1) Repeat it: If it doesn’t work the first, second, or third time, then what makes you think it will work on the fourth or fifth time? “Try again,” is great advice if you know for certain that you are using the best method available, but if something continuously fails to work – you may want to re-evaluate your strategy. How does that Einstein quote go again?

2) Avoid it: Sometimes when we encounter a problem it is easier to just close our eyes than to stand up and face it. This may give us some immediate satisfaction, and certainly it is less work, but avoiding a problem often just means it’ll pop up sometime again in the future. We can ignore reality, but we can’t ignore the consequences of ignoring reality.

3) Complain: How many people do you know who love to talk about all the things they need to get done, rather than actually get it done? It always begins with a long sigh, followed by the helpless, sympathetic-seeking mantra of, “I am so busy. Yesterday I had to do X, Y, and Z, and today I have to do L, M, N, O, and P.” Is there any coincidence that the people who always seem the most busy always spend the most time chatting about it?

4) Over-analyze and Over-plan: A lot of problems we run into on a daily basis could be easily solved if we just approached them directly, evaluated them in the moment, and then acted right then and there. It is all too easy to fall into the trap of over-analyzing, trying to find shortcuts, and making elaborate plans that we think will increase our productivity, but in the end only distract us or commit us to a flawed course of action.

5) Overreact: This is a great way to make a problem out to be a much bigger monster than it really is. I see it all of the time: someone steps on your shoes, forgets to send you a birthday card, or makes an ill-humored joke about your mom. And what do you do? Yell, punch, scream, or maybe walk out of the room in a fit of rage? We all have our moments where we lose our temper, and some of us have really low thresholds; learning to be a little more tolerant and understanding – and a little less reactive – is sometimes the best response.

College is not for everyone, and while tuition and fees have increased over the past year by 14.1% for public institutions and 6% for private ones, there is a growing need for individuals to assess whether or not college is the best route to go (over the past two decades, these prices have doubled). Simply spending $20,000 a semester for a degree you won’t ever use is not always the best use of your time and resources. My goal in this post is not to persuade you one or the other what you should do, but to provoke you to ask fundamental questions before making a decision that will impact the rest of your life and career.

Before we start, there are some career options today that absolutely require graduate studies. If you want to become a doctor, psychiatrist, lawyer, dentist, or physicist (among other similar jobs), your only route is to immerse yourself in the college life, submit into a graduate program, and eventually get some kind of masters degree or Ph.D. With our current social institutions, there are no other ways to get these jobs without formal education at a higher learning facility. Before deciding not to go to college, make sure you have chosen a career path that doesn’t mandate it.

As the economic recession continues to prolong, many of those in the workforce, both employed and unemployed, are wondering if now is a good time to further their education in order to get a hedge in the job market. But spending another 2 years in the classroom may not be the best use of time, money, and labor which you could otherwise be spending learning on your own, networking with others, and starting your own productive endeavors. Today these alternative options are more available to us than ever before.

An article written last year in The Chronicle warned that graduate college may not be the best path to build careers in the humanities and arts. A lot of the information and advice can also be applied to businessmen, entrepreneurs, and other career choices that require more creativity and out-of-the-box thinking, which cannot always be fostered in an environment designed for standardized education. While most graduate programs integrate independent work and hands-on training, much of this can also be replicated in the work force through internships, entry-level jobs that have upward mobility, and our own self-directed studies – often achieved at a fraction of the price.

One major benefit of self-learning over formal education is that individuals can adapt a curriculum that fits their specific interests, and modify this curriculum as their studies progress. Here are some resources I have found particularly useful over the past year:

1) iTunes University (this is a direct link to the plug-in): This resource has literally thousands of video and audio lectures from over 100+ universities all over the world, including ivy leagues like Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Penn State, and Cornell. They also have material for grades K-12 as well as “Beyond Campus” curriculum from other educational institutions. This is a truly indispensable resource for anyone who loves learning and never wants to stop. The biggest problem is that there are too many interesting lectures, and not enough time.

2) YouTube: Despite a lot of the nonsense and trash that gets posted by amateurs, there is also a lot of quality content here (if you are willing to search for it). OpenCulture.com has a great article called “70 Signs of Intelligent Life at YouTube” which has a large list of informative YouTube channels including videos from TED.com, Fora.tv, Google Talks, BigThink.com, National Geographic, New Scientist, among others. YouTube also has some full-length documentaries you can stream, and it’s a great place to search for interviews if you discover a new scholar, artist, businessman, or philosopher who you want to learn more about.

3) Wikipedia: Wikipedia is the largest encyclopedia on the web. This is one of the first places I go whenever I hear of a new theory or concept. It is a resource best used to build breadth in a field or topic you don’t know anything about. One caveat, however, is to make sure that you follow-up on your sources at Wikipedia to see if they are valid, or to learn more about the subject. This is important because anyone can edit Wikipedia and insert wrong information. Although, studies have shown that Wikipedia has proven to be just as accurate (or have just as many errors per submission) as other reputable encyclopedias like Britannica. While college professors are often known for discouraging its use, Wikipedia is a valid resource.

4) News and blogs: I’ve found that having a diverse array of news sources and blogs is also a great way to stay informed about current events, politics, economics, science, health, business, etc. Over the past two months I have created three different feeds (NewsRoundup, PsychNews, and Libertarian Minds) to help stay up-to-date on my favorite websites. I like to wake up every morning and browse through the latest headlines, opening up new tabs on my browser, and then reading through the articles in between sips of coffee. This is a good way to build breadth, get introduced to new things that I wouldn’t otherwise know about, and just keep my mind sharp. As I discover new sites that I enjoy I add them to the feed.

