Author Archives: Joseph

About Joseph

Compassion, imagination, wonder and rational thought are among the greatest human attributes. It seems to me there's no better time than now to exhibit them!

Pride and Prejudice

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Those who exhibit genuine pride in accomplishment and good honest toil tend to exhibit far less prejudice and far more empathy toward others.

Those who exhibit genuine pride in accomplishment and good honest toil tend to exhibit far less prejudice and far more empathy toward others.

It seems that the kind of pride you have affects how you perceive others. No surprise there if your sense of the world is anything like mine. What is interesting, however, is that this study by a group or researchers from the University of British Columbia is the first to identify and test for two specific types of pride: hubristic pride, attained by less authentic means such as power, domination, money or nepotism; and authentic pride, the kind derived from personal achievement based on genuine effort and honest work.

“These studies show that how we feel about ourselves directly influences how we feel about people who are different from us. It suggests that harmful prejudices may be more flexible than previously thought, and that hubristic pride can exacerbate prejudice, while a more self-confident, authentic pride may help to reduce racism and homophobia.” (Claire Ashton-James, postdoctoral researcher in UBC’s Dept. of Psychology.)

Apparently, when you exhibit prejudice, you’re also exhibiting your level of hubristic pride – the more pride, the stronger the prejudice. Conversely, those who exhibit genuine pride in accomplishment and good honest toil tend to exhibit far less prejudice and far more empathy toward others.

I’m not at all surprised. As usual, scientific inquiry confirms what many of you know already.

Source: University of British Columbia. (2012, April 13). “Racism, Homophobia, Pride And Prejudice.” Medical News Today. Retrieved from http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/244054.php.

Reach for the Sun, Partner!

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Reach for the Sun to Feel Better

Reach for the Sun to Feel Better.

Researchers at the Max Planck Institute have discovered that when you are involved in movements in an upward direction you are more likely to have positive emotions and thoughts; and conversely, working in a downward direction tends to elicit more negative emotions and thoughts – metaphoric movements that match our language, feeling “up” or feeling “down.”

“These [study] data suggest that spatial metaphors for emotion aren’t just in language,” researcher Daniel Casasanto says, “linguistic metaphors correspond to mental metaphors, and activating the mental metaphor ‘good is up’ can cause us to think happier thoughts.”

I’m reminded of the Yogic Sun Salutation exercise in which one stretches one’s arms upward toward the sun as far as he/she can reach in a gesture of acknowledgement of the sun. The movement is also used to elevate mood and elicit more positive emotions during times of depression.

Perhaps one way to beat depression is to simply salute the heavens by reaching up as far as you can often during the day – while simultaneously elevating the thoughts and emotions. It’s certainly worth a trial run, I figure.

Study Source: Daniel Casasanto, Ton Dijkstra, Max-Planck-Gesellschaft

A Familiar Brain Pattern?

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In an interesting coincidence, the Rapid Eye Technology (RET) eye directing device (called a wand) is moved in a hexagonal 3D pattern just in front of the face - a pattern that due to its spacial character may be very familiar to the aforementioned part of the brain.

In an interesting coincidence, the Rapid Eye Technology (RET) eye directing device (called a wand) is moved in a hexagonal 3D pattern just in front of the face – a pattern that due to its spacial character may be very familiar to the aforementioned part of the brain.

University College London researchers have discovered that the brain lays out a grid of cells that represent a map of spacial orientations and locations in space. That in itself may not be any big news to most readers – “so what?” This grid has been known to exist in mice since 2005.

Well, the cool thing is that this 3D grid within the hippocampal formation and associated brain areas, now discovered to exist in humans as well, forms triangles in hexagonal formations – sort of like a honeycomb. Study co-author Dr Caswell Barry said: “It is as if grid cells provide a cognitive map of space. In fact, these cells are very much like the longitude and latitude lines we’re all familiar with on normal maps, but instead of using square grid lines it seems the brain uses triangles.”

In an interesting coincidence, the Rapid Eye Technology (RET) eye directing device (called a wand) is moved in a hexagonal 3D pattern just in front of the face – a pattern that due to its spacial character may be very familiar to the aforementioned part of the brain. Further, the signals flowing through the brain from eyes to visual cortex stop off for an emotional load at the hypothalamus which is attached to the memory-gating hippocampus – the seat of this honeycomb-like spacial mapping grid.

Research team leader, Professor Neil Burgess, commented, “…grid cells may help us to find our way to the right memory as well as finding our way through our environment. These brain areas are also amongst the first to be affected by Alzheimer’s disease which may explain why getting lost is one of the most common early symptoms of this disease.”

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The Gift of Insults

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I just had to share this wonderful parable. It caught me at that “just right” time to help me appreciate it. I’ve never really looked at insults as gifts, but what would happen to me if I did? And what would happen to you if you did?

There once lived a great warrior. Though quite old, he still was able to defeat any challenger. His reputation extended far and wide throughout the land and many students gathered to study under him.

One day an infamous young warrior arrived at the village. He was determined to be the first man to defeat the great master. Along with his strength, he had an uncanny ability to spot and exploit any weakness in an opponent. He would wait for his opponent to make the first move, thus revealing a weakness, and then would strike with merciless force and lightning speed. No one had ever lasted with him in a match beyond the first move.

Much against the advice of his concerned students, the old master gladly accepted the young warrior’s challenge. As the two squared off for battle, the young warrior began to hurl insults at the old master. He threw dirt and spit in his face. For hours he verbally assaulted him with every curse and insult known to mankind. But the old warrior merely stood there motionless and calm. Finally, the young warrior exhausted himself. Knowing he was defeated, he left feeling shamed.

Somewhat disappointed that he did not fight the insolent youth, the students gathered around the old master and questioned him. “How could you endure such an indignity? How did you drive him away?”

“If someone comes to give you a gift and you do not receive it,” the master replied, “to whom does the gift belong?”

Anonymous

Taking Responsibility

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I like the idea of saying to myself (maybe as a mantra), “I am experiencing EXACTLY what I WANT to experience right now or I’d be experiencing something else. I am doing exactly what I most want to do right now or I’d be doing something else. I have exactly what I want to have right now or I’d have something else.” (BE-DO-HAVE) I believe that when you adopt this as a personal truth, you tend to take responsibility for your life and magical things start to happen. For one, when YOU are the responsible party, YOU have the power to make changes – NOT because you don’t like what you have; rather, because you LOVE what you have and want to experience something ELSE you love.

If you want to make a substantial change in your life, consider taking responsibility for your life – acknowledge that you are, do, and have what you currently experience because you WANT TO. How you feel about what you experience is your PAYOFF. Embrace your payoff – you love it, after all – and you’ve gone to some effort and energy to achieve it. Then look into what OTHER PAYOFF you might enjoy JUST AS MUCH and begin embracing that instead. You might also enjoy achieving your current payoff in a different manner. Like the kid in the sandbox making a sand castle, you can play with your design as much as you wish until you get it “just right” – that is, you experience sufficient sensational payoff.