2013 in review

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2013 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 2,400 times in 2013. If it were a cable car, it would take about 40 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

Happiness and the Mind

In this rare return to the blogosphere, I want to share a profound and fascinating article by Mathieu Ricard I came across today on happiness and the mind. In the last week I have had a lot of time for reflection, although at times this has felt more like hopeless pondering. In this time, I have become somewhat obsessed with the idea of happiness. My happy state of mind, which once seemed so effortless and assured, has become confused – I sincerely believe that by over-thinking about happiness, I have been led to pursue a less fulfilling more superficial version of it and this of course has brought frustration instead. Fortunately, my search has not been in vain. In this article, I rediscovered the critical wisdom that I overlooked.

Read Mathieu Ricard’s Article

These are some of the main ideas from the article:

Happiness is not just a few agreeable sensations – although it often manifests itself as a feeling of physical pleasure and joy, true happiness is a way of being and of experiencing the world. Our minds translate outer conditions into happiness or suffering. It takes practice of mindfulness to gain inner peace, inner strength, altruistic love and other qualities. In a mindfully happy state, disturbing thoughts can arise and pass without leaving a trace. 

There is no question in life of not experiencing emotions; it’s a question of not being enslaved by them. We can turn our awareness on our emotions and we see that they are composed of thoughts. Take anger for example: instead of ‘being’ the anger, we understand that we are not the anger but an observer of it, just like the clouds are not the sky.

Just as we can learn to deal with afflictive thoughts, we can learn to cultivate and enhance wholesome ones. To be filled with love and kindness brings about an optimal way of being.

Inner conflicts are often linked with excessive rumination on the past and anticipation of the future – you are not truly paying attention to the present moment but are engrossed in your thoughts, going round in a vicious circle, feeding your fears and your self-centredness. Instead we must turn our attention to an awareness of the present. 

When people experience moments of grace in daily life – magical moments such as are experienced in nature – they have left their burden of inner conflicts behind and they feel in harmony with others, themselves and the world. All these qualities can be cultivated through developing wisdom and inner freedom. This will lead you to not just a few moments of grace but to a lasting state of well being that we may call genuine happiness.

 

Sugata Mitra’s TED Talk – The TED Prize Winner for 2013!

In this awesome TED Talk, Sugata Mitra unveils a design for ‘Self-Organized Learning Environments’ or ‘Schools in the Cloud’. Building on experiments conducted in rural India, in which children were left to teach themselves from computers (holes in the wall), Mitra challenges the conventional education systems and proposes that we redesign the system. He highlights the success of children educating themselves using the Internet with a mentor to guide and encourage them. He also proposes that the education system be redesigned to ask bigger and more engaging questions, to make learning much more enjoyable.

3 Epic Talks on Education

Subtitle: 2 Awesome TED Talks & 1 Awesome Animated Talk by Sir Ken Robinson.

In 2006, Ken Robinson caused a stir with a very entertaining but precise TED talk on education. With a variety of funny but also poignant examples, he explained that the education system kills creativity. Because schools only seek to produce one kind of output – kids with academic-ability – a great many talented individuals will go through school unaware of their ability. Many of the school systems of today actively discourage creative approaches, which is partly due to standardized testing and is also a plausible explanation for the rise of ADHD…

In a follow up to his spectacularly popular 2006 Talk – incidentally the most watched TED talk of all time – Sir Ken Robinson picks up where he left off, discussing more issues with the current school system and how schools might be better designed to nurture every individuals particular talents, instead of seeking to mould kids to conform to one model.

The third talk is from RSA Animate: with beautifully animated drawings to support his points, Sir Ken Robinson lays out the link between 3 troubling trends: rising drop-out rates, schools’ dwindling stake in the arts, and ADHD. He argues for a fundamental rethink of our schooling system, where multiple types of intelligence are acknowledged and nurtured.

The popularity of his talks is a testament to Sir Ken’s entertaining oratory and the clarity of the points he presents. AWESOME!

12 Positive News Items (if you live in the UK)

Overwhelmingly, the news reports we read in the media are negative and often depressing. As an antidote to this tide of gloom, this post offers 12 refreshingly positive items of news, all backed by research and statistics, that show that many aspects of life are in fact continuing to improve!

