Brain Blog

All Things Are In The Mind

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The Intelligence Of Humanitas

It takes very little effort to be kind.  It requires much mental energy to be angry at the world, living in a cognitively biased state believing you bear little responsibilities for your actions, but the wider community does.

Humanitas

Humanitas is a latin word meaning kindness and refined character.  I believe strongly it's a word we lack in modern English.

Your interactions with others say a lot about your intelligence and ability to socialize.  Not that intelligent people can't be callous and rude, in fact, I'm sure many are, but in the game of life, treating people with kindness and showing great character often garners respect and loyalty, which can, in turn, be used to benefit oneself.

It’s hard not to love the way Latin just rolls off the tongue and makes you sound smarter and gives you more intellectual gravitas.  Yes, I slipped that one in too.

Social Aptitude Or Manipulation

I've always admired those with great social aptitude and charisma, but I have also frequently wondered whether the great displays of social perspicaciousness were merely a clever ruse.

How would we know if a highly intelligent person was simply skilled in the ability to appear apt in all interpersonal activities, but in fact was channeling a character that little resembles their true self?

Most of the time we really have no idea about a person's self until we spend enough time with them to witness their reactions to all manner of the situation, but of course, there would be select few people whom with which we (alliteration intended) would be exposed to in such a continuous fashion.

Neural Pathways And Cortical Reconfiguration

What you practice you become.

It's frequently the application of neurolinguistic programming, which has many a doubter, but not the concept of biohacking cortical reconfiguration itself.

Are you sad?

Smile and physiologically you will actually potentiate the release of pleasant mood inducing chemicals.

Are you nervous?

Act overconfident and you'll begin a pattern of behavior that may lead to you actually become more confident. We can actually become what we pretend to be.

I suggest you “pretend” to be highly intelligent and socially apt.  It can’t hurt to at least try, right?

We change, through our action and our cortical maps change with our actions.

Humanitas Applied

So, lastly, I want to point to the connection.

People showing great social skills and kindness, become the very thing they appear to be.  Whilst some toxic people and psychopathic humans keep on keeping on the same, many people will change into the evolved human beings they want to perpetuate themselves to be.

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Using NLP To Biohack Your Mind

The Key To Using Using NLP Techniques For Social Aptitude

Have you Ever met a person and you got on well immediately?

A person with who you seem to have similar ideas and you got excited that you met someone so like-minded? If this has happened to you then you understand what rapport is.

What if you could touch people in a way that they have never experienced until now?.

What if you were able to wander into a room and the group was to immediately warm to you?

Using NLP techniques you can create the environment of warmth with anyone you want.

You can even use these mind-biohacking techniques to build intelligence

What exactly is rapport anyway?

Rapport is a communicative environment where a level of comfortability is in place amongst people. This is more than just verbal. Communicating properly will decree that all factors of communication, comfortability, safety, gestures and speech are present.

Have you ever had a person explain to you what a great conversation that was you were in disbelief?

The odds are that a portion of their communicative ability, be it their body language or outwards expression did not satisfy an honestly about what they had said.

You want to convince the subject with whom you want to create a rapport with that f you are of a similarity. NLP biohacking techniques can teach you to copy the person's expressions, but unless you are well trained or genuine this can actually bother the subject.

Something worth noting is that you need to also mimic other things as breathing and language patterns if you'd like to build a deep rapport. Studies have decreed that those who are in love actually breathe and talk at a similar speed hence creating a feel of having someone special who is in touch with you on a plan of similarity that is rare to behold.

Also in existence are even more technical methods which, if used improperly will advance even more social ability upon the practitioner. People who are learned in these methods have a distinct advantage over others.

To apply a little biohacking NLP yourself, first find some with which you desire to build a rapport with. Next whilst you communicate, copy their talking and breathe patterns. As you mimic them (subtly) you will start to reflect a desire in them to further converse with you.

Matching the patterns of people whom you wish to build a communicative relationship ( big or small) can be advanced through NLP methods.

