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Why People Secretly Fear Creative Ideas
Why creative ideas are often rejected in favour of conformity and uniformity.
http://www.spring.org.uk/2011/12/why-people-secretly-fear-creative-ideas.php
by Jeremy Dean who is currently a researcher at University College London, working towards a PhD, having previously completed an MSc in Research Methods in Psychology at the same institution. Before that he obtained a Graduate Diploma in Psychology. His first degree was in Law and before studying psychology he had a career in the internet industry.
( text )
Why creative ideas are often rejected in favour of conformity and uniformity.
http://www.spring.org.uk/2011/12/why-people-secretly-fear-creative-ideas.php
by Jeremy Dean who is currently a researcher at University College London, working towards a PhD, having previously completed an MSc in Research Methods in Psychology at the same institution. Before that he obtained a Graduate Diploma in Psychology. His first degree was in Law and before studying psychology he had a career in the internet industry.
( text )http://www.ted.com/talks/richard_wilkinson.html
This is the latest Ted Talk to cross my viewscreen. It's Richard Wilkinson, speaking about the differences between societies with wide vs narrow differences between the highest and lowest income groups. The finding is intuitive, but the specific data that he pulls together, and the way he makes sense of it, is very interesting. At the end of brings it all together with some science about stress. According to him, the stressors that cause the greatest increase in cortisol are "social evaluative threats" to one's esteem or status. In other words, "people are sensitive to being looked down on". In societies where there is greater equality, there is less stress, hence explaining the increased longevity, health and peace that is seen in those societies. Of course, the US rates only second to Singapore in his scaling of wealth disparity, with Japan and Sweden at the other end of the scale. Anyway, it's worth seeing for yourself, if you have the 15 minutes.
This is the latest Ted Talk to cross my viewscreen. It's Richard Wilkinson, speaking about the differences between societies with wide vs narrow differences between the highest and lowest income groups. The finding is intuitive, but the specific data that he pulls together, and the way he makes sense of it, is very interesting. At the end of brings it all together with some science about stress. According to him, the stressors that cause the greatest increase in cortisol are "social evaluative threats" to one's esteem or status. In other words, "people are sensitive to being looked down on". In societies where there is greater equality, there is less stress, hence explaining the increased longevity, health and peace that is seen in those societies. Of course, the US rates only second to Singapore in his scaling of wealth disparity, with Japan and Sweden at the other end of the scale. Anyway, it's worth seeing for yourself, if you have the 15 minutes.
Rumi Poem: Consider What Choices
Sep. 28th, 2011 07:59 pmTags:
- attachment,
- fear,
- flow,
- inspiration,
- love,
- madness,
- pain,
- poetry,
- relationships,
- shame
QotD: Dissociation
Aug. 25th, 2011 09:11 amWhat survivors do...dissociate from the body and withdraw into the head.
Cut off from the body, one doesn't feel vulnerable. By identifying the self with the ego, one also gains the illusion of power. Since the will is the instrument of the ego, one truly believes "where there's a will, there's a way" or "one can do whatever one wills." This is true as long as the body has the energy to support the ego's directive. But all the willpower in the world is no help to a person who lacks the energy to implement the will. Healthy individuals do not operate in terms of willpower except in an emergency. Normal actions are motivated by feelings rather than by the will. One doesn't need willpower to do what one wants to do. There is no need to use the will when one has a strong desire. Desire itself is an energetic charge which activates an impulse leading to actions that are free and generally fulfilling. An impulse is a flowing force from the core of the body to the surface, where it motivates the musculature for action. The will, on the other hand, is a driving force that stems from the ego--the head--to act counter to the body's natural impulses. Thus, when one is afraid, the natural impulse is to run away from the threatening situation. However this may not always be the best action. One cannot always escape a danger by running. Confronting the threat may be the wiser course, but this is difficult to do when one is frightened and there is an impulse to run. In such situations mobilizing the will to counter the fear is a positive action.
--Alexander Lowen, MD, in Joy; The Surrender to the Body and to Life, page 81-82.
