After an all too long break it’s back, the best and brightest of all things Mind, Soul, and Body on the internet-that I could find, anyway.  I am a bit short on introduction today, dig in and enjoy-

Regarding the mind-

E. D. Hirsch, in a strong editorial for the New York Times backs up my own assertion on the disconnect between how we learn, and how we are trying to educate our children.

At Frontal Cortex, Jonah Lehrer examines the fascinating phenomenon of the money effect, in which illusory increases are more powerful than real ones for our own happiness and satisfaction.

At BrainBlogger, Jared Tanner, MS succinctly sums up the limitations of my own field, as he describes what the damaged brain can and cannot tell us about how our minds work.

Regarding the Soul-

At LDS Philosophy, Nathan waxes Newtonian, pondering the apple, and how we find the meanings in life we are predisposed to see, examines the explanations of biology and how they may be lacking.

The UK Guardian reports on the conflict between a Chicago Muslim, religiously forbidden to handle pork, and Dunkin Donuts, who decided after 20 years of accomodating his beliefs to refuse his franchise application unless their breakfast sandwiches were offered on the menu.

At Keepapitchinin, Ardis Parshall shares the gripping story of two landlocked, sheltered youth who departed for a Mormon Mission in 1928, only to be involved in a terrifying shipwreck.

Regarding the Body-

At Blisstree, Marijke Durining, RN sings the praises of the wonderful gift of an often overlooked item in the field of organ donation, the cornea.

Again atBlisstree, Cherie Burbach shares a bizarre story of a man who lived 30 years with a nail lodged in his nasal cavity, only to cough it up while having an MRI.

At Getting Better, Dr. Val shares an amusing public service announcement that provides a chuckle, while bringing home a serious health problem facing our children as their lives become more sedentary.

or All the Above-

At Reflections in a Head Mirror, Dr. Bruce Campbell shares an powerful personal experience in which he is asked to make an agonizing end of life choice for a loved one.

The blog, Reality Rounds reports a wonderful tribute to nurses that came directly from the President of the United States in his first on-line town hall meeting.

At Not in Therapeutic Range, a nurse relates the experience of seeing the disease she knows from textbooks and the care of strangers become suddenly all too real by affecting a lifelong friend.

That is it for now.  Hope you liked it.  For those hungry for more check out an outstanding edition of the nursing carnival, Change of Shift,  a very wonky health wonk review, An emphatically uncorrupt encephalon at Neuroskeptic, and an edition of Grand Rounds that emphasizes system failures in the hopes we can learn and grow from them, and last but not least, the dramatic life of surgeons is covered at the last surgexperiences.  All of these carnivals proving that the internet went on despite my absence.

Tagged: alzheimer disease, Barack Obama, bizarre, brain injury, carnivals, children, cornea, death, drama, dunkin donuts, dying, education, end of life, foreign body, happiness, health care, illusion, Islam, meaning, Missionaries, money, MRI, nurses, obesity, organ donation, palliative care, philosophy, pork, purpose, sedentary, tragedy