don't shy away from this even if it's mainly one-way traffic.

Despite all of this, remember that every Gallifreyan is unique, with their personality traits, interests, and views. Tailor your approach based on the individual you're courting.

Related:

How should you court a member of Faction Paradox/a Celesti?: Advice on dating someone from Faction Paradox/a Celesti.

How do Gallifreyans flirt?: How Gallifreyans approach flirting

Factoid: What gift would suit my Gallifreyan and their biology?

Hope that helped! 😃

More content ... →📫Got a question? | 📚Complete list of Q+A and factoids →😆Jokes |🩻Biology |🗨️Language |🕰️Throwbacks |🤓Facts →🫀Gallifreyan Anatomy and Physiology Guide (pending) →⚕️Gallifreyan Emergency Medicine Guides →📝Source list (WIP) →📜Masterpost If you're finding your happy place in this part of the internet, feel free to buy a coffee to help keep our exhausted human conscious. She works full-time in medicine and is so very tired 😴

[susandsnell]

Hello new mutual!! 🌈 ❤️ 🧠 for the fandom ask game!!

Hiya new mutual! So lovely to make your acquaintance and bond over horror haterdom opinions! Sorry for the delay on this, but hope you enjoy, and thanks for sending!

Fandom Ask Game

🌈- Character you have queer headcanons for: Gosh, it's hard to think of a character I don't have queer headcanons for, but I'll try to list some with non canonical confirmation - Christine Daae is bi and genderfluid and Meg Giry is a lesbian (Phantom of the Opera, any iteration), ditto for Elphaba and Glinda respectively (+ bi Fiyero), Katniss Everdeen and Johanna Mason are lesbians (and I don't even like the Hunger Games!), as is Nina Sayers of Black Swan, show!Daniel Molloy is gay on Interview With the Vampire, Xion of Kingdom Hearts is a nonbinary lesbian, and Batman Returns Selina Kyle is transfeminine, to name a few.

❤️ - Ship that you could write 100 fics for: oh to be able to finish even at least one fic or get inspiration for one probably the Scarecrow, Jonathan Crane and Becky Albright of DC comics, also known as JonBecky, Carrie White/Sue Snell, or Megstine, or just about any IWTV ship (no really any). And of course, Susannah Sonn and Sheila Nail of Love In Hate Nation.

🧠- What fictional character do you relate to the most? Golly, this is a tough one as this varies from month to month. To name a few off the top of my head - Sarah Chagal of the little known German jukebox musical Tanz der Vampire is a curly haired petite Jewish gothic heroine who wants to eschew the expectations of being a nice Jewish girl and go be a vampire queen, and the battle for her soul sequence between Shabbos candles and the call of the vampire castle was perhaps directly engineered to speak to me. Otherwise, the narrator of The Moth Diaries is yet another nice Jewish girl entangled with vampires and she's a lesbian dealing with specific familial grief to boot (don't @ me) and the diaries could've at points scanned parts of my brain. Louis de Pointe du Lac's guilt and grief and turmoil speaks to me profoundly. Otherwise, as a teenager, Avatar Korra, Peter Quill, Marty McFly, Jeremy Heere, and Beatrice (of Much Ado About Nothing) were Just Like Me FR. I felt uncannily seen as well by Peter Graham of Hereditary. And of course, at times I am Carrie White and at others I am Sue Snell. This is likely non-exhaustive, so I do very much apologize!!!

Thanks so much for sending this. <3

[tokyokookmin]

2023 Updates - guidelines and necessary information

Hey all, tokyokookmin here. First, thank you, everyone, for the immense support from the previous posts. I adore all of you tokyokookminies. I'm so grateful for this growing fam.

The main intention I made this post is to update all my 'followers' about the blog's current state and my plans.

As you guys have seen (if y'all did, lol), I changed up a little of my layout.

How is it? Do you guys like it? It's much nicer 😂.

I'm getting closer to replacing the old masterlist with my main "#JIKOOK moments/compilations series" (coming out soon) as I feel that series brings out the best of me in terms of my jikookery brain (lol). Another reason why is because all of the posts from that series are hit posts (it is for me, lol.)

