Elizabeth Puyear

[Ihtesham Ali @ihtesham2005]

A Norwegian neuroscientist spent 20 years proving that the act of writing by hand changes the human brain in ways typing physically cannot, and almost nobody outside her field has read the paper.

Her name is Audrey van der Meer.

She runs a brain research lab in Trondheim, and the paper that closed the argument was published in 2024 in a journal called Frontiers in Psychology. The finding is brutal enough that it should have changed every classroom on Earth.

The experiment was simple. She recruited 36 university students and put each one in a cap with 256 sensors pressed against their scalp to record brain activity. Words flashed on a screen one at a time.

Sometimes the students wrote the word by hand on a touchscreen using a digital pen, and sometimes they typed the same word on a keyboard. Every neural response was recorded for the full five seconds the word stayed on screen.

Then her team looked at the part of the data most researchers had ignored for years, which is how different parts of the brain were communicating with each other during the task.

When the students wrote by hand, the brain lit up everywhere at once.

The regions responsible for memory, sensory integration, and the encoding of new information were all firing together in a coordinated pattern that spread across the entire cortex. The whole network was awake and connected.

When the same students typed the same word, that pattern collapsed almost completely.

Most of the brain went quiet, and the connections between regions that had been alive seconds earlier were nowhere to be found on the EEG.

Same word, same brain, same person, and two completely different neurological events.

The reason turned out to be something nobody had really paid attention to before her work. Writing by hand is not one motion but a sequence of thousands of tiny micro-movements coordinated with your eyes in real time, where each letter is a different shape that requires the brain to solve a slightly different spatial problem.

Your fingers, wrist, vision, and the parts of your brain that track position in space are all working together to produce one letter, then the next, then the next.

Typing throws all of that away. Every key on a keyboard requires the exact same finger motion regardless of which letter you are pressing, which means the brain has almost nothing to integrate and almost no problem to solve.

Van der Meer said it plainly in her interviews.

Pressing the same key with the same finger over and over does not stimulate the brain in any meaningful way, and she pointed out something that should scare every parent who handed their kid an iPad.

Children who learn to read and write on tablets often cannot tell letters like b and d apart, because they have never physically felt with their bodies what it takes to actually produce those letters on a page.

A decade before her, two researchers at Princeton ran the same fight using a completely different method and ended up at the same answer. Pam Mueller and Daniel Oppenheimer tested 327 students across three experiments, where half took notes on laptops with the internet disabled and half took notes by hand, before testing everyone on what they actually understood from the lectures they had watched.

The handwriting group won by a wide margin on every question that required real understanding rather than surface recall.

The reason was hiding in the transcripts of what the two groups had actually written down.

The laptop students typed almost word for word, capturing more total content but processing almost none of it as they went, while the handwriting students physically could not write fast enough to transcribe a lecture in real time, which forced them to listen carefully, decide what actually mattered, and put it in their own words on the page.

That single act of choosing what to keep was the learning itself, and the keyboard had quietly skipped the choosing and skipped the learning along with it.

Two studies. Two countries. Same answer.

Handwriting makes the brain work. Typing lets it coast.

Every note you have ever typed instead of written went into your brain through a thinner pipe. Every meeting, every book highlight, every idea you captured on your phone instead of on paper was processed at half depth.

You did not forget those things because your memory is bad. You forgot them because typing never woke the part of the brain that would have made them stick.

The fix is the thing your grandmother already knew.

Pick up a pen. Write the thing down. The slower road is the faster one.

[Matt Wallace @MattWallace888]

James Van Der Beek’s final message to the world is one of the most powerful things I have ever heard. Stop whatever you are doing and listen to this! 🥺

[Ben Wikler @benwikler]

Has the U.S. economy, historically, been better under Republican presidents or Democratic presidents?

A Republican financial analyst decided to find out.

His name? Bart Starr, Jr. (Yes, the son of THAT Bart Starr.)

The answer may surprise you.🧵

[Bill Madden @maddenifico]

"Only in America." 😂

[Barack Obama @BarackObama]

Bad debate nights happen. Trust me, I know. But this election is still a choice between someone who has fought for ordinary folks his entire life and someone who only cares about himself. Between someone who tells the truth; who knows right from wrong and will give it to the American people straight — and someone who lies through his teeth for his own benefit. Last night didn’t change that, and it’s why so much is at stake in November. https://t.co/Tn2TQu5Djo

[James Lucas @JamesLucasIT]

Thread of before and after photos 🧵

1. Chichen Itza in 1892 and now

[Elizabeth Puyear @epuyear]

👇

[Just saying @kangaroos991]

Exactly! Pass it on! ⤵️

[Brown Eyed Susan @smc429]

Mike Johnson is a clown

[Christopher Webb @cwebbonline]

🧵
I attended the Biden event in Los Angeles last night. Fantastic, but it made me think about a few things.

