Kelley COSTIGAN 0:01
Welcome to the Wyrd Learning podcast with your hosts, Dr. Tracy Dixs, and Dr. Alex Patel. Today's episode: Why Wyrd Learning or, What's in a Name?
Tracy Dix 0:17
Hello everyone. So, it's Tracy here today on a very, very hot summer's afternoon with my friend Alex.
Alex Patel
Hello!
Tracy Dix
So today we are talking about everything Wyrd. Why weâre called Wyrd Learning, yeah, what it means, where it's going to go in the future, and why we've decided to call it Wyrd Learning. So, Alex, technically youâve come up with the name. So why Wyrd Learning?
Alex Patel 0:41
Well, I started off by, you know, looking around at the different names, things like Innovation Learning, Dynamic Learning, etc, etc. And you know what? A lot of these were already taken.
Tracy Dix
What a surprise!
Alex Patel
So then I thought, you know, I want this to be something that really represents me that - something that's authentic, and I remembered back to high school, where you know, I got picked on a little bit you know, I was a bit of an awkward person, but my friends at the time would often say to me that I was âweird but niceâ. So, part compliment, part⌠hmm. GreatâŚ
Tracy Dix 1:18
Or was that a double-edged insult like âniceâ, because you know how in university they always say never use the word âniceâ. It doesn't describe anything. So, what were â what were your schoolmates trying to say about you like, âyouâre nice.â What's, you know, vanilla. Vanillaâs nice, isn't it?
Alex Patel 1:37
Yeah, yeah. So, when I was at school, I was just, you know, a bit quirky. I, you know, had my own interest. And I guess I was starting to develop into my own person at that point. So that's why I got that kind of, you knowâŚ
Tracy Dix 1:48
How dare you develop into your own person.
Alex Patel 1:51
The other interesting thing was people were buying me, for birthday presents, candles and wind chimes over and over again. And I don't know why.
Tracy Dix 2:00
Was that kind of - was that nice gift shop-type merchandise? Do you think it -
Alex Patel
Yeah, it was lovely, lovely!
Tracy Dix
- went - Do you think it went with your identity as âniceâ?
Alex Patel
No, actually.
Tracy Dix
Oh, okayâŚ
Alex Patel 2:11
But people obviously connected it.
Tracy Dix 2:12
Was it weird? Did you say the wind chimes? What was the other thing you said?
Alex Patel
Candles.
Tracy Dix
Candles. Okay. Hmm, I don't know if that goes with the territory of weird I don't think so. I think it goes with a nice safe gift to buy for someone.
Alex Patel 2:27
Possibly. Well, basically, the reason for the name is I thought I'm actually really proud of my uniqueness and differences nowadays. So, I just wanted to own that name.
Tracy Dix
Yes.
Alex Patel
And guess what? It hasn't been taken - until now.
Tracy Dix 2:40
It hasn't been taken. And also, you know, like, I like the weird about you, I like the quirkiness about you. So that's really interesting what you said about, you know, your school identity and your classmates calling you âweird but niceâ. And it's almost like the kind of nice bit was like a token sort of âbut you fit in don't worry, you're not weird- weird.â Like, you know, âYou're not weird. It's not like you're an outcast, you're still - we still like youâ, but also, why should you have cared that those people liked you?
Alex Patel 3:12
I was desperate to fit in. I had very low self-esteemâŚ
Tracy Dix
And most people are
Alex Patel
Weâre going to get into a dark place here if we carry onâŚ
Tracy Dix 3:19
This⌠So, most people are concerned about fitting in arenât they? Especially when you're at school.
Alex Patel
Yes.
Tracy Dix
Like, so, if you're not the popular girl or boy or popular person at school, then you want to be friends with a popular person at school, and what is it about that? So, think about coming to university then, people do one to fit in, don't they -
Alex Patel
Yes, yes.
Tracy Dix
- when you go to university, but it's also so much about finding yourself and I think it's - it's such an incredible opportunity to let go of the identity that we are sort of branded with at school. So, you know, if you're at school people have been like, âOh, do you remember Alex Udall she was weird, but nice, wasn't she?â And like, that's what they say about you. But then when you start university, you can go, âWell, now I can shake off like what other people think about me, and it's an opportunity for me to start afresh and like build my own self-image, you know, become whoever I want to be and find myself.â I believed I was going to find myself at university and like, try lots of new things and stuff like that. So okay, then in terms of like, academic attainment then, what would you say is the difference between school and coming to university?
