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Of Brains, Lack Of Brains And Beauty Sleep

Discussion in 'Snippets of Life (Non-Fiction)' started by satchitananda, Sep 23, 2017.

  1. satchitananda

    satchitananda IL Hall of Fame

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    I was seated in front of my 'favourite doctor uncool'. One I take pride in visiting. Why? Because one goes to him only if one has all the requisite hardware to prove one has more intelligence than a jellyfish.
    "Your weak spot is your spine," he said to me very seriously during the course of our conversation. Very enlightening that, though I just claimed to be intelligent!!! I had not thought of that before. But then another thought crossed my mind. "Doctor, I am sure you have never come across a jellyfish with spinal problems, have you?" I asked. There was a momentary silence during which he pondered over what to say and then decided it would be wiser to ask a veterinarian that. Well, another point to the doctor.

    Jellyfish have rather been on my mind for a while now. I tend to think of them very enviously. Imagine! No spine! No pain! No 'doctor uncools' to visit. No enlightening conversations with one of that species! What an enviable life! Now I have one more point to envy jellyfish about. Apparently jellyfish have no brains, or so the brilliant scientists claim. I wonder whether this is absolute or just a relative assessment. Need to go and ask Uncool Google about it. No brain? No thoughts! No karma! Perpetual state of thoughtlessness or meditation. Instant Nirvana! The bonus is no headaches, no migraines .....

    But jellyfish do have a problem. They, according to one article are like the teenagers of the sea. Blobs, aimlessly floating through life eating anything that drifts by. And if that isn't enough of a similarity, a new study concludes that they need sleep, too. Unlike teenagers, scientists from Cal Tech couldn't ask jellyfish if they were sleeping, so to find out if they were, they performed a series of tests.

    Now that is a bit rich, isn't it? You see a creature and suspect it is getting its undeserved 40 winks (considering it does not suffer from headaches, negative thoughts etc.) but are not able to ask it outright. So you prod it about a bit, wake it up and check out its 'reaction'. Then you are suitably surprised that it needs its catch-up sleep next day. Imagine if aliens were unable to decide whether you were awake or not and were to come and prod you around a bit! Just how would you like it, eh? And then they go and tell their folks you lack a brain like theirs!!! Maybe I feel the stirrings of some emotion akin to sympathy for those poor jellyfish who are not allowed to get their beauty sleep in peace.

    Hmm... poor brainless jellyfish. Which brings me to a question. How do they know what they see? How do they feel people prodding them and wake up? How do they know when their restaurant floats past them to just reach out and grab their favourite food? How do they know when some other critter fancies them as food? They must know, considering they have been around at least 600 million years longer than any other creatures. Now I have to scratch my little brain about these mysteries of life. Or let me go, ask Uncool Google.
     
    Last edited: Sep 23, 2017
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  2. Gauri03

    Gauri03 Moderator Staff Member IL Hall of Fame

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    For a bunch of mindless discs of gelatin, jelly fish are quick to rouse to anger! Makes sense now that I know there is no filtering medium between their jelly ears. Nothing to temper their annoyance at their human irritants, much like teenagers and their hapless parents. Annually tens of thousands of beach-faring folks are victimized by these angry young gelata! One lion's mane jellyfish is said to have stung nearly a 150 people on a beach in a single day. Poor fellow must have been seriously sleep deprived! :D
     
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  3. Viswamitra

    Viswamitra IL Hall of Fame

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    Dear Satchi,

    No spine, no brain and no pain for Jelly fish!!! What a life! Sometimes, when I stand up for a good cause and get slighted, I feel the pain but convince myself that it is better than be without a spine. No brain and no enlightening conversations? That is not an option and my head will blow up into thousands of pieces if there are no thoughts and conversations. Sometimes, I feel that pain is needed for me to measure the pleasure I experience.

