An Antidote to the Age of Anxiety: Alan Watts on Happiness and How to Live with Presence. By Maria Popova Wisdom on overcoming the greatest human frustration from the pioneer of Eastern philosophy in the West.
“How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives,” Annie Dillard wrote in her timeless reflection on presence over productivity — a timely antidote to the central anxiety of our productivity-obsessed age. Indeed, my own New Year’s resolution has been to stop measuring my days by degree of productivity and start experiencing them by degree of presence. But what, exactly, makes that possible? David Lynch Explains How Meditation Enhances Our Creativity. Daniel Goleman: "Focus: The Hidden Driver Of Excellence. New research shows that attention is the key to high achievement in many professions from business and sports to the arts.
In an era of unstoppable distractions, staying focused may be what distinguishes experts from amateurs. Text messages, emails, Twitter, phone calls, voicemails: More than ever before, we face a nonstop onslaught of distractions. New research in the fields of neuroscience and psychology, however, shows that attention and focus are key to high achievement in many professions from business and sports to the performing arts. The latest studies reveal that maintaining focus is what distinguishes experts from amateurs and stars from average performers. The Mirror of Mindfulness : Two Guided Meditations. New music 'rewarding for the brain' 11 April 2013Last updated at 23:27 ET By Rebecca Morelle Science reporter, BBC World Service The researchers monitored brain activity while playing volunteers new music Listening to new music is rewarding for the brain, a study suggests.
Using MRI scans, a Canadian team of scientists found that areas in the reward centre of the brain became active when people heard a song for the first time. Eric Kandel: Creativity, Your Brain, and the Aha! Moment. Morgan Harris - Brain Tricks - This Is How Your Brain Works. To Combat Suicides, Army Focuses On The Homefront. Hide captionAlicia McCoy holds a photo of her husband, Sgt.
Brandon McCoy. Despite taking part in basewide suicide prevention efforts at Fort Campbell in 2009, Sgt. RSA Animate - The Divided Brain. Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience (9780061339202): Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. On out-of-body experiences. Ben Thomas: How Your Body Controls Your Mind. You might think that your body's metabolism reflects your state of mind, but a new study finds that the reverse is often true: Your biological clock actually opens and closes specific communication channels in your brain.
I can already hear some of you saying, "Well, obviously -- when I turned 12, I suddenly realized there were beautiful girls (or boys) everywhere, and I'd never noticed them before! " What we're talking about here is much more precise than hormonal shifts, though: Throughout every day and night, an area of your brain known as the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) "listens in" on your body's chemical state and responds by actively tinkering with the sensitivity of other neural pathways. This overturns a long-held belief about the brain: "The idea has always been that metabolism is serving brain function," says biologist Martha Gillette, who headed the study's research team. This raises a curious idea about thoughts themselves. Why we love to run. "Daddy, where are you going?
" my son asked me recently as I was lacing up my running shoes on a cold, wet Sunday morning. "Running," I said. "Why? " he asked. The Heart-Brain Connection: The Neuroscience of Social, Emotional, and Academic Learning. Amy Cuddy: Your body language shapes who you are. The 'Busy' Trap. Anxiety: We worry.
A gallery of contributors count the ways. If you live in America in the 21st century you’ve probably had to listen to a lot of people tell you how busy they are. It’s become the default response when you ask anyone how they’re doing: “Busy!” BBC News - Scans 'show mindfulness meditation brain boost' Overcoming Information Overload. As a writer for the web, I’m well acquainted with information overload.
If You Think You're Good At Multitasking, You Probably Aren't : Shots - Health News. Hide captionTake it easy, fella. iStockphoto.com Take it easy, fella.
Everybody complains that people shouldn't talk on cellphones while driving. And yet it seems pretty much everybody does it. Uld beditation be the answer to exam nerves? Beditating at Bethnal Green academy with teacher Dominic Morris.
David Lynch and Brandon Boyd Discuss Transcendental Meditation. Consciousness science and ethics: Abortion, animal rights, and vegetative-state debates. Courtesy Daniel Bor. It is easy to view consciousness as a kind of magic. In religion it is represented by the mysterious soul, and in science the concept of consciousness at first appears quite alien.
But many fields, such as the study of what distinguishes life from nonlife, had their earlier magical states eroded by careful scientific study. Consciousness is in the midst of a similar revolution. The investigation of our own awareness is a blossoming scientific field, where experiments are illuminating exciting details about this most intimate of scientific subjects. But the nature of consciousness is not just a vital question for science; it’s also the source of some of society’s thorniest, most fundamental ethical dilemmas. On a personal level, consciousness is where the meaning to life resides. The Role of Intuition and Imagination in Scientific Discovery and Creativity: A 1957 Guide. By Maria Popova “Those who do not know the torment of the unknown cannot have the joy of discovery.”
Last week, we took in some timeless vintage wisdom on the role of serendipity and chance-opportunism in creativity and scientific discovery, culled from the 1957 gem The Art of Scientific Investigation (public library; public domain) by Cambridge University animal pathology professor W. I. B. Hallucinations with Oliver Sacks. Renowned neurologist Oliver Sacks answers your questions about the secret world of hallucinations. These queries came to us via Twitter, Facebook and e-mail. Q. Morgan Harris - The Scientific Power of Thought. Wanna Play? Computer Gamers Help Push Frontier Of Brain Research. Hide captionDaniel Berger, a researcher at MIT, traced these neurons using the EyeWire game. Anosmia. First Theater, Then Facebook. Dan Gilbert on the Myth of Objectivity.
‘Free Will,’ by Sam Harris. But the last half-century has seen this ancient subject pulled down from its academic perch and into courtrooms, laboratories, real-world questions about moral responsibility, and even popular culture. God is in The Neurons. David Anderson: Your brain is more than a bag of chemicals. A Single Protein May Help Explain Memory Loss In Old Age : Shots - Health News. Neuroscience and Free Will BBC video [mirror] What Our Brains Can Teach Us. AFTER President Obama’s recent announcement of a plan to invigorate the study of neuroscience with what could amount to a $3 billion investment, a reasonable taxpayer might ask: Why brain science? Somewhere Over The Brainbow: The Journey To Map the Human Brain. Hide captionMore than 100 years ago, Golgi staining on nerve cells opened the gates to modern neuroscience.
How Much Does It Hurt? Let's Scan Your Brain : Shots - Health News. Hide captionA technique for imaging the brain allowed researchers to distinguish between physical and emotional pain. Sam Harris Part 1, Speech, October 29, 2012 - Bon Mot Book Club. Science Prodigy Zhao Bowen Wants to Crack a Genetic Mystery: What Makes Some People So Smart? - Wired Science. Blame. The Brain on Trial. Advances in brain science are calling into question the volition behind many criminal acts. Brain Workshop - a Dual N-Back game.