Alex Patel 4:32
In terms of academic attainment?
Tracy Dix 4:33
Yeah, so you know, like, so if you were top of your class all the time, sayâŚ
Alex Patel 4:38
I wasn't.
Tracy Dix 4:42
Neither was I most of the time, actually. Although I did - I went through a spell of being top in English in primary school for like, one school year, I think. Although funnily enough, my Science grades were actually higher than my English grades. But I still topped the class in English until someone - like there was this girl from like, one of the other classes kind of joined our class and then she was better English than I was. So, I was kind of, yes. So, it's, it's very fluid though, isn't it? So, you know, your kind of position or your status relative to other people can change when you're in a different setting. So, you were at schoolâŚ
Alex Patel
It can, certainly.
Tracy Dix
and now you know, if you're kind of looking to go to university, and thinking about starting university, you're coming to a different setting. And, you know, I think it's really interesting to think about, like the difference in environment from school to university, which is, you know, a very international -
Alex Patel
Yes, you meet people from
Tracy Dix
- kind of community.
â
Alex Patel 5:39
And not just an international but actually just within our own country you meet people from different areas, different races, different classes, you know. So, people who have very, very different school lives up till that point.
Tracy Dix 5:51
Yeah. So I think the idea of, you know, how do you⌠how does everyone learn and what kind of experiences is everyone bringing with them to university? There's a huge variety isn't there Alex? It's a great opportunity to kind of find yourself, try out new things, get to know lots of different people, and really sort of expand your horizons. Maybe that sounds a little bit corny, but it is it.
Alex Patel 6:16
It is, it is. And one of the great things is everybody is starting from the same point in that everyone has arrived at uni, needing to make friends. So, it's not like you've shown up at a school, you know, come in halfway through the year, perhaps, and everyone's already formed their own niches and cliques and friendship groups. Everybody's arriving with that, you know, desire to find out about people and make friends.
Tracy Dix 6:43
Yeah, so I think that's the comforting kind of thought that you can take with you, as you know, everyone who's starting the first year, especially, you know, they're all in the same position of you know, having to buy their bedsheets, get the pots and pans, figure out where you know, one Halls of Residence is in relation to where you need to go for your next seminar and tutorial and all that. And so, I think there would be great empathy when you come on campus because everyone's been there before, they've been in that position. And hopefully, they'd be willing to help if they can. Although, you know, very often people can be on campus for three years and still not know the building that you're asking them about because it's such a huge place.
Alex Patel
Yeah, yeah, definitely.
Tracy Dix
Hmm. Okay, so I guess we've kind of deviated from why Wyrd Learning. So, when I saw the name, Alex, I also kind of thought about - okay, so there's weird, like, the quality but also, it kind of reminded me of a visual pun of like, wiring â âWired Learningâ, which I really liked.
Alex Patel
Yes, yes.
Tracy Dix
Do you want to talk a bit about that?
Alex Patel 7:43
So if we're talking about wiring of the brainâŚ
Tracy Dix
Uh huh.
Alex Patel
âŚthen, it's really quite exciting. So, my background is in neuroscience, and I used to do lectures on some of this stuff. In the past, people used to believe that, you know, your brain was hardwired â
Tracy Dix
Uh huh.
Alex Patel
- you couldn't learn new things, you know, once you reached a certain point in your life, but we found out that that's not the case. You know -
Tracy Dix
Uh huh.
Alex Patel
There's a lot of - they call it âplasticityâ â
Tracy Dix
Yep.
Alex Patel
- neurons connecting in different ways: old information, perhaps being lost, with new connections being made - new ways of thinking.
Tracy Dix
Uh huh
Alex Patel
So, you know, when you come to university, you can start developing your thinking processes further. So, we might be talking about âCritical Thinkingâ. So, what does âCritical Thinkingâ mean to you?
Tracy Dix 8:28
Oh, that is -
Alex Patel
Just a, you know, a one-sentence answer.
Tracy Dix
That is a very big question, Alex.
Alex Patel
I like to go with a simple one.
Tracy Dix
Critical thinking is kind of making sense of the information that you have access to and applying your own experience and perspective to it. So, you kind of - say you're given a whole bunch of evidence or like a whole bunch of opinions, you know, for example, in scholarly research and stuff. And the question for you then is âWhat do you make of all of this?â Like, so, âWhere do you stand on some of these issues?â Like, âWhat is your point of view?â
Alex Patel 9:03
Yes. So you know, I said a simple answer. I was simply going to say, âIt's asking questions.â
Tracy Dix 9:11
So, you shouldnât have asked me, you should have answered your own question.