5) Forums and social bookmarking: One not-yet-mentioned component of learning is being able to discuss these ideas with others and get new perspectives. Ever since I first discovered the internet I have been a part of one forum or another. These provided me with an avenue to talk about interests that I don’t usually share with friends or family. Social bookmarking sites are a way for users to post interesting links from all over the web and then discuss (or argue) about them. I currently spend a lot of my time using Reddit.com, but there are also other sites like Digg, Newsvine and Delicious. Don’t underestimate the utility of these sites. Knowledge without communication is just a bunch of ideas sitting in your head with nowhere to go. Being able to articulate what you have learned is a great step toward more effectively putting that knowledge to action.

Conclusion

The best part about all of these is that they are absolutely free. While some ideas you may find more useful than others, together I bet you can put together a very comprehensive educational program specifically designed to meet your goals.

My main point here is that there are alternatives to the blueprint provided to us by modern education. College and graduate school can seem like logical and safe-bets, but they also come with costs and limitations. Of course you won’t have a degree to show after listening to 30 lectures on iTunes, but you will have knowledge that you can hopefully apply to the real world (and often that is more important).

We are in an always evolving world in the midst of very fragile economic times. Following old blueprints may give us a sense of security, but they don’t always offer us the tools we need to move forward in the direction we want. Steering away from formal education is risky, and those who do it need to be motivated and self-directed if they want to be successful. It’s not for everyone, but it is an option that we don’t often hear about.

1. What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Weaker? by Noam Shpancer, Ph.D

“In one recent study, healthy adults viewed fearful and calm faces while undergoing functional magnetic resonance imaging to measure activity in the amygdale, the part of the brain that forms and stores emotional memories. Half of the participants were within 1.5 miles of the World Trade Center on 9/11 and the other half lived at least 200 miles away. Participants who were near the World Trade Center on 9/11 had significantly higher amygdale activity when looking at the fearful faces compared to those who were living more than 200 miles away. “Our findings suggest that there may be long-term neurobiological correlates of trauma exposure, even in people who appear resilient,” said Dr. Barbara Ganzel, the lead researcher, “We have known for a long time that trauma exposure can lead to subsequent vulnerability to mental health disorders years after the trauma. This research is giving us clues about the biology underlying that vulnerability.” When trauma and hardship do leave a mark, it is usually a bruise under the skin, not a notch on the belt.”

Personal note: I’ve written from experience that I think some negative events can be transformed to make us stronger. I think these findings ultimately depend on the individual and their coping strategy. In general people have a tendency to let traumatic experiences keep them down, I think this research does a good job at illuminating this fact, although I by no means believe that “once broken, always broken.”

2. Cognition, Motivation Linked In The Brain by Todd Braver Ph.D, Washington University

“[A study] published in the Journal of Neuroscience, identified a brain region about two inches above the left eyebrow that sprang into action whenever study participants were shown a dollar sign, a predetermined cue that a correct answer on the task at hand would result in a financial reward.

Using what researchers believe are short bursts of dopamine – the brain’s chemical reward system – the brain region then began coordinating interactions between the brain’s cognitive control and motivation networks, apparently priming the brain for a looming “show me the money” situation.

‘The surprising thing we see is that motivation acts in a preparatory manner,’ says Adam C. Savine, lead author of the study and a doctoral candidate in psychology at Washington University. ‘This region gears up when the money cue is on.’ “

Excerpt 2:

“In this kind of test, as in the workplace, many distractions exist. In the midst of a deadline project with an “eye on the prize,” the phone still rings, background noise of printers and copying machines persist, an interesting world outside the window beckons and colleagues drop in to seek advice. A person’s ability to control his or her cognition – all the things a brain takes in – is directly linked to motivation. Time also plays a big factor. A project due in three weeks can be completed with some distraction; a project due tomorrow inhibits a person’s response to interrupting friends and colleagues and allows clearer focus on the goal.”

3. Fear and the Biological Non-Existence of Morality by Srini Pillay, M.D.

“The challenge in human existence is that our brain studies are showing us that the moral systems in the human brain live side by side with the formidable and often much more powerful systems for fear and craving and that the desire to forgive is also challenged by the desire for retribution. My point here is that these brain studies show that none of these ideas is absolute; that as human beings we are prone to a certain struggle of duality and opposites that live together in the brain, and that try as we may to restrain this, I do not believe that we can at the level of these systems. As Einstein said: ‘You can never solve a problem on the level on which it was created’ – which begs the question: if we are to solve this internal battle, what “level” can we access to do this?”

4. Do-Gooders Get Voted Off Island First: People Don’t Really Like Unselfish Colleagues

“Parks and Stone found that unselfish colleagues come to be resented because they ‘raise the bar’ for what is expected of everyone. As a result, workers feel the new standard will make everyone else look bad.

It doesn’t matter that the overall welfare of the group or the task at hand is better served by someone’s unselfish behavior, Parks said.

‘What is objectively good, you see as subjectively bad,’ he said.”

Personal note: While this might reveal an ugly tendency in some humans, knowing this will be useful for organizations and businesses when trying to develop a social structure that limits tension between members or employees. I also wonder how true this is for professional sports teams which seem to share a strong collective identity.

5. Award-winning Research Launches Positive Neuroscience by Denise Clegg, Program Officer at the University of Pennsylvania

“In July 2009, I described the The Positive Neuroscience Project of the University of Pennsylvania and the John Templeton Foundation, including a new research initiative inviting proposals for Positive Neuroscience Research Awards. The recipients of the 2010 Templeton Positive Neuroscience Awards have now been announced. $2.9 million has been given to 15 new research projects at the intersection of neuroscience and positive psychology. The winning projects explore a range of topics including how the brain enables humans to flourish, the biological bases of altruism, and the effects of positive interventions on the brain.”

