Just 9 minutes of viewing a fast-paced television cartoon had immediate negative effects on 4-year-olds’ executive function. Parents should be aware that fast-paced television shows could at least temporarily impair young children’s executive function:
The Immediate Impact of Different Types of Television on Young Children’s Executive Function
“A wealth of information creates a poverty of attention,” as talked about here.
America’s leading Russia scholar reflects on the 20th anniversary of communism’s collapse, and the new threats to the world order today. (read here)
Quote from The SEAL Sensibility, by Lt. Cmdr Eric Greitens
“What kind of man makes it through Hell Week? That’s hard to say. But I do know—generally—who won’t make it. There are a dozen types that fail: the weight-lifting meatheads who think that the size of their biceps is an indication of their strength, the kids covered in tattoos announcing to the world how tough they are, the preening leaders who don’t want to get dirty, and the look-at-me former athletes who have always been told they are stars but have never have been pushed beyond the envelope of their talent to the core of their character. In short, those who fail are the ones who focus on show. The vicious beauty of Hell Week is that you either survive or fail, you endure or you quit, you do—or you do not.
Some men who seemed impossibly weak at the beginning of SEAL training—men who puked on runs and had trouble with pull-ups—made it. Some men who were skinny and short and whose teeth chattered just looking at the ocean also made it. Some men who were visibly afraid, sometimes to the point of shaking, made it too.
Almost all the men who survived possessed one common quality. Even in great pain, faced with the test of their lives, they had the ability to step outside of their own pain, put aside their own fear and ask: How can I help the guy next to me?”
I’ve had occasion to spend time visiting others in hospitals lately. While spending a week with my father during his heart surgery recently I was given to reflect on the nature of greatness. “That is a great person,” said of one. “Please meet my daughter – she is a great woman,” said another. What makes a person great? I think most anyone, if asked if they would like to be known as great at some point in their life, would respond in the affirmative.
I believe everyone has had, or will have, moments of greatness. Not greatness in athletic endeavors or greatness in personal achievements, but greatness where it matters most – in the eyes of another person, perhaps I should say for another person. Because I believe greatness is simply this: achieving self-transcendence through the gift of self. In modern parlance: giving yourself so completely to others that you attain self-forgetfulness. This is the path to freedom.
I believe we instinctively search for experiences which seem to offer self-forgetfulness: alcohol (’to forget about life for awhile’), drugs, immoderate time in the helping professions, sex. Sex, the most natural way humans achieve an experience of self-transcendence, is perverted if what is sought is self-gratification with little or no interest in the other (if there even is another). Liberation cannot be achieved through gratification, only selflessness. This doesn’t make gratification wrong, it simply isn’t the vehicle for achieving freedom from self since it doesn’t take us outside ourselves. Only another person can effect that.
I was standing on a corner sidewalk with my bicycle recently. A driver honked their horn at me and gave me the bird with an angry glare. I have no idea what caused that, it was a random act of hate. I had been on the sidewalk the entire time and in no way interfered with that man. My instinct of course was to respond in kind, but I didn’t. Instead I thought about greatness. Odds are, to someone somewhere that man has been or will be great. There will likely be a time when he performs some act and a stranger, friend or family member will think of him: “this is a great man.” I thought about that and it put that foolish act of hatred in perspective. And I found myself thinking “good for him. He has, or will have, a moment when he loves completely.” I didn’t see the sum of who he was in that angry act toward me – far from it.
If there is a God, and I believe there is, he must by definition be great. And if he is great, he is perpetually great, for he does not change. Therefore he is continually outwardly considerate (but by doctrine cannot transcend himself). “Not a sparrow falls to the ground without God noticing.” (Matthew 10.29) And of course to paraphrase, “God was so recklessly loving that he sent his only son to us.” (John 3.16) He also washed our feet. What kind of God notes the death of every bird, sends his son to us even though he knew we’d murder him, and bends down and washes our feet? One which requires a childlike heart to accept. One so scandalous in his selflessness that the proud must turn elsewhere to find a god which matches their image of what a god should be. Sadly, they are plentiful.