Alex Patel 9:13
Yes, yes. So, the interesting thing is when this was kind of discovered, you know, this idea of plasticity and the brain rewiring itself.
Tracy Dix
Uh huh.
Alex Patel
So, as I said, people previously thought, you know, everything was fixed, couldn't teach an old dog new tricks, couldn't learn new things, but it was studies on how songbirds learn to sing that demonstrated this.
Tracy Dix
Well, that is a niche topic I've ever heard one.
Alex Patel
It is. I used to teach on this subject so I find it very exciting. But this generated the first evidence in that canaries - it's only the males that sing apparently, and during the mating season, they learn a set of songs. So, the canaries each year, they learn a new set - they adapt them.
Tracy Dix
Uh huh.
Alex Patel
And what you see in the brain is that new neurons are born, they grow.
Tracy Dix 10:05
Wow. Theyâre just being created.
Alex Patel
They are -
Tracy Dix
From nowhere!
Alex Patel
- you can teach on old bird how to sing.
Tracy Dix
How to sing. I have hope yet.
Alex Patel 10:13
Yeah, so what's interesting, actually, is that these new neurons make lots of different connections. They kind of go crazy and there's lots of different feelers being put out, but then you get a period of pruning.
Tracy Dix 10:24
Okay, so whatâs pruning
Alex Patel 10:27
These extra branches that - the ones that aren't useful basically are cut out.
Tracy Dix
OhâŚ
Alex Patel
So, you ended up sticking with the really strong, useful connections, the things that get something done in the real world.
Tracy Dix 10:38
So, that's really interesting, isn't it? Because I come from a literary background. I did a PhD â well, I did several degrees in English. And we've got the saying that's probably quite well known to any of you: âUse it or lose itâ.
Alex Patel
Yes, yes.
Tracy Dix
And so, what you've just described, Alex, about the neural pathways - what do they do?
Alex Patel
Connect together.
Tracy Dix
They connect together but then do they lose their connection to something that you don't use it?
Alex Patel 11:01
Yes. I think in different parts of the brain, it might work a bit differently. I was going to use breathing as an example. But we use that quite a lot. So that's not quite right.
Tracy Dix
Yeah.
â
Alex Patel
But you know, the idea of, you know, once you've learned how to ride a bike, you can always do that, you can always go back to it. So, there might be some things to do with movement in particular, -
Tracy Dix
Uh huh.
Alex Patel
- which end up being quite hardwired. Probably things to do with balance, I would imagine.
Tracy Dix 11:24
So, when you say hardwired, so are you saying thatâŚ
Alex Patel
As in they don't change as much.
Tracy Dix
Change as much? Okay, well, I've got something interesting to add to this actually. Slightly randomly, I've been practising my back bridges, you're on the floor â
Alex Patel
Describe that for me.
Tracy Dix
So, you lying on the floor and your arms are like right by your ears and your feet are on the ground, and then you lift yourself up. It's a fairly popular kind of gymnastics and yoga move. And I used to be able to do that when I was a kid, no problem. And I used to do gymnastics. Iâve come back to it after many years off and in my mind, I am still my 14-year-old self who should be able to like bend over backwards and then touch the floor into a bridge but I did try it once and kind of fell over. So now I'm back to pushing up off the ground. And the first time I did it after many, many years, it caught my breath because of the strain, you know, because I haven't done it for so many years. Yeah, so I think it depends on the activities. But I think, yeah, that neural pathway that I created when I was 14 needs a lot of rejuvenating.
Alex Patel 12:26
Yeah, yeah. And if any of you are lucky enough to do a course which requires statistics, that's - that is an example of something you can do well, for me, myself, you know, I've done about five different lots of training on statistics. And because I don't use it in between, I forget it and have -
Tracy Dix
Yeah
Alex Patel
- to almost re-learn it each time.
Tracy Dix 12:46
But the positive thing about everything you've said so far though is, there is always hope isn't there? There is always neuroplasticity. If you can't do something now, or you can't get to grips with a concept, you can't understand something, you can't do any - you can't do something, you can always train your brain to do it.
Alex Patel,
I guess so, yeah.
Tracy Dix
And with practice, it also becomes easier, doesn't it? So, I think that's â
Alex Patel
Yes, yes.
Tracy Dix
- quite a good takeaway.
