William James on Habit by Maria Popova “We are spinning our own fates, good or evil, and never to be undone. Every smallest stroke of virtue or of vice leaves its never so little scar.” “We are what we repeatedly do,” Aristotle famously proclaimed. “Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” I found this interesting not merely out of solipsism, as it somehow validated my having had the same breakfast day in and day out for nearly a decade (steel-cut oats, fat-free Greek yogurt, whey protein powder, seasonal fruit), but also because it isn’t a novel idea at all. When we look at living creatures from an outward point of view, one of the first things that strike us is that they are bundles of habits. James begins with a strictly scientific, physiological account of the brain and our coteries of ingrained information patterns, exploring the notion of neuroplasticity a century before it became a buzzword of modern popular neuroscience and offering this elegant definition: Donating = Loving Share on Tumblr
The Physics of Productivity: Newton's Laws of Getting Stuff Done Required watching for any TED speaker: The science of stage fright One thing can strike fear into the heart of the fiercest warrior, the most powerful CEO and the smartest person in any given room: having to speak in public. The thought of it makes the palms sweat, the heart beat faster and the limbs start to shake. An estimated 75% of people have a fear of speaking in public, and it’s something that nearly everyone who takes the TED stage must work hard to overcome. This TED-Ed lesson, the science of stage fright, just might help. In the lesson — which is taught by educator Mikael Cho and directed by animator Robertino Zambrano of KAPWA Studioworks — looks at stage fright not as an emotion, but as a physiological response. “Humans are wired to worry about reputation. The lesson explains exactly what happens in the body before speaking in public and, of course, gives suggestions on how to calm stage fright. Over on the TED-Ed blog, animator Zambrano shares what shaped the imagery for this very cool lesson.
Too Lazy to Skim? Get The Gist With These Top 3 Summarization Tools Ever looked at a long piece of writing and thought how convenient a quick summary would be? Felt too lazy to bother even skimming? Curious what the key points of your own writing are? I tested a number of different free online summarization tools so you don’t have to. Just pick your favourite and off you go, ready to be lazier more efficient than ever at the click of a button. Testing The Online Summary Tools I tested each online summarizer tool by summarizing Vox’s 1700 word article arguing why cyclists should be able to roll through stop signs and ride through red lights (aka the Idaho Stop). There are a few things common to good summaries: All the critical pieces of logic are included for an argument to make sense.Prevent information overload. If a human were crafting a summary from scratch, I would also expect it to be written in his or her own words, but for the purpose of automated tools that would be unfair. The Top 3 Online Summary Tools Online Summarize Tool Automatic Text Summarizer
The Secret to Breaking Out of Our Most Destructive Habits This file illustration photo shows a functional magnetic resonance image (fMRI). US researchers have published incredibly detailed images of the human brain as part of an international project aimed at uncovering how brain architecture influences personal Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol is one of my all-time favorite stories, as it’s been for millions of others since it was written in 1843. However appealing this view of human transformation may be, the reality is that it distorts what we now know about the foundation of lasting change. I began clinical practice some 25 years ago, firmly committed to what might be called Christmas Carol therapy. Mattie showed up for an appointment that was actually intended for her husband, Patrick, who’d completed therapy with me five months earlier. In therapy, Patrick relived his ghosts of times past, including when he’d witnessed traumatic scenes of his drunken father battering his mother. Habits Rule Patrick, Round II 1. 2. 3. 1. 2. 3.
The dangerous dozen: gangs considered the greatest threat to the state prison system - Narco Confidential Texas prison system's dangerous dozen U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives aryan-brotherhood Aryan Brotherhood of Texas In this photo, Steven Walter Cooke, a general in the Aryan Brotherhood is picture. There are thousands of gangs in Texas, but only a dozen are considered such a threat to this state’s prison system that all members, regardless of their crimes. are required to serve all their time isolated in one-man cells for 23 or more hours a day. Unlike other prisoners, they are not allowed to walk the yard or even have a prison job picking cotton or vegetables. It is just about the toughest way to do time, but the state considers them too organized, too predatory and too dangerous to other inmates as well as prison staff to even permit them among a prison’s general population. The Texas Department of Criminal Justice calls them Security Threat Groups. Doing hard time in Texas prisons Aryan Circle
Fixed vs. Growth: The Two Basic Mindsets That Shape Our Lives By Maria Popova “If you imagine less, less will be what you undoubtedly deserve,” Debbie Millman counseled in one of the best commencement speeches ever given, urging: “Do what you love, and don’t stop until you get what you love. Work as hard as you can, imagine immensities…” Far from Pollyanna platitude, this advice actually reflects what modern psychology knows about how belief systems about our own abilities and potential fuel our behavior and predict our success. One of the most basic beliefs we carry about ourselves, Dweck found in her research, has to do with how we view and inhabit what we consider to be our personality. The consequences of believing that intelligence and personality can be developed rather than being immutably engrained traits, Dweck found in her two decades of research with both children and adults, are remarkable. For twenty years, my research has shown that the view you adopt for yourself profoundly affects the way you lead your life.
Top 10 Legal Rights and Issues Everyone Should Know About The science of willpower: Kelly McGonigal on sticking to resolutions It’s the second week in January and, at about this time, that resolution that seemed so reasonable a week ago — go to the gym every other day, read a book a week, only drink alcohol on weekends — is starting to seem very … hard. As you are teetering on the edge of abandoning it all together, Kelly McGonigal is here to help. This Stanford University psychologist — who shared last year how you can make stress your friend — wants you to know that you’re not having a hard time sticking to a resolution because you are a terrible person. Perhaps you’ve just formulated the wrong resolution. McGonigal has, for years, taught a course called “The Science of Willpower” through Stanford’s Continuing Studies program and, in 2011, she spun it into a book, The Willpower Instinct. The TED Blog spoke to McGonigal this week about how willpower is often misunderstood, and what we each can do to improve it. First question: why is willpower such a struggle? It’s a great question. Yes! Yes.
3 Things Dreams Tell You About Yourself 3 Things Dreams Tell You About Yourself Your dreams are there in front of you every night, talking with you, discussing a potpourri of fascinating topics and enabling you to reach beyond what you know and even understand. What 3 things are your dreams telling you about yourself? Your Journey – Your Past Your dreams gather together your past history and start unraveling it to you. I once had a dream that in one scene i was driving a car down a dark alley and a gang of men came at my vehicle with knifes and tried to open the doors of my car as i tried to get away. This dream for me was explaining what had been happening in my life as I had just been through a difficult time. Your Secrets Nothing is hidden from your dreams – Yes, even your secrets are revealed in your dreams. Years ago Glenn and I came home from work and discovered our dog had been let out of our property and had unfortunately run onto the road. The Present – Why is this happening? - Delwyn Armstrong