Cut off from the body, one doesn't feel vulnerable. By identifying the self with the ego, one also gains the illusion of power. Since the will is the instrument of the ego, one truly believes "where there's a will, there's a way" or "one can do whatever one wills." This is true as long as the body has the energy to support the ego's directive. But all the willpower in the world is no help to a person who lacks the energy to implement the will. Healthy individuals do not operate in terms of willpower except in an emergency. Normal actions are motivated by feelings rather than by the will. One doesn't need willpower to do what one wants to do. There is no need to use the will when one has a strong desire. Desire itself is an energetic charge which activates an impulse leading to actions that are free and generally fulfilling. An impulse is a flowing force from the core of the body to the surface, where it motivates the musculature for action. The will, on the other hand, is a driving force that stems from the ego--the head--to act counter to the body's natural impulses. Thus, when one is afraid, the natural impulse is to run away from the threatening situation. However this may not always be the best action. One cannot always escape a danger by running. Confronting the threat may be the wiser course, but this is difficult to do when one is frightened and there is an impulse to run. In such situations mobilizing the will to counter the fear is a positive action.
--Alexander Lowen, MD, in Joy; The Surrender to the Body and to Life, page 81-82.
The new finding is that 10 year old children of persistently depressed mothers have larger amygdalas. This new finding makes me wonder.......about our society. But-- a little orientation for those of you who don't read about the brain all the time. The amygdala is part of the mammalian or limbic brain, and it is the part that helps us feel fear and loathing, instinctive attraction and lust, and mystical or religious experiences. In other words, the amygdala drives a whole lot of instinct and emotion, and is completely distinct from rational thought. Another recent study showed that political conservatives have bigger amygdalas, whereas political liberals have bigger frontal cortices. So my question is this: is our current generational swing to the right side of the politic spectrum due to a generation of depressed mothers? Or were these mothers inattentive for other reasons? Did the advent of television cause a rewiring of our brains on a population level? Just asking. What other factors could have caused a generational swing toward amygdalic dominance??
( (new article from medscape) )
( (new article from medscape) )Tags:
Tags:
Which sunscreen do you use and why?
Jun. 5th, 2011 07:53 pmI haven't used sunscreen since I moved to Oregon. Here, the sun feels weak to me. I also haven't had a sunburn since I moved here, though a few times my shoulders or nose has got pink. In Arizona I used to wear sunscreen but gradually transitioned over to using long sleeves, long pants, and a big hat. I would put sunscreen on my lower face, nose, ears, neck, and the backs of my hands and tops of my feet. Here I still favor a hat and sleeves: the lotions always felt gross to me. The ones that didn't feel gross washed off too easy (kayaking) and didn't do any good. So that's my take on sunscreen. Not highly educated---I didn't even really dig into the site linked below I have a few types around the house and I'm afraid to look them up and see how carcinogenic they are. I know some of the chemicals used aren't great. I've heard that the zinc-containing kinds are most effective and least dangerous.
Sunscreen picker:
http://breakingnews.ewg.org/2011sunscreen/?inlist=Y&utm_source=2011sunscreenfull&utm_medium=email&utm_content=image&utm_campaign=toxics
Liberal and Conservative BRAINS
Apr. 8th, 2011 08:30 pmhttp://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/740517?src=mpnews&spon=12
Turns out that Liberals have more grey matter in the anterior cingulate cortex, making it possible to hold opposing views and consider subjects in complex ways, whereas conservatives have bigger amygdalas giving rise to greater fear and disgust responses, and also more religious thinking.
Turns out that Liberals have more grey matter in the anterior cingulate cortex, making it possible to hold opposing views and consider subjects in complex ways, whereas conservatives have bigger amygdalas giving rise to greater fear and disgust responses, and also more religious thinking.
To be a warrior is to experience life on our own two feet, without the companionship of habitual patterns. In order to engage in bravery, we must be willing to be free of deception. The Shambhala tradition regards any aspect of life as a potential path of warriorship. But if we use our activities as a buffer that prevents us from being, those same activities become a nesting ground for habitual patterns and cowardly traits — elements of deception that allow us not to be fully present.