Personal note: I’ve written before about Positive Psychology and I am very glad to see that research is still advancing in the field. Taking a look at the neural correlates of these phenomena should shed a lot more light on how the brain corresponds to positive attitudes and mental well-being.

6. Test your attentional focus: is multi-tasking a good thing? by Dr. Pascale Michelon

“Human atten­tion is lim­ited. Think about your atten­tional focus as the beam of a light. If the light is on an object it can­not be on other objects at the same time with the same inten­sity. Only dim light will be avail­able to light up the objects in the periph­ery. The same hap­pens in your atten­tional sys­tem. Divid­ing atten­tion results in less atten­tional power devoted to all the dif­fer­ent tasks that you are try­ing to do at the same time. The more tasks, the less atten­tion can be devoted to each. The result is more errors and waste of time. Although we all have the feel­ing that mul­ti­task­ing saves us time, it is often not the case.”

7. Naming Tools Is A Hands-On Task

“Brain imaging studies have shown that when you identify a tool by name, the part of your brain that’s involved in manipulating the tool also turns on. Jessica K. Witt, of Purdue University, heard about some of this research and wanted to know whether it’s possible to slow down the process of coming up with the name by making the hands busy. We said, ’shouldn’t there be some behavioral consequences?”

In one experiment, each volunteer sat in front of a computer, squeezing a foam ball in one hand. They watched the screen while pictures appeared; each one showed either a tool or an animal. The participant was then supposed to name the tool or animal. People were generally slower at naming a tool if its handle was oriented toward the occupied hand. (They had no such problem with animals.)

The results suggest that keeping the hand which was closer to the tool’s handle busy interfered with people’s ability to think about the tool and retrieve its name. The research is published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.”

8. Laughter Can Play Key Role In Group Dynamics Even In A Serious Situation

“[Researchers] found that ‘laughter matters, even when it is a serious group task,’ Keyton says. ‘Laughter is natural, but we try to suppress it in formal settings. So, when it happens, it’s worth closer examination.’

For example, at one point a jury was unclear on whether a sentence related to one of the charges was for 30 days or 30 years. This confusion led to widespread laughter. ‘The laughter allowed the jurors to release some tension, while also allowing them to acknowledge they had made an error – so they could move forward with that error corrected,’ Keyton says.

‘Laughter is one way of dealing with ambiguity and tension in situations where a group is attempting to make consequential decisions and informal power dynamics are in play,’ Keyton says. ‘There are very few opportunities to see group decision making, with major consequences, in a public setting,’ Keyton explains. ‘It is usually done in private, such as in corporate board meetings or judicial proceedings. But laughter is something that occurs frequently, and not only because something is funny. Nobody in the jury was laughing at jokes.’

9. Loading up on berries a smart way to boost brain function

“A study presented at the American Chemical Society national meeting Monday concludes blueberries, strawberries and Amazonian acai berries act as a “housekeeper” to recycle toxic proteins linked to age-related memory loss and decline in mental function, said Shibu Poulose. The berries help fuel the body’s own scrubbers that remove toxic chemicals before they can do damage, according to the study.”

10. Moderate Exercise Enhances Connectivity in Brain Circuits

“A group of “professional couch potatoes,” as one researcher described them, has proven that even moderate exercise – in this case walking at one’s own pace for 40 minutes three times a week – can enhance the connectivity of important brain circuits, combat declines in brain function associated with aging and increase performance on cognitive tasks.

The study, in Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience, followed 65 adults, aged 59 to 80, who joined a walking group or stretching and toning group for a year. All of the participants were sedentary before the study, reporting less than two episodes of physical activity lasting 30 minutes or more in the previous six months. The researchers also measured brain activity in 32 younger (18- to 35-year-old) adults.

Rather than focusing on specific brain structures, the study looked at activity in brain regions that function together as networks.

‘Almost nothing in the brain gets done by one area, it’s more of a circuit,’ said University of Illinois psychology professor and Beckman Institute Director Art Kramer, who led the study with kinesiology and community health professor Edward McAuley and doctoral student Michelle Voss. ‘These networks can become more or less connected. In general, as we get older, they become less connected, so we were interested in the effects of fitness on connectivity of brain networks that show the most dysfunction with age.’”

Personal note: Coincidentally, I just wrote a short piece earlier this week about the mental costs of physical inactivity. A lot of this research has been hypothesized for a very long time, but it is still good to see that we are learning more details on how physical exercise improves brain function.

More and more I am wondering how accurate the Buddhist notion of annata, or “no self,” really is in the context of Buddhist philosophy and ethics. Metaphysically, it can make sense to attribute some beings as not a part of our conventional understanding of a self; after all, the self/other dichotomy in all its forms is our most common and prevalent view of reality. However, if the notion of “no self” in Buddhist literature is supposed to act as a guide toward understanding interconnectedness between all beings, than might it make more sense to consider this new self a rich and “expansive” self, rather than an empty one? And if this “expansive self” is a more accurate description than “no self,” perhaps anatta should be appreciated more as a stepping stone to truth (or even a thought experiment), rather than an accurate explanation of reality [1].

If it is metaphysically true that no self exists, then Buddhist ethics, free will, and karma seem to evaporate. To act selflessly would be to act without a mind and without intention. Yet, Buddhists often attribute the accumulation of karma to “right understanding” and “skillful volition” [2] – neither one possible without some self to process it’s environment and consciously act on it.