I’ve been around a minute. Lived through several Presidential races. I remember not being excited about the candidates, but I have never in my life fixed my lips to say, I’m not voting because of it. Neither did my grandparents who survived Jim Crow and were not always welcomed at the polls.

I don’t understand folks who are saying that today.

Your top issue isn’t being talked about enough or going the way you think it should? Let’s survive now and live to fight another day. But first, look beyond what you’re seeing covered by the media, because Biden is not getting the same coverage that Trump is getting. And much of that coverage is skewed. It’s likely your issue is being worked on and you have been heard — so look deeper!

We don’t have to invite the candidates over for tea and crumpets, but staying home when we have the Supreme Court that we have, is short-sided and a disservice to those of us who see Trump as the number one danger that he is promising to be.

NO CHOICE — IS A CHOICE FOR TRUMP!!!
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[Elizabeth Puyear @epuyear]

The very best❣️👇

[Elizabeth Puyear @epuyear]

Yes! Yes! Yes!

[Don Winslow @donwinslow]

HOW have I never heard this?

The one and only ETTA JAMES covering THE EAGLES.

Take It To The Limit...

https://t.co/4Wnrlojw7s

[Paul Embery @PaulEmbery]

A picture really can speak a thousand words.

[Elizabeth Puyear @epuyear]

👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇

[Nick Knudsen 🇺🇸 @NickKnudsenUS]

Wow.

This video is truly eye-opening.

Take a couple minutes to watch this.

A mind-boggling visual representation of wealth inequality in America.

This sh*t ain’t workin’, folks. #TaxBillionaires #UnionsForAll

[Republicans against Trump @RpsAgainstTrump]

Trump just told Fox News that he never said "Lock her up."

Roll the tape 👇

[Seek Wiser @SeekWiser_]

9 Addictions You Must Break To Become Your Best Self...

[All American @AllAmerican202]

No auto tune needed … just wow.

[Machine Pun Kelly 🇺🇦 @KellyScaletta]

The last few weeks I've been intermittently oscillating between anger, sorrow, and worry over the pending election.

And most of that isn't even over the MAGAs. They're going to do what they're going to do. And their minds can't be changed.

What bothers me is people suggesting they're not going to vote for Biden, even though they know that Trump is a terrible person, President, alternative, and human being. The people who detest him as much as I do are willing to let him take office "because the Dems should have chosen someone better" or some such nonsense.

It is the most "cut off the nose to spite the face" thing in all of human history.

But if you say that, you're the bad guy. How DARE you LECTURE us?!?!

So I'm not lecturing you. I'm just telling you some things.

When Biden had a Congress he could work with, they passed

The Inflation Reduction Act: The single largest investment in climate and energy in American history,

American Rescue Plan Act: Lowered health insurance premiums and provide 100% federal COBRA subsidy. Allowed 1 million Americans to gain coverage.

Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act: Invests $1 trillion to fix our nation's infrastructure while creating over 2 million jobs over the next decade

Postal Service Reform Act: Contains financial reforms intended to improve the Postal Service's financial sustainability, and operational reforms intended to increase efficiency, accountability, and transparency.

Bipartisan Safer Communities Act: Makes changes to gun control, mental health, and school safety. The law includes over $13 billion in federal funding for programs to improve public safety. The most significant gun-control legislation in 30 years.

CHIPS and Science Act: Provides $50 billion to revitalize the U.S. semiconductor industry and strengthen the country's economic and national security

Honoring Our PACT Act: Expands VA health care and benefits for veterans who have been exposed to toxic substances like burn pits and Agent Orange

Electoral Count Reform and Presidential Transition Improvement Act: Reforms and modernizes the outdated 1887 Electoral Count Act to ensure that electoral votes tallied by Congress accurately reflect each state's public vote for President.

Respect for Marriage Act: RFMA officially repealed The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and requires the federal government to recognize same-sex and interracial marriages, codifying parts of Obergefell, the 2013 ruling in United States v. Windsor, and the 1967 ruling in Loving v. Virginia.

Under Joe Biden's leadership the US has led the world economically in recovering from Covid.

Unemployment has been below 4% for the last 27 months, the lowest in over 50 years, and the longest since we've had primarily two-income households.

Underemployment (those who are settling for lesser jobs) is at 7%, the lowest number recorded since they've started tracking it in 1990.

And yes, international inflation has impacted the US (just as it has impacted every country in the world,) but among advanced nations, it currently has the 2nd lowest core inflation.

Wage growth is up to, even more than inflation. As of February, the average worker was making 6% more than they were pre-pandemic after adjusting for inflation.

Overall, personal income increased $122.0 billion (0.5 percent at a monthly rate) in March.