2. Blog Guidelines

No longer answering asks from taekookers

I have been on a hiatus for the past year. I'm slowly reconnecting with this blog once again after focusing on myself. But even before that, I had completely quit answering asks from tkkrs. I simply no longer want to be a part of this childish war and be a part of another drama. It is draining and I don't want to be entangled in any of this anymore. Yes, If I find a particular ask totally exorbitant, you will see my posting that but other than that. Absolutely no. All of them are going into the trash box and I'm definitely blocking them.

I will only answer Jikook-related asks / Requests for my Jikook posts series / Anything minkook.

I hope I have made this clear enough for everyone. Don't come to me rant or to diss and humiliate other Jikook blogs on my page. I will not attend to that. Of course, you can ask me jikook kinds of stuff like sharing -- jikook tweets, asking me to describe/explain a certain moment or whatever jikook content you want to share on my page. I'll also allow you to promote your jikook tweets or whatever content you have out there as long as it's appropriate. Also, before this info leaves my clogged brain, I will not answer any asks from insecure jikookers. For the love of god if you call yourself a jikooker, have faith and confidence in them. This is something I have learn't myself too. And I'm not going to post any information regarding jikooks address or anything personal. I noticed that Koreans jikookers love to send me their personal information but I will only read them and will not post them as it is a breach of their privacy.

Apart from that, as you all know... I'm rather famous for my #JIKOOK moments posts, so if you would like to give me a few suggestions or requests for a particular type of content, go ahead and send them in!

No Solo's

No one likes these kind of people. So do I. If you think of wasting your time ranting on either JK/JM about how great they are as individuals and setting a negative narrative about them. Get out of here. I'll either delete your ask OR I'll respond to it if it really annoyed me.

3) About the DM's

About that, all of you minkookies are welcome to my DM'S to chat and share Jikook posts or even ask me for links whatsoever. But you need to be following me for at least a week before you are able to DM me and that same thing applies to my comments in the posts.

4) Posts plans

My brain 🧠 is full of ideas and me being a blogger, I got lots of content lined up. But don't forget that I'm also human and I have work. Posts will be released once I have approved it since I'm a very fussy lady. I need and want all of my contents to be great before I posts them. You can expect posts coming every few weeks. I'm not a daily basis blogger by the way. Lol.

Currently working on - the series masterlist, jikook genuine connection part 2, jikook vocals PT 2 since y'all liked it soo much and even requested for them. I couldn't never possibly deny y'all 😭.

I think that's about all what I wanted to say . I'm leaving this post here for y'all to be updated. Please do take note and share it ya. Have a great day jikookies . 💜💜

[coffeeheartaddict2]

This Life (8/13) A question of principles

Book: Open Heart (book 1)

Pairing: Ethan Ramsey x Casey Valentine

Warnings: ***trigger Warning- this series deals with addiction and abandonment- reader discretion advised****

Language, sexual references, mentions of character death

Rating: Mature

Summary: Ethan’s secret is exposed, Miami. These events make Ethan question more deeply some of his most deep seated principles.

Disclaimer: Characters, plot points and dialogues (actual and paraphrased) belong to Pixelberry.

🫀🧠🫀🧠🫀🧠🫀🧠🫀🧠

The competition was now happening. The only intern I care about is Casey and she nearly lost a patient. She tracks me down to give me an update. I tell her she is lucky that she has another chance. I then ask her if she will help me test out the FMRI machine. I did not know what questions to expect but when she asked me about attending/resident relationships, I told her that the attending is to teach and that any romantic entanglements is from neurochemical responses due to heightened stress and regular exposure. A part of me does, has to believe it if I am being honest with myself but there is something about Casey I know that is different, she could never be an arrangement like I had with Harper but long term, surely not. We finish up and we head back to work. I eventually get Naveen in and take his scans. I hear that Casey’s patient has a cacophony of things go wrong but handles the situation so much better. I congratulate her and leave. She hands me the scan and I can see she is curious. I say nothing. No one knows that I am treating Naveen and I need it to stay that way.