If I can truly act selflessly, then who or what accumulates karma for this deed? It can’t be me, since I don’t exist – so is it someone else? What if we had a Buddhist utopia and everyone acted selflessly – would any of us be conscious at all, or just cogs in a machine? In what other form can selflessness take besides self-annihilation – a rejection of consciousness itself – which, taken to its logical extreme, sounds principally anti-Buddhist.

Buddha never specified whether or not a self does or doesn’t exist. He refused to answer the question, presumably because it gave power to the self/other dichotomy, which he consider illusory and the source of all suffering.

I admit by contemplating these things I am to some degree falling for this dichotomy myself, but I thought this was worth philosophizing about; I so often see people preach “no self” as the ultimate ideal, end-goal, or enlightenment of Buddhist practice, yet I find it to be misleading, nihilistic, and potentially self-destructive. At best “selflessness” is a concept that serves as a means to a goal – a technique, a strategy, a stage, or a stepping stone – not an end to be achieved. I think the idea of “selfless” is intended to break apart our conventional understandings of a self, not to be a claim of something that is true.

The problem with the self is that we often think of it too narrowly. It becomes a prison, instead of something expansive, creative, and resourceful. Helping others should be viewed first and foremost as not something self-less but something self-evolving. In this light, Buddhist morality – the drive to be compassionate and kind to others – becomes strengthened rather than diminished. Interconnectedness is the nature of the self, not selflessness.

Sources

[1] “Not self” as a strategy in Thanissaro Bhikkhu’s “No self or Not-self”

[2] The Theory of Karma by Ven. Mahasi Sayadaw

Ever since Darwin, and perhaps long before him, it has been theorized that our emotions play a crucial role in adapting to our environment. This means that emotions are not just an inconvenient byproduct of consciousness, but a form of higher cognition – an ability for living beings to experience their world in deeper and more complex ways.

Humans are a species that thrive on social relations, and our emotions become a gauge on morality and justice. They help facilitate our interactions by giving us clues on how to connect with others in meaningful and productive ways. When someone makes us feel bad our emotions tell us to ignore them, while when someone makes us feel good our emotions tell us to appreciate them.

Emotions however come in many different qualities, degrees, and intensities. While “positive” and “negative” are the broadest sense of emotions (and also the types most commonly researched), theorists have devised hierarchies and scales that range anywhere from 36 different types of emotions [1] to 65 types [2] to 135 [3]. These differences can often depend on the culture being studied, or the intentions of the reseachers to construct an emotional framework that fits their line of research. For example, Laros and Steenkamp often do emotional research related to consumer behavior [1].

Perhaps more important than how researchers conceptualize different emotions is how we experience them. You can probably reflect on some past experiences right now and write down a handful of common emotions: anger, disgust, fear, happiness, sadness, surprise, etc. You might also recognize that different experiences elicit different intensities of each emotion. Eating some ice cream might give you a mild sense of happiness, while winning the lottery would give you a much stronger sense of happiness. Researchers can try to measure this based on arousal response in the brain.

The first key to emotional intelligence is being able to identify these emotions while they occur. This requires some sense of reflection or introspection into our internal state. While this seems like commonsense, many people can go about their day being grumpy without ever consciously thinking, “Boy, I’m really grumpy today.” Instead we experience and act on these mental states unconsciously, which is a sign of poor emotional intelligence.

Of course even after we are aware of our emotions it doesn’t mean they can’t mislead us to undesirable actions. That is why the next step to emotional intelligence is to assess the origins of our feeling. In other words, ask yourself, “Why do I feel X?” If we attribute the origins of our feelings correctly, then we have a better idea on how to modify our behavior. There is no need to meditate to achieve results (although meditation will speed up the practice): just the will to be mindful and the seconds spent doing a quick “mental check-up” whenever one notices increased emotional arousal.

As reflective and rational beings, we all have the resources we need to adapt to our emotions in ways that facilitate our livelihood. Some use these resources more effectively than others, but we all have the ability to improve with practice – and, it is actually quite easy to practice because 1) Most of our conscious experiences have certain emotions integrated into them, and 2) Mindfulness is a skill that can be applied to all activities.

Sources

[1] LAROS, F., & STEENKAMP, J. (2005). Emotion in consumer behavior: a hierarchical approach. Journal of Business Research, 58, 1437-1445.

[2] McNAIR, D. M., LORR, M., & DROPPLEMAN, L. F. (1971). Profile of mood states. San Diego: Educational and Industrial Testing Service.

[3] ZUCKERMAN, M., & LUBIN, B. (1985). The multiple affect adjective check list revised. San Diego: Educational and Industrial Testing Service.

The old maxim “a healthy body leads to a healthy mind” has been held as folk wisdom for so long that it just seems like commonsense at this point. Yet, after breaking up with a loved one, experiencing stress at work, or feeling anxiety about an upcoming exam, we rarely think it useful to do some push-ups, hit up the gym, or take a short jog.

Sometimes the more the mental distress, the more we just want to curl up in a ball or vegetate in front of the TV – even though this is exactly the opposite of what we need.

Modern research continues to beat us over the head with increasing evidence of physical health being intricately correlated with mental health and cognitive sharpness. But instead of following our intellect, we remain apathetic, lazy, or sleepy whenever the mental-going gets too tough.

I could give you a whole list of news and research claiming the mental benefits of physical exercise, but you already know all this – don’t you, smartie, so why don’t you do it?

I’ve written some tips before about how to stay committed to a change in behavior, but maybe it’s because of how people frame the advice that attributes to its inefficacy. A doctor or psychologist could say, “Hey, look at all these benefits you will get if you exercise more often,” but you might decline to follow this advice because life right now is already “tolerable,” and you don’t see any urgency to change your habits.