“Limited but good evidence for specific probiotics” – a 1995 report finds that some probiotics can help with some conditions
(see the Resources page for an explanation of this page)
To date I have found no science in support of the idea that you can consume a special diet and have it remove toxins, metals or other bad things from your body. All the science that I have found states that the body naturally ‘detoxifies’ itself all the time, and there is nothing which can be done to speed up or improve this process, and in fact those special detox diets may hinder the bodies natural processes.
From what I’ve found, this is the near unanimous opinion of scientists, clinicians, toxicologists, dietitians, nutritionists and just about anybody else who ought to know and has studied it. Nor do I believe there is a vast, world-wide conspiracy amongst all these people across all these disciplines because they somehow feel threatened that their source of income will dry up or be impaired if people start detoxifying themselves. (This is a common rebuttal from those who want to accept alternative care modalities on blind faith)
For those who detox themselves and experience amazing benefits, we can point to the remarkable power of placebo. Unlike detox regimes the power of placebo is extraordinarily well documented scientifically. In fact it is a major problem for drug companies, which are required to use placebos during their clinical trials. More often than not, the placebo works better than their drug. The mind has an amazing ability to make the body adapt to its expectations of what should be occurring. I find it fascinating that some people rebel against the proven reality that their mind is tricking them but happily accept the unproven miracle cures offered them by others. Surely there is fodder here for sociological research.
I’m filing this one under complete nonsense until I can dig up some good data to support it. If I do, I will detoxify myself!
The penchant to do our own will, to have things our own way, to follow our own designs, is our inherited disorder. In various places in the scriptures this is called stubbornness.
My people did not heed my voice and Israel would not obey, so I left them in their stubbornness of heart to follow their own designs. (Psalm 81)It is interesting to note that what was once seen as punishment – being left alone by God to follow one’s own wishes – is today seen as desirable. We are like the Gadarene townspeople who begged Jesus to leave their neighborhood. He was bringing change and the revelation of the kingdom of God but they only wanted to be left alone. (Matthew 8.34) God respects our desire to keep him shut out. He even respects our desire to find the light on our own, without him. But trying to find life without possessing life is an impossibility. Jesus, in what seems to be patently obvious but in practice is existentially terrifying, says that to follow him we must stop following ourselves. (Matthew 16.24-26)
There are many historical metaphors related to trusting our own thoughts about things instead of obeying God. One of the best is when the Israelites were in the desert after their departure from Egypt. They were given manna to eat and told to gather only enough for that day. They welcomed the manna but mistrusted the provider of it and stored some up for the next day. It bred worms, became foul and incurred the anger of Moses. Then on the sabbath they were told there would be none since they were given a double helping the day before so they might rest on the sabbath. They searched for it anyway, this time incurring the anger of God. (Exodus 16.16-29) The next time you tell someone it’s a sunny day outside and they go check for themselves anyway, consider how God feels. And he is far more trustworthy than you.
Gathering Manna
Another historical example is that of King Saul. When he was facing the approaching might of the Philistine army he offered up the sacrifice himself instead of waiting for Samuel as he was told. But prophets offer sacrifices, not kings. When Samuel arrived he told Saul that because of that act of stubbornness God would take his throne and give it to one after His own heart. Saul followed Saul’s heart, not God’s. No man can have two masters. (1 Samuel 13.8-14)
Centuries later men sought to follow Jesus but they first wanted to conclude business transactions, attend funerals and tidy up their life. He sent them home. Moses was told to strike a rock with his staff and water would come out for the people. He struck it. Then in a mistrusting move that would cost him his own entrance into the promised land, he struck it again just to make sure. He was dearly loved by God, with whom he spoke face to face, so his punishment probably ought to be seen more as a warning to us than as a vindictive act by God. It will be impossible to enter into life by following one’s own methods of proceeding.
A mind habituated to stubbornness is a mind which accepts only those realities which it can explain through its own powers of reasoning. All else is chalked up as extraordinary but inexplicable and therefore largely irrelevant. We see an example of this in Luke chapter five. Jesus’ forgiveness of a paralyzed man’s sins is met with shock by the onlookers, for only God can forgive sins. To help them understand whom they were encountering Jesus then healed the man in front of their very eyes. They were astonished but never got beyond the effect to the cause. After all, their natural reasoning told them God is not man, so no matter how miraculous the act they witnessed they stopped at astonishment instead of proceeding through it to belief. This was but one of many instances where Jesus was not accepted for who he was regardless of what he did. Behind every episode were stubborn minds, refusing to accept the transcedent, that which was greater than the measure of their own minds.