--The Sakyong Jamgon Mipham Rinpoche, in Bravery without Deception, Feb 2011
--The Sakyong Jamgon Mipham Rinpoche, in Bravery without Deception, Feb 2011
QotD: Risk Takers
Oct. 24th, 2010 09:32 amChildren born today with a diminutive level of worry--those whose emotional physiology underreacts to stress, novelty, and threat--grow up to become criminals much more often than average. Criminality has long been known to be partially heritable, and a worry volume set to "low" in the reptilian brain is part of the mechanism.
--Lewis, Amini and Lannon in A General Theory of Love p49
What interests me in their assessment of the value of risk aversion and its opposite as mentioned above, is that these physicians note no value in being a risk taker, only increased criminality. They mention that "Many of our ultralow-anxiety ancestors were bitten by snakes, gored by tusks, and fell out of trees. Those premature deaths shifted the gene pool toward higher trepidation." By my own observation, people who are less risk averse are more likely to be found in sports such as whitewater kayaking, backcountry skiing and paragliding. This is where I've found several of my dearest friends, and they are not, by and large, criminals. Also, Dr Thom continues to tell us that entrepreneurs are risk takers, much different from the rest of the population. The statistics show us that most entrepreneurs are male, which begs the question, are men more likely to be risk takers? I think so. And I don't think that this disposition is any guarantee of criminality, though it certainly does increase the odds that rules and laws will be taken with a grain of potassium. Another question: if it is so, then why are males less risk averse? I think evolution offers answers to that one also.
--Lewis, Amini and Lannon in A General Theory of Love p49
What interests me in their assessment of the value of risk aversion and its opposite as mentioned above, is that these physicians note no value in being a risk taker, only increased criminality. They mention that "Many of our ultralow-anxiety ancestors were bitten by snakes, gored by tusks, and fell out of trees. Those premature deaths shifted the gene pool toward higher trepidation." By my own observation, people who are less risk averse are more likely to be found in sports such as whitewater kayaking, backcountry skiing and paragliding. This is where I've found several of my dearest friends, and they are not, by and large, criminals. Also, Dr Thom continues to tell us that entrepreneurs are risk takers, much different from the rest of the population. The statistics show us that most entrepreneurs are male, which begs the question, are men more likely to be risk takers? I think so. And I don't think that this disposition is any guarantee of criminality, though it certainly does increase the odds that rules and laws will be taken with a grain of potassium. Another question: if it is so, then why are males less risk averse? I think evolution offers answers to that one also.
Here you can see the offending clip in which Williams admitted that he feels nervous when he sees people in Muslim garb on an airplane. I hadn't seen it until just now. Williams has a long history of working for human rights, and he is black. After he made this admission, NPR fired him, and he promptly got hired by FOX to the tune of a $2 million contract.
What happened here is in a way a repeat of something I observed in church a few Sundays ago. The pastor said that homophobia is a sin. Fear is a sin? Now NPR is saying the same thing. Nervousness around strangers in clothing representing so much = sin. This is ridiculous. This is a trap that liberals have fallen into. This is the disaster of PCism taken so far that people cannot even express their unbidden and unacted emotions. It's not even an opinion, it's an EMOTION. The opinion, being something concocted of reason in a quality man such as Williams, will not be bigoted. But emotions? I suspect that any reasonable person in Arab dress would understand that Williams is not a hater, he is simply human. We would all get along better if we allow each other to be human.
What happened here is in a way a repeat of something I observed in church a few Sundays ago. The pastor said that homophobia is a sin. Fear is a sin? Now NPR is saying the same thing. Nervousness around strangers in clothing representing so much = sin. This is ridiculous. This is a trap that liberals have fallen into. This is the disaster of PCism taken so far that people cannot even express their unbidden and unacted emotions. It's not even an opinion, it's an EMOTION. The opinion, being something concocted of reason in a quality man such as Williams, will not be bigoted. But emotions? I suspect that any reasonable person in Arab dress would understand that Williams is not a hater, he is simply human. We would all get along better if we allow each other to be human.