It is unfortunate, but most people don’t feel the need to change anything about their life until the problem has reached a point of critical mass. We wait until we have absolutely no other options left – and then we seek change (sometimes after it is already too late). This means our actions are often motivated more by avoiding pain, rather than seeking rewards. We ask ourselves, “What happens if I don’t do X?” and if we imagine something awful happening then we will do it.

What if instead of framing physical exercise as a positive, we framed physical inactivity as a negative? Then, ask yourself, “Whenever I am depressed, stressed, or anxious, what happens if I choose the couch instead of the gym? What happens every week I don’t run a mile or do my hour-long yoga session? What costs are contingent with those inactions?”

Whenever we spend extended periods of time not working out our bodies (in one form or another) we risk a decline in our mental state as well. Sometimes it can develop without us even realizing it: our attention-skills may not be as sharp as they could be, we may experience self-confidence issues which could otherwise be avoided, or we may be more anxious than usual during a job interview. Life could be better, but we aren’t usually aware of it.

Some individuals are reward-seeking, but, for others, reframing this desired behavior can lead to a different motivational charge. We know what to do. We know the benefits of exercise on mental health. Now let’s find a way to do it and be consistent. Whatever it takes to get yourself out of bed and active – do it – because we know it’s important, even if you have to imagine yourself being fat, lonely, stupid, and depressed 10 or 20 years down the line.

This is a topic I have been giving a lot of thought about over the past year. I have developed some personal tips that have helped me integrate exercise into a more frequent part of my routine, and I hope to be sharing more information about this in the future. Join my newsletter to get future updates via email.

The pain that follows when trying to preserve a falsehood is much worse than the pain that follows when admitting you’ve made a mistake.

Whenever we refuse to acknowledge the truth, we risk repeating the same mistakes in the future. While we consciously suppress acknowledging the errors in our ways, we unconsciously know that we are lying to ourselves, and this hurts.

Admitting our mistakes, not just to ourselves but also to others, can also bring temporary pain. No one likes being wrong, especially when one is engaged in an intense debate or argument. Some may even mock and ridicule us when they point out our mistakes. This may motivate us to cling to old beliefs and insist that we are still right in order to try to maintain personal integrity. But real integrity comes from recognizing our imperfect knowledge, and moving forward no matter where or how the truth finds us.

If knowledge becomes a game of social power and competition, where we are more concerned with convincing people we are right than actually being right, then we are not on a path to knowledge at all. Admitting our mistakes, especially in a calm and collected fashion, can earn us greater respect in the long-run. It is an attractive quality, and it shows there is more to our individuality than any one narrow pattern of thinking.

Admit your mistakes today.

Since late June, when I first announced that I wanted to become a professional writer/columnist, I have been brainstorming ways to become the very best writer and thinker I can be. To me, a big part of this meant diversifying my sources so that I get the most varied and balanced mix of news and opinion.

In that original post I put together a rough list of mainstream media outlets, libertarian resources and blogs (my main interest), as well as “alternative” sources of news and opinion. Since then I have expanded on this effort by putting together a public Libertarian Minds Feed (which you can also follow on Twitter) and a News Roundup Feed, for more general news on society, politics, economics, health, business, technology, and environment. Both feeds follow over 50+ sources each (you can see a complete list of the libertarian links here. I have yet to make one for News Roundup). Both feeds are constantly being updated as I discover new outlets.

So far these feeds have fulfilled their purpose beautifully. Every morning around 10AM I brew a pot of coffee, open up my FriendFeed, and begin opening tabs to new articles, videos, and podcasts. I then spend the next 2-3 hours going through each one. Periodically throughout the day I will again open up both feeds and consume any new topics of interest that may have developed since.

I want to keep this post short, but let me just end by saying: social media tools like Twitter, FriendFeed, Facebook, and Reddit are all great ways to organize your favorite links so you can follow updates on a day-to-day, moment-by-moment basis. I recommend this technique to anyone who wants to develop a deeper understanding of any topic, whether science, psychology, politics, music, art, blogging, etc. I know I will be creating more feeds in the future as my interests divert to different subjects.

Although I certainly haven’t forgotten about my personal blog here, lately a lot of my energy has been going into my political blog, which I currently share with 8 contributors (and hopefully 10 by the end of the summer!). Over the past couple of months I’ve noticed some advantages and disadvantages to having a multi-authored blog. I thought I would touch on some of these points today.

+ More content.

Naturally, two workers can produce more than one, and three can produce more than two, and so on. This is especially true if each product being produced is particular to the efforts of one mind (aka, not in an “assembly line”-like fashion, where if one person dozes, the whole structure of production is ruined). Instead, I can spend a whole month not writing anything, but, instead, two other authors may write a couple articles each month – and the blog still appears to be “active” (a sign loyal readers are going to want to see).

- Less quality control.

Unless you are very stringent about what content gets published, or you are a part of a very homogenized group of writers, there are going to be areas of disagreement between you and other contributors. This can be a bit frustrating when an idea you typically don’t endorse gets published on a blog you would rather more represent you.

+ Diversity and dialogue.

Looking on the bright side of the last point, varying opinions can also lead to diversity and a healthy dialogue. Diversity is, in many ways, the defining attribute of evolution, and it is no different for competing species as it is for competing viewpoints. The other blog I write for, Libertarian Minds, is filled with different kinds of thinkers (Constitutionalists, Objectivists, Anarchists, Atheists, Deists, Theists), and in my opinion these differences add new dimensions to our discussions on politics, society, culture, and morality. They make us all smarter and more well-rounded – and more tolerant.

