102 Matching Annotations
  1. Sep 2021
    1. Critical pedagogy, among other things, borrows its ‘critical lens’ from the critical theory. It views society as divided and hierarchical (i.e. based on power relations); and education as a tool used by dominant groups to legitimise the iniquitous arrangement. By enabling the oppressed to look at the oppressor’s ideologies critically, it believes, education can assist them in ridding themselves of their ‘false consciousness’ – an important step, as we will see later, in their struggle for liberation. As is apparent, contrary to traditional claims of the ‘neutrality’ of education, “critical pedagogy views all education theory as intimately linked to ideologies shaped by power, politics, history and culture.” (Darder 1991, p. 77) And the primary function of the critical pedagogue is thus “to empower the powerless and transform those conditions which perpetuate human injustice and inequity.” (McLaren, 1988) – a concern that it shares with critical theory.8

      Critical Pedagogy (CP):

      • Sees society as divided into a hierarchy based on power relations.
      • Education is used as a tool by the dominant to uphold the hierarchy.
      • Education can also be used by the oppressed to rid themselves of false consciousness.
      • CP does not think any education is neutral. All education is shaped by power, politics, history, and culture.
      • CP can empower the powerless to change the power structures.
  2. Aug 2021
    1. Unfortunately, some patients receive "surprise doctor bills" when treated at an in-network facility (e.g., hospital) but not all the physicians who practice at that facility participate in their health plan's network. If you need to go to the hospital for a procedure that's not an emergency, ask whether every provider is in your health plan's network.

      A hospital might accept a specific insurance plan, but the doctor treating you might not. This means that patients have to do their due diligence in finding out if their physicians are in their net-work. This will avoid 'surprise doctor bills'.

    2. Talk to your nurses. Studies routinely identify nursing as the profession most trusted by the public. People feel comfortable talking to nurses. Do not hesitate to ask nurses questions about your health or treatment plan. Nurses are patient advocates. They are adept at interpreting people's questions and responding using easily understood terms. Every day, nurses help patients, families and the community navigate the complex health system

      Talk to your nurses!

      • Nurses are the most trusted in healthcare
      • Great at advocating for patients
      • Excellent in breaking down jargon into layman terms
      • Essential to healthcare
    3. Send a handwritten note to a patient or colleague once a week. It does not need to be long or verbose but the positive impact on that person in this age of computers is powerful. I've had patients and colleagues that remember the gesture years later and remark on the impact it had on them.

      At first it sounded silly to send a hand written letter to a colleague but the more I think about it the better it sounds. I would definitely remember such a nice and thoughtful gesture. Something to keep in mind for the future. Who doesn't love to be appreciated.

    4. Provide more opportunities for new talent. Because healthcare has been relatively solid and stagnant in what it does, we're losing out on some of the new talent that comes out — who are developing artificial intelligence, who are working at high-tech firms — and those firms can pay significantly higher than hospitals for those talents. We have to find a way to provide some opportunities for that and apply those technologies to make improvements in healthcare.

      Intestesing. Mr. Roach thinks healthcare is not doing enough to attract new types of talent (AI and emerging tech) into healthcare. We seem to be losing this talent to the technology sector.

      I would agree with this point. Why work for healthcare with all of its massive demands and HIPPA and lack of people knowing what you are even building. Instead, you can go into tech, have a better quality of life, get paid so much more, and have the possibility of exiting due to a buyout from the healthcare industry.

    5. To advance healthcare reform and new/innovative population health initiatives, hospital leaders need to focus on aligning our interests with our patients. For too long, our fee-for-service reimbursement system has provided incentives for providers to develop services that generate revenue based on more utilization (caring for people who are sick), when our patients obviously would prefer less utilization (to be healthy). There will always be a role for hospitals to care for the sick and injured, but if we are going to truly bend the cost curve and be successful in the world of population health, we must find new ways to align our incentives with our patients' incentives, so that "improving the health of our community" is not only a clinical goal for providers, but a financial goal as well.

      Dr. Kniffin says that the incentivies for healthcare do not align with those of the patients. The current payment structure incentivizes hospitals to have more tests and use more resources (caring for those that are sick). While patients would like less resources to be used and get back to being healthy. This is at odds with each other. So it would be best if we (healthcare) could realign with the patient's incentive of being healthy and use less resources.