Alex Patel 13:09
It becomes easier, definitely, I would agree with that. Okay, so if you find that you're enjoying this podcast, and you know, we're coming up with interesting questions or making you think about things, then there's a couple of things you could do. You could of course, subscribe to this because that means that the next podcast that becomes available, you'll find out about straightaway when this thing you could recommend it to some of your colleagues, friends, anyone you think would be interested, write a review, or you know, just simply like it.
Tracy Dix 13:40
Yeah. And that'd be really good, because then it means that we can help more people which is what we really want to do.
Alex Patel
Yes.
Tracy Dix
So, the other reaction I had, Alex, when I saw Wyrd Learning was it kind of looked to me quite sort of - as if there was a nod to like Celtic or - kind of quirky and it reminded me of The Canterbury Tales, which I studied at school, and my teacher kind of reading everything in â is it Old English - is it Old or Middle English? Itâs one of those. It's not really my area of expertise, so I'm not sure about that. I'll let you take over now, Alex.
Alex Patel 14:11
Oh, yes, it appealed to me because of the history and the additional meanings that it has. So nowadays, obviously, we've got âweirdâ, âunusualâ, âstrangeâ, and other positive descriptions. But it also used to have a slightly different meaning. So, Wikipedia tells me that it comes from both a kind of Anglo-Saxon origin and a Viking Norse origin and it used to have slightly different connotations. So, it might mean kind of a little bit supernatural, a little bit of uncanny, looking into the future, being able to predict the future, and I quite like that element because it ties in with, you know, what we want for this.
Tracy Dix 14:55
Yeah. Okay. So, I'm going to add in a bit of a public service announcement at this point, just because of your reference to Wikipedia. And so, at university, your lecturers and tutors are going to tell you time and time again, not to reference Wikipedia because it's not a reliable source. It's not completely that it's not a reliable source, but you can't ascertain the reliability of it because anyone can contribute to Wikipedia. But having said that, for like, a kind of initial understanding of a concept, there's no harm in having a look just so that you know, it gives you a clue and then you can follow the references at the end of a Wikipedia citation to see what the evidence is for a certain thing.
Alex Patel
Yeah, yeah.
Tracy Dix
So, I just wanted to kind of add that caveat in as to why we are using it here. And yeah,-
Alex Patel
And why I laughed.
Tracy Dix
- but then we can get back to the fun stuff. So, coming back to what you said about looking to the future. Yeah, so it just reminded me of something very rustic and being quite grounded to our roots, to nature. I mean, I have no Celtic associations whatsoever. But in this time of climate change, and a kind of shaking up of, you know, the way we live, we are having to really rethink the way that we live our lives nowadays. And look towards a future that is - that is more sustainable. And being at university and the type of research that takes place at University has a huge role to play in that kind of contribution â
Alex Patel
Yes, yes.
Trac Dix
- to the global community. So how can we sort of bring that kind of intuition to - to our future - like determining the future? So, you were talking about seeing into our future, and I'm not sure I feel particularly as if I can see into my future. I don't think I'm that in tune -
â
Alex Patel
Me neither.
Tracy Dix
- with my kind of intuition and stuff like that. But we do have the power to determine our future don't we?
Alex Patel
We certainly do.
Tracy Dix
And so, the starting point of that really is kind of thinking about what we want â so, gaining clarity on what it is we want in our future like how we envisage things. And that gives us the first steps to the actions we need to take in order to get there. And of course, none of this is predetermined, it's not static, it can change over time, but it's sort of a - yes, it's a sort of calling into our intuition to tell us like, what our next step is, and then as you act on certain things, you know, whatever it - it might be, that action brings further clarity.
Alex Patel 17:23
Hmm. Yeah, yeah, so students starting university might want to think about where they want to be at the end of it. So, it doesn't necessarily mean career but you might want to think about what values, what's important to you, and what kind of lifestyle, activities, jobs, could enable you to be true to yourself - to be authentic.
Tracy Dix
Yup, yeah.
Alex Patel
So, it also reminds me about one of the life-changing books that I read a couple of years ago, which was The Courage to Be Disliked.
Tracy Dix
Oh, yeah.
Alex Patel
So that's kind of just you know⌠Quick summary: itâs just kind of saying you know, where you are now, if you're not happy with it, you have to be brave enough to change it. You're the person that can make that change. So be brave, have courage, and it's certainly worked out for me, Iâd say.