"though they be dead..."
When Jesus returned to his hometown of Nazareth the people were astounded at his wisdom and deeds of power. Yet they ultimately rejected him; “took offense” at him. We take offense at that which runs contrary to our view of how things should be. They knew that Jesus was the son of Joseph and Mary and grew up a carpenter. They could not get to the truth of the mystery because knowledge was in their way. Or at least they ended with knowledge and did not get to the truth beyond it because knowledge lies in the realm of our own mind while truth requires the humility to accept the transcendent. It is interesting that the Gentiles, who did not “know” the origins of Jesus, accepted him more readily. One might consider those who do not know that evolution is the origin of the diversity of species as more apt to penetrate the mystery behind the beginnings of life. “God has confused the proud in their inmost thoughts,” said the humble maiden who was destined to give birth to the one who named himself “Truth.”
Fashionable of late have been the many promises held out by brain health research. Marketers have grabbed hold of some scientific evidence that shows that keeping an active mind as we age may help to ward off cognitive decline. Everything from computer games to crossword puzzles are advertised with “good for your brain” slogans, like packaged foods at the store which promise to be “good for your heart.” But doing crossword puzzles only makes you better at doing crossword puzzles, it does not ward off dementia. The types of activities those studies are referring to include living in a foreign country for awhile, learning a new language, learning to play the piano, learning ballroom dancing. The common denominator here is rigorous.
A recent study which captured my attention because of its remarkable scope and depth (over 800 pages) comes from our own local Duke University. Funded by the NIH, it is an exhaustive compendium and analysis of every major study undertaken on cognitive decline. It covers diet, exercise, supplements, cognitive training, social support systems and so on. Of all the serious published scientific studies ever undertaken in this field, only one activity has any solid evidence that it can slow mental decline as we age – cognitive training. After researching this for a bit I discovered that the reality falls short of the promise when it comes to solid scientific data on which types of training actually offer benefit. One did rise to the surface, it is called “Dual N-Back.” Dual N-Back is a computer program which challenges your memory in a continuous, repetitive fashion. Research has shown that those who engage in this for 20 minutes a day for 30 days actually do what was previously thought impossible – they increase their IQ. Even more fascinating, this rise in IQ lasts for some time after training finishes. It does decline, however, prompting the researches to say “as with physical exercise, no pain, no gain.” It has to be maintained.
There are free versions of this program. I decided to give it a go for 22 days, choosing later in the evening to do my training. Here is my result:
Dual N-Back
There are several things to note here. First, I noticed each significant surge forward (days 9 & 17) had a correction back to the average the day after. I have read that after so many gains are had, the brain needs to consolidate. This drop back is seen at days 10 and 18. At first I was discouraged but then I realized my brain is learning, resting and preparing for more growth. During the training period I was away with my dad for six days and missed each day. My return can be seen on day 11. I quickly recovered my losses the day after, however. The highest “N-Back” level I attained was 6, which I found remarkable. This occurred on day 17 (the graph shows the average level attained during each session), though I suspect some luck was involved. I’m currently able to easily remain on level 4, though with some errors, and move a few times into level 5. What is fascinating about this program is that your brain wants to try to memorize the square positions and spoken letters as they are presented, but a passive, intuitive approach is generally required for the higher levels. Then it becomes a matter of moving into your right hemisphere, as occurs with art. I am interested in when that line will begin to level off. I suspect it will be soon.
Finally, it may be coincidence but it is an impressive one if so: for every day I have done this training I have had the most vivid dreams since my youth.
Reversing the Decay of London Undone
August 20th, 2011Britain’s chief rabbi on the moral disintegration since the 1960’s and how to rebuild
by Jonathan Sacks
It was the same city but it might have been a different planet. At the end of April, the eyes of the world were on London as a dashing prince and a radiant princess, William and Kate, rode in a horse-drawn carriage through streets lined with cheering crowds sharing a mood of joyous celebration. Less than four months later, the world was watching London again as hooded youths ran riot down high streets, smashing windows, looting shops, setting fire to cars, attacking passersby and throwing rocks at the police….more
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