ha - well, i took it anyway, morbidly curious as i am, making myself slightly late for work, rushing thru the test, making several stoopid clicking errors and scoring a 40 anyway (which i gather isn't too terrible for my, ahem, age group.)

and then, coincidentally, the QVC infomercial aired last night, i think new this month judging from the commentary.

so it turns out the online test, tho an audio test rather than a visual test, is an example of the exercises offered in the amazing, cutting-edge, scientifically proven way to improve *your* brain!!!! (the audio version tests for certain skills, the visual for another, according to what i read.)

i dunno....

now, granted, i am utterly turned off by the commercial hawking method on QVC, but i can't say i was all that impressed. they're selling it with typical oh-so-bush-years fear tactics, primarily how it can improve your driving skills and save you from the inevitable terrible accident that awaits you if you let your brain get lazy. ick.

the exercise themselves, which were featured in short demonstrations by one of the scientists who helped develop them, remind me of simple hand-eye coordination contests, not unlike most video games. if this is what it takes to keep a brain sharp, our kids are all going to be middle age geniuses by today's standards.

but they claim not. they claim, of course, that their tests are specifically designed to improve the way your brain works, by continually adjusting to your specific aptitude as you go along. this is why each person has to pay for the software, and you can't just share it with the whole family. great marketing design, and scientifically proven! as was repeated every few minutes.

they do claim the benefits last up to five years too, so presumably you can slack off inbetween buying the next, improved edition, which will be coming out within that time frame, i have no doubt.

snark, snark.

anyway, i still find the book itself a fascinating read.....tho really what i take away from it (and from everything, more and more lately) is the malleable nature of reality itself, with the brain symbiotically involved in a feedback loop so intimate the notion of discreet entities dissolves. i mean, chicken or egg? all the way down, if ya know what i mean....