#congnition

[etherealnoir]

I’m not sure if it was intentional on Rian Johnson’s part… but I found it so interesting how Knives Out and Glass Onion both illustrated how often white women can and will throw WoC under the bus to further their own self interests. Especially with regards to money and power.

In Knives Out, we watched Meg throw Marta (who she spent the whole movie advocating for) under the bus when she found out that Marta wouldn’t give her the money.

And then in Glass Onion, we watched 2 white women (and a black man) throw a black woman under the bus to further their own respective financial and professional goals. We also watched one of the white female characters treat her Asian female assistant like absolute shit, to the point that she was willing to use her career as collateral damage for money.

This isn’t to say this always happens, but it’s never surprising when it does.

[woodswolf]

Me before attempting to write Olimar again, one year ago: "Okay, this'll be interesting. Writing a character who isn't severely fucked up on two or five levels (but will be by the time I'm done with him). This will be nice a little experiment for myself."

Me now, having catapulted down the character study rabbit hole as I tend to: "Oh dear god, wait a minute: this guy is as deeply fucked up on the level of whom I usually write for! And I don't think that was my fault for once! I've been deceived! What the fuck?!"

(TL;DR: Your tags and ramblings made me Think, thank you. I'm certain you are having a blast tearing him to shreds in some terrible way I've yet to think of myself lol.)

(RE: all of this shit probably)

i have only really truly known this guy for a bit over a year and every little bit ive learned about him has only pushed me ever deeper into this endless well of fascination with whatever the fuck is wrong with him. this guy is a pathological liar as a method of self-soothing. who DOES that. how the fuck did he arrive in this scenario.

really when you get down to it olimar is like, perhaps one of the most depressed characters of all time, it's just that he's carefully crafted a presentation of symptoms that very cleverly hides this from both the audience and himself. this guy is literally miserable. he viscerally hates his boss and is frustrated with his coworkers where they're even relevant. he has somewhere in the range of mixed feelings on his job but generally wishes that it allowed him more time with his family. his family, which has so many undeniable problems it's difficult to even list them. where to start: his kids? his wife? his parents? every happy memory he has involves his family and most of those memories are brief glimpses at Connection that otherwise seems so absent from the rest of his life. he's a middle-aged man with a house and a yard and a wife and two-kids-and-a-dog and probably a white picket fence for good measure. he's ticking all the boxes that he was raised* to think were a one-way ticket to happiness. so why is he still so lonely? why isn't he happy? what is this general malaise that's hanging over his entire life? what's wrong with him?

(*whether or not he was actually raised on a variant of the american dream is a really interesting question but honestly not relevant here. there's a lot of interesting evidence in his logs supporting something more nuanced, but again. irrelevant)

and olimar's answer is that Actually! there's Nothing wrong! he's perfectly fine and perfectly happy and perfectly satisfied with everything in his life. nothing is wrong and he's perfectly happy and even if he weren't (which he is!!!!) he still has so many things that would make up for it. he has so many good memories that are just his that he can hold on to as hard as he possibly can for as long as he needs to until he feels better. he can write them down and read them back as a reminder until it sticks in his brain that He Is Happy. There Is Nothing Wrong. He Is Happy And There Is Nothing Wrong. because he did everything right, didn't he!! he made his choices and for the all the love of everything he holds dear he is going to stick by them. because he needs to. because if he doesn't, where would he even be?

and then this guy has the worst "vacation" of his entire life (DEFINITELY another blatant self-soothing lie btw, you CANNOT convince me that this guy would spend any more time away from his family than he absolutely has to what with his career) and the cracks actually kind of start to show. because he is very quickly launched into the worst series of circumstances he's ever experienced. and through it all he's just!! completely fucking Normal about it!! utterly fucking accepting of any outcome that happens to him because he doesn't feel like he really has any control. like he ever had any control. he should have fucking died. even before the thirty days are up he's just passively accepting of whatever happens. there are tons and tons of treasure descriptions or other entries where he expresses very explicit passive suicidality through things that could be jokes or offhand comments but really don't read like that. pikmin 1's entry for day 29 reads more like a reminder that he should at least try to not let himself die than an earnest attempt to actually do so.