Add To Your Communication Skills

By adding to your skills using NLP biohacking methods, you can fashion your capability to make money, create confidence and relationships, enjoy better focus and additional enlivened successes.

The NLP biohack can help you to enjoy life and to further your abilities, so make sure that you take a prodigious look at it.

High Achievement

NLP or-or Neuro Linguistic Programming as it is likewise known is a technique of augmenting one's perception and confidence into the strategic, auspicious form that you need.

Markedly recognized as "high achievement", this procedure of learning can assist to center your energy and cerebral function on receiving the successes and achievements that you want, by making yourself the modus for your own communicative success.

There is a possibility that using NLP biohacking techniques will give you the skills to communicate better.

Being that we live in a world of decreasing social skills it would seem that increasing your confidence in your mind, would be a huge boon.

It may even be one of the most valuable benefits you could aim for.

So, develop a pattern of behavior that benefits your confidence and dare I even say “swagger”.   

This is the relative beauty of NLP biohacks.  They let you hack into your own mind and change the way you think, act, and even view the world.

But, it won’t happen without taking a first step.

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What is Lethologica?

Have you ever been talking and then, unexpectedly lost your train of thought and not known what it is you were preparing to say?

Well, if you had, that's Lethologica.

It happens when something slips your mind and all of a sudden you're drawing blanks and it can be frustrating and a little upsetting in the wrong situation.

Don't worry though, it happens to almost all of us, so you're not alone

It happens when we get nervous or even flushed by our surroundings. 

Your apparent intelligence can seem to just disappear.  

It happens to a lot of highly intelligent people

It can be avoided with higher function cerebral activities and you can biohack your mind into a constant state of better awareness using these regular activities to keep alert.

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Deja Vu - Jamais Vu - Deja Reve

No, this is an English speaking blog, but I wanted to bring up a couple of interesting terms people might be searching for, in case they couldn't quite find the right words, plus there's the bonus of being able to differentiate the three terms.

Deja Vu

This is when something happens that feels like it has happened before, or where you go somewhere you've never been and it feels familiar, though it isn't.

Jamais Vu

This is when you go somewhere you have been before, but it doesn't feel familiar at all.  It's the opposite of deja vu in many respects.

Deja Reve

This is when you experience something that happened in a dream.

Once I had a dream whereby I was putting fuel in my car and it overflowed out and onto my shoes, then the next day, it actually happened.  This was the first time in my whole life that I had overfilled my gas tank.

It's a spooky feeling, because it's such a precise coincidence, but I guess the world would be even stranger if coincidences never actually happened.

Interestingly enough, in the intellectual community, these aren’t well known (other than Deja vu).

Other articles of interest:

Using NLP Techniques For Social Aptitude

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Critical Thinking In The Misinformation Age

Critical Thinking In the New World

The advent of the internet has dawned upon the world with a shift in culture, a new wave of technology and a brand new source of information for the masses.

No matter where you are, or what the time is, you can find out what you need to know in minutes. No longer do you have to wait until the weekend is over and the library is open, to find out that answer to the question buzzing around in your head from the conversation you had on Saturday night with your friends.

But with this onslaught of all this available knowledge comes the dreaded misinformation.

Veritably We Live In The Misinformation Age

The internet has blurred the lines between information and opinion, between fact and conjecture, but most of all between reality and the misinformation of the self-serving.

Wikipedia is a great resource, but often it is full of user content and oftentimes this means opinion slips on through and gets presented as fact....and Wikipedia is one of the better resources online.

Heavily opinionated blogs bury the truth under the weight of their opinion, whilst they obliterate comments that present an opposing view (often containing facts).

So how on earth are the public supposed to find out the truth?

Critical Thinking and it’s relationship to intellectual growth

Fighting Misinformation With Critical Thinking

Now more than ever, critical thinking is important in helping people deduce, reduce and slice through the garbage. This eye-opening method of deductive reasoning helps block out the bull and let the facts through.

