Welcome to Sott.net
Wed, 29 Sep 2021
The World for People who Think

Science of the Spirit
Map

People

Trust depends on genes; distrust on socialization, says new study

Milla Bengtsson
Reliawire
Sun, 25 Jun 2017 20:33 UTC
human tower
Trust may depend, at least in part, on genes. But, a new study suggests people may not inherit distrust in the same way.

The study explores distrust as a separate and distinct quality from trust. Lead author Martin Reimann, assistant professor of marketing at the University of Arizona, said:
"This research supports the idea that distrust is not merely the opposite of trust. Both trust and distrust are strongly influenced by the individual's unique environment, but what's interesting is that trust seems to be significantly influenced by genetics, while distrust is not. Distrust appears to be primarily socialized."
For the study, researchers studied sets of adult identical twins, who have identical genetic relatedness, and adult fraternal (or non-identical) twins, who have different genetic relatedness.

Comment: Why don't we all just trust one another? And would it work as long as we live in pathological environment?

      Read More...
Life Preserver

Six things you need to recover from each day to live a more engaged and meaningful life

Benjamin P. Hardy
Thrive Global
Mon, 19 Jun 2017 00:00 UTC
relaxation, alone time, meditation
Less than 1% of people are living according to the principles/science described herein. However, I'm confident that if you apply these recovery principles to your life, you'll live a more engaged, meaningful, and productive life.

Being busy and being productive are far from the same thing. Most people are trying to do too much. The desire to "keep up" has them doing more, living less, and deceiving themselves into believing they've actually made progress.

True growth and success is always sustainable. It's not a short sprint with an inevitable physical, mental, and emotional crash. All goals are means, not ends. Each succeeding stage of your progression should clearly build one-upon-another, leaving you stronger and more able, not weaker and permanently damaged.

In order to do this, you must properly "recover" from the following things on a daily basis:
      Read More...
Heart

The power of touch: Holding hands to comfort our loved ones really does reduce pain


The Telegraph
Fri, 23 Jun 2017 15:02 UTC
touch reduces pain, holding hands reduces pain
© alamy
Scientists found when an empathetic partner holds the hand of a woman in pain, it helps
Holding the hand of a loved one to comfort them really does help reduce pain, a US study has shown.

Dr Pavel Goldstein, a postdoctoral pain researcher in the Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Lab at the University of Colorado Boulder was inspired to conduct the research after witnessing the birth of his daughter four years ago.

He said: "My wife was in pain, and all I could think was, 'What can I do to help her?' I reached for her hand and it seemed to help.

"I wanted to test it out in the lab: Can one really decrease pain with touch, and if so, how?"

His team found that when an empathetic partner holds the hand of a woman in pain, their heart and respiratory rates sync and her pain dissipates.

Dr Goldstein said: "The more empathetic the partner, the stronger the analgesic effect and the higher the synchronisation between the two when they are touching."

Comment: Touch is the primary language that communicates compassion and is fundamental to communication, bonding and health. It supports the immune system, reduces stress, stimulates oxytocin and dopamine, lowers blood pressure and heart rate, encourages sleep and has no side effects. It doesn't drain your batteries, but recharges you instead.

      Read More...
Bulb

The benefits of conscious breathing: How to harness the power of your breath

Sarah Ripper
Upliftconnect.com
Mon, 19 Jun 2017 12:30 UTC
breath
We inhale and exhale approximately 20,000 times per day. With up to ten muscles that can be utilised for inhalation and eight for forced exhalation, the breath has powerful effects on the physical, emotional and mental planes.

The ancients connected with the breath more closely as the breath of life, or the supreme life force: the waves that ride back and forth, connecting us with the universe. If you've ever been stressed or anxious, the first thing that deserts you is the breath, your chest tightens and as the lack of oxygen hits your body; your anxiety increases. If I think back to times of stress where someone has told me to, 'Just breathe' - it was the last thing my overactive mind and nervous system wanted to hear, but it was probably the best thing I could have done for myself.

Breath can be a gauge of life force and it is the only autonomous bodily function that we can control. The breath moves through our body from birth until death, but it often becomes shallower over time. This tends to be the default, unless we consciously shift it. With so much tied up in our breath - and the simple gift of being able to work with this most potent of autonomic functions - it's worth exploring the benefits of rethinking how we breathe.

Comment: Deep breathing exercises can improve your life:

      Read More...
Music

Making music causes rapid neuroplastic changes in the brain

Marie Benz, M.D.
medicalresearch.com
Tue, 06 Jun 2017 22:44 UTC
Human brain and music
© learnfast.com
Medical Research interview with:

Bernhard Ross, Ph.D.
Rotman Research Institute
Baycrest Centre
ON, Toronto

MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?

Response: We know from previous research that brain function for hearing is more strongly developed in musicians. The effect of a musician's long-term training leads to a neuroplastic effect where their brain has more neurons involved in auditory processing. These neurons show stronger activity during listening to sound than in non-musicians and these findings strongly encouraged us to study neuroplasticity of the adult brain. We were interested in understanding why the neuroplastic effects of training and learning are so clearly expressed in professional musicians.

The study's main finding was that actively making sound, by playing a musical instrument, changed brain responses for listening and perception. Most importantly, neuroplastic brain changes occurred very quickly, within one hour of listening and making sound. In contrast, brain changes were observed after days in previous studies that only had participants listening to sounds.

Another finding was that brain responses to hearing a sound are different when a person produces the sound themselves compared to listening to a recorded sound or a sound made by another person. This difference demonstrates that brain networks of intention, movement planning, movement execution, and expectation are involved when making a sound. We compared playing a real instrument with pressing a button for hearing a sound and found larger changes in the brain's response to actively playing a musical instrument than pressing a button to elicit the same sound.

