Brain Games

I did liked this show a lot. I felt there was something special about it. The brain games themselves were fun and if you watched the show a lot, you start to become good or progress as a viewer and this show works really well for education or psychology. Even kids who just want to watch and our curious of these games can still find some enjoyment and might learn a lot from being underdeveloped. However, as the show went on. It kinda hurts to say, but it does feel a little stale and boring at times as the show goes on. Also people complained about the new season. I haven't seen it yet, but I seen clips and the show has change a lot where it feels way too different from before. I'm sure some people like this season, but for me I'm not sure I will. I hoped to be suprised by it. The show has a lot of repeated games or moments that feels like I'm watching some of the same subjects and feels a waste of time when you see longer episodes. I also miss Apollo Robbins, but the new illusionist is good also. One thing that hurts the show is the fact it's rated G. The G rating can work on some episodes, but as a whole show, I wouldn't show kids this only of it's a G rated episodes. Sometimes this show can get a too bit werid or uncomfortably off topic and dark. Some kids can see mature or unfriendly content that shouldn't really be there unless it's to help the narrative. Also these jokes can be sexual or inappropriate for no reason other than be funny or relevant. Which isn't called for at all. Overall, I would give this show a 10/10 if some repetitive stuff and stupid jokes or dialogue would be taken away and makes this show more for everyone like they do in some episodes and I think this show will be one of the best docuseries of all time for kids, teens, adults, and educational services.

Always a good idea to get people thinking more. At a time when having a brain isn't highly valued, this show gets you thinking. It's fun and fast paced. The topics are primarily visual, but so are our brains.

The brief length of episodes is a good idea for two reasons- 1. You don't burn out. and 2. so you have some chance of retaining the helpful tips given.

Only one complaint and that's the gratuitous TnA. It's subtle, but throughout every episode you get little flashes of breasts, buns, and cute girls sprinkled throughout. It's sinking a little low for Nat Geographic to pander like that. It detracts from the quality. Is that what the producer's felt was necessary to hold people's attention? I only mention it because so many advertisements are already targeting people with sex. It could even be a topic for Brain Games.

This show is an examination of how our brains work, with special emphasis on the cracks in what is its otherwise deeply impressive capabilities. The show is educational, but mostly it's fun to watch because you get to see how your own brain makes assumptions and mistakes under certain circumstances. These range from the fun, optical illusion types of errors to the downright spooky mistakes of reading errors or overconfidence in how common everyday technology works.

To illustrate with an example from the show, without cheating and going online or looking at a physical example, draw a picture of a bicycle with wheels and a frame, then look at a real picture and compare your picture to reality. Even though the mechanism is simple and easily understood, there is a very decent chance that your drawing contains significant errors. This is because our brains don't like to feel that we don't understand the world we live in, so we "hand wave" away the concept of a bicycle, telling ourselves that we understand the concept even if we really don't. And as the show points out with numerous examples, this isn't some isolated or rare example, but is in fact much closer to the norm than we would be comfortable admitting.

I don't know that I would agree with another reviewer that these types of examples should be used to screen job candidates because I think that the point of these examples is that whether or not you pass one particular test, you are almost certain to fail at least some of the tests. The problem isn't smart vs stupid or focused vs lazy, the problem is that our brains are imperfect computing devices. In fact, one could argue that by deciding that these errors don't apply to you by virtue of your intelligence or diligence you are making exactly the type of critical thinking error you are claiming to have overcome.

Observing these cracks in our understanding argues for an extra layer of caution and occasionally pausing to examine our assumptions when making key decisions. Did I really understand the question a coworker asked me or did I make a quick assumption and leap to an incorrect conclusion? Is it really safe for me to answer this one quick phone call while driving or will the conversation require too much attention to do it safely?

Not all of the topics on the show are equally applicable to our day to day lives, and the the show does occasionally rehash slight variations of themes it has previously covered, but all in all I think it's really fascinating to watch, and an excellent show in general to watch with your kids or significant other because there are plenty of opportunities for interactive group brain teasers or exercises to do with others.

By the way, did you catch the extra word in the previous paragraph? Yes? Good on you! Now catch a few episodes and see how well you do on the other tests...

The fascination of magic, if you are of kindergarten age.

Perhaps one of the best documentary series ever created for TV about human psychology / behavior and certainly one of Nat Geo's best prodution series, ever.