... but first... I just bumped into better science that seems to somewhat hold up the idea of creativity/social tank
from my post here:
My figure out the feelings inside my brain/body thread Quote:
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So another update about absolutely needing social stimulation. I'll have to do some research on the internet to see if I can find some scientific papers to back this up.
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Does socializing make us smarter? Quote:
Article lead author Oscar Ybarra* and his colleagues at the University of Michigan explored the possibility that social interaction improves mental functioning. In a series of related studies, they tested the participants' level of cognitive functioning, comparing it to the frequency of participants' social interactions.
They found that people who engaged in social interaction displayed higher levels of cognitive performance than the control group. Social interaction aided intellectual performance.
"Social interaction," the authors suggest, "helps to exercise people's minds. People reap cognitive benefits from socializing," They speculate that social interaction "exercises" cognitive processes that are measured on intellectual tasks. "It is possible," the authors conclude, "that as people engage socially and mentally with others, they receive relatively immediate cognitive boosts."
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And this article says that the subjective experience of lonliness affects gene expression and your immune system:
Loneliness Is A Molecule Quote:
Having previously established that lonely people suffer from higher mortality than people who are not, researchers are now trying to determine whether that risk is a result of reduced social resources, such as physical or economic assistance, or from the biological impact of social isolation on the function of the human body.
"What this study shows is that the biological impact of social isolation reaches down into some of our most basic internal processes the activity of our genes." ...
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"We found that what counts at the level of gene expression is not how many people you know, it's how many you feel really close to over time."
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Well, I'm so interested in this idea, because it seems to suggest that its not a good idea to lock yourself in your room for extremely long times in the name of productivity. And I wanted to make sure I was not crazy for thinking that. So basically it comes down to balance. When you have to work, do it in isolation to avoid distractions, but them don't take it overboard.. so enough of this idea already...