What we can teach strange habits of Albert Einstein
Inspiration / / December 26, 2019
10:00 Seconds sleep and rest breaks
Everyone knows that sleep is beneficial for the brain. Einstein has adopted this truth. He slept for at least 10 hours a day - almost 1.5 times more than the average person.
John Steinbeck, American writerTypically, the problem that bothers you at night, can be easily resolved in the morning after sleeping on it will work committee.
When we fall asleep, the brain passes certain cycles. Every 1.5-2 hours it switches between the surface and deep sleep (in this phase, we spend 60% of sleep), and REM sleep phase.
The first two stages are characterized by rapid bursts of brain activity, during which the brain is able to fix the electroencephalogram spindly zigzag. Such outbreaks are called sleep spindle.
During normal sleep appear thousands of sleep spindle lasting only a few seconds, and that the door slightly open to other stages of sleep. During sleep the thalamus - the brain region responsible for the redistribution of information from the sensory organs and the emergence of sleep spindle, - acts as earplugs. He does not allow external information to stop us sleeping.
Those who have more sleep spindle, have a mobile intelligenceSleep Spindles and Intellectual Ability: Epiphenomenon or Directly Related?.
Movable intelligence - the ability to solve new problems and use logic to see the patterns. He is not responsible for memorizing facts and figures.
Einstein just had a mobile intelligence. That's why he did not like the standard education and advised "never memorize what you can read in a book."
The more you sleep, the more sleep spindle appears. Scientists have found that sleep a night for women and short breaks for sleep in men improve problem-solving skills. It is during these periods occur in brain activity flash, and, consequently, the development of intelligence.
Einstein made regular rest breaks. It is said not to sleep, he took in his hand a spoon and put it under the metal tray. When a scientist for a moment disconnected, spoon noisily he fell and woke him.
daily walks
For Einstein, it was sacred. While working at Princeton University in New Jersey, he took every day for 5 kilometers. And it's not in the maintenance form. There is plenty of evidence that walking improve memory, enhance creativityGive your ideas some legs: The positive effect of walking on creative thinking and the ability to solve problems.
Walk - a relief for the brain.
During her activity in the areas that are responsible for memory, reasoning and language, it is temporarily reduced. Reduced activity changes our way of thinking that leads to outbursts of insight.
Spaghetti
Alas, it is not known what the diet was Einstein. However, they say that he loved spaghetti. Einstein himself joked that he loves Italy of spaghetti and mathematician Levi-Civita.
Our brain consumes 20% of the incoming energy into the body, although its mass is only 2% of body weight (Einstein and even less: his brain weighed 230 g total 1, although the normal weight of about 1400 g). Neurons are constantly demanding carbohydrates, such as glucose. However, despite their love for sweets, the brain can not store energy. Therefore, when the reduced blood sugar levels, its activity decreases.
If we skip the meal, you can feel weakness. Low-carbohydrate diets slow reactionLow-carbohydrate weight-loss diets. Effects on cognition and mood and impair spatial memory. Although a few weeks the brain adapts and begins to get energy from other sources, such as protein.
pipe smoking
Einstein was a heavy smoker. He was always surrounded by a cloud of smoke. He believed that it "promotes calm and objective judgment in all fields of human activity." Scientist even picked up the cigarette butts on the street and shaking the remaining tobacco into the tube.
Now science knows that smoking has a negative impact on brain health: prevents the formation of new cells, attenuate the cortex and leads to oxygen starvation. So it would be more correct to say that Einstein was a genius not because of this habit, but in spite of it.
Refusal of socks
Einstein hated socks. He said: "When I was young, found that because of the thumb holes always appear on his toes. So I stopped wearing them. " And if he could not find his sandals, put on the shoes of his wife Elsa.
Unfortunately, there have been no studies proving the benefit of walking without socks. However revealedThe Cognitive Consequences of Formal ClothingThat fans of casual clothing style show lower results on tests of abstract thinking than those who prefer a formal style.
You can try the habit of Einstein on himself. And suddenly it works?
Albert EinsteinIt is important not to stop questioning. Curiosity has every reason for existence.