Intergalactic Summit

As some of you will no doubt remember, myself and associates have been conducting some research into the properties of the Sebiestor brain.

We are happy to be able to publish the report into our research, here, on the IGS.

So, here it is:

The Structure of the Sebiestor Brain and its Implications for Society

By Dr. Valerie Valate, director of research, Kaztropolis Imperial Neurophysics Institute, and Empress Synthia 1, Queen of Kaztropol.

Abstract:

Sebiestor persons are commonly believed to be innovative thinkers. This project set out to investigate some of the reasons behind this, with a view to determining ways of improving the Sebiestor population, and indeed, the rest of the human population, in accordance with the Scriptures.
The project used brain imaging tools, aptitude testing and DNA sampling in an effort to determine the relationships between genetics, background, brain structure and problem-solving ability.
An association between brain structure and educational background was found, as was an association between brain structure and problem solving ability.
No relationship was observed between genetics and brain structure.

Introduction:

The Sebiestor have long had a reputation as being innovative thinkers, with an affinity for engineering and problem-solving. The reasons behind this are unclear, but understanding of the causes of this would be of benefit to all of humanity, as it would allow the opportunity of improving the whole population, which is of course part of the divine mission given to Man by God – to improve humanity as a whole.
The Empress Synthia, patron of the Kaztropolis Neurophysics Institute, initiated this project, after some other research on Minmatar brain structures found an anomaly – a Sebiestor subject had a brain structure that was highly interconnected, and a better than average problem-solving ability.
It was hypothesised that Sebiestor people have brains that are highly interconnected, and this is the reason behind the reputation that Sebiestor people have.

Methodology:

A total of 534 Sebiestor volunteers were recruited through advertising in space stations and communications channels.
A substantial number of volunteers were recruited from Pator Tech School, and another large group of volunteers were recruited from the Republic University school of Dance.
A number of Sebiestor capsuleers were also recruited as experimental volunteers.

The volunteers were questioned about their family and educational background, before being subjected to testing. The first test involved a scan of the brain to determine its structure. The second test involved the subject performing numerous spatial reasoning and problem solving activities, activities which are normal for aptitude testing for a variety of careers. The third test involved taking a genetic sample of the volunteer.

Results:

Results can be seen in figures 1 through 4.

Figure 1 shows a brain of one of the volunteers, a Sebiestor capsuleer named “Anabella Rella”. The image displays areas of the brain that light up during the problem-solving exercises, demonstrating a wide range of activity, indicating a higher than averagely connected brain.

Figure 2 examines the relationship between brain structures and the educational background of the volunteers. Chi-square testing finds that with a probability of 0.0103, then the null hypothesis of having no relationship between educational background and brain structure can be rejected, and that there is a relationship between the educational background of a Sebiestor and the structure of their brain.

Figure 3 examines the relationship between brain structures and the genetic markers associated with Sebiestor tribe members. Four genetic markers have been associated with Sebiestor tribe members in previous research by Republic University projects. These particular genetic sequences are only found in Minmatar individuals with Sebiestor heritage. This project labelled them BD1 through 4, for “brain development”. Chi-square testing finds that with a probability of 0.2561, that this is insufficient to reject the null hypothesis that there is no relationship between genetics and brain structures.

Figure 4 examines the relationship between test scores and brain structures. 30 individuals were randomly selected from the volunteers from each of the three categories of brain structure, and their spatial reasoning and aptitude test scores were compared. T-testing found that with low probabilities, the null hypotheses that there were no associations between brain structures and test scores could be rejected, and that the alternate hypothesis, that a higher brain interconnection was associated with a higher test score could be accepted.

For SCIENCE!

Have you considered the fact that your sample of sebiestors may be non-representative because sebiestors with significantly interconnected brains may be clever enough to see through your ruse and would not risk their precious brains by participating in an Amarr-led study of questionable motives ?.
So your sample group could be self-selected towards gullibility, mental simplicity or suicide tendencies ?

Just curious about your methodology.

A. The variability of people is such that it is difficult to say whether any group has a significantly different brain structure. There are a number of things that should be considered here though. Firstly, even groups with no real reputation for intellectual achievement, such as say Ealurians, have performed no better or worse than any other group when assigned intellectual tasks. Secondly, it is Written, in the Apocryphon, that all may become Chosen. If different groups had substantially different brains, then they would not have the same opportunity to be Chosen. Clearly then, despite what the Theology Council may claim, all people are created equal. God wills it.

B. If there was some lessening of performance in other areas, it was not something that was observed in the course of this study. However, a brain is an energy intensive organ. Possibly the increased energy requirements of a Sebiestor brain are behind the generally thinner build of most Sebiestor. Difficult to say without a proper study. I am sure the Republic University would have detailed anatomical data about Sebiestor people.



Yes. It is one of the points in the Discussion. It is undetermined if there was an effect, and if that effect, if it does exist, influence the results to a significant degree.

I will let Anabella Rella respond to the implication that she is a gullible suicidal simpleton. Since she was part of the study and all.




Indeed.

See, that's exactly what a sebiestor ms. Rhei described would say.

The Purpose of Science is to seek Answers that raise Questions.

There are new Questions to be Answered in the Field of Brain Research.

I, Synthia 1, Queen of Kaztropol, am Pleased to have Furthered the Knowledge of Humanity through this Project.

Oh, terribly sorry for the delay.

The part-Sebiestor test subjects displayed a range of capabilities, scores were between the upper and lower scores recorded for pure-Sebiestor subjects, but we are unable to say if the results were significant or not, because of the small numbers that identified as only part-Sebiestor.

In laymans terms, We didn't have enough test subjects to say for sure, but we didn't notice any huge difference.

My recommendation, though, would be to seek a pure Sebiestor mate, if that was your concern. Oh, and try and be in a stimulating environment while your child develops, it's not as if that would do any harm.

I must question the validity of this research. If these results can be replicated by multiple independent third-party research organizations using a variety of random group selection methods, I might be able to accept the claims. Until then, however, these results are not convincing.

I'm a little confused, sir. Which conclusion do you not accept - that there is no apparent link between genes BD1-4 and neural interconnectivity, that there is an apparent link between education levels and neural interconnectivity, or that there is an apparent link between neural interconnectivity and test scores? Of all three, only the first might be considered contentious, but even then not enough to reject the results as unconvincing.

If you would like, we at Lai Dai Research Biomedical and Cybernetic would be happy to replicate the test with another random selection method and then publish the data. We will even offer a 50% discount to our standard lab fees, in the interest of fostering good relations with the KINI.

It's positively as if someone bred the Sebiestor to be a project. One question I often have, however, is why so many of those that made it up into space are so difficult to distinguish from Gallidoodles in more or less all behavioral respects.

Perhaps it was the Gallidoodles who bred them to be projects. Hmmm.