    6. Keep in mind potential for waste or unnecessary spending. I think patients are starting to pay closer attention to the necessity of care rendered now because as more patients have high-deductible insurance plans, how they spend their money becomes critically relevant to them.

      A high-deductiable plan is an insurance which has a lower monthly payment at the cost of higher fees before the insurance covers the cost (deductible).

      Dr. Bauer from Hackensack Meridian Health sees more patients having higher-deductible insurance plans. This results in patients scrutinizing costs and tests because they have to pay for those directly.

  3. Mar 2021
    1. Imagine the most important goal or project you are working on right now. Now fast forward six months and assume the project or goal has failed. Tell the story of how it happened. What went wrong? What mistakes did you make? How did it fail? In other words, think of your main goal and ask yourself, “What could cause this to go horribly wrong?” This strategy is sometimes called the “kill the company” exercise in organizations because the goal is to spell out the exact ways the company could fail.

      The Failure Premortem

      Look at a task 6 months from now and imagine it failed. What made it fail? What could I do differently

  4. Feb 2021
    1. Cunningham’s Law

      Cunninghams' Law - Humans have a tendency to correct others.

      People do not like to tell you things, they like to contradict you.

  5. Jan 2021
    1. When you intentionally push yourself outside of your comfort zone and schedule periods of rest and recuperation, something interesting happens: Your capacity to endure stress increases. It’s as if you’ve created a new, set point for what feels normal.

      Constantly pushing yourself past your comfort zones expands your comfort zone.

      A new normal for stress endurance is made as you consonantly push yourself

    2. Our human tendency is to focus on threats and problems. For the sake of our emotional wellness, it makes sense to modify that automatic tendency. You can’t control the stressors that come your way, but you can influence the focus of your own attention. You can focus on the things that give you back a feeling of control.

      We tend to focus attention towards stressors. Instead we should try to focus on things that give us more control of the situation. That way we can face our stressors with more resources.

    1. People think that fighters fight best when they are angry, that singers, actors and musicians perform best when they are high on emotions. This cannot be further from the truth. Studies show that in high-stress situations, we perform when we separate ourselves from our emotions. Like how a cup is only useful when it’s empty, it is only when we empty ourselves that we can become a conduit for our art, transcend our mortal shell, and perform at the highest levels.

      Studies show that in high-stress situations people perform better when there is a separation of self and emotions.

      We might think that boxers perform better when they're angry but that might not be the case.

    2. “affect labelling,” the act of putting feelings into words, actually help decrease brain activity in the amygdala and therefore reduce stress

      Affect Labelling - Put thoughts into words. Decreases amygdala activity which decreases stress.

      Other studies have shown this has resulted in:

      • Healthier eating choices
      • Healthier sexual appetites

      Great practices are:

      • Reframing your language. Practise saying phrases like “I am feeling angry”, instead of “I am angry.”
      • Meditate often
      • Induce flow states through work you enjoy, or exercise
      • Psychedelic experiences
      • Being in nature (e.g long hikes)
      • Vipassana retreats
      • Long stretches of undisturbed time spent with yourself
    3. Śūnyatā, the teaching that all things are barren of intrinsic meaning, is a core tenet of Buddhism.
    4. “Cognitive Reframing” is a technique used in therapy where patients are taught to look at things from another perspective. This technique helps patients look at the same event with different points of view, and has been proven to help improve their self-talk and behaviour. We are, after all, made up of the stories we tell ourselves.

      Cognitive Reframing - Technique to let patients look at situations from different perspectives.

      • Helps with self talk and behavior
      • Helps with narratives about ourselves
    5. We join spokes together in a wheel, but it is the center hole that makes the wagon move. We shape clay into a pot, but it is the emptiness inside that holds whatever we want. We hammer wood for a house, but it is the inner space that makes it livable.”

