noo- +
(Greek: mind, thought; intellect)
2. The science of the intuitive truths of reason.
3. Science of the intellect, intellectual phenomena, or understanding.
4. The doctrine of the mind.
2. A reference to two separate psychic factors:
- The noopsyche, comprising all purely intellectual processes.
- The thymopsyche, made up of affective processes.
2. That part of the biosphere altered or influenced by the activities of mankind.
3. Portions of the biosphere that are under the influence of mankind; also known as anthroposphere.
4. In cybernetics, a term modelled after biosphere signifying:
a. The space occupied by the totality of information and human knowledge collectively available to man.
b. The processes operating in this space, e.g., combinatorial mating, classification, reproduction, simplification, and selective decay.
5. A theoretical stage of evolutionary development, associated with consciousness, the mind, and personal relationships.The noosphere can be seen as the "sphere of human thought" being derived from the Greek νους (nous) meaning "mind" in the style of "biosphere". In the original theory of Vernadsky, the noosphere is the third in a succession of phases of development of the Earth, after the geosphere (inanimate matter) and the biosphere (biological life).
Vladimir Ivanovich Vernadsky (1863-1945) was a Russian, Ukrainian mineralogist and geochemist whose ideas of noosphere were an important contribution to the Russian cosmism. He was a founding father of several new disciplines, including geochemistry, biogeochemistry, and radiogeology.
Just as the emergence of life fundamentally transformed the geosphere, the emergence of human cognition fundamentally transformed the biosphere. In contrast to the conceptions of the Gaia, (Gaea, meaning "earth" or "land") theorists, or the promoters of cyberspace. They hypothesized that the living matter of the planet functioned like a single organism and named this self-regulating living system after the Greek goddess Gaia.
Vernadsky's noosphere is not something that is just now coming into being, or will emerge in the future; it arrived with the birth of the first cognitive human being, and is manifested throughout the geosphere and biosphere in the form of human intervention, which principally takes the form of physical economic development of the planet.
Noosphere is also sometimes used to refer to a transhuman consciousness emerging from the interactions of human minds. This is the view proposed by the Christian mystic and theologian Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (French Jesuit priest trained as a paleontologist and a philosopher; 1881-1955), who added that the noosphere is evolving towards an ever greater integration, culminating in the Omega Point—which he saw as the ultimate goal of history.
2. Causing cerebral or intellectual activity.
3. Tending to affect neurons favorably.
5. A reference to a drug used to enhance memory or other cognitive functions.
6. Etymology: the word nootropic is derived from the Greek words noos or "mind" and tropos, "a growth".
Affecting the mind; especially, the intellectual aspects (cognition, memory, understanding, etc.); used to describe drugs that improve cognitive functioning in people who are organically impaired.
2. Popularly referred to as "smart drugs," they are substances which boost human cognitive abilities (the functions and capacities of the brain).
Typically, nootropics work by increasing the brain's supply of neurochemicals (neurotransmitters, enzymes, and hormones), by improving the brain's oxygen supply, or by stimulating nerve growth.
With a few notable exceptions, nootropics have very low or no toxicity, making overdose unlikely. Most have few or no side effects, and many nootropics potentiate each other.