and it's like, if he does survive pikmin 1, what does he even win? ever-increasing stakes at his job and ever-fewer ways to pretend that everything's fine. an ever-brighter flashing neon sign reading QUIT YOUR FUCKING JOB that he has to try increasingly hard to ignore. the job that keeps sending him back to the planet that almost killed him. the job that keeps sending him back to the planet where he barely survived by only his wits and the skin of his teeth. the job that keeps sending him back to the planet where he will die, because no one was supposed to save olimar.

and through it all you can see! you can SEE the way he gets increasingly stressed out as things go along. but he's still just going along trying his damnedest to pretend that everything is fine and he is happy and he doesn't need any help, that he shouldn't be trying to make an exit as quickly as he can and to maybe ask his wife to pick up a job so they can be a dual-income household now that their kids are a bit older. he doesn't need to be looking for anything better because he has the best he's going to get right here, and isn't that wonderful? shouldn't that make him happy?

and it's like, the way things are going he's never going to get there, and on some level he knows that. but olimar's whole fucking deal is that if he can't solve something he's going to throw himself at the problem over and over until either it gets solved or his skull splits open, a pattern that is only reenforced by the events of pikmin 1 and 2 and 3. so he knows that he's never going to be happy, but he's going to try this impossible task of being happy over and over until he either fakes it till he makes it or something kills him. so far it hasn't worked out for him, but maybe the NEXT time he blows up at somebody for no reason because he just can't take the stress of it all anymore!

as it turns out i have no idea how to end this, so on a tangentially related note: olimar is not a biologist by any standard and i will die on this hill. ALL of his piklopedia entries are creative writing exercises and i can ALMOST prove this. but that's a whole other post honestly. just kind of adds to the whole thing about how much olimar lies to the reader and himself.

[pokemonfangame]

pre;COGNITION

Welcome to Wretchenfell An old mining village, a crumbling city, a mysterious Pokémon. Step into the shoes of Kira, a Pokémon behaviour researcher and expert, tasked with assisting an enigmatic corporation's remote research laboratory with taming an experimental Pokémon. When the Pokémon unleashes a catastrophe upon the lands surrounding the lab, it's up to you to fight through a treacherous landscape for your freedom.. and the truth.. A Roguelite-like Adventure Embark on a journey of adventure and discovery... again, and again. With each loop you will begin the same, aside for the ever increasing knowledge of your surroundings and how to traverse them effectively.

A Shady Corporation... Uncover long buried secrets, shady backroom dealings, illicit schemes. Will you uncover the truth, or will you simply set out to finish the job you were sent to do?

Time = Difficulty Inspired by a certain rainy action platformer, the Pokémon you encounter on each run of your journey will become more erratic over time.

Features:

• Roguelite-like gameplay + A lot of lore to find and absorb • We're not sure how long the game is. Progression is (mostly) knowledge based, so your mileage will vary! • "Immersive" (widescreen) experience • Redesigned UI again because Riley hates herself • Technically only one new Pokémon but it's very special (:

[lavendorii]

I'm going to kill and eat you

[thedreadvampy]

Autism doesn't equate to neurodivergence, it's a developmental disability that's present from birth. And physically disabled people who are born disabled as a result of brain damage in the womb are more likely to have comorbid autism. Just because allistic people on social media have defanged autism and call every specifically autistic trait "neurodivergence" doesn't mean it shouldn't be considered the separate thing that it is. "Neurodivergent traits" don't exist. Able-bodied men with autism being annoying doesn't make it okay for allistic physically disabled people to downplay autism. Most of us who have multiple disabilities end up under conservatorships bc of how debilitating our autism is, combined with presumed incompetence due to being visibly disabled as well.

babe what are you talking about for real.

[completeandrandomshit]

Life With ADHD (completeandrandomshit's version):

I was on the phone with my sister via headphones but forgot where the phone was when it was time to end the call.

hashtag: it was in the hallway I was in the bedroom.