Disposable personal income (DPI)—personal income less personal current taxes—increased $104.0 billion (0.5 percent).

Personal saving was $671.0 billion and the personal saving rate—personal saving as a percentage of disposable personal income—was 3.2 percent in March.

And for once, the most income growth is going to the poorest Americans. Here is the wage growth since pre-pandemic levels.

Low-wage (10th percentile): 12.1%
Lower-middle-wage (avg 20th–40th): 5.0%
Middle-wage (avg 40th–60th): 3.0%
Upper-middle-wage (avg 60th–80th): 2.0%
High-wage (90th percentile): 0.9%

Nationally, the GDP has grown from 20.93 trillion to 27.36 trillion in 2023. That's an increase of over 30% since Biden took office.

And, for whatever it's worth, the Dow is up over 25% under Biden.

So please, stop telling me Biden is terrible for the economy.

And while we're at it, show some consistency. If you're going to blame Biden for all the inflation, give him all the credit for jobs recovered. If you're going to give Trump a pass for the jobs lost because of Covid, give Biden a pass for inflation caused because of Covid.

And while we're at it, the jobs that were lost during Covid (mostly the hospitality jobs) are the last ones coming back. But that's another axe to grind.

He has also repaired NATO to defend Ukraine, and helped add Finland and Sweden.

And for all the talk about the "wars" under Biden, America isn't at war--as we were under Trump. And no, America is not fighting "proxy wars." A proxy war is instigated by the major power.

Ukraine did not invade Russia. Russia invaded Ukraine. Hamaas attacked Israel.

Those aren't proxy wars. You may agree or disagree with funding them, but they aren't proxy wars, so stop calling them proxy wars.

But I digress.

The point is shit happens elsewhere in the world. There were 151 different wars and conflicts while Trump was President, but we didn't blame him for them. There sure wasn't "world peace."

In fact, more people globally, and more US servicemen died in conflicts under Trump than under Biden.

And Trump ordered nearly 20,000 drone strikes in just 4 years. Biden has ordered fewer than 500. So no, Trump is not the dove people say he is.

So yes, Biden has accomplished a lot. And we'll get to Gaza, but first let's talk about not what Trump "did" but what he promises to do.

These aren't darkly hidden campaign conspiracy theories. These are campaign promises available in interviews and published on the Interwebs.

Trump wants to replace over 10,000 federal employees with ideologically motivated "applicants." There is LITERALLY an application online with Project 2025. That's not some rumor.

He wants to SELL climate policy to the Oil Industry for $1 billion in campaign contributions. How's that going to work for climate change?

He wants to "round up" over 10 million undocumented workers and put them in internment camps. Again, campaign promise he made in an interview. Not something I'm making up.

He is happy to let red states force women to register their pregnancies.

What about trans rights? Gay rights? Do you think those are safe? What if Mike Johnson is still Speaker and Ted Cruz is the Senate Majority Leader? Those are very real possibilities if Trump wins.

Do you think a MAGA Senate is going to keep the filibuster in place? Do you doubt for a second that Thomas and Alito wouldn't resign so that Trump could appoint two more conservatives? How do you feel about a Trump-majority court?

Now on Gaza. Do you really believe that Joe Biden wants to "genocide" Palestinians? You can argue he hasn't done enough to hinder Israel's attacks, and I won't begrudge you that. But do you really believe Trump wouldn't be infinitely worse?

And I really do feel that people need to recognize that Biden is in a precarious position here. If he is too hard on Israel, he loses the election. If he's not hard enough on Israel, he loses the election. Either way Bibi (not Israel) wins.

You've already got Republicans trying to conflate him threatening to withhold support with Trump and Ukraine (which they were apparently OK with, but whatever).

Trump has promised (again, a promise) to "spill a gallon of blood for every drop they (the Palestinians) spill.

Then there's RFK Jr. The man who can't even host a dinner party for a brain worm. What does he offer? You say you don't want to vote for the lesser of two evils?

How is he less evil than Joe Biden? Honestly.

If you're going to vote FOR him, then please elaborate on why. I don't even know what his platform is beyond his last name and his pro-Polio stance.

My point is:

1. Joe Biden has actually been a pretty damned good President if you actually look at it.

2. Donald Trump will literally ruin 10s of millions of lives.

So if you're going to pretend that it's all the same, then fine. Go ahead. Watch the country burn to the ground so you can be pompous about it.

But don't bitch about it and blame the Democrats for running an incumbent President with the most successful first-term record in 50 years.

I fact-checked all the data in this post as I wrote it. But if you see an actual error, feel free to point it out and I will include it. But only if it's actually an error.

[The Figen @TheFigen_]

A driver waits while watching a woodcock finish crossing the road. 😂

[The Figen @TheFigen_]

Great creativity.