April 29, 2008
Shocking news has winged its way into the blue lugholes today.
Apparently using your brain... um... makes your brain work better.
Guru realises this may come as a shock to many in the public sector - many of whom give the appearance of leaving their brain at the door when entering the workplace - but it kind of makes sense.
Think about the possibilities.
OK, I'll rephrase that: If you're not one of the mindless Civil Service jockeys who do not use their grey matter, think about the possibilities.
After all, using your legs stops them becoming slack and floppy, using your eyes enables you to see things and stops your eyelids from sticking together, using your nose relieves nasal blockages and thereby enables lungs to function more effectively, and using your hands – as opposed to having them strapped up in boxing gloves throughout your teenage years – has obvious benefits to more than just your fingers.
But before sad commuters committed to Sudoku and crosswords start feeling smug, that type of puzzle just doesn't cut the mustard.
What you need is an 'n-back' test. Well what's that, you might ask? So Guru will enlighten you...
An n-back test, as opposed to a brokeback test, involves nothing more strenuous than looking at a set of letters and identifying which ones have been repeated.
And just doing this simple exercise makes you tonnes cleverer... honest.
Yet – in a traditional miss-the-boat-boffin-level stroke of genius – the US brains behind the discovery, do not plan to exploit their thinking for anything as sordid as legitimate profit. Unluckily for the gullible, there are sure to be other, perhaps less distinguished eggheads out there who will be willing to fleece... oops, sorry... enlighten the public to the virtues of brain training.
Brain training, however, is not new. But it is clever. And, as disciples might have suspected all along, Yours Truly has already been getting plenty of practice in, on account of regularly getting duplicate letters from all number of utility companies and banking institutions repeatedly requesting payment – some with added 'redness' to help readers easily identify them.