[themontessoriacademyofarlington]

Toddler - Knobbed Puzzles

There are many knobbed puzzles in a Montessori toddler classroom. Some have large knobs while others have small knobs, which aid in refining the student's fine motor skills. Children often start with large knobs and as their hand control increases, they move towards smaller knobs. This practice helps students strengthen their fingers in readiness to hold a pencil. This puzzle also introduces students to a shape in varying sizes, increasing their visual discrimination skills. Puzzles require hand-eye coordination and cognitive organizational skills. Who knew puzzles could help children learn so many complex skills?!

[timothy-kang]

Gist of Master Your Morning (vol.4)

You must be consistent with whatever you set in the morning routine to control your day. The consistent morning routine develops into habits. The research suggests that it takes 21 days to form a habit (Gardner et al., 2012).

You must be consistent with whatever you set in the morning routine to control your day. The consistent morning routine develops into habits. The research suggests that it takes 21 days to form a habit (Gardner et al., 2012). The routine doesn’t have to be complicated, and the simple pattern in the morning has huge cumulative benefits in the long run. The feeling of control of your day reduces…

[judith1614]

BEGGING y’all to stop saying “physically abled” when you mean “abled”.

[solhwellness]

Sleep Deprivation: Impact on Cognitive Performance and Focus | Solh Wellness

Sleep is necessary for the brain and affects cognitive performance. Different stages of sleep, such as REM and NREM, aid in cognitive enhancement. When you don't get enough sleep, your brain overworks and becomes inefficient, resulting in poor thinking and information processing. Inadequate sleep, also known as sleep deprivation, can manifest itself in a variety of ways, including short or fragmented sleep, and can result in immediate consequences such as decreased attention and reaction time. Chronic sleep problems can impair daily tasks, and sleep deprivation increases the risk of cognitive decline and dementia over time.

The Effects of Sleep on Cognitive Performance and Focus

Problems with Brain Function

Sleep deprivation has been linked to a number of negative effects on cognitive functions mediated by various brain regions. While studies on the effect of sleep on cognition have yielded inconclusive results, this variability could be attributed to a number of factors, such as participant characteristics, differences in sleep manipulation protocols, or variations in cognitive outcome measures. Nonetheless, most researchers agree that a lack of sleep can impair cognitive performance.

Diminishes Placekeeping

Placekeeping is a cognitive function that entails maintaining and updating information in working memory while performing a series of tasks. Cooking a meal or putting together furniture, for example, necessitates multi-step instructions. Placekeeping is also essential in motor skills such as musical instrument playing and sports that require coordination and timing. Sleep deprivation or disruption can impair the brain's ability to consolidate and retrieve information, resulting in poor performance in tasks that require placekeeping, such as completing a complex project, following a recipe, or keeping a steady rhythm while playing music. In some cases, interrupted sleep can impair speech production and communication effectiveness.

Decision-Making Impairment

Sleep deprivation can cause dysregulated emotional responses, impairing judgement. People who are sleep deprived are more likely to make risky decisions and to become fixated on potential rewards while ignoring potential consequences. It can be difficult to learn from these mistakes because sleep deprivation impairs the brain's ability to process and consolidate emotional memory.

Influence on Memory

Poor sleep can impair memory consolidation by interfering with normal processes that require both NREM and REM sleep to form and retain memories. NREM and REM sleep have been shown to be important in this process. According to research, people who are sleep deprived are more likely to form false memories. Furthermore, even if a person gets enough sleep, a person's memory consolidation can be hampered by fragmented sleep.

Conclusion

Sleep deprivation can have an adverse effect on a person's day-to-day life. If you notice any of the above symptoms, you should seek medical attention. Solh Wellness offers individuals in need of personalised, affordable, and easily accessible mental health solutions. We strive to provide the best mental health care possible to those in need. Download the Solh Wellness App to improve your sleeping habits, mental health, and overall well-being.

[singingcicadas]

Realized that even though it's a shame that there wasn’t much Drift/Megatron interaction in the story, we still got a fairly detailed one-sided account of Drift’s opinion.

Because this is in no way an accurate assessment of the mentality of the crew members on Necroworld. Drift's either doing some really bullshit armchair psychology or he's projecting his own feelings and assuming that they're shared by everyone else.

Once you break everyone down individually you can see that Drift’s theory applies to very few people:

Rodimus and Minimus have sort of an ambiguous friendship going on with Megatron. Rodimus literally chose to save his life when he could have let Megatron explode with Tarn. Minimus immediately proceeded to give himself congnitive dissonance b/c he thought Megatron betrayed them by running away.