The competition is running. The other attendings give daily ratings and I post the ratings weekly and it is just giving me more work to do. Casey is improving weekly which I am pleased about but she is the only person I am caring about in this goddamn competition. Naveen has me worried. He is now in sepsis and Panacea have been researching new treatments but I am getting nowhere and it is frustrating. It is meaning having to go to the medical symposium. Already I am filled with dread. Declan Nash.I have managed to keep panacea out, and I want them out. Hopefully I can get what I need without compromising the team.

I thought he was doing a great job of not being discovered but I am wrong. I look up from Naveen and I see a shocked Casey. I go out and I ask her not to tell anyone. She tells me that if she wants me to keep it secret she needs to know fully what the secret is. I am torn. Can I trust anyone like this again but it appears I am left with little choice. I know I should not be inviting her over to my house but where to discuss this. It was the only place that I knew we would be truly alone. The time comes. The only thing that I am concerned about is whether I can keep it as professional as possible. The intercom buzzes and I let Casey in. My brain is a jumble of thoughts, Casey makes a comment about the view and all I do is quickly dismiss it by stating I am rarely here to enjoy it and hope that covers the thoughts of impropriety that are running through my mind. I offer her a glass of wine, and internally chastise myself. “You wanted this to be professional then what are you doing?”

Casey allows me be in control of the timing for the evening. I tell her how Naveen had become unwell and how at the beginning it appeared to be a seasonal illness until it was not. The forgetfulness, the body not doing what it should, kidney issues. When it got too hard to hide, he quit. I persuaded him to let me treat him in secret but I keep coming up empty. She puts her hand on my knee, I do not flinch but muster all the will power to not take it further. We discuss the case, as the evening goes on I feel lighter, unburdened. She assures me I am no longer alone in this. She leaves. I switch to scotch. “I am no longer alone.” The phrase hits me. I know that she is talking about the secret of me treating Naveen but given the death of Delores, everything with Naveen and the changed dynamic with Harper, I had never felt more alone. Then my thoughts go to her hand on my knee and my lack of removing it. Am I that starved for physical touch? Then my mind goes to our interactions. Could I be getting feelings for her of more than professional? No, I tell myself. It is just a neurochemical response from heightened stress I tell myself. Then I remember the tingle in my arm on that first day and I knew that there was no way that was neurochemical. My thoughts then go to our roles and how much of a hypocrite I am. I ended the arrangement with Harper as she was now my superior but here I was entertaining the thought of a relationship with a subordinate. All I knew is that I had someone to help with Naveen and someone who appeared to be someone I could trust. I head to bed, I then masturbate to the thoughts of what I wanted to do to Casey. I wait for the regret and cycle of self loathing but tonight it does not come, tonight there is a feeling of peace and I have the best night sleep I have had in a long time.

A few days later I see Casey. She said it felt good to do what it takes. I also know that she has kept my secret about treating Naveen. Which is of great relief but also comforting knowing that I am not alone anymore. I squeeze her arm affectionately, congratulating her on her win but also for keeping my secret. It was a gesture of appreciation on the surface but I knew it had a deeper meaning and then I spotted Harper. She had to have seen it and I was proved right a mere hour later when she confronted me about my feelings for Dr Valentine. I deny it, even though I know I am lying. There are feelings that I am denying but I have too. In a bid to prove Harper wrong I assign Casey a challenging patient. She is affronted and I do not blame her, the accusation that I was punishing her for knowing about Naveen hurt but I did not want to tell her I was proving a point that I was not favouring her in any way. To my relief she figures out the situation with Mr Platt. I tear him a new one when Casey figures it out. The disrespect he showed Casey and myself was not called for. I was glad that she did not give up despite wanting too and I hoped it showed her that all our patients no matter how rude deserved our due diligence.