Critical thinking is simply the method of taking a piece of information, be it a statement or an opinion and removing any subjectivity and emotional bias.

Emotions play absolutely no role in the validity of a piece of information, however, most people base their beliefs and right and wrong on how a given piece of information makes them feel.

Often this anger, sadness and frustration elicit the wrong conclusion.

By using critical thinking we can stop viewing the world through emotional reasoning and objectively understand context properly.

Half Truths, Self Serving Lies And Outright Bull****

Sifting Through Lies

You don't need a degree in nuclear physics or even a highly trained mind to understand that in a self serving world, where everybody is trying to sell you something, be it politics, products, religion, guilt or just their point of view, that the truth gets twisted and twisted until it's not the honest kernel it began as.

Politicians are some of the worst. They make false promises and in an effort to cling to power, fame and money they spiel out half truths and garbage emotional manipulations.

Lawyers seem to be sycophantic in their quest to separate the truth from reality in an effort to procure a buck.

Religious zealots spread hate mongering and fear, whilst their holy books utter forgiveness and peace.

Everywhere you look there is someone covering up the truth with self-serving lies in order to make money or just advance their cause.

Where does freedom sit among this?

Freedom And Skepticism - Natural Partners

Skepticism helps maintain a position that the truth must be found through vigilance, not blind certitude. In order for decent human beings to be free, we must hold true the notion that healthy skepticism helps protect the truth from those who seek to warp it for their own gain.

In this misinformation age, we need to fight hard to reject notions that sound good and are appealing, but are ultimately just empty promises and shallow assertions.

Politicians will offer you the world for their vote. Lawyers will offer you a win for your hard earned cash and religion will offer you death for sale and if they are wrong, well, that's a bummer "dude".

You can be free and wealthy and live longer in a civilization that rejects the notion the dishonesty is a necessity and that freedom should be sacrificed.

Freedom is every human's right - Reject the misinformation age, discover what hides behind the self-serving lies

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The Effects Of Negative Thinking On The Brain

Negative Thinking

Do not mold your brain towards actions that have dire consequences.

Challenge your brain and get smarter and happier.

The Impact Of Negativity - Keeping Positive To Keep Sane

Everybody knows somebody who likes nothing better to share their miserable attitude. Just like they say - Misery loves company. The problem arises when you unwittingly catch the dreaded shift in attitude and make it you own.

The effects of patterned behavior on the brain become imprinted and thus are now models of behavior that become automatic.

The way you act the most becomes your new default setting.

Don’t despair because just as we can’t develop our bad habits that hurt our attitude, we can biohack our brains to be the opposite.

In fact, now that you’re here, you can learn to avoid negativity and biohacking your brain with positive connections and create a constant, happier mood.

Don't Become THAT Person

If the thought of ending up a grumpy old miser gives you chills just thinking about it then why not consider just how bad an impact negativity can have on your entire life.

Take a good look at the lifestyle of someone who does little but complains and you'll probably see someone who spends their time achieving very little but complaining about a lot.

The cognitive dissonance involved with people who not only refuse to take responsibility for their actions but also become narcissistic in their blame of all others.

You'll find someone who misses opportunities to have fun in exchange for the chance to be alone and introspective. It's an unfortunate predicament from whence there is no compromise.

Beating Off The Doldrums

It really is amazing the power we have to choose the way we see life. Our own personal philosophy is usually a mixture of the things we experience and the things we hear from others.

It's often wise to understand that we are capable of change - Knowing this is like having money in the bank. The fact that we can change and that situations can improve is central to the willingness to actually take an action to expedite the process of having happiness.

After all, what is the point of life if not to experience happiness.

Negative thinking does nothing to help achieve happiness, the key is to make happiness the ultimate achievement and place negative thinking within the realm of things that are dangerous obstacles to our personal satisfaction.

