Schauer Thoughts

This week we’re tackling brain rot, brain fog, social media addiction, and stopping to smell the roses! Join me on a cognitive journey to the land of untapped and undervalued sensory input, the nose. Remember, this is about a harm reduction method, it alone will not “cure” you - also feel free to run absolutely all of this by a licensed medical professional and thoroughly review the resources for yourself. As always, it’s been a pleasure having you in the communal Schauer, I hope my STEAM (du-dun-tss) of consciousness (and extended research) provides some refreshing mental clarity. For more information on my book club visit: Substack: https://sarahschauer.substack.com/p/schauer-thoughts-book-club-additional?utm_source=activity_item Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/sarahschauer/membership Books: Horror on the Brain: The Neuroscience Behind Science Fiction - Austin Lim, PhD Attention: Beyond Mindfulness - Gay Watson Scent: A Natural History of Fragrance - Elise Vernon Pearlstine  Plant Lore and Legend: The Wisdom and Wonder of Plants and Flowers Revealed - Ruth Binney Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience - Mihály Csizkszentmihalyi Articles:  Demystifying the New Dilemma of Brain Rot in the Digital Era: A Review  https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11939997/ The Psychological Conditioning of Brainrot  https://www.fau.edu/thrive/students/thrive-thursdays/psychological_conditioning_brainrot/brainrot/ Defining brain fog across medical conditions https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0166223625000177 Does Exposure to Air Pollution Cause “Brain Fog”? https://hudsonvalleypress.com/2025/08/13/does-exposure-to-air-pollution-cause-brain-fog/ Screen Apnea: What happens to our breath when we type, tap, and scroll https://www.npr.org/2024/06/10/1247296780/screen-apnea-why-screens-cause-shallow-breathing A New Reason to Stop and Smell the Roses https://www.bottomlineinc.com/health/mental-health/a-new-reason-to-stop-and-smell-the-roses/ Memory Air Research Page https://memoryair.com/pages/science Nasal Respiration Entrains Human Limbic Oscillations and Modulated Cognitive Function https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5148230/ To smell the immune system: olfaction, autoimmunity and brain involvement  https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17110318/ The Connections Between smell, memory, and health https://magazine.hms.harvard.edu/articles/connections-between-smell-memory-and-health Transforming the understanding of brain immunity  https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abo7649 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Make sure to stretch, drink water, and break out a pencil and paper for this week’s episode of Schauer Thoughts because it will require active attention (you don’t have to do anything I say, this is just a word of warning that there will be math in this episode and it’s cruel to make someone listen to math without being able to write it down) because we’re getting into working memory! If you have any difficulties with math, please do not be hard on yourself, it’s had some wickedly bad instruction and PR, but I promise math is not the enemy! It’s how we’ve all evolved to this point! Fun little resource before the resource list, if you like literature and you’re math-curious, you should check out: The Meaning of Proofs: Mathematics as Storytelling by Gabriele Lolli. Also, good news for my fiction readers! Due to my lack of internal monologue I’m realizing I genuinely don’t understand the flow of people’s thoughts, so if you’d like to comment your favorite fiction book with an omniscient POV, I’d really appreciate it! I love sapphic romance, academia(?), appreciate a good classic, female lead, dark but also enlightening, anything in that general vicinity. Excited to pick up some recommendations! Thank you all for listening in on this week’s communal Schauer! Resources: The Data Detective: Ten Easy Rules to Make Sense of Statistics - Tim Harford What We Value: The Neuroscience of Choice and Change - Emily Falk Infinite Powers: How Calculus Reveals the Secrets of the Universe - Steven Strogatz Connections Over Compliance: Rewiring Our Perceptions of Discipline- Lori L. Desautels, Ph.D. On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons From the Twentieth Century - Timothy Snyder Teaching Absolute Value of a Number in Math https://www.hmhco.com/blog/teaching-absolute-value-of-a-number-in-math#:~:text=What%20does%20absolute%20value%20mean,is%20neither%20negative%20nor%20positive.) A Brief Overview of Working Memory https://www.learningscientists.org/blog/2019/4/25-1 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Schauer Thoughts? More like Schauer Cognitive Labor! Kidding, we have fun here. Welcome to part two of my mini-series on cognitive labor! Remember, not everyone is out to use you, discernment is a skill, and always do your own research. Thank you all for listening and as always, please feel free to run the episode and resources by your therapist. Make sure to like and subscribe on YouTube, and rate me five stars wherever you get your podcasts! For more information on my book club visit: Substack: https://sarahschauer.substack.com/p/schauer-thoughts-book-club-additional?utm_source=activity_item Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/sarahschauer/membership Resources: The Power of Fun: How to Feel Alive Again - Catherine Price  What We Value: The