The science museum in London has interesting items on display in the Psychology: Mind Your Head exhibit. Unfortunately, not all of them are on the website so here are some I photographed.

A skull showing phrenology markings with a device used to measure the features of a head for phrenological interpretation. Phrenology was a radical idea developed by Franz Joseph Gall in the 19th century. He said that different mental faculties like memory, sensation and instincts can be interpreted from the different features of a person's skull. It was against the religious thought at that time as the Catholic church refused the idea that the mind and it's faculties can be localized to physical structure i.e. the brain. Phrenology became very popular in Britain in the mid 19th century and it was used to compare the superiority of colonialists compared to the 'savages'. Now it's a pseudoscience.

Another phrenology related instrument.

The first world war introduced to psychology the idea that extreme stress could cause mental disorders. This was called war neurosis or shell shock. But before this realization it was considered cowardice and some soldiers in Britain were executed. Some of those who weren't executed were given an electrical shock in the back of the pharynx in an attempt to treat their hysterical behavior. Pictured above a Faradic battery that was used to apply the shock. Now the modern concept of shell shock is known as posttraumatic stress disorder.

There are 100 million people around the world using Facebook. This number is from the official Facebook blog. They don't mention the number of active users. But it is safe to say that they are a lot.

I will describe an evil idea to control the decisions of a great number people that doesn't involve any intrusion on their privacy. They will be oblivious to this interference.

This is a very good video of a lecture by Rhawn Joseph about functions of the limbic system and the hypothalamus. It is 55 minutes in length. Contains some nudity appropriate for the context.

It is wrong to think that following your friends online will introduce you to new ideas, opportunities and information. However, if you spend the same amount of time reading other people ideas but following a certain topic that interest you. This will probably expose you to more information, viewpoints, ideas, etc..

Curiosity killed the cat!

I don't know were did the above proverb come from. But I know how curiosity came to exist. It could be defined as the motivation to explore or examine. Curiosity is a hard wired innate behavior in many animals including invertebrates like fish. It is an instinct that probably increases our chances of survival. Simply by increasing our chances of getting food and/or sex. It is also important for learning and