I know I can live without negativity - How About You? Positive Mindset I want you to have a positive mindset, hopefully, you want that as well. In the utopian ideal we would go after positivity at all costs, personally, I can not find a thought of what else worth while, though a lifetime of institutionalized conditioning can help us to us escape the real picture of what absolutely matters and the things can indeed make us conclusively happier.

Stay Away From Negative thinking

Mold your brain towards happiness by reinforcing the good, otherwise, you may well end up only able to see the bad.

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Stress Can Affect Your Memory

Don't stress, you'll live longer.  You've heard that phrase used over and over again.  Something else to consider is the role stress can place on one's ability to use their memory.

You've probably experienced the difficulty in searching for a street address in the car, whilst music is playing (especially loudly) on the car stereo.  There exists scientific evidence as to why this is so. NLP techniques may even help with focus, mindfulness, and concentration.

This same mechanism that affects our basic levels of cognition, also affects our ability to recall things occurring in that very moment.

The loud distraction affects the firing our prefrontal cortex neurons, which in turn affect our cognitive abilities including memory.

During times of stress, the secretion of cortisol may affect the amygdala and the the hippocampus, causing negative affects on not only one's ability to reason, but also on the usual process of information recall.

Science can prove that stress can affect your memory, so judging by this, it probably makes good sense to ensure you are able to both deal with stress and avoid unnecessary conflict as well.

It really does raise the question of a witness's testimony in relation to a high stress event, though the affect of vivacity on the memory may counter this to some point.

Seemingly intellectually superior people can appear instant idiots, given enough stress reaction.   Truly remarkable.

This is what makes the brain so interesting.

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Cognitive Dissonance - A Necessary Self Delusion

So why is cognitive dissonance, A necessary self delusion

Life has, up until 60 years ago been hard and at times, for many, barely bearable.

Hard labor combined with scarcity of food, made life one of subsistence and toil.

Survival And The Mind

Primary responsive reflexes have adapted through evolution and as such the mind has increased capabilities for survival, not that all survival mechanisms may seem benevolent at first glance.

The need to shield one from what is ostensibly a tough reality would be the lessor of two evils.

Enter Cognition and The Dissonant Mind

Cognitive dissonance for example, helps protect the mind from the harsh of reality that can make you suffer depression and possibly suicidal thoughts. Convincing yourself that what you don't have doesn't matter or other small self dishonesties, can enable focus placed elsewhere, when needed. Life is one of comparison, but when we are able to make almost deluded comparisons, they can be in our best interests.

Why?

A poor person works a 9-5 job, plus has a second job on the weekend. They have little money for entertainment, little time to enjoy life, but they have their family.

When they see someone with more wealth, more time for entertainment, they could become jealous, angry and despondent to the point of misery. So, they become cognitively dissonant and start placing self protecting arbitrations around the situation.

The rich person becomes morally inferior, splashing about their wealth, who'd want to be like that? The wealthy person becomes selfish and who would want such a negative trait.

Worst of all, these rich people don't know the real value in life... Family.

All these assertion could be true, but that's not the point, the fact is, the mind convinces itself they are true in order to reaffirm one's position and almost gain a hint of moral superiority.

It’s like the brain’s own method of biohacking itself to prevent the stress of reality.  It really is an amazing function.

Deluded And Safe I guess they say ignorance is bliss, but knowing this now, will you question your own way of thinking?

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Critical Thinking - A Definition

How Does Critical Thinking Work?

By using this process to find a logical outcome of a given premise, critical thinking works to evaluate the information at hand by removing assumption and bias on behalf of the practitioner. Assumption based on incorrect input variables is as useful as a guess.

Critical Information Filtering

The method is basically a form of information filtering in essence.

By applying intellective, deductive reasoning, you can use critical thinking to find an outcome from the given set of data - As long as the data is sufficient. One with skills honed in logic will look for all possible data to make the correct evaluation.

What Is This Evaluation Process?

