Curious Limericks about Cognitive Science

Cognitive science was once a field reserved for the most elitist of academics in their ivory towers. But thanks to democratizing institutions like NPR and a preponderance of Netflix documentaries, even the most isolated writer of limericks can now explore the recherche mysteries of behavior, intelligence and consciousness.

But that’s not all.

Limericks about cognitive science now bring the meat of the mind to the table of the many. Just as contemporary culture has reduced research-based science to the lowest of low brow, these limericks bring questions of neural function and the miracle of consciousness all the way down to earth.

     Identity
     Despite what the rational body observes
     There’s a sense of the self that the memory preserves
               While the urge for reducing
               Is somewhat seducing
     We’re more than the sum of a bundle of nerves

     The Dragon
     Our reptilian parents they fought and fled fast
     Bear this in mind should suspicions be cast
               Lest you be shamed
               The beast must be tamed
     Our consciousness bulges from out of the past

     Inside Job
     A chorus of voices may whisper and shout
     From the back of your mind raising questions and doubt
               But never give in
               To the skeptics within
     When you call them by name you can drive them all out

     Schopenhauer’s Renunciation
     Life is a struggle, a tale of resistance
     Where being and becoming are held at a distance
               Try and deny it
               I dare you to try it
     At bottom the Will is the ground of existence

     Repentance
     Conscience and consciousness both hand in hand
     A penitent process that growth curves demand
               There’s no use forgetting
               We learn by regretting
     Together awareness and fairness expand

     Entre Vous
     Open your doors and the whole world will enter
     If sadness wants in then you cannot prevent her
               You can’t pick and choose
               Which feelings to use
     The best you can do is make peace in your center

     Passing Fancies
     Psychic vicissitudes working cross purposes
     One thought dissolves and another one surfaces
               Feelings are fleeting
               So watch as you’re greeting
     The many sensations that consciousness furnishes

     Deja Who
    There’s a pattern that many detect
    When a fresh fact or concept’s been checked
            One day it’s rare
            And the next everywhere
    The bizarre Baader Meinhof Effect

Further Reading

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