Nautica Velocity Cyclonus Tailgate Ten have no preexisting history against Megatron.

Nautica has more Other Problems than to pay attention to Megatron.

Velocity’s conversation with Megatron after the psychological attack was nothing but caring and friendly. Megatron even felt comfortable enough to admit to her that he was happy. She and Nautica are amongst the few people who sees Megatron as a person first, before his deeds.

Cyclonus might even admire him a little with the romanticized way he talks about the Decepticon ideology.

Tailgate's knowledge about Megatron's past comes entirely from datapackets and documentaries. And his response to that kind of threat level is to pull a gun on him and then try to shadowplay the evilness out. Point is, Tailgate's method to dealing with threats is to be very hands-on, especially after he got his spark spasm superpowers. His way of coping is definitely not brainwashing himself into thinking 'he's not a threat' and being unconsciously nervous all the time.

Whirl hates Megatron with a passion but he also saved Megatron in the time travel. He views Megatron as less of a threat than the functionists.

Nightbeat doesn’t care about anything other than his mysteries; his response to threat of imminent demise at sundown is to go exploring.

Rung’s… Rung. He’s forgiving and compassionate, and also a professional therapist who should be capable of employing healthy rational methods to cope with Megatron being in his life.

Rewind, like Nautica, has a whole slew of Other Problems, I'm sure Megatron's not a very big priority right now.

Skids is dead.

That only leaves like three people unaccounted for and they’re all branded Megatron sympathizers for a reason: they all said no to Getaway when he asked if they were pro ‘mutiny and kick Megatron off the ship.’

Drift's only been back for seven days, even if he got filled in with everything that happened since, he's still in no position to be making that kind of assessment. He doesn't have the context. He wasn't there when Megatron was captain of the ship. He didn't even meet Nautica Velocity and Nightbeat before he left, he has no idea what they're like or what they think of Megatron. Even Rewind's not the same one from before. (Add: he also didn't know Ultra Magnus was actually Minimus in a suit)

Most importantly his entire response in the second two panels is the complete opposite of Ratchet's original question. Ratchet's question was "Is it me or is everyone a little skittish?" Skittish. as in nervous. uneasy. jumpy. Drift's like "Megatron's gone so they can relax." But skittish is the opposite of relaxing? and they only started being skittish after Megatron left? He's the only one to bring up Megatron in this?

Rodimus' reasoning in the first panel (sans Rodpod) makes much more sense.

TL;DR: Drift's nervous around his old boss and can only relax after Megatron's gone, so he assumes that everyone else must feel the same way too. Everyone else: not really?

[nazskoll]

Reflecting on Henry's character

I've been quite fixiated with Henry lately and there's so much to say about him, but something that really got me was how genuinely child-like he is mentally, and i'm not just talking about him as an adult, but also him as a 12 year old.

Henry acts so immaturely for his age, not even in the sense that he's 'bratty', he's seriously mentally damaged to the extent he's not as mentally developed as the other kids.

The biggest example of this is how he believed that after killing his father and the Losers he could just go home, drink beer and blast music.

Even for a 12 year old, that is an insanely warped view of the world, especially because it's implied often that Henry is aware of legal consequences, that is very much only fit for a way younger child.

He was sent back not once but twice at that age already, and sent to summer school the rest of the years. That's not normal in the slightest, the fact that he was so behind he had already lost 2 school years before middle school is genuinely insane.

Despite how sexually charged Henry looks, he's still very innocent there too, when Patrick sexually assaulted him, he froze (due to trauma reaction i assume) but also because he was very confused and had no idea of what he was doing to him.

Whenever he speaks, the dialogue is very simple and straightforward, his sentences use only basic phrasing and words, because, again, he's just not as intelligent as he should be at 12.

He's especially not emotionally intelligent, he knows only one thing and it's violence, everything else confuses or scares him.

Henry started to associates violence with love due to his severe abuse and neglect, violence being the only way he could get love, or violence straight up being love.