      Amazing quote about how emptiness can shape reality

    1. There is very little academic and statistical study of Wal-Mart’s impact on the health of its suppliers and virtually nothing in the last decade, when Wal-Mart’s size has increased by a factor of five. This while the retail industry has become much more concentrated. In large part, that’s because it’s nearly impossible to get meaningful data that would allow researchers to track the influence of Wal-Mart’s business on companies over time. You’d need cooperation from the vendor companies or Wal-Mart or both–and neither Wal-Mart nor its suppliers are interested in sharing such intimate detail.
      • Difficult to study Wal-Mart because suppliers and partners won't talk.
      • Difficult to track predatory practices because of these tight-lipped partners.
    2. Getting ready for Wal-Mart has been like putting Levi on the Atkins diet. It has helped everything–customer focus, inventory management, speed to market. It has even helped other retailers that buy Levis, because Wal-Mart has forced the company to replenish stores within two days instead of Levi’s previous five-day cycle.And so, Wal-Mart might rescue Levi Strauss. Except for one thing.Levi didn’t actually have any clothes it could sell at Wal-Mart. Everything was too expensive. It had to develop a fresh line for mass retailers: the Levi Strauss Signature brand, featuring Levi Strauss’s name on the back of the jeans.
      • Levi had enough brand power to not be cut off by Walmart even when they deliver late or don't have enough product
      • Wal-Mart whipped them into shape by demanding
      1. New line of cheap jeans
      2. More staff in company devoted to getting product to Wal-Mart
      3. Quicker deliveries
      • Eventually Levi's had to move factories completely oversees to keep up with demand and sell their new cheap Jeans.
    3. “Everyone from the forklift driver on up to me, the CEO, knew we had to deliver [to Wal-Mart] on time. Not 10 minutes late. And not 45 minutes early, either,” says Robin Prever, who was CEO of Saratoga Beverage Group from 1992 to 2000, and made private-label water sold at Wal-Mart. “The message came through clearly: You have this 30-second delivery window. Either you’re there, or you’re out. With a customer like that, it changes your organization. For the better. It wakes everybody up. And all our customers benefited. We changed our whole approach to doing business.
      • Wal-Mart argues that doing business with their strict standards makes the company better.
      • Delivery has a 30-second window!! Crazy
    4. Vlasic got to take it down to just over half a gallon of pickles, for $2.79. Not long after that, in January 2001, Vlasic filed for bankruptcy–although the gallon jar of pickles, everyone agrees, wasn’t a critical factor.

      Vlasic got into Walmart and was very popular.

      Wal-Mart forced Vlasic to sell their gallon of pickles of $2.97.

      Wal-Mart makes up so much of Vlasic's revenue that they have to comply.

      Vlasic eventually sells at that price but has difficulty keeping up with demand.

      Vlasic asks Wal-Mart if they can sell for $3.49 which can help so much. Wal-Mart declines.

      In 2001 has to file for bankruptcy even after trying to change strategies.

    5. How can it be bad for things to come into the U.S. cheaply? How can it be bad to have a bargain at Wal-Mart?’ Sure, it’s held inflation down, and it’s great to have bargains,” says Dobbins. “But you can’t buy anything if you’re not employed. We are shopping ourselves out of jobs.
      • Wal-Mart can help keep inflation down and give great bargins
      • This comes at the sacrifice of having local and American business go out of business.
      • No employment due to companies going out of business will mean we are "shopping ourselves out of jobs"
    6. Wal-Mart, which in the late 1980s and early 1990s trumpeted its claim to “Buy American,” has doubled its imports from China in the past five years alone, buying some $12 billion in merchandise in 2002. That’s nearly 10% of all Chinese exports to the United States.
      • Wal-Mart touts they "buy american" but they doubled import from China in the last 5 years.
      • 10% of Chinese exports is to the US go to Wal-Mart
    7. Wal-Mart no longer has any real rivals. It does more business than Target, Sears, Kmart, J.C. Penney, Safeway, and Kroger combined. “Clearly,” says Edward Fox, head of Southern Methodist University’s J.C. Penney Center for Retailing Excellence, “Wal-Mart is more powerful than any retailer has ever been.” It is, in fact, so big and so furtively powerful as to have become an entirely different order of corporate being.
      • Wal-Mart has no real rivals
      • Wal-Mart is more powerful than any retailer in history
      • Does more business than Target, Sears, Kmart, J.C. Penny, