Something really amusing happened last night. I am currently reading Mind Wide Open by Steven Johnson again and I just finished the preface which mentioned a particular occurrence when you're in a mildly interesting/relaxing conversation with a friend and they happen to mention something that is particularly stressful to you (a deadline you had forgotten about or an ex that you hate) and suddenly your sympathetic nervous system kicks in and your heart beats a little faster and you might start to sweat a little and then your friend then says something interesting/funny that makes you completely forget what you were just stressing about. As the conversation continues on you are still feeling the anxiety from the previous stressor in your mind/body, but cant remember why you are feeling anxious and have to retrace the conversation back to whatever it was so you can place the feelings you are having to something rational. Well that happens because the verbal conversation part of your brain happens in a different area than the emotional evaluations (and is the area that releases chemicals in accordance with your emotions that are attached to your thoughts/conversation). Apparently there is a time lag between those two different areas, the former takes only milliseconds to take place and react whereas the emotional reactions to what is being said can take seconds to even minutes to take place. And even then the chemicals are released all throughout your body so it can take even longer for them to subside. I find all of this extremely fascinating and is precisely the reason why I want to study this in depth. So! All of that being said, we had two friends spend the night last night that are on their way back to Indiana and they were going to leave super early in the morning to get on the road. So in the middle of the night I wake up from a sound out in the living room, its all still dark and I turn over and realize my boyfriend is still in bed next to me and its NOT him that's already up (when it usually is). Oh my god. Someone is breaking into our house. So I tap him on the shoulder with adrenaline screaming throughout my body and I finally realize that we had friends stay the night and they are getting up and leaving. All of this happened within probably about five seconds from the moment I was startled awake but it took me probably about ten minutes before I could calm myself down enough to be able to fall back asleep. In those minutes I found it really amusing because this is precisely the kind of thing the book was talking about. Even though I KNEW that no one was in the house that shouldn't be there and everything was absolutely fine and dandy, I could still feel the adrenaline pumping in my veins, my heart beating rapidly, my sweat glands enacting, my mind as awake and sharp as if someone splashed me with cold water. I love science.
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