Phrenology

This LibriVox recording is in the public domain.

Phrenologists, after studying the bumps on my head, have invariably told me that I lack diplomacy.

This, as I understand it, simply means an incapability of acting the hypocrite.

And it does seem, under the present system of human existence, that he who fails to practice hypocrisy finds innumerable obstacles to overcome, which otherwise might be avoided.

Okay.

So pretty much during Things Fall Apart recording and Phrenology recording, when we were done recording at like 1 in the morning, one of the first times I flexed my Michael Jackson muscles.

You would always hear things like stores opening for Michael Jackson, like FAO Swartz opened up at 3 a.m. so Michael could come in.

I would often pay the laser tech spot.

This LibriVox recording is in the public domain.

Phrenologists, after studying the bumps on my head, have invariably told me that I lack diplomacy.

This, as I understand it, simply means an incapability of acting the hypocrite, and it does seem under the present system of human existence that he who fails to practice hypocrisy finds innumerable obstacles to overcome which otherwise might be avoided.

So lacking in this virtue, as diplomacy is sometimes styled, led me into trouble with nearly everybody with whom I had any dealings.

This LibriVox recording is in the public domain.

Phrenologists, after studying the bumps on my head, have invariably told me that I lack diplomacy.

This, as I understand it, simply means an incapability of acting the hypocrite; and it does seem under the present system of human existence that he who fails to practice hypocrisy finds innumerable obstacles to overcome which otherwise might be avoided.

So lacking in this virtue, as diplomacy is sometimes styled, led me into trouble with nearly everybody with whom I had any dealings.

Not in terms of the brain must be something that's a bit, a bit also, uh, structurally rigid and non-plastic.

Where does-- 'Cause you brought up After Phrenology, Michael Anderson's book.

Um, and so he kind of has this view that, I'll use the term heterarchy, that it's not a hierarchy in the brain, that the brain is a heterarchy where different parts of it can be in control based on the context and needs at a given time, and form these different brain areas, can form these coalitions on the fly, and it's all a big dynamic, uh, beautiful mess.

And so but is that-- That seems to be kind of in the middle to me as well.

You think- Okay.

I, I think that what they have in mind is much more mushy, in lack of a better term.

Uh, like Anderson has this idea of workings, perhaps is the terms he uses in After Phrenology, uh, that is a sort of, uh, hardcore, unchangeable function that you can map onto individual neural area.

Uh, and that working can give rise to a variety of different, uh, psychological process or can be used in a way, a variety of different, uh, psychological processes depending on who the partners, uh, of the neural area are in a given occasion.

He was a professor of medicine in Cincinnati.

His specialty was Phrenology, which is sort of like a cross between, uh, brain surgery and astrology, where you would read-

[laughs]

You would read people's, uh, the bumps on their head to determine, uh, you know, what, what their wellbeing is and what their future's gonna be.