Today's Daily Brain Teaser (Nov 08, 2009)

Spazy Croonerisms 4

A spoonerism is a pair of words that can have their initial sounds switched to form new words. The pairs need only sound the same, not necessarily be spelled the same (power saw & sour paw, horse cart & coarse heart). There may sometimes be one or two connecting words (kick the stone & stick the cone, king of the rats & ring of the cats). Given the following definitions, what are the spoonerisms?

1) overweight dam builder & symptom of a sick flying mammal
2) bottom of the ocean & an insect-bitten dog has this
3) a cooking utensil & a nosy admirer
4) the person in charge of clocks and watches & the result of exposing silent actors to the sun


Check Braingle.com for the answer.

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Today's Daily Trivia Quiz (Nov 08, 2009)

Do They Border?
This is a true/false quiz. Each numbered statement will name two countries. You must try to determine whether or not the countries share a border.

Take the Quiz at Braingle.com

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Vocabulary : Word of the Day : Perspicacious

per-spi-ca-cious

adjective :: Having the power of seeing clearly; quick-sighted; sharp of sight.

"Dan much too perspicacious to be fooled by the con-artist."

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Creativity : Left vs Right Brain Thinking

As we know, the two hemispheres of the brain think in different ways. The left brain tends to be logical and analytical, while the right brain tends to be more creative and spontaneous. When you are using one side of your brain more than the other, this is called left or right brained thinking. Both types of thinking are valuable, so one should try to develop their skills in both.

Unfortunately, left brained thinking is the type that is most valued by our society and taught in our schools. Almost all of the major subjects taught in school (math, science, history, etc) depend predominately on left brained thinking. Rarely do teachers encourage their students to think creatively and explore alternate solutions, and rarely are right brained studies (art, design, music, etc) encouraged.

This over emphasis becomes even more problematic as students move into the professional world. In order to get support for a new project or idea, it must be clearly defined and understood (left brained thinking) by the people who are going to be paying for it. It's very difficult to get funding for a project if the goals are not clearly understood. As a result, creative ideas don't happen as frequently as they could if right brained thinking was more valued.

It's no coincidence that the really creative ideas that occur from time to time are usually self-funded by the inventor working out of their garage. These are the people who understand the true value of thinking creatively.

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Memory : Only 10% of Your Brain

It is a myth that humans only use a fraction of their brains. Even though scientists are still trying to unravel the mysteries of the human mind, every part of the brain is known to have a function. From an evolutionary point of view, larger brains would not have developed if there had not been an advantage to do so.

The origins of this myth are unknown, but it might have originated from a researcher named Karl Spencer Lashley who lived about a hundred years ago. He removed parts of the brains of rats and showed that they could still perform certain tests. The problem with these results are that the rats were only tested on tasks that required the parts of the brain that had not been removed. If the rats had been given other tests, they would have certainly failed.

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