Neuroscience of Choice and Change - Emily Falk Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism - Amanda Montell  Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism - Robert Jay Lifton What We Value: The Neuroscience of Choice & Change - Emily Falk https://penntoday.upenn.edu/news/annenberg-emily-falk-book-what-we-value Thought terminating cliches: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thought-terminating_clich%C3%A9 The Power of Silence: Unpacking Thought-Terminating Cliches https://desireebstephens.substack.com/p/the-power-of-silence-unpacking-thought Entertrained  https://entertrained.app Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week on Schauer Thoughts we’re discussing cognitive labor: what it is and isn’t, situations you use it in, and how to tell when someone is using you for your cognitive labor via thought-terminating cliches! Sit back, relax, and enjoy the discussion. Also, I do want to apologize for how disorganized this episode is, I forgot to take my ADHD medication that day and I was really struggling to order my thoughts. I have also received some feedback that my podcast is unpolished and a bit of a “burden” and I completely understand the intention behind those comments. I really do appreciate feedback and I feel so bad that this is the episode going out with those comments in mind. I have ordered a couple books on how to polish your research, I’m currently reading Polish Your Academic Writing by Helen Coleman and I also signed up for a *free* seven week online course on scientific communication. (If you’d also like to take the class here’s a link: https://sciencecommunicationlab.org/research-skills/presentation-on-science/ - you don’t have to, it’s just to share!) It will take me a few weeks for you all to see these new skills in the podcast, so thank you for your patience and hopefully you see that effort payoff soon. I am talking about neuroscience and more technical things but I want to do so in a way that’s more easily understood and accessible so I am working on that! I do genuinely want to share what I’m learning and while I love research I love connecting with my audience more and that’s not really possible if I don’t make more of an active effort to structure and translate concepts in a more accessible way. I promise I am working on it, I deeply appreciate the feedback. There will be a part two to this episode and I am making sure that it’s more cohesive, organized, and delivered in a more accessible way! Links: How I Met Your Masi Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/howimetyourmasi/?hl=en Where to Stream: https://www.dynasty.tv/products/how-i-met-your-masi-premiere Sounds Like a Cult Podcast: Website: https://www.soundslikeacult.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/soundslikeacultpod/ Reese’s Instagram: (adore her) https://www.instagram.com/reesaronii/ For more information on my book club visit: Substack: https://sarahschauer.substack.com/p/schauer-thoughts-book-club-additional?utm_source=activity_item Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/sarahschauer/membership Resources: Future Tense: Why Anxiety is Good for You (Even Though It Feels Bad) - Tracy Dennis-Tiwary, PhD How To Make Your Brain Your Best Friend: A Neuroscientists Guide to a Healthier, Happier Life - Rachel Barr - Guys! This is the book I’ve talked about from the neuroscientist on “microdosing delight!” Go pick it up! Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience - Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism - Amanda Montell Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism: A Study of “Brainwashing” in China - Robert Jay Lifton Why We Sleep - Matthew Walker PhD The Difference Between Mental Load and Emotional Labor https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/equal-partners/202508/the-difference-between-mental-load-and-emotional-labor Anticipatory feelings: Neural correlates and linguistic markers https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0149763419300570#:~:text=A%20new%20feeling%20construct%20related,role%20in%20future%20oriented%20feelings. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week in the communal Schauer we’re discussing the actual, neurological, downside of intentionally (not accidentally) misunderstanding others! Now I do want y’all to know that there is a difference between genuine debate and being an obtuse pr*ck, so please don’t assume I’m saying “never disagree again.” You can understand (comprehend) someone but you do not have to validate their augment (apply positive or negative moral judgement) because those are two separate processes in the brain. Other than that, please enjoy this episode, have an amazing week, and I hope you feel *a moderate to intense* experience of delight with this new information! Please like and subscribe on YouTube, rate me five stars on Apple Podcasts and Spotify! I greatly appreciate it. Please always feel free to send Schauer Thoughts episodes to your therapist or mental health provider :) For more information on my book club visit: Substack: https://sarahschauer.substack.com/p/schauer-thoughts-book-club-additional?utm_source=activity_item Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/sarahschauer/membership Resources: Olivia Unplugged Tiktok https://www.tiktok.com/@olivia.unplugged?