He's still very malleable and vulnerable, which is why Pennywise and Butch get such a strong ahold of him. It's why it was so easy for Butch to turn him into an angry, racist freak, because of the association, but also because he's just not capable to be that mentally independent, he's congnitively underdeveloped.

The cops themselves knew they truly had no way to 100% frame him, but Henry didn't care, he gave in almost immediately, because he's so easy to get through.

While some kids mature faster to cope with everything that happened to them, others regress to stop acknowledging it.

I think that's definitely the case with Henry.

[rpking99]

Shadow Of The Panther

OPEN RP

No one knew how it was possible. It should not have been possible.

It was the literal definition of IMpossible

And yet...

Somehow, the Cognitive Ann from Kamoshida's Palace from all that time ago had survived. Survived the falling of his Palace, stranded in the Metaverse. Surviving the correction of the twisted man's perception. And...

....

She survived. Years alone in the Metaverse she had survived. To the point... She had created her own Palace! No, not a Palace. No. And neither was it a Jail. No. She had crafted something.... New. Warped the Metaverse itself. Allowing her to manipulate people's congnitions similar to a Change of Heart. Twisting people, making them more... Perverted.

And so, here you sat. On your knees.... Before Queen Ann!

"Welcome, my dear! Oh, it's so lovely to see such a sexy specimen come up to see me personally~" she purred with a sexy wink and a sadistic giggle. Ignoring the fact that you where held down by a few of her knights. Her voice the same as the real Ann's, only echoing and sensual. Like pure liquid lust being pumped into the air "Or at least that's what I would say if you didn't bring.... Her."

Suddenly the real Ann, Panther, was thrown into the room, panting as her body openly burned in need

"You won't.... Get away with this, you bitch!" Panther snapped as she glared at her counterpart, rubbing her needy latex thighs together

"So you say.... But it appears your friend here really likes me~" Queen Ann purred, looking down at your muses crotch in hunger

[mymanreedus]

"I have, uh, well, it was gonna be a surprise. But in all my research of child-rearing. I stumbled upon a great many scientific essays that outlined the benefits of teaching infants to swim. It improves congnitive function, builds muscle and, uh, confidence. Not that there will be an deficit in this tyke since you have it in spades. Which means its in her too. I can't wait for summer. Can you?"

[2030kamenriders]

Update on the Persona 5 playthrough:

Finally defeated the boss of the space station level.

Uh.

Something bad is happening I think

Spoilers below? I think. These feel like major story beats.

So context: Joker and his gang of phantom thieves are pretty consistent about making sure not to kill people

Granted, all of their fights are in that cognitive dimension. So all they really have to do is defeat that version of the boss without killing them, and the real version of the boss will survive.

But there's also been mentions of some other unrelated guy in a black mask, up until this point

And said guy decided to show up?!

And decided to shoot the cognitive version of the boss bad guy for this level. And right after the Phantom Thieves left too

And to make matters worse: said boss guy is Haru's dad. This is her first big boss battle as part of the Phantom Thief crew.

Dude's gonna die

But there's more!

The very. Next. Day. After the big boss fight, Dan Lastname (Joker) finds Kasumi's good-luck charm and finds her to return it.

Context: Kasumi is this excelling first-year highschool student at the same place most of the other phantom thieves study at. And apparently that day, the vice-principal* was making her feel bad for only getting 3rd place at a big gymnastics competition.

(*I think. Could've been a substitute principal. The regular principal died before the whole space station arc. Long story)

This guy. This absolute jerk. He is threatening to take away Kasumi's scholarship just because she didn't get 1st place. What's wrong with 3rd place?! Was there only 3 participants at the competition, or are you trying to give her anxiety?

This guy also makes it very clear that all of this is only in an attempt to make the highschool look good to the public. (Well maybe you shouldn't have kept that one creepy guy from the start of the game hired after the constant allegations!)

Anyway, shout-out to Dr. Maruki for trying to call out the vice-principal. Unfortunately it was ineffective, but the attempt was appreciated. (This guy is just trying his best, but I think this job might unfortunately be more than he can chew)

So anyway, after school, Joker (and Morgana) find Kasumi at her usual thinking spot: the arena/stadium.