Comment: See also: Music is medicine: The neurochemical benefits of playing an instrument

      Read More...
Brain

Our brain actively works to forget memories so it can retain truly important information


RT
Wed, 21 Jun 2017 22:04 UTC
thinking
© Global Look Press
The inability to remember has long been considered a failure of the brain, but a new study has found that our brains are actively working to forget memories in order to retain the truly important information.

In fact, the study's researchers believe the brain is not designed to keep memories intact, but its actual purpose is to only hold onto valuable information to optimize intelligent decision making over time.

"It's important that the brain forgets irrelevant details and instead focuses on the stuff that's going to help make decisions in the real world," says Blake Richards, author of the study and associate fellow in the Learning in Machines and Brains program.

The new University of Toronto paper was published Wednesday in the Neuron journal. Paul Frankland, a senior fellow at CIFAR's Child & Brain Development program, who was also involved in the study, says,"We find plenty of evidence from recent research that there are mechanisms that promote memory loss, and that these are distinct from those involved in storing information."
      Read More...
Hearts

Reiki: Healing with the energy of life

Sofia Adamson
Waking Times
Tue, 20 Jun 2017 20:42 UTC
reiki hands
Reiki is a traditional Japanese technique for healing, relaxation, and stress reduction. The healing energy of Reiki is transmitted through the palms of the hands. Some Reiki healers, then, practice the laying on of hands to transmit healing energy to others, while some healers practice a no-touch Reiki where the palms of the hands are held several inches from the body of the person receiving Reiki. Reiki is also a spiritual practice.

The concept behind Reiki posits that there is an invisible life force energy in the universe. It flows through all of us to varying degrees and is what causes us to be alive. If your life energy is low, you may feel sick, depressed, stressed, or anxious, whereas if your life energy is high, you are likely to feel healthy, happy, and energetic.

The word "Reiki" is made up from two Japanese words "Rei" and "Ki." "Rei" is often translated as "God's wisdom" or "the wisdom of a Higher Power," while "Ki" means "life force energy." Reiki, then, is life force energy that emanates from a higher power. Reiki, thus, is a practice that transmits energy that can be physically healing but also spiritually healing. Practicing or receiving Reiki can be a wonderful addition to anyone's spiritual practices, regardless of your religious beliefs.

Comment: See also:

      Read More...
Info

Navigating cobwebs of deceit: How to tell when you are in the presence of a dangerous person

Christine Hammond, MS, LMHC
PsychCentral
Mon, 19 Jun 2017 00:00 UTC
deceit, two-faced, liars, sociopath
"Oh, what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive!" Sir Walter Scott wrote this famous line in his poem titled "Marmion about the Battle of Flodden" (1808). (Interestingly enough, it is often misattributed to William Shakespeare.) His poem recounts a love story that survives despite a web of deceptions, manipulations, mischaracterizations, lies, and betrayals by two scheming people. It is tragic how people have not changed very much today.

Life would be easier if every person with evil or selfish intent was quickly identifiable. But, alas they are not. So the innocent get tangled up in a cobweb of deceit, find themselves in places they never thought they would go, feeling vulnerable and violated, and then left cleaning up the sticky mess of the web. The best way to avoid such a trap is to identify it early. When a person can see the cobweb in front of them, they can walk around it and not have to deal with the consequences of being entangled.

What does that look like? Here are some clues:
      Read More...
Brain

Under the influence of power - does it cause brain damage?

Jerry Useem
The Atlantic
Mon, 19 Jun 2017 21:40 UTC
brain damage
Over time, leaders lose mental capacities—most notably for reading other people—that were essential to their rise.

If power were a prescription drug, it would come with a long list of known side effects. It can intoxicate. It can corrupt. It can even make Henry Kissinger believe that he's sexually magnetic. But can it cause brain damage?

When various lawmakers lit into John Stumpf at a congressional hearing last fall, each seemed to find a fresh way to flay the now-former CEO of Wells Fargo for failing to stop some 5,000 employees from setting up phony accounts for customers. But it was Stumpf's performance that stood out. Here was a man who had risen to the top of the world's most valuable bank, yet he seemed utterly unable to read a room. Although he apologized, he didn't appear chastened or remorseful. Nor did he seem defiant or smug or even insincere. He looked disoriented, like a jet-lagged space traveler just arrived from Planet Stumpf, where deference to him is a natural law and 5,000 a commendably small number. Even the most direct barbs—"You have got to be kidding me" (Sean Duffy of Wisconsin); "I can't believe some of what I'm hearing here" (Gregory Meeks of New York)—failed to shake him awake.

Comment: New study reveals: Power can corrupt even the honest

      Read More...
Books

Five simple techniques to help you retain more from the books you read

Darius Foroux
DariusForoux.com
Mon, 12 Jun 2017 00:00 UTC
reading retention
When I grew up, it wasn't cool to read. These days, every coffee shop is packed with folks that are reading a book while sipping on a latte.

That's a great shift. I'm also reading more books than ever. But here's the thing: It's not about how many books you read, it's about how much you retain from what you read.

Most people I talk to don't have a reading strategy. They just pick up something and start reading. I used to be like that. But now, that's unthinkable to me. Sure, you might read a novel for entertainment.

But think about it; why do you even read a non-fiction book in the first place? Exactly, you want to get something out of it. You want to learn things that you can apply in your life to grow. That's the whole point.

I'm often asked: "How do you remember information you read in books?" In this post, I'll explain my system.

Comment:

      Read More...
Amazon Smile
Revolt! T-shirts