- Sharing of benefits/revenue

For some blogs this may just mean competing for page views, while for others this may mean distributing revenue among writers. This means the more contributors you have, the less money you will each get paid.

+ More heads marketing

Despite the last point, having more writers may also mean having more traffic streams. Writers A and B may be active users on Reddit, while Writers C and D spend more time advertising on Facebook. Everyone will also have different groups of friends, family, and coworkers to show the site too. This means more opportunities for eyeballs on your blog.

- Greater potential for conflict

On one side of the coin, humans are often good at cooperating and working together. On the other side, they can also get caught up in pissing contests and foul-mouthed exchanges. Fortunately at Libertarian Minds all the writers seem to get along and interact respectfully (knock on wood), but there is often a greater potential for conflict as you add more passionate thinkers to the equation. Some conflicts, of course, can be good, and lead to further cohesion – other conflicts, however, can cause permanent divides (especially if one person feels they are being ostracized from the rest).

+ Sense of community.

As with any group project, a sense of community is beneficial. It means individuals feel they have a responsibility to others – to provide good content and make the blog into as good of a blog as possible. We always see professional athletes talk about their team as if it is a “family,” the same can be true for teams of bloggers. Relationships build and build over time.

CONCLUSION

Really this was just a brief brainstorm on the pluses and minuses of writing for a multi-authored blog, and I think I did a pretty comprehensive job. I am very pleased with my experience so far, and I think the advantages far outweigh the disadvantages (which is a big reason why Libertarian Minds has so far received a good amount of traffic, considering its young age). I am really excited to see where it takes all of us in the near future.

At first it may seem counter-intuitive to beginners in mindfulness meditation or Cognitive-Behavior Therapy, but unconsciousness too is a necessary facet to healthy living, and contracting consciousness can sometimes be just as useful as expanding consciousness (in fact, the two are intertwined).

If one becomes a good enough practitioner of mindfulness meditation or CBT, one will come to realize that non-awareness, too, is not only an unavoidable aspect of mind, but a valuable counterforce that contributes to our psychological homeostasis.

I am talking about deliberate non-awareness – which is really just a slightly more descriptive way of saying “letting go.” To let go is to lack concern – to shift consciousness away from (and, perhaps, toward more important things).

Like economic resources (raw materials, capital, labor, time) our mental resources are finite, and it is up to us to allocate how they are spent. Consciousness – or awareness – is the currency of exchange.

If you are pitching a baseball game, but you are worried about the fans booing you or your girlfriend cheating on you or a pigeon flying by and shitting on your head – you are diverting focus – and, therefore, not concentrating all your resources efficiently in the moment (what if the pitcher was in a better state of flow?).

It has been shown that our working memory can only hold so many isolated bits of information at one point (see George Miller’s “The Magic Number 7, Plus or Minus Two: Limits on Our Capacity for Processing Information“), so it can be concluded that, to some extent, there is a decision to be made on what to pay attention to and what to ignore.

We’ve all had those periods in our life where we spend day and night worrying about something in the past. We can’t let it go, and it eats away at our ability to think and live fully in the present. But part of practicing consciousness is practicing letting go of consciousness (or practicing unconsciousness) – and as paradoxical as it sounds, it is accurate. Mindfulness after all is being aware when something enters your consciousness, and letting go of it when it is no longer there (the “rising” and “falling” of sensation – the sound of a bird chirping, and the inevitability of its cessation).

Non-deliberate non-awareness can be just as useful. The most obvious example is sleep, which helps to maintain cognitive sharpness as well as the consolidation of long-term memories. It is a way for the mind to shut itself off from the moment-by-moment experience of time so that it can unconsciously process the information that has been gathered throughout the day (of course, sleep also serves multiple forms of bodily regulation as well as psychological – which contributes even more to its necessity).

Here is another example of non-awareness being beneficial – perhaps you are familiar with it: if you are some kind of artist or musician, and you spend a significant amount of time away from your craft (months/years), have you ever noticed that when you get back into it you seem to have somehow improved? Sure there might be a couple hours/days before you dust off the mechanics, but once you catch up to your previous level of skill it is almost as if you have developed a new layer of intuitiveness or understanding. Might something have built up unconsciously?

Perhaps intuition in itself is a byproduct of unconscious intelligence. I have seen many people argue intuition as “a laser fast version of logic,” a logic that is performed unconsciously. Certainly it can be argued that there are levels of understanding that seem to lay beyond verbally-expressed reason – so perhaps these can be attributed to unconscious processes of knowledge – a contextual understanding that we can’t pick apart into individual bits of knowledge.

Unfortunately, intuition has become a kind of taboo in Western Psychology because of its difficulty in being studied under a scientific, third person framework. This taboo has in-itself contributed to the inefficacy of scientists to figure out more about intuition or to develop any explanation regarding its evolutionary origins.

However, it has been illustrated that many people use intuition and are wrong – so, a scientist might say, intuition is inaccurate and untrustworthy (?) – but perhaps these people have not worked with their unconscious enough to be good at intuition (just like people are bad at reason, or writing, or swimming, or any other skill). I don’t see enough evidence to altogether dismiss using intuition as a means of knowledge or practical decision-making.

Perhaps the most extreme form of alleged unconscious intelligence can be attributed to revelations and mystical experiences. These claims to knowledge, like intuition, are subject to the same modern day scientific scrutiny, and often times (if you compare the modern definitions with the religious experiences) equatable to mental disorders. I don’t think this is a fair characterization however, and I believe there is a lot more study that needs to be done to draw conclusions on the psycho-”spiritual” factors of revelations and the supposed knowledge acquired through those experiences.

