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2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44
Long sleep and no socks - who knows, maybe this is the secret of genius.
10 hours of sleep and one second rest breaks
Everyone knows that sleep has a beneficial effect on the brain. Einstein adopted this truth. He slept at least 10 hours a day - almost 1.5 times more than the average person.
Typically, a problem that bothers you at night can be easily resolved in the morning after the sleep committee has worked on it.
John Steinbeck American writer
When we fall asleep, the brain goes through certain cycles. Every 1, 5-2 hours, he switches between superficial and deep sleep (in this phase we spend 60% of sleep), as well as the phase of REM sleep.
The first two stages are characterized by bursts of rapid brain activity, during which the electroencephalogram of the brain is able to fix a spindle-shaped zigzag. These bursts are called sigma rhythms.
During normal sleep, thousands of sigma rhythms appear, lasting only a few seconds, which open the door to other stages of sleep. During sleep, the thalamus - the area of the brain responsible for the redistribution of information from the senses and the emergence of sigma rhythms - acts as an earplug. It does not allow external information to interfere with our sleep.
Those with more sigma rhythms have more fluid intelligence.
Agile intelligence - the ability to solve new problems, use logic and see patterns. He is not responsible for memorizing facts and figures.
Einstein had a fluid intelligence. That is why he disliked standard education and advised "never to memorize what can be read in a book."
The more you sleep, the more sigma rhythms appear. Scientists have found that sleeping at night in women and short sleep breaks in men improve problem-solving skills. It is during these periods that bursts of brain activity occur, and, consequently, the development of intelligence.
Einstein regularly took rest breaks. They say, in order not to oversleep, he took a spoon in his hand and put a metal tray under it. When the scientist turned off for a second, the spoon fell with a noise and woke him up.
Daily walks
It was sacred for Einstein. While working at Princeton University in New Jersey, he walked 5 kilometers every day. And it's not about keeping in shape. There is ample evidence that walking improves memory, increases creativity Give your ideas some legs: The positive effect of walking on creative thinking, and the ability to solve problems.
A walk is a relief for the brain.
During it, activity in the regions that are responsible for memory, reasoning and language is temporarily reduced. Decreased activity alters our thinking, which leads to flashes of insight.
Spaghetti
Alas, it is not known for certain what diet Einstein had. However, rumor has it that he loved spaghetti. Einstein himself joked that he loves Italy for spaghetti and the mathematician Levi-Civita.
Our brain consumes 20% of the energy entering the body, although its mass is only 2% of the body weight (and Einstein's is even smaller: his brain weighed only 1,230 g, although the normal weight is about 1,400 g). Neurons constantly require carbohydrates such as glucose. However, despite its love for sweets, the brain is unable to store energy. Therefore, when blood sugar drops, its activity drops.
If we skip a meal, we may feel weak. Low-carb diets slow down the response and impair spatial memory. Although after a few weeks, the brain adapts and begins to receive energy from other sources, such as protein.
Pipe smoking
Einstein was a heavy smoker. He was always surrounded by clouds of smoke. He believed that this "promotes the development of calm and objective judgments in all areas of human activity." The scientist even picked up cigarette butts on the street and shook off the remaining tobacco into a pipe.
Now science knows that smoking negatively affects brain health: it interferes with the formation of new cells, thinns the cerebral cortex and leads to oxygen starvation. So it would be more correct to say that Einstein was a genius not because of this habit, but in spite of it.
Avoiding socks
Einstein hated socks. He said: “When I was young, I found that because of my big toe, holes always appear in my socks. So I stopped wearing them. And if he could not find his sandals, then he put on the shoes of his wife Elsa.
Unfortunately, no research has been done to prove the benefits of walking without socks. However, casual wear lovers have been found to score lower on abstract thinking tests than formal wear lovers.
You can try Einstein's habits for yourself. What if it works?
It's important not to stop asking questions. Curiosity has every reason to exist.
Albert Einstein
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