Tracy Dix 18:14
Yeah, and the thing is, not everyone is going to like your decisions, as you experienced. But that doesn't necessarily matter. You should live a life that is true to yourself and not necessarily have to worry what other people think. I mean, definitely don't hurt anyone. But also like, you know, do we have to worry about offending people necessarily? You know, we might, we might have beliefs that other people don't believe in, but if they choose to be offended by it, then that's kind of their choice. You know, they don't have to have the same beliefs as us. But at the same time, they can't push those beliefs, their beliefs on us.
Alex Patel 18:51
Yes, yes. And when you get to university - and that's one of the great things about university, you'll meet lots of new people, you'll be confronted with lots of different beliefs, ideas, perspectives. And ideally, your lectures will be challenging you to come up with these types of things, not just amongst the people you meet, but around the work that you're doing - the research papers you're reading. So, you might think, you know, okay, something like - we're going to draw my biological sciences roots.
Tracy Dix
Yeah.
Alex Patel
So good old Darwin and the theory of evolution. Yeah. Now it's proven fact, isn't it? Well, some people wouldn't agree with that. But mostly, it's accepted as being really solid, really concrete.
Tracy Dix
Uh huh.
Alex Patel
So, you might think, well, it's difficult to look for any holes in this - ask any questions. But did you know that Darwin was actually incredibly sexist? So, there was an American female civil rights activist who wrote to him and said, âYou know, I've read the theory of evolution. Surely it means that women have evolved to be you know, intelligent, surely it supports the right for women to be able to choose jobs and have the voteâ and things along those lines. And he wrote back, very kindly, and said, âNo, it does not. What it does show is that because women don't have to compete for the attention of menâ â
Tracy Dix
WowâŚ
Alex Patel
- bit of an assumption there â âthey haven't had to evolve at all.â So actually, they're a bit lazy.
Tracy Dix
Oh, wow.
Alex Patel
âWhereas men because they have had to compete for the attention of women, they have and so that's why men have developed to be so brilliant and intelligentâ and physical progress and that type of thing.
Tracy Dix 20:39
So, if you respected the work of Darwin before, you might not now.
Alex Patel 20:43
Well, you know, I'm not completely trying to blow his theory out of water, obviously. But knowing that, does it make you look at his research and think, âOkay, so maybe I should ask some questions when he's talking about the roles of different genders.â
â
Tracy Dix 21:01
Yeah, but also if you - so as you mentioned before, so even if you - you know, you find it difficult to ask questions about Darwin because his work is so seminal, coming up with counter-evidence from other sources can be useful in helping you develop your own criticality. So, if you haven't made your mind up yet, if you haven't got the questions to ask then looking at different alternative sources can help you by comparison.
Alex Patel 21:24
So, when you're asking these types of questions, what you would then do is say okay, I'm a bit concerned about this, you know, I'm gonna â
Tracy Dix
Yeah.
Alex Patel
- look into it, and then find evidence to support your â
Tracy Dix
Yeah,
Alex Patel
- you know, your suggestions to answer your questions.
Tracy Dix 21:37
And back to - back to Darwin's kind of response to this to this woman who wrote to him, we are talking about a time when women were not allowed to publish work, arenât we, Alex?
Alex Patel
I donât know, are we?
â
Tracy Dix
- were not allowed to publish work or was it frequently the case that work that women produced were published under the name of their male supervisors?
Alex Patel 21:59
Yes. And so that would probably be the start of the 1900s and, the 1950s.
Tracy Dix
Uh huh.
Alex Patel
So, another famous example, is Rosalind Franklin. This is what inspired me to go into science actually.
Tracy Dix
Okay.
Alex Patel
And my daughter, her middle name is named after her.
Tracy Dix
Wow.
Alex Patel
So, it's a nice -
Tracy Dix
Yeah.
â
Alex Patel
Well, it's a horrible story, actually. When the structure of DNA was discovered in 1957, it was three male scientists who got the credit for it: Francis Crick and James Watson. They studied at Cambridge, and they had a bit of a, I donât know, a casual, cavalier attitude towards research. So, anyway, they managed to convince somebody they knew to basically show them the work of this brilliant female scientist, Rosalind Franklin. She didn't want to show them it, you know, because she felt it was something quite important, and she was very methodical. So, she was working through, you know, her first stage and then she was gonna go on to the second bit, but this guy, Morris Wilkinson, I think it might have been, passed it over to Watson and Crick.
Tracy Dix
OhâŚ
Alex Patel
And it's, you know, light bulbs flared at that point, and they suddenly got, you know, both the evidence and the idea for how DNA was structured. So, of course, guess who got the Nobel Prize for it?