Concealed or Not: Baum on Guns
Sep. 23rd, 2010 07:50 pmInteresting article on guns this month in Harper's though I don't think you can get the article online if you're not a subscriber. It is written by a fellow (Dan Baum) who got into guns as a fat kid who couldn't run too fast, but he could lay on the ground and shoot a rifle pretty darn good. He grew up to be a liberal, but kept his gun hobby, and recently decided to get a permit to carry a concealed weapon. I don't know why, but the laws governing concealed carrying are called "shall-issue" laws.
Baum reports on the concealed permitting class he took in Boulder, CO, and on his experience of the gun-toting culture. I don't think they knew he was a liberal infiltrator who has voted consistently for laws restricting the distribution and use of guns. He gives a pretty good survey of the politics and economics of guns. He also gives some info on who's shooting who, and it seems that armed citizens are shooting a few bad guys, but that shootings overall are on the decrease. I wonder how long that will last. Anyway, institutionally apparently the police are against citizens carrying, but individually Baum found that street cops like the idea of potential backup from citizens.
According to Baum small concealable personal handguns are the one bright spot in the gun market--that and the accessories that allow you to carry concealed. Use of guns by women hasn't increased like they'd hoped it would, and where it has increased slightly is in hunting rifles. Tiny handguns designed for women have not taken off. Apparently there was a huge rush on ammo after Obama was elected, but that fear-driven buying binge has tapered down.
The new frontier for gun advocates, since they've been so successful in gaining "shall-issue" laws in the US, is open carry. Apparently it's already legal to openly carry a firearm in most states, but the goal is to do it enough that people habituate to it, and it is no longer so uncomfortable. Baum tried it and felt like a dick, so he went back to concealing.
Baum reports on the concealed permitting class he took in Boulder, CO, and on his experience of the gun-toting culture. I don't think they knew he was a liberal infiltrator who has voted consistently for laws restricting the distribution and use of guns. He gives a pretty good survey of the politics and economics of guns. He also gives some info on who's shooting who, and it seems that armed citizens are shooting a few bad guys, but that shootings overall are on the decrease. I wonder how long that will last. Anyway, institutionally apparently the police are against citizens carrying, but individually Baum found that street cops like the idea of potential backup from citizens.
According to Baum small concealable personal handguns are the one bright spot in the gun market--that and the accessories that allow you to carry concealed. Use of guns by women hasn't increased like they'd hoped it would, and where it has increased slightly is in hunting rifles. Tiny handguns designed for women have not taken off. Apparently there was a huge rush on ammo after Obama was elected, but that fear-driven buying binge has tapered down.
The new frontier for gun advocates, since they've been so successful in gaining "shall-issue" laws in the US, is open carry. Apparently it's already legal to openly carry a firearm in most states, but the goal is to do it enough that people habituate to it, and it is no longer so uncomfortable. Baum tried it and felt like a dick, so he went back to concealing.
Spanbauer on Dangerous Writing
Jun. 29th, 2010 09:56 pmCharacter lies in the destruction of a sentence.
--Tom Spanbauer
--Tom Spanbauer
Tags:
Bene Gesserit Litany Against Fear
Mar. 27th, 2010 04:23 pm
I must not fear.
Fear is the mind-killer.
Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.
I will face my fear.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.
Where the fear has gone there will be nothing.
Only I will remain.
- Bene Gesserit Litany Against Fear
Resilient Leaders Know Their Shadows
Mar. 25th, 2010 10:00 pmResiliency is a trait all leaders share
The ability to respond effectively in times of upheaval requires honesty, courage.
By Dr. William Sparks in Charlotte Observer | Sunday, Mar. 14, 2010
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2010/03/14/1309784/resiliency-is-a-trait-all-leaders.html
( text )
The ability to respond effectively in times of upheaval requires honesty, courage.
By Dr. William Sparks in Charlotte Observer | Sunday, Mar. 14, 2010
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2010/03/14/1309784/resiliency-is-a-trait-all-leaders.html
( text )Yoda Wisdom
Jan. 21st, 2010 07:49 pmNamed must your fear be before banish it you can.
( a few more favorite quotes from the Star Wars character Yoda )
( a few more favorite quotes from the Star Wars character Yoda )