Emotional Bias And Assumption

These two subjective principles can ultimately get in the way of a logical result so to use critical evaluation effectively one must remove these traits form the critique process in order to avoid the distracting and possibly illogical influences of a subjective point of view.

As discussed before, assumptions can let you down, but biases, a more specific set of assumptions, can guide your mind in the wrong direction, so one must be heavily cognizant of bias.

Although the use of critical thinking has been primarily the vestige of the university professor and a few intellectual students (was that an assumption), it can be used by anyone to evaluate choices and understand the inherent properties of logic better.

Critical thinking can help one to remove irrationalities from their information filtering process and restore a more natural logic to future evaluations.

Beginning Critical Thinking

Let's face it - It's a tough subject and no one becomes a critical thinker without some serious effort and the breaking down of some boundaries.  Putting together the will to seek information that itself is derived from logical reasoning, plus the need to remove bias, is the beginning.  

Deductive Reasoning

Your intelligence may play a large part in your ability to use deductive reasoning, but at times highly intelligent people fall prey to too often believing their instincts and can drop into a lazy way of thinking.

Deductive reasoning is about using the information at hand to evaluate a given set of data and offer the correct outcome. 

To deduce from what you have and what is absent, the most likely outcome.

Learning to combine critical thinking and deductive reasoning gives you the opportunity to  soar in an intellectual capacity.

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My Effective Memory Technique

It's Strange Being Able To Remember Most Things

I have a good memory, in fact it’s really good.  I am lucky in that I'm able to recall just about anything and so long as I am not tired, there’s rarely anything I forget.  That's not always a good thing, I can assure you, my dad hitting the swimming pool is not a pretty sight, nor something that could be erased easily without some form of brain surgery.

But I digress.

  Why Does My Memory Do What Other's Doesn't

I tried to pin point areas of my upbringing that created my ability to memorize things with pretty good detail, but no one thing seemed to be the definitive memory shaping facilitation.

When you read a lot and you write, not to mention loving puzzles, it's hard to narrow it down, maybe they all work in harmony.

One of the most useless gifts I had because of my memory was that I always knew every lyric to every song, but was it because I had a good memory, or was it the cause?

Here we have the chicken and the egg scenario fighting it out.

  The Memory Basics, Also Good For Reality Show Contestants

One thing I know about memory retention that I found interesting is the idea of Primacy and Regency.

We remember things that happen first and last.  Things create a bigger impact in our mind if they happen first or last, but not as much in the middle. It’s like a memory and mental biohack that seems to have an evolutionary advantage.

Good to know if you're an American Idol contestant.

For the last two years, my memory is not as sharp as I am used to, I wonder if it is because I never play music anymore, I’m just too busy.

There's no time to put on an album when I have so much work to do, I just can't focus with music like I can in silence.

Effective Memory Technique

Something that works well for me, to help me hold onto old memories, child hod ones that I never want to lose, is to simply reminisce.

The act of cogently wading through the memories you have reinforces them.  So in a way, don’t forget the past, you may lose it.

Vividly reminiscing your past memories helps to store them and cross wire them to new neural pathway structuring.

This falls in the category of repetition, by learning something until it etches, but in this case it also brings old information to the fore, remember regency?

So never forget the past, reminisce.  Besides, nostalgia is fun.

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Neuroscience - At The Forefront Of The Brain

We live in a remarkable age.  There are daily advances in science, new discoveries abound and a renewed interest in all things intellectual has been on the rise.

Neuroscience, whilst an actual study of the entire nervous system, primarily concerns itself with the functional qualities and existent dynamics of the brain.

The human brain, that wonderfully complex organ that is more powerful than any computer on the planet.   

The study of neural circuits and neural systems could possibly, one day, allow us to supplement the brain with biohacking technology that allows us to think faster and make more complex calculations.

Whilst this may seem like something out of a sci-fi movie, it may well happen in the next 75 years, which would be something for our newly biohacked minds behold.

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Functional Psychology

What is Functionalism?