Except the arena is a cognitive Palace. Meaning it's one of the bad-guy levels in the Persona 5 congnitive dimension. So they get transported to said dimension's version of the place. And for some reason, despite not looking even slightly particularly "evil", it looks very eerie.

You know how in Kuuga, part of Daguva's scariness is how much of a normal well-dressed guy he looks like? It's like that, but with setting. This looks like some sort of fancy brightly-lit futuristic castle-type thing. Like some sort of place you would expect in a Kingdom Hearts or Final Fantasy type of setting. (Sounds like it too, in terms of background music).

Now the good news is that Kasumi finally gets Phantom Thief powers and that's pretty cool

But the bad news is. I'm kinda concerned about who this Palace belongs to.

Typically, to travel to a cognitive Palace in this game, the character needs a fancy navigation app, and must give the app 3 keywords while standing close to the real equivalent of the location. One keyword is the actual location, another is the name of the person who's the boss of the Palace, and the last word is how that person thinks of the location in their mind.

The fake version of the arena had a bunch of boards with academic posters and stuff (they were arranged in that way that science posters are arranged at certain research-related events, on arrays of move-able wall things). And the teleportation happened right after Kasumi overheard some passing-by people assume the place was a lab, causing Kasumi to say "this isn't a lab, it's a stadium". So that's 2 keywords ("lab" and "stadium").

But whose Palace is it?!

I didn't pay attention to every single detail of what Kasumi said before the teleportation, but I remember her saying 2 names.

One of those names is the name you give the character. But Joker wouldn't think of such a place as a lab, regardless of how the player decides to portray them.

The other name was Dr. Maruki.

There's no way it can be him, though, right? Right?? There's gotta be some other person! Maybe Kasumi said someone else's name and I couldn't catch it. Maybe one of those passing-by bystanders said some other name. Or maybe Maruki has some sort of estranged relative or something—

[averyghe]

TENTACLE WIZARD AND HIS CREATIONS

Yagal, was somewhat fascinated by the art of the metamorphosis. He wanted to find a way, to create a perfect being — genial in it's congnitive abilities, and prone to magic just as mafas, but also strong and versatile as many beasts which roamed the lands of ancient Mars. In his pursuits, he became a Tentacle Wizard, creating a strange alchemical substance, which in combination with certain rituals, turned living things into the tentacled abominations.

His pursuits scared mafan-elders, and Yagal was exiled on a far away island, which was later named as Yaldana — Here he gave life to his child.

Khura was born from the tentacled substance, yet some speculate that he was a somewhat genetically and magically altered spawn of animal called by the future researchers of Mars as Cheiroprosopus. Khura was a lovely child, interested in games, toys and animals. Or to be precise, animals and living creatures created by his father. Who's malicious deeds in the field of alchemy led to terning entirety of the islands population into the uldau — creatures, who while being sentient, and generally having emotions and desires of their own, were binded to the will of a Tentacle Wizard, and obeyed every of his commands, being basically slaves to the Wriggler. They were separated in two casts — agile, and much smaller Uldau, which usually worked as Scribers, and craftsmen, and Uldalkha — robust and powerful, often having a set of tentacles for one of the upper limbs — they often became builders, guards, and ship loaders. Both castes were equally smart, and capable of emotions, and natural curiosity, yet majority of them never left an island, for long, as they were feared on continent, due to the tentacle wizards attempts to turn all the living things into the creations of tendrils, and their inability to resist sorcerers will.

To defend his secrets, as well as for the sake of having powerful army, Yagal, created many fearsome creatures among which the most prominent were Fireball Zhugars. Horrifying chimera, with a tail capable of shooting splashes of liquid, which were able to burn through the metal.

However not all of the mages creations were as splendid as those ones — as for example tentochins — disfigured, pulsating, masses of limbs and tentacles — unsuccessful experiments of the Wizard.

Some of the tentacle-spawn were not even HIS creations as for example tentaflees — small pseudo beetles, which came in contact with the Yagals formula in the sewerage of his palace. They actually became ones of the most adored pets of Khura, and later became an islands analog for an earthling dogs.

———

In the next post I will tell more about Khuras character, and some other tentacly critters.

[THIS IS A CONCEPT FROM AN ABANDONED PROJECT]