Tracy Dix
The credit for itâŚ
Alex Patel
It was these three men.
Tracy Dix 23:23
So, do you think - so Rosalind Franklin, you saidâŚ
Alex Patel
Yes.
Tracy Dix
So, do you think she was reluctant to hand over the work because she knew that was going to happen?
Alex Patel
I'm not sure. I'm not sure.
Tracy Dix
Or like, at the very least, she felt like she was handing over autonomy to people who had â
Alex Patel
Yeah. I donât know to be honest.
Tracy Dix
Or perhaps had the authority to undermine it. Or something.
Alex Patel
Yeah. Yeah.
Tracy Dix
That's really interesting.
Alex Patel 23:44
And one of the awful things is her work was looking at X-ray crystallography. And in those days, X-rays were pretty damaging for people, we didn't realise â well, they didn't realise - I believe she died early from some kind of cancer.
Tracy Dix
Hmm.
Alex Patel
As you can imagine.
Tracy Dix 24:02
So, the other thing we're touching on here as well is that knowledge is fluid, isn't it? Like so for example, you know what people knew about radiography then, and what we know now in terms of its harmful effects. And so, the path is not always smooth and plain sailing is it? I mean success, whatever you might make of it. I mean, to some people, it's you know, having a successful career, whatever that means to you, a successful life and that, you know, you get to choose how you want to live your life and, you know, it kind of fulfils your own criteria rather than someone else's preferably. So, I think something I've picked up from a fellow podcaster is that our success is inevitable, and that we are always on the right path. And I think that's a really powerful message. You know, even when things feel a bit shaky, and you don't feel like you're on the right path and you come up with setbacks because I mean, in your three years, or more of being at university, a lot of things can happen. I think it's really helpful to have this as a kind of anchor that if you know your success is inevitable, and you're always on the right path and everything is brought here to kind of teach you lessons that you can build on then I think that's quite a healthy way to look at, you know, just sort of setbacks and the ups and downs of what goes on at university life, but also beyond.
Alex Patel 25:20
Yeah, certainly one way of kind of thinking about how the world works. So, whoâs the podcaster?
Tracy Dix 25:23
The podcaster is called Kathryn Zenkina.
Alex Patel 25:27
Cool, just thought it was worth throwing that name in there. So, Tracy, what are your takeaways from this discussion?
Tracy Dix 25:34
I like what you said about you know, how the brain works and how - did you say that neurons were created but also like, you know, parts of the brain that we don't use can be destroyed. So, I mean, I - you know, like I said, I know the proverb: âUse it or lose itâ or âpractice makes perfectâ. I prefer âPractice makes progressâ because what is perfect anyway? But it's really nice to kind of know the scientific evidence for like, what all these sayings are based on, even though you know, I'm sure when whoever came up with them, they had no idea about all this neuroscience because this is kind of quite emerging stuff. Oh, but also, I think, a very useful source because I'm into popular science, not the kind of hard evidence that you are so in tune to, Alex, is I've been listening to a book called Evolve Your Brain by Dr. Joe Dispenza. And he does touch on a lot of this, you know, neuroplasticity, and you know, the idea of, you know, where attention flows, energy goes. So, when you choose to put your attention is where you're going to see results.
Alex Patel 26:35
Yeah, yeah, that sounds fair enough. Just a little random fact I thought I'd throw in at this point.
Tracy Dix
Okay.
Alex Patel
Sigmund Freud.
Tracy Dix
Oh, yeah.
Alex Patel
Oh, yes, yes. So obviously psychoanalysis really popular, but he actually came up with an idea of how messages might be passed through the brain. So, the equivalent of we call them âsynapsesâ, but the joint between two different neurons where a message is sent across basically, the other interesting thing is he did all this while he was on cocaine.
Tracy Dix 27:04
Okay.
Alex Patel 27:07
So does that make you look at his work and then think, âOh, maybe, maybe we should think very carefully about his fixation on mother figures.â
â
Tracy Dix 27:19
Is that - is that a topic - mother figures? Is this a topic for another podcast episode, do you think?
Alex Patel 27:23
I think it might be, I think it might be.
Tracy Dix 27:24
Alright. Okay, then I think we'll wrap up there for today.
Kelley Costigan 27:31
You have been listening to Wyrd Learning with Dr. Tracy Dix and Dr. Alex Patel. Music by Defekt Maschine from Pixabay. Produced by Kelley Costigan.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
