The Rest Is Science Cognitive Ghosts
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Mar 17, 2026 They unpack déjà vu, presque vu and jamais-vu and how familiarity can trick memory. They explore blindsight, multiple self illusions and lab tricks that create sensed presences. They probe the high-place phenomenon and the strange urge to harm when overwhelmed. They explain cute aggression, hypnic jerks, deathbed visions and cultural tales that shape what we accept as real.
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The Call Of The Void Is A Confabulated Urge
- Michael Stevens described the high place phenomenon where fear spawns a phantom urge to jump as a confabulated explanation.
- The brain invents an internal compulsion to rationalize intense fear at edges.
Cute Aggression Is A Homeostatic Counterbalance
- Cute aggression is likely a homeostatic response: overactivation of caregiving circuits triggers aggressive impulses to rebalance.
- Researchers coded responses showing people say both protective and aggressive phrases when overwhelmed by cuteness.
Hypnic Jerks Could Be An Evolutionary Relic
- Hypnic jerks may be vestigial: loss of muscle tone in sleep triggers a corrective startle, possibly from arboreal ancestors.
- Frederick Coolidge suggests jerks prevented falling from trees as muscle tone relaxed.