How to Trick Your Brain for Happiness | Greater Good - StumbleUpon This month, we feature videos of a Greater Good presentation by Rick Hanson, the best-selling author and trailblazing psychologist. In this excerpt from his talk, Dr. Hanson explains how we can take advantage of the brain’s natural “plasticity”—it’s ability to change shape over time. gobyg There’s this great line by Ani Tenzin Palmo, an English woman who spent 12 years in a cave in Tibet: “We do not know what a thought is, yet we’re thinking them all the time.” It’s true. In recent years, though, we have started to better understand the neural bases of states like happiness, gratitude, resilience, love, compassion, and so forth. Ultimately, what this can mean is that with proper practice, we can increasingly trick our neural machinery to cultivate positive states of mind. But in order to understand how, you need to understand three important facts about the brain. Fact one: As the brain changes, the mind changes, for better or worse. Fact two: As the mind changes, the brain changes. 1. 2. 3.
Fractals: Hunting the Hidden Dimension Mysteriously beautiful fractals are shaking up the world of mathematics and deepening our understanding of nature. You may not know it, but fractals, like the air you breathe, are all around you. Their irregular, repeating shapes are found in cloud formations and tree limbs, in stalks of broccoli and craggy mountain ranges, even in the rhythm of the human heart. In this film, we takes viewers on a fascinating quest with a group of maverick mathematicians determined to decipher the rules that govern fractal geometry. For centuries, fractal-like irregular shapes were considered beyond the boundaries of mathematical understanding. Their remarkable findings are deepening our understanding of nature and stimulating a new wave of scientific, medical, and artistic innovation stretching from the ecology of the rain forest to fashion design. The documentary highlights a host of filmmakers, fashion designers, physicians, and researchers who are using fractal geometry to innovate and inspire.
Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space The earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that in glory and triumph, they can become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot. Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of this pixel on this scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner. How frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how fervent their hatred. Our posturing, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in this universe are challenged by this point of pale light. As the ancient myth makers knew, we're children equally of the earth and the sky. Which aspects of our nature will prevail is uncertain, particularly when our visions and prospects are bound to one small part of this small planet earth. Watch the full documentary now
Ben Stein’s Flunked: No Intelligence Applied Expelled : No Intelligence Allowed subjected viewers to the fact burning, logic twisting, psychedelic head trip of Intelligent Design propagandists and their conspiracy-theory ravings. This under-appreciated exposé by YouTubes own PrometheusWithLight delves into the seedy underworld of ID and it's noisy, clumsy, paper trail laying transmutation from Creation Science, meticulously dismantling claims of Academic Intolerance. ID propagandists continually whine that Mainstream Science is suppressing evidence of Forethought and Design in nature, and that ID research is being similarly suppressed. The reality? If you hated or even liked Expelled, this is the must see movie. Watch the full documentary now (playlist)
The Brain: A Secret History In a compelling and at times disturbing series, Dr Michael Mosley explores the brutal history of experimental psychology. Mosley embarks on three journeys to understand science's last great frontier - the human mind - as he traces the history of the attempts to understand and manipulate the brain. Experiments on the human mind have led to profound insights into how our brain works - but have also involved great cruelty and posed some terrible ethical dilemmas. Mind Control. To begin, Michael traces the sinister ways this science has been used to try to control our minds. He finds that the pursuit of mind control has led to some truly horrific experiments and left many casualties in its wake. Emotions. Broken Brains. Watch the full documentary now -
Lucid Dreaming By lucid dreaming, you can gain complete control over the one place that no one will ever care about: your imagination. Just The Facts Lucid dreaming is a scientifically proven phenomenon. While some get into lucid dreaming in order to treat chronic nightmares, or to experience all facets of the human experience, approximately 99.8% of people use it as a tool for cheap and interactive 3D porn. How to Take Control of Your Dreams: So, you've doubled your weight over the past five years, you own a record-shattering collection of greasy pizza boxes and broken aspirations, and you're beginning to consider installing a toilet bowl in the place of your computer chair? In order to even begin to get control over your dreams, there are a few preliminary tasks you must complete. Your fake and imagined rendition of Yvonne won't care how much your cry before, during, and afterward! The Tasks: 1. "What?" Calm down! 2. Your dreams are not unique, and that is a wonderful thing. Wake Initiated Lucid Dreams:
Buddhism and the Brain ? SEEDMAGAZINE.COM Credit: Flickr user eschipul Over the last few decades many Buddhists and quite a few neuroscientists have examined Buddhism and neuroscience, with both groups reporting overlap. I’m sorry to say I have been privately dismissive. One hears this sort of thing all the time, from any religion, and I was sure in this case it would break down upon closer scrutiny. When a scientific discovery seems to support any religious teaching, you can expect members of that religion to become strict empiricists, telling themselves and the world that their belief is grounded in reality. They are always less happy to accept scientific data they feel contradicts their preconceived beliefs. But science isn’t supposed to care about preconceived notions. Despite my doubts, neurology and neuroscience do not appear to profoundly contradict Buddhist thought. Buddhists say pretty much the same thing. Mr. Although I despaired, I comforted myself by looking at the overlying cortex. The next day Mr.
A Lesson on Forgiveness The Buddha was sitting under a tree talking to his disciples when a man came and spit on his face. He wiped it off, and he asked the man, “What next? What do you want to say next?” The man was a little puzzled because he himself never expected that when you spit on somebody’s face, he will ask, “What next?” He had no such experience in his past. Buddha’s disciples became angry, they reacted. Buddha said, “You keep silent. “If you think on it deeply,” Buddha said, “he has spit on his own mind. The man was even more puzzled! Puzzled, confused, the man returned home. The next morning he was back there. The man looked at Buddha and said, “Forgive me for what I did yesterday.” Buddha said, “Forgive? “And you also are new.
10 Websites To Make You Think | The Online Learning Blog from Study2U Supposedly browsing the internet requires more brain power than watching television. Although judging from some of the websites we’ve come across that assumption is cast into doubt. Here’s some of the sites we like that might get your brain to sit up and listen. Ted A conference that started in 1984 bringing together experts in technology, entertainment and design quickly grew into so much more. New Scientist The New Scientist website carries new articles from the magazine as well as the NS archive of over 76,000 pieces. Big Think The Big Think website is a collection of ‘global thought leaders’ who offer their thoughts and analysis on world events and other important developments. Café Scientifque ‘for the price of a cup of coffee or a glass of wine, anyone can come to explore the latest ideas in science and technology’ Breathing Earth This fantastic website by David Bleja demonstrates CO2 emissions and world population growth in real time on a global map. Arts & Letters Daily How Stuff Works
6 Questions That Will Make You Fee Peaceful and Complete “The best place to find a helping hand is at the end of your own arm.” ~Swedish Proverb When I was in my mid-twenties an unhealthy relationship with an unhealthy guy sent me packing off to the corner of New Mexico to find myself. In a new age, self-discovery kind of world—a hubbub of a town filled with people in transition—I was graced to meet many powerful healers, gurus, shamans, and teachers. I became a workshop junkie. I got rolfed, (and got more intense body-work by thick-boned Maoris) and rebirthed with conscious breath work. I went on vision quests in the desert, called leading psychics, mapped my astrological chart, figured out my Enneagram number, dreamed lucidly for nights in an upright chair, and drew down the moon in Wiccan circles. I know. I was a perpetual seeker. Even though my unhealthy relationship was dysfunctional, that man gave me a gift that I wouldn’t discover for years. Whether he meant it or not, he would say: What’s not to love about you? 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.