Courtesy of MSNBC:

“We’ve all goofed up and flubbed up things we’ve previously done time and again.

It turns out the root of these brain farts may be a special kind of abnormal brain activity that begins up to 30 seconds before a mistake even happens.

The solution to such screw-ups could be a kind of mind-reading hat, a device to predict and even prevent mindless errors that can threaten lives.”

Sign me up for a mind-reading hat!

In case you were wondering what a mind-reading hat might look like, the MSNBC article links to one at Live Science. It talks about a mind-reading computer that can tell if you’re overworked, underworked or not working at all:

“The mind reading actually involves measuring the volume and oxygen level of the blood around the subject’s brain, using technology called functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS).

The user wears a sort of futuristic headband that sends light in that spectrum into the tissues of the head where it is absorbed by active, blood-filled tissues. The headband then measures how much light was not absorbed, letting the computer gauge the metabolic demands that the brain is making.

The results are often compared to an MRI, but can be gathered with lightweight, non-invasive equipment.”

I couldn’t resist finding out what the “not working” hyperlink would lead to. To me, if you’re brain’s not working, you’re probably in trouble.

The link led me off on a tangent about how one rotten employee can bring down a whole company:

“The researchers define a bad apple as a toxic teammate who shows one or all of three features: dodging their work, dumping some of their responsibilities on others; persistently expressing pessimism, irritability and general unhappiness; and bullying co-workers.

The bullies have specialties: making fun of someone, saying something hurtful, making inappropriate ethnic or religious remark, cursing at someone, playing mean pranks, acting rudely and publicly embarrassing someone.”

I was thinking the article reminded me of someone, but then I had a brain fart and forgot.

Maybe I don’t want a mind-reading hat after all.

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