Note: This post was meant to focus on the potential good aspects of unconsciousness, it’s “intelligence,” but obviously not all of it is good. Some of it can be incredibly unhealthy – such as aversion to important things that require our attention or false beliefs in the reality of dreams. This post is not meant to glorify delusional thinking – only to question our understanding of the unconscious mind and what it may have to offer. I will try write about the caveats of the unconscious in future posts. Please join my newsletter for updates.

Lately I have been noticing some common patterns between my life and the lives of others. The two themes that keep popping up are the desire to “control” something while simultaneously being at “peace” with it. While these goals seem reasonable on the surface, they can often be paradoxical in practice, sometimes even perpetuating the same conflict we initially intend to extinguish.

There is of course a balance that needs to be made. The question is: where should we make the distinction and where do we draw the lines that guide our thoughts and behavior? In other words, when it is appropriate to intervene – to seek change – and when is it better to just let things be – and accept what is.

From my understanding, people are more prone to discontent over content, which means they have a greater desire to change than to accept. It may even be in our evolutionary make-up – our desire to improve, to move forward, to have more, to gain power, to indulge; and thus we find ourselves constantly seeking higher levels of satisfaction – new plateaus – instead of being content with how things are.

This is a reflection not only of the current state of affairs in Western consumerist culture, but a facet implicit in human action as shown throughout history. It is the struggle of obtaining “happiness” – by always wanting to get to Moment B, even though we are looking for peace in Moment A.

Look around. Even the most physically and financially protected of individuals, those who live in a world of luxury, whom have no need to stress over survival nor reproduction, instead, create their own stress internally. They continue to find themselves unhappy, disconnected, always separate from what they sought. They have fallen for the paradox of control, they want to find complete satisfaction in a world of infinite desires. To do this they must seek more control of their surroundings, and to seek more control means to have more possessions, more worries, more things to hold onto and force. Yet the more we try to hold on to, the harder it is to maintain a firm grip. We all face the challenge of finding that balance.

Real peace can be thought of as a relinquishment of this desire to control. It is a state of mind that comes in many differing degrees and shades: from mere tolerance, to acceptance, to content, and even bliss.

But consciousness as we tend to experience it is it odds with this peace. Instead, we live in a world of needs and wants. We must identify, discriminate, think, value, and act to fulfill. Even the most “enlightened” of monks must attend to his or her earthly and bodily desires if he or she wishes to continue to survive. These are not avoidable realities for anyone, but understanding them can lead to a sense of maturity about the coming and going of pleasure and pain.

We can’t live life and simultaneously avoid its burdens. There is a point where peace too comes with diminishing returns. At worst, a constant seeking of more peace – more relaxation, more content, less stress – may be one of the most deceitful temptations there is. After all, to be at peace is to accept what is, but to desire more of it is to not to accept what is. Peace then becomes an addictive drug, and the search for neverending satisfaction is ultimately an illusion. This is the paradox of peace.

While we may dream of someday achieving absolute control and absolute peace over our lives, it is this dream which contributes to our own unhappiness. Neither one is reconcilable. There is a fulcrum point that needs to be practiced, a so-called middle way, a path of moderation between the extremes of sensual indulgence and the extremes of self-mortification, a balance between action and inaction, speech and silence, stress and content, peace and control.

Past Uncertainties and Convictions

It has now been a good 5 months since I’ve last written about goal-making (see 1, 2). To be honest, the delay is probably due to my own sense of limbo about what I want to pursue as a career.

It has now been almost 1/2 a year since I’ve graduated college, and although I have been keeping busy diving into my own personal interests, I have yet to draw any clear path about where I want to be in the future.

Is this normal for a recent graduate? Maybe, maybe not.

Either way, I know panicking won’t do me any good, so I remain relax and focused.

It’s not that I don’t spend time thinking about the future – I do and I do it often – but I want make sure that when I find my niche that it is something I can become fully engaged in. The last place I want to be in 40 years is at some dead-end job with no love or pride for my craft.

Long ago I came to the conviction that there need not be a difference between work and play. That one can simultaneously do what they love and prosper from it if they put their mind to it. First, I need faith in my capacity to think, grow, and create value.

Believing I can achieve something must be the first prerequisite for actually going out and doing it.

Mission Statement

Throughout my life I have always had some desire to write. As a kid I remember thinking up short screenplays, reviewing video games online, and expressing my feelings about loved ones through lyrics and poetry. Today, I continue to make a conscious effort to improve my writing ability by blogging on sites such as this one and Libertarian Minds.

The past year has been an experiment to see if I can stay committed to blogging and still come out enjoying it in the end – I do.

That is why I now want to take my craft to the next stage. This, to me, means turning it into a profession.

First, I want to create a mission statement. Then I will write it above my desk, so I can recite it every morning. This one simple ritual will help me to maintain flow and keep my mind concentrated on the habits I need to adopt in order to be successful.

Here is a picture of my mission statement written on a dry-erase board:

To become a professional writer I will follow my self-appointed mantra of RAWA meaning “Read A lot, Write A lot.” In it there are 6 tenets: consume, digest, rest, grow, repeat, and evolve.

1. CONSUME A LOT OF MATERIAL

Lucky for me I love reading and I already go to all sorts of different websites on a daily basis. Over the year I have accumulated a list of my favorite and most informative resources:

Mainstream Media

CNN.com
MSNBC
FOXNews

Sites to follow the most up-to-date news of popular issues.