1. Declining Drug Abuse:    Drug abuse is declining. The proportion of 16-59 year olds who had taken drugs in the year 2011/12 in England and Wales fell to 8.9%, the lowest level since records began in 1996. There have been suggestions that this is part of a long-term trend of drug use simply falling out of fashion.
2. Safer Roads:     Roads are becoming safer. The number of people killed on Britain’s roads has dropped by 45 percent in the last 10 years. This is a continuation of a downtrend that has been underway since the late 1960s. The peak year for road deaths was 1941 when 9169 people died on Britain’s roads. In 2011, 1901 people died on the roads. This trend has coincided with a reduction in the proportion of cars breaking the speed limit over the last decade, with a fall of more than a quarter in the number of drivers breaking the 30mph limit between 2001 and 2011.
3. Rising Job Satisfaction:     Job satisfaction has risen. A study by the Workplace Employment Relations Study showed that job satisfaction among UK employees rose between 2004 and 2011, despite growing pressure on pay, a perception of diminishing job security and employees saying that they have to work harder. The report found that high levels of job satisfaction reflected a great sense of autonomy and control, better training and a heightened sense of achievement at work.
4. Lower Murder Rates:     The chance of being murdered in England and Wales has fallen to the lowest level since 1978. 549 homicides, including murder, infanticide and manslaughter, were committed in the year to September 2012, around half the level 10 years earlier.
5. Decline in Vandalism:     The level of vandalism has fallen by 38% since the start of the Global Financial Crisis in 2007. Some argue that the decline in graffiti and vandalism reflects the prevalence of smartphones that provide an alternative outlet for teenage energies. Falling crime rates do not reflect a shift to an older population. On the contrary, the population of those aged 15 – the peak age of offending – has been rising.
6. Fewer Teenage Pregnancies:     Teenage pregnancies have fallen. In 2010 the pregnancy rate among under-18s fell at the fastest rate since the mid ’70s taking the pregnancy rate to the lowest level since 1969.
7. Increased Competitiveness for the UK:     The UK has moved up the global competitiveness league table. In the World Economic Forum’s 2012/13 competitiveness ranking the UK rated 8th out of 142 countries. This is rise of two places in a year and puts the UK just behind the US and ahead of a number of countries, including Hong Kong, Canada, Norway and Denmark that are considered to be highly competitive. Switzerland comes top in the WEF ranking.
8. Falling Divorce Rate:     The divorce rate is actually declining! Between 2009 and 2011 the divorce rate in England and Wales fell to the lowest level in 34 years.
9. Less Smoking:    Smoking is continuing to decline. In 2010 21% of the adult population smoked, the lowest rate since records began in 1948.
10. Greater Life Expectancy:     Men and women born today can expect to live significantly longer than those in previous generations. Over the last 50 years (1960-2010) the average life span increased by around 10 years for males and 8 years for females. Data show that mortalities from one of the country’s biggest killers – heart attacks – have halved since 2002. Remarkably, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) have projected that one-third of babies born in the UK in 2012 can expect to survive their 100th birthday, with 455,000 centenarians forecast by 2060.
11. Attitude Shift to Drink & Drugs:     A significant shift in the attitudes of young people to drink and drugs appears to be underway. In a survey of 6500 children in England aged 11 to 15, the proportion that admitted to having taken drugs fell from 29% in 2011 to 17% in 2011. Regular smokers of at least one cigarette a week halved from one in ten to one in twenty. The number who said they had drunk alcohol in the past week was down from 26% to 12%.
12. Rising Employment Stats:     The economy may be weak but employment has confounded economists’ forecasts and risen to record levels. Job creation in the private sector has more than offset job losses in the public sector. Data from the ONS shows that in the three months to October 2012 the number of people in employment rose to 29.6 million, the highest on record.

Of course, statistics don’t tell the whole truth. Part of the problem lies in the sample size and whether it provides an accurate spread and therefore representation of the UK population. Nonetheless, the statistics above provide a refreshing perspective on a variety of issues that frequently come up in the news. Because of the effects of cognitive ease & association, frequent or graphic news stories make it easier to overestimate the seriousness or prevalence of the issues in question. This is why it is often good to get a bigger-picture perspective.

Source for these statistics: Ian Stewart (Deloitte’s Chief Economist in the UK) – the Monday Briefing

 

Barnum Statements

In 1948, a psychologist called Bertram Forer gave a personality test to his students. Afterwards, he gave his students a personality analysis, which he claimed was unique to each of them and based on the results of the test. In reality, each student received exactly the same analysis:

“You have a great need for other people to like and admire you. You have a tendency to be critical of yourself. You have a great deal of unused capacity which you have not turned to your advantage. While you have some personality weaknesses, you are generally able to compensate for them. Your sexual adjustment has presented problems for you. Disciplined and self-controlled outside, you tend to be worrisome and insecure inside. At times you have serious doubts as to whether you have made the right decision or done the right thing. You prefer a certain amount of change and variety and become dissatisfied when hemmed in by restrictions and limitations. You pride yourself as an independent thinker and do not accept others’ statements without satisfactory proof. You have found it unwise to be too frank in revealing yourself to others. At times you are extroverted, affable, sociable, while at other times you are introverted, wary, reserved. Some of your aspirations tend to be pretty unrealistic. Security is one of your major goals in life.”

The students were asked give feedback by ranking the appropriateness of the analysis they received from 0 (very poor) to 5 (excellent). The average rating was 4.26. It was only at this point that Forer revealed the statements weren’t tailored to each student at all, but were the same for everyone and were assembled from various horoscopes.

The remarkable fact that a series of personality statements should apply so well to so many people – and be self-identified by those people – has been tested many times since Forer’s original experiment, most famously by illusionist Derren Brown. Possibly, while reading the above statement, you also identified with much of what was said, even though, of course, those statements were not designed for you at all.