The competition goes on. I swear the interns get more and more rabid each week and each week Casey is improving. I try to keep the work she is doing with me in secret out of the competition standings but I can tell that the secret patient is helping her with all her others and her professional confidence is sky high. I can tell Naveen is enjoying the extra company also. He is getting a knowing glint in his eye however. I ignore it. My mind does drift to getting Casey to go with me to the conference in Miami. I still had not heard and I was hoping someone who was not me would be able to get the information I wanted. I was also reluctant to leave Naveen but I had to do this. The results for the week were due the day before I flew out. I was hoping Casey would be number one but even if she was not, she certainly was the most improved intern and surely that needed rewarding. The results are out and Casey is on top, I am proud of her and relieved. I know she has worked hard within the hospital and deserved it. I then announce that Casey will be coming with me to the conference. Harper is shocked and annoyed. I then state that it will give Casey good insight into the industry and also it would be easier if I took her then hiring an assistant for the duration. The reality though starts to sink in. We have enjoyed a great working relationship which has translated into her results of late but the line is blurring and the feelings I have are getting harder to ignore, no matter how much I tell myself I am imagining them or that she is my subordinate. I know it will be a test of my fortitude, one that I have to pass if I am to continue to be a good mentor to her.

Conference time and it does not take long for people to want me. I send Casey to get us checked in and I am shocked that we have one room. We have to make it work. I tell her I will happily take the couch. I then feel bad for using her to get the information I want as we head to the floor and I can see the disappointment when she questions me if she is truly the top intern. I tell her it is genuine, I would have come up with another reason for her to come. She thankfully agrees but state she is only doing this for Naveen. I stay out of sight but close to hear what is happening. It frustrates me that Declan cottoned onto me being involved but I am not surprised. Casey is apologetic but I do not blame her. It is not her fault that Declan still holds a grudge against me for embarrassing him in public. We head to our suite. Instead of celebrating we would be commiserating. After shoving all thoughts of impropriety deep they head to the reception. We part ways early. Something I am thankful for. I engage some of the doctors in some insipid small talk. I eventually find my way to a poker table and I do not know what to feel seeing Casey there. I can see she is making a play for the information but I can see her struggle to come up with some terms. I refuse to let her sacrifice herself for the cause so I step in to take Casey’s place. I know I will regret this but I offer Declan what he has always wanted. The right to conduct medical research on developmental drugs and using the team as a vehicle in that. The game is tense and I have 4 kings, a hand that I know is a winning one but do I lie and say he is winning? He said he would give me the information but me besting him so publicly would make it difficult to get what I require. I decided lying is the risk I need to take and it paid off. He was looking smug but gave me what I wanted. I knew I had a panacea sized problem I needed to solve and I knew that if Naveen found out I would not hear the end of it but he was worth it. We head back to the room and the balcony. The beverages we had at the reception and the bottle of wine I ordered were lowering my inhibitions and god Casey was looking more gorgeous than ever. Before I know it I am kissing Casey and she reciprocates. We stay at the railing and continue, my hands could not get enough of her and her breast was more supple than I ever imagined. She heads into the bed and I follow. All the thoughts of what I wanted to do to her running wild but then the cycle of reasons not to kick in as I crossed the threshold. I do badly want to ignore it but I know I could not go back to being just an intern and attending if I continued. Casey is hurt and I do not blame her but I can not be responsible for ruining her career before it begins. She is hurt and so am I. After she has gone to bed I have a shower, even an icy cold blast does not kill my erection. The session is intense and the guilt and self loathing returns.

To say things are awkward is an understatement. Even Naveen has picked up on the change of dynamics. Neither of us tell him what happened or didn’t happen in Miami but something tells me he somehow knows just by looking at us. The sepsis treatment appears to be working but then he coughs up blood and we have to do some lab work. Casey confronts me about us. She wishes I stop lying to myself. I know I am but I have too. I know she is being the subject of malicious gossip and sabotage but I can not pursue what I want with her. If I do, the rumours will be worse, given her position in the competition. I know the achievements are hers and hers alone. We continue to work but it is hard.

I am dirty with myself for Casey and now for getting Panacea into the hospital. The deal with the devil was necessary but now their appeared to be no way out. I witness something that did not look right and it involved Casey. She assures me that everything is fine and I do not need to worry. I do, however.