Known as functional psychology or functionalism, it is a kind of philosophical outlook in the psychological establishment relating to one's own situation and milieu. It is meant to convey the relationship between one's mental state of being and how it may change in relation to environmental influences.

Behaviorism is often seen as antagonistic towards the theories of functionalism as they arrive at differing ideas conceptually.

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What Is An IQ Test

In IQ test is designed to measure intelligence via your intelligence quotient.  

There are many different IQ tests both online and available through high IQ societies like Mensa and The Prometheus Society.

Different IQ clubs have various requirements for entry like some require 1 in a 1000 IQ results, whereas, some require 1 in 10000 results.

IQ tests are not without their fair share of criticism, as many people believe that they are not in fact an accurate measurement of the full spectrum of intelligence.

Sternberg's theory of triarchic intelligence concerns itself with measuring more than just basic analytical intellective abilities, but also creativity and the most practical application of one's cerebral abilities.

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Triarchic Theory Of Intelligence

Triarchic Theory Of Intelligence

The Triarchic theory of intelligence was created by Robert J. Sternberg, a well known psychologist. The theory comprises a more rounded approach to measuring intelligence than the usual psychometric determinations.

As the name Triachic suggest, the theory considers three categories of intelligence  (Analytical, Creative, Practical )comprised of their own subsets.

Analytical 

This is similar to the more conventional assessments of intelligence such as the ability to problem solve and deconstructed puzzles and anagrams.

Creative

This explores the subject's ability to create and utilize skills that produce uniqueness and creativity.

Practical

How does a person react to everyday challenges?  Practical intelligence amounts to how well normal procedural task can be executed.

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NLP Programming

The Art of NLP Communication

Getting started

Since the 1970's NLP practitioners have had a communicative edge. They have watched and learned the subtle variations in body language and conversational linguistics, all the while learning to model the behavior of those who excel in the art of communicating well.

Coping The Best

There is no doubt that communication is a powerful thing and an extremely useful tool. In the hands of a learned devotee NLP Programming can be used to build rapport and make friends in social situations and in business it can lead to promotions, client satisfaction and many relationship built contracts.

You can apply the techniques with relative ease and the best part is that NLP programming isn't rocket science.

Not Rocket Science - Great!

Yes, yay indeed. Well, there is some learning and application to develop, but the power and control is such an exciting new accomplishment that it is sure to beget more learning and interest.

Where can I find out more?

There are many sites and blogs dedicated to NLP Programming (the last P is kind of redundant being that it stands for neuro linguistic programming) that can offer valuable information on all things in the neuro linguistic programming (see the P there)  area.

I hope you enjoy NLP

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What Is The Cerebellum

If you have even a passing interest in the human brain, you may have heard the word cerebellum uttered somewhere along the line. 

The human brain is amazing and complex, not to mention it is made up of some pretty strange looking matter.

The cerebellum hangs out below what most people consider the brain to be, in fact in ye olden days, they did not believe the cerebellum to actually be part of the brain itself.  

If you notice the darker area that is shaded, that's the cerebellum there.  It is in fact, part of the brain.

What Functions Does The Cerebellum Control?

Your balance and coordination are all controlled by your cerebellum.  When you achieve physical skills, such as sporting prowess, you'll find that is very much the cerebellum's specialty.

In addition to these, it also controls the way in which we perceive pleasure and processes phobia.

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Why Being Smarter Is A Good Thing

Okay, I'm being deliberately obvious, but let me explain myself; simple is good, complexities are better.  It's no secret that there are more opportunities for smart people as intelligence can open doors and beget propositions that would otherwise not be available.

Intelligence helps solve problems and inspires intellectual pursuits which in turn keep the problem-solving ability sharp and intact.

Having a base understanding of critical thinking prevents you from being taking advantage of.  

Money and resolution to stress are just a few reasons to increase your intelligence.

Did you know people with higher IQ's are less likely to become depressed and have a lower rate of suicide?

It's true.