MMHA!

“Most people are other people. Their thoughts are...

Thu, 30 Jun 2011 12:16:39 -0400

“Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else’s opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation.” -Oscar Wilde, De Profundis, 1905

A Dangerous Method is an upcoming historical film, directed by...

Thu, 30 Jun 2011 12:03:10 -0400

A Dangerous Method is an upcoming historical film, directed by David Cronenberg and starring Viggo Mortensen, Michael Fassbender, Keira Knightley and Vincent Cassel. The screenplay was adapted by Academy Award-winning writer Christopher Hampton from his 2002 stage play The Talking Cure, itself based on the 1993 non-fiction book by John Kerr, A Most Dangerous Method.

PLOT : Set on the eve of the World War I, A Dangerous Method is based on the turbulent relationships between fledgling psychiatrist Carl Jung, his mentor Sigmund Freud, and Sabina Spielrein, the troubled but beautiful young woman who comes between them.

The Top 5 Regrets People Have on Their Deathbed 1. I wish I’d...

Thu, 30 Jun 2011 11:55:54 -0400

The Top 5 Regrets People Have on Their Deathbed

1. I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.

2. I wish I didn’t work so hard.

3. I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.

4. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.

5. I wish that I had let myself be happier.

Source: The Next Web

Image: Beauty Without Regret, by Makoto Fujimura

Do bacteria control your brain? A new study has found evidence...

Fri, 22 Apr 2011 16:52:39 -0400

Do bacteria control your brain?

A new study has found evidence suggesting that you are not what you eat, so much as you are what’s living in your gut.

Link: via Boing Boing

I’ve (f)aced my fears.

Thu, 21 Apr 2011 23:26:22 -0400

I’ve (f)aced my fears.

Fearless. Focused. Inspirational. Climber Ueli Steck climbing...

Thu, 21 Apr 2011 23:24:00 -0400

Fearless. Focused. Inspirational.

Climber Ueli Steck climbing Eiger, setting speed solo record.

This is what schizophrenia looks like at the molecular...

Thu, 14 Apr 2011 00:08:47 -0400

This is what schizophrenia looks like at the molecular level

What you’re looking at are neurons grown from a schizophrenic person. An incredible study, published today in Nature, reveals how scientists grew schizophrenic brain cells to understand the inner workings of this still-mysterious neurological disorder

Another view on why we procrastinate: issues with...

Fri, 01 Apr 2011 00:24:11 -0400

Another view on why we procrastinate: issues with self-confidence, interest in the task at hand, and impulsive behavior getting in the way.

How Perfectionism Can Lead to Procrastination (and What to Do...

Fri, 01 Apr 2011 00:20:37 -0400

How Perfectionism Can Lead to Procrastination (and What to Do About It)

It’s hard to get anything done if it needs to be perfect, because if you’re constantly criticizing the work there is always more work to be done. But the real problem comes in when you don’t even want to do the work because making it perfect seems too daunting. This is how perfectionism can lead to procrastination, and here’s what you can do about it.

Continue Reading @ LifeHacker.

stop procrastinating. act.

Thu, 24 Mar 2011 03:14:00 -0400

stop procrastinating. act.

Note to self: meditate Link: How Meditation May Change the...

Sat, 29 Jan 2011 02:45:11 -0500

Note to self: meditate

Link: How Meditation May Change the Brain, New York Times.

Image: Floating Meditation by Duy Huynh, unknown year.

More on the controversy that is the upcoming DSM-5 Link: Inside...

Sat, 29 Jan 2011 02:12:00 -0500

More on the controversy that is the upcoming DSM-5

Link: Inside the Battle to Defend Mental Illness,Wired Magazine

Research supports that the human amygdala plays a pivotal role...

Fri, 17 Dec 2010 02:01:09 -0500

Research supports that the human amygdala plays a pivotal role in triggering a state of fear and that its absence precludes the experience of fear itself.

Link: NY Times. Humans, Like Animals, Are Fearless Without Amygdala

Link: Current Biology. The Human Amygdala and the Induction and Experience of Fear

Image: Funambule, by Eric Margot

Image: Antibody Stain, 2008 More: Portraits of the Mind:...

Fri, 03 Dec 2010 00:59:33 -0500

Image: Antibody Stain, 2008

More: Portraits of the Mind: Visualizing the Brain from Antiquity to the 21st Century

The Three Christs In 1959, social psychologist Milton Rokeach...

Fri, 03 Dec 2010 00:48:17 -0500

The Three Christs

In 1959, social psychologist Milton Rokeach wanted to test the strength of self-delusion. So, he gathered three patients, all of whom identified themselves as Jesus Christ, and made them live together at Ypsalanti State Hospital in Michigan for two years.

Rokeach hoped the Christs would give up their delusional identities after confronting others who claimed to be the same person. But that’s not what happened. At first, the three men quarreled constantly over who was holier. According to Rokeach, one Christ yelled, “You oughta worship me!” To which another responded, “I will not worship you! You’re a creature! You better live your own life and wake up to the facts!”

Unable to turn the other cheek, the three Christs often argued until punches were thrown. Eventually, however, they each explained away their conflicting identities. One believed, correctly, that the other two were mental patients. Another rationalized the presence of his companions by claiming that they were dead and being operated by machines.

At the end of their two-year stay, each man still believed he was the one and only son of God. In fact, Rokeach concluded that their Jesus identities may have become more embedded after being confronted with other Christs.

Twenty years later, he renounced his manipulations and methods, writing, “I really had no right, even in the name of science, to play God and interfere around the clock with their daily lives.”

The experiment was published in a 1964 book, The Three Christs of Ypsalanti.

Links: Mental Floss | 4 Bizarre Experiments That Should Never Be Repeated; Slate | Jesus, Jesus, Jesus

Accepting That Good Parents May Plant Bad Seeds We marvel at the...

Fri, 03 Dec 2010 00:13:56 -0500

Accepting That Good Parents May Plant Bad Seeds

We marvel at the resilient child who survives the most toxic parents, yet the converse — the notion that some children might be the bad seeds of more or less decent parents — is hard to take.

Full article at NY Times

Image: by Gracia Lam, 2010

“It’s never too late to be who you might have...

Thu, 18 Nov 2010 22:52:29 -0500

“It’s never too late to be who you might have been.” — George Elliot

‘A Dangerous Method’ is a new film, set to be...

Tue, 16 Nov 2010 18:18:00 -0500

‘A Dangerous Method’ is a new film, set to be released in 2011, about the turbulent relationship between fledgling psychiatrist Carl Jung and his mentor Sigmund Freud. Directed by David Cronenberg and based on Christopher Hampton’s stage-play ‘The Talking Cure’, the story stars Viggo Mortensen as Frued, Michael Fassdender as Jung, and Keira Knightley as Sabina, a troubled young patient.

Image: Viggo as Freud.

Also see: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4WtnpL_Do0

Most people are surprising bad at spotting fake smiles. What...

Mon, 08 Nov 2010 22:58:42 -0500

Most people are surprising bad at spotting fake smiles. What about you? Can you tell whether a smile is forced or whether is it based on true emotion? Take this quiz* and find out!

*BBC Science survey, based on the work of retired Professor Professor Paul Ekman, a psychologist at the University of California.

Image: Mona Lisa, by Leonardo da Vinci (16th century)

Rorschach Test

Tue, 26 Oct 2010 01:04:15 -0400

Rorschach Test