I do not give it a second thought until we all hear that our long time patient Mrs Martinez died in Argentina and that the family are bringing the body back for a full autopsy. She tracks me down in the cafeteria. She tells me everything. On one level I was proud of her but also saddened as she could potentially be throwing away all that she worked hard for. I take her to the opera. I am awaiting some test results for Naveen but it appears I am not getting them tonight. I narrate the opera for her. I can see that she sees the same parallels I see. I upturn my hand to meet hers and our fingers intertwine. I chastise myself briefly, but her hand in mine just feels so right. The opera ends and she is emotional. She kisses me. I kiss back and pull away. “Us, it is complicated.” I knew I was lying, us could not happen, it is unethical, she is my subordinate and winning the competition, a relationship with me would tarnish all that she has worked for and she did not deserve that.

“Well for me it is not.” I should rebuke her but I want to kiss her again one last time. So that is what I do. The house lights come on and we break the kiss. We go our separate ways home. I know if I took her we would end up at mine and as much as I wanted her up against my windows writhing in sheer ecstasy, it could and would not happen. Instead I drink to stop the thought. Naveen is getting worse, Delores and if an investigation is called for what happened with Mrs Martinez I know Casey could end up gone. The common thread is me. I am a poisoned chalice, I know Delores decided to wait with the baby but I was still involved, Naveen dying and Casey. Then I look back on all the relationships that I have cared about with someone, Estelle, Tobias, Harper, Naveen, Delores, Casey, Louise. They all have one thing in common.Me. In that moment I am alone, more alone than when I was when Louise walked out, it is now that I concede that I am unworthy, unloveable and as much as it was painful, that I was better off alone. I scream then cry and fall into a troubled sleep, the images of a torn Casey taunting me in my dreams.

The next day comes and my worst suspicions with Casey and Naveen are confirmed. The latest round of tests show that Naveen only has a month to live. I know he will not want to stay and I could not feel like any more than a failure. Casey is also being investigated, well the whole group but I know she will be hard pushed for anything fair, given how much of the ethics committee is in the back pocket of Panacea and Declan.

The test results shake me a lot, I know Casey needs me as her mentor but I have failed her too and she does not need to be tarnished by any association with me so I do what I do best and shut her out.

I put off telling Naveen but I know I have too. Casey tracks me down and comes with me. It is harrowing but somehow it is easier with her there. I give Naveen the news. He is not disappointed in me, he knows I gave it my all. It does not make me feel better. He does what I knew he would do and leaves. Me and Casey see him out. Everyone he sees is surprised to see him. We make our way out front. He says goodbye to myself first, giving me a big hug and bids farewell to Casey. We watch him catch the bus. Casey kisses me softly. I return the kiss and kiss down her neck into I burrow my face into the crook of her neck. At that moment I knew what I would do next. We separate and head in. Harper sees us and raises an eyebrow and then asks if it was true about Naveen. I say “He is gone and so am I” as I rip my badge off and hand it to her. Harper is shocked and Casey runs after me and tries to block my exit. She sais she needs me, as well as others but I tell her I am not the doctor she thinks I am. I am holding back tears at this point, I shake my head, let go of her hand and leave. I know I was cruel to her but I was right, she deserved better than me, in every sense of the word.

Authors note: this was hard as I have covered some of this are from Ethan and Casey and trying not to repeat myself too much. Same with the next few chapters to an extent. For those who have read this far thank you

Tagging: @jerzwriter @jamespotterthefirst @genevievemd @liaromancewriter @potionsprefect @tessa-liam @cariantha @binny1985 @schnitzelbutterfingers @a-crepusculo @bex-la-get @crazy-loca-blog

@choicesficwriterscreations @openheartfanfics

[themadornithologist]

The Entangled Brain - How Perception, Cognition, and Emotion Are Woven Together By Luiz Pessoa I've been waiting a long time to read this. 🧠 #Neuroscience #neurosciencestudent #neuroscienceresearch #brainfood #cognitivescience #neurosciencenerd #newbook #brainsaresexy #booksarelife #bookstoread #psychology #quote_of_the_day #bookarts #readathon #readallthebooks #bookandcoffee #bookadict #giftforstudents #bookaddicts #bookbag #readbook #bookaholics #giftart #quoteday #readaloudrevival #readersgonnaread #readacrossamerica #bookalicious www.hannahcrazyhawk.com (at Portland, Oregon) https://www.instagram.com/p/CmAmw3BrBAt/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=