    No thoughts, no conversation, no karma and Instant Nirvana? Such liberation won't give a sense of fulfillment. Jellyfish do actions arbitrarily? There is no fun if I can't experience the fruits of my planned actions even if I practice not to expect it. Making mistakes and learning from it is a great life experience. If I am sleep deprived or feeling hungry, I get agitated as well.

    I have more sympathy for Jellyfish as they know not when they harm other species as opposed to the species with brain harming others knowingly.

    Viswa
     
    Last edited: Sep 23, 2017
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  4. jayasala42

    jayasala42 IL Hall of Fame

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    They say 'ignorance is bliss'.But it seems that one should at least know that they are ignorant.Madam Satchitananda, what made you think about Jelly fish suddenly?Even if I had thought about jelly fish, I would not have written such a beautiful article envying its no brain, no pain and alas1 no karma!Fine example making mountain out of moles.
    I enjoyed every word of the article.

    Jayasala 42
     
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  5. satchitananda

    satchitananda IL Hall of Fame

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    Now that is not one, but two reasons to explain the anger of jellyfish, Gauri! Yes, I can sure understand. There are days when I am not fit to be spoken to when I wake up in the mornings (on my own). So what would I do if I were prodded about 6 times to wakefulness on such days or nights? :astonished:
     
  6. satchitananda

    satchitananda IL Hall of Fame

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    Viswa, was wondering again how you would know that there were no thoughts or conversations inside your head if there was no processing instrument there. Where would 'those' particular thoughts emanate? I find myself 'wondering' about too many things these days. See the trouble it is if one has a brain but still not an adequate amount of it between those ears?

    But on a more serious note, I really could not wonder how the jellyfish process all their info t survive all these hundreds of millions of years! Apparently they have a ring of nervous tissue (which reminds me of the nervous system of an earthworm) instead of a 'developed' brain. The question was if sleep is to allow our minds to recharge, why would organisms without brains sleep? What exactly were they recharging? So what is the real purpose of sleep?
     
  7. satchitananda

    satchitananda IL Hall of Fame

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    Thanks for the compliments JS Ma'am. When I don't write, it is only because there is no 'nothing' of which to make 'something'. :) Why did I think of jellyfish suddenly? Not quite so suddenly. Like I said, I can't quite help envy them for no spine, no pain. So I have been thinking of them for a few years. Often when someone asks me why my spine causes so much trouble, the only reason I can think of is that it is because I have a spine!!! And then I read an article about jellyfish with no brains on the net. Should we suggest a new forum called 'something about nothing?' :smile:
     
    Last edited: Sep 23, 2017
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  8. shyamala1234

    shyamala1234 Platinum IL'ite

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    Dear Satchi,
    No spine...no pain. That is what is inspired, I guess. No brain...everything peace. No theories related to it....as you said Karma, hell, heaven etc. A big relief! Need not ponder over every step thinking if we are doing right or wrong. May be meditation is created for that only to remain calm for a while..give rest to thinking. But brain comes back with double the vigour!
    Sometimes, when I see some topics for research....I always wonder how do they do it ! One of our friends did research on behaviour of snails......I always think how do they do it!!! Once he was saying when many do research on big creatures who would do research on small insects.... They are also created. So, he works on small things!!! May be right what he said but still!!!!
    I am as confusing as you are.
    Syamala
     
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  9. satchitananda

    satchitananda IL Hall of Fame

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    Hey Syamala, good to see you here. Good question. If everybody works on big things, who would work on the smaller critters. Am sure the little ones would be flattered, but I'd draw a line on their behalf at disturbing their beauty sleep!!! Do unto others as you'd have others to do unto you.
     
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  10. PushpavalliSrinivasan

    PushpavalliSrinivasan IL Hall of Fame

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    Dear Satchi,
    No spine, no brain, how lucky is the jellyfish! Nothing to worry at all.

    For us humans, "No pain no gain!"

    Your visit to your ' favourite uncool doctor' has led you to write this post! Your spine problem and pain is a gain for us to read this humorous post.
    PS
     
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