Libertarian Opinion/Blogs

Reason
Cato Institute
Ludwig von Mises Institute
Campaign For Liberty
Foundation for Economic Education
Anti-War.com
Center for a Stateless Society
Ayn Rand Institute
Capitalism Magazine
Libertarianism from A to Z: Jeffrey Miron’s blog
Think Markets
Marginal Revolution: Tyler Cowek and Alex Tabarrok’s blog
LewRockwell.com
Stephan Kinsella
Austro-Athenian Empire – Roderick Long’s blog
Free Advice – Bob Murphy’s blog
Ideas – David Friedman’s blog
Fringe Elements – Ryan Faulk’s blog
Economic Policy Journal – Robert Wenzel’s blog
Free Association – Sheldon Richman’s blog
Brad Spangler
Fr33 Agents

Professional resources and personal blogs to help build a comprehensive libertarian philosophy. More to be added.

Alternative Opinion/Blogs

Salon
Smithsonian Magazine
Huffington Post
New York Times
Bloomberg
WallStreet Journal
Alternet
DailyKOS
The Daily Caller
Politico
New Yorker
Fora.TV
Rolling Stone
The Conscience of a Liberal – Paul Krugman’s blog
Libcom.org

Other resources to stay knowledgeable about opposing opinions. This is important to help keep a well-rounded view. More to be added.

I will try to visit most of these sites at least once every week. The big ones like CNN.com (or ones I really enjoy like Mises.org), will probably be visited more frequently. I also go to reddit everyday where users post articles from all over the web.

The main point of building a huge list like this is to always have reading material available and to have access to a wide range of viewpoints and philosophies.

2. DIGEST IT ALL

It would be wasteful to read hours everyday but to never think critically about the content. I believe contemplation is one of the most important mechanism to human learning.

Studies have shown that when rats are given time to reflect, they learn faster than rats who don’t. Time spent introspecting on one’s thought patterns can help us better understand our beliefs. We may even discover that we have made a logical fallacy or a cognitive bias.

Humans are infallible but they are also self-correcting. There is no need to be alarmed when a belief of ours has been challenged. Instead it should be seen as an opportunity for growth. Those who deny their mistakes will always remain fixed where they stand, but those who are willing to weigh other alternatives are more likely to progress their understanding and step forward as intellectuals.

Digesting material means to put a conscious effort into reflecting on what we have learned and how it fits into our worldview.

3. REST

Between all this reading and thinking I am going to need some leisure time. This means things like nap-taking, hanging out with friends, listening to music, watching Mets games, and going out to dinner. Life stuff. Stuff less mentally-intensive so my mind has a chance to rejuvenate itself. After all, variety keeps the mind healthy and balanced.

Including rest in your routine is the difference between hard work and smart work. Also, one positive thing about actively taking your mind off of your work is that it lets your unconscious mull over ideas as you engage yourself in other activities.

4. GROW

Once I have consumed, digested, and taken a healthy break, I am then ready to apply my knowledge into the form of writing.

While the digestion phase was about breaking down information, the growth phase is about integrating information into an article that conveys a coherent theme. All writing, whether fiction or non-fiction, is the process of connecting old ideas and transforming them into something new, something more contemporary, and something more aligned with the zeitgeist of the times. It is the process of moving knowledge forward.

To fulfill my goal I must write each and everyday, even if it is just for a little bit. If by the end of the day I am not happy with what I have written – and it never gets published or even posted on a blog – it is still a worthy exercise in critical thinking and creativity. I think of it as analogous to a professional baseball pitcher: although it may not always be there day to start a game, they still go out in the bullpen and throw some pitches everyday, because that is how they keep their skills sharp.

If you want to be good at something you need to live and breathe it. It needs to be a part of your daily routine. By aiming to write everyday I am setting a precedent to continuously improve until I reach that next plateau.

5. REPEAT. REPEAT. REPEAT.

We all have certain habits which we repeat day-in and day-out. They become automatic or “second nature.” One beauty of the human mind is that we can consciously choose to replace existing habits with new ones – to reinforce “positive” behavior and punish “negative” behavior (however an individual may come to define those terms).

Over the last year I have built up a habit of reading, thinking, and writing about political philosophy, economics, and society at large. It is something I have developed a passion for which is why I now picture myself doing it as a career.

I don’t want to be simply good at it but great at it. I want people to read what I have to say and walk away more educated, more independent-thinking, and more inspired by life around them. I want them to think, “this is so good, I want my friends to read this.”

But this kind of value can only be created if I am dedicated to my craft, which means: practice, practice, practice. I believe that the more I immerse myself in an activity, the better and faster of a learner I will be.

6. EVOLVE

Evolution is a series of adaptations and changes over time. In many ways, it is spontaneous and unpredictable. Often the order is not clear until you look back on it.

This post marks a starting point for my pursuit as a professional writer, but only time will tell where I will end up a year, five years, or ten years down the line.

While I may not know the specifics of where this path is heading, I do know that if I stay devoted to my mantra of RAWA (”Read A lot, Write A lot”), and its 6 tenets, that it will lead me somewhere productive and fruitful.

The human mind can facilitate positive evolution by identifying value and producing it over time. Only by adding value to our lives and the lives of others do we progress as humans and make life worth living.

ENDING NOTE

At its core the RAWA strategy is simple: get emerged in reading and writing and I will soon build the skills to enter the professional domain.

Of course, this is not all one needs to be successful. Along with actually having the ability, one also needs to know how to network, market their product, and land opportunities. These will be issues I will try and resolve in later posts.

For now, my main focus is thinking of myself as a writer, reinforcing these positive rituals (consume digest, rest, grow, repeat, evolve), and eventually building a portfolio of my best material to send to editors.