_t=ZT-90APwzxxDNG&_r=1 Such an incredible creator and account, definitely recommend following her! Life In Three Dimensions: How Curiosity, Exploration, and Experience Make a Fuller, Better Life - Shigehiro Oishi, PhD Why We Sleep - Matthew Walker PhD Use Powerful Intentions to Become Your Authentic Best  https://newayscenter.com/powerful-intentions-authentic-best/ Helpful resource for positively framing intentions The influence of intentions on dream content  https://academic.oup.com/sleepadvances/article/5/1/zpae088/7912101 How the Little-Known Zeigarnik Effect Impacts Everyone Daily https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/natural-order/202209/how-the-little-known-zeigarnik-effect-impacts-everyone-daily The Art of Sustainable Performance: The Zeigarnik Effect https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-46463-9_10 Dreaming and offline memory processing https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(10)01360-6?_returnURL=https%3A%2F%2Flinkinghub.elsevier.com%2Fretrieve%2Fpii%2FS0960982210013606%3Fshowall%3Dtrue The Neuroscience of Goals and Behavior Change https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5854216/#:~:text=This%20habit%20learning%20process%20also,with%20in%20the%20first%20place. The neural bases of feeling understood and not understood https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4249470/#nst191-B33 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Here it is! Part three to why AI will never truly replace humans - it can’t “afford” to. This weeks episode is a bit long and rambly and for the sake of y’alls likely waning interest in AI, I’m going to include some additional reading on how AI is effecting the environment and what can be done to stop as well as mitigate the damage. Next week I’ll be moving onto another topic, another Schauer filled with long-winded musings and hopefully hotter water (and takes.) Thank you so much for hanging in there, I hope you and your brains leave a little bit more pruny (wrinkles in your brain are a good thing lol.) For more information on my book club visit: Substack: https://sarahschauer.substack.com/p/schauer-thoughts-book-club-additional?utm_source=activity_item Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/sarahschauer/membership Stand up show to benefit Pal Humanity! https://www.instagram.com/share/BBEsWrfoDb Please come if you’re in LA! Resources: Life in Three Dimensions: How Curiosity, Exploration, and Experience Make a Fuller, Better Life - Shigehiro Oishi, PhD James J. Gibson The Ecological Approach to Visual Perception Chapter 8 - The Theory of Affordances https://cs.brown.edu/courses/cs137/2017/readings/Gibson-AFF.pdf Lectures on Tap https://lecturesontap.com/ The session I attended was hosted by Drew McClellan who spoke about the Art & Science of Color Design in Cinema (absolutely incredible lecture, he is so knowledgeable and fun) Please check out his website - he has online courses! https://www.drwmcc.com/about The Visual Story - Bruce A. Block This is the book that Mr. McClellan recommended during his lecture, the book was actually written by his mentor and I will be picking it up. Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams - Matthew Walker, PhD I cannot recommend this book enough, it is SO good, absolutely masterfully written. This Is What It Sounds Like - Susan Rogers and Ogi Ogas An eco-political economy of AI to understand the complexities of its environmental costs https://cepr.org/voxeu/columns/eco-political-economy-ai-understand-complexities-its-environmental-costs Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week we’re doing a part two to why AI will never truly replace human beings - we’ll discuss neuroscience, opinions from accredited experts, as well as go on several explanatory tangents about how the brain *actually* works and how AI does not work like that. Please enjoy this week’s communal Schauer and I hope (a type of wonder -> happiness + fear) to see you all join my book club, starting September 21 & 22nd! More information linked below. Book Club Info: Sunday & Monday dates available! Substack: https://sarahschauer.substack.com/p/schauer-thoughts-book-club-additional?utm_source=activity_item Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/sarahschauer/membership Resources: The Human Brain Doesn’t Learn, Think or Recall Like an AI. Embrace the difference https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2025-07-09/human-brain-artificial-intelligence-model Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience - Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Life in Three Dimensions: How Curiosity, Exploration, and Experience Make a Fuller, Better Life - Shigehiro Oishi, PhD The Order of Time - Carlo Rovelli  This Is What It Sounds Like - Susan Rogers and Ogi Ogas The Nature and Technique of Understanding: Some Fundamentals of Semantics - Hugh Woodworth  - Book I talked about having feelings, sensations, etc. outlined - pg. 26 & 27 Epistemic Injustice: Power & the Ethics of Knowing - Miranda Fricker  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This discussion dives into why AI will never fully replace humans, highlighting its inability to navigate experiences like pain or sensory feedback. Fascinating insights from neuroscience are shared, focusing on how humans instinctively perceive opportunities that AI misses. The conversation also touches on the ecological costs of AI and critiques the systemic constraints that shape its development. Personal anecdotes and a sneak peek at an upcoming book club add a relatable touch, making for an engaging exploration of human versus artificial intelligence.