The Reason:  the sentences that make up the analysis above are Barnum Statements. This name is inspired by P T Barnum who famously said ‘We have something for everyone’. Barnum statements are statements that seem to apply well to you but are in fact vague and general and could apply to anyone.

Later studies have identified some variables that influence how well people identify with Barnum statements:

1. If you believe the analysis applies only to you, you will bring your own meaning to the given statements.
2. If you have faith in the authority of the person making the statements
3. If mainly positive traits are listed

Barnum statements provide a partial explanation for the acceptance/belief in horoscopes, fortune tellers, psychics and astrology etc. Derren Brown makes this point in a fascinating interview with Richard Dawkins, part 1 of which is shown below:

The Genius of M C Escher

Self-Portrait (1935)

Maurits Cornelis Escher (1898-1972) is one of the world’s most famous graphic artists.

Escher is famous for his mathematically inspired drawings. His work focuses on symmetry, impossible structures, tessellations and architecture. Escher takes simple ideas and throws an awesome perspective on them. At the risk of understating his genius, his drawings rarely fail to elicit the reaction ‘That’s really cool.’

Take a look at some of his best work below. More can be found at http://www.mcescher.com

Waterfall (1961)

Relativity (1953)

Ascending & Descending (1960)

Belvedere (1958)

Magic Mirror (1946)

Verbum (1942)

 

A Roundup of 5 Awesome TED Talks

This week’s post features a roundup of 5 awesome TED talks.

1. Cameron Russell: Looks Aren’t Everything. Believe Me, I’m A Model.

In a bold and honest TED talk, Cameron Russell discusses the factors that led her to be a model and the insecurities that work in the industry engenders. Addressing issues such as the perks of being a model, racial inequality within the industry and what she would say to girls who aspire to be models, this is a fascinating and very open TED talk, well worth watching.

2. Karen Thompson Walker: What Fear Can Teach Us

Karen Thompson Walker opens her talk with the story of shipwrecked sailers in the Pacific, which was later to inspire Melville’s Moby Dick. The tragic story illustrates the way fear operates in our minds: fear helps us to project ourselves into a future situation and see it as a story.The cognitive vividness with which we do so helps us to decide on courses of action. Unfortunately, because of its nature, fear can suspend rational thought and lead us to make ill-informed decisions.

3. Andy Puddicombe: All It Takes is 10 Mindful Minutes

The human mind is our most powerful asset – but, Andy Puddicombe observes, it is also an asset that we take very little care of. Indeed, many of us will take more care over our cars or our hair than our minds. Refreshing our minds for just 10 minutes a day, by sitting comfortably and being present, can have a significant impact on our health and happiness.

4. Richard Weller: Could the Sun be Good for Your Heart?

In a fascinating TED talk, Richard Weller, a Scottish dermatologist, reveals a little-known benefit of sunlight that current research indicates could help to reduce heart disease. Seeking to explain the division in health between warmer and colder countries, Weller began researching the effects that sunlight has on the body. His research indicated that Vitamin D in sunlight was not the only cause of greater health. In fact, the UV radiation from sunlight helps release a chemical contained in the skin – nitric oxide – which has a strong positive impact on blood pressure and the cardiovascular system.

5. Hadyn Parry: Re-engineering Mosquitoes to Fight Disease

In my favourite TED Talk of the selection here, Hadyn Parry looks at the single greatest killer of human beings and what we can do to stop them. Mosquitoes have killed more human beings than wars or plague; dengue fever and malaria account for millions of human deaths every year. And now, Parry presents an ingenious solution to reduce their population size. In a research lab in Oxford, Parry and his colleagues have genetically re-engineered male mosquitoes such that their offspring die quickly after birth. Effectively, these are ‘sterile’ mosquitoes. Because mosquitoes have such a short life, by tactically releasing these re-engineered mosquitoes into towns and villages, in a short time period the mosquito population can be reduced by over 80%, thus significantly reducing the risk of mosquito-borne diseases like malaria and dengue fever. Trials have been extremely effective and the technology is now being distributed to Brazil and other affected areas.

 

2012 in review

The WordPress.com stats feature has prepared an annual report for Awesome-Inspiration.com… if you have the time and/or inclination, check out the report – it only takes a minute to scroll through. It has all sorts of interesting statistics, such as which country in the world this blog is most popular in and what the busiest day for web traffic was etc.

Meanwhile, I wish you a happy new year and may 2013 be just as awesome – if not more so – than 2012!

Here’s an excerpt:

600 people reached the top of Mt. Everest in 2012. This blog got about 2,300 views in 2012. If every person who reached the top of Mt. Everest viewed this blog, it would have taken 4 years to get that many views.

Click here to see the complete report.

Quick apology

The previous post ‘A TED Talk by Alain de Botton (Part II)‘ was published incompletely… the full version is now available for viewing and can be seen by clicking the link above.

Thanks & Happy Holidays