This week we’re getting into the psychology, strategy, and *alleged* manipulation tactics of E.L.F. Cosmetic’s latest beauty campaign featuring *womp womp* Matt Rife. Come bare faced or use a good setting spray because the communal Schauer is hot this week and methods to conceal will be tested and removed.  My Substack:  https://substack.com/@sarahschauer?utm_source=user-menu Resources:Flow - Mihaly Csikszemtmihalyi  The Science of Revenge - James Kimmel, Jr. JD How Emotions Are Made - Lisa Feldman Barrett Between Us: How Cultures Create Emotions - Batja Mesquita Lying: Moral Choice in Public and Private Life - Sissela Bok Bargaining for Advantage: Negotiation Strategies for Reasonable People - G. Richard Shell Why It’s So Hard to Ask for Help https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/passion/202308/why-its-so-hard-to-ask-for-help Exclusive: The Story Behind ELF’s Controversial Matt Rife Campaign  https://www.businessoffashion.com/articles/beauty/exclusive-the-story-behind-elfs-controversial-matt-rife-campaign/ Paltering https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paltering Evidence of paltering https://www.businessoffashion.com/articles/beauty/exclusive-the-story-behind-elfs-controversial-matt-rife-campaign/ Who does nostalgia speak to? https://www.kantar.com/inspiration/advertising-media/take-me-back-the-power-of-nostalgia-in-advertising Elf Cosmetics Puts Beauty Prices on Trial After Raising Its Own https://www.adweek.com/brand-marketing/elf-cosmetics-puts-beauty-prices-on-trial-after-raising-its-own/ ELF Beauty Announces Definitive Agreement to Acquire rhode in $1 Billion Deal https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250528613364/en/e.l.f.-Beauty-Announces-Definitive-Agreement-to-Acquire-rhode-in-%241-Billion-Deal Jester’s Privilege  https://ludwig.guru/blog/the-jesters-privilege-or-the-power-of-being-unheard/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Here we are, part two of our series on becoming who you want to be using method acting and flow state! This week we’ll be fleshing out our potential new personas, giving them motivations, beliefs, lore, and much more to *temporarily* adopt characteristics to expand our range - logically and expressively. No need for movement clothes or dance shoes in the communal Schauer, just hop in whenever you’re ready. Make sure to like and subscribe on Youtube, as well as rate my 5 stars on whichever platform you’re streaming from! Thank you. Substack  https://substack.com/@sarahschauer?utm_source=user-menu Resources: What is Self-Esteem? https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-self-esteem-2795868  Understanding the Interplay Between the Nervous and Muscular Systems https://www.maven-pt.com/maven-stories/understanding-the-interplay-between-the-nervous-and-muscular-systems Character Development: A Guide for Actors https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/character-development-for-actors-76083/#:~:text=Gather%20as%20many%20basic%20details,role%2C%20message%2C%20and%20theme. The Outside In Acting Technique  https://www.stagemilk.com/acting-technique-outside-in/ Nine components associated with the flow state experience  https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7551835/table/behavsci-10-00137-t001/ How to Get Into Flow State: 8 Tips to Unlock Peak Performance https://www.flowresearchcollective.com/blog/how-to-get-into-flow-state A Review on the Role of the Neuroscience of Flow States in the Modern World https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7551835/#B15-behavsci-10-00137 Color Psychology: Does It Affect How You Feel? https://www.verywellmind.com/color-psychology-2795824 How ambient temperature affects mood: an ecological momentary assessment study in Switzerland  https://ehjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12940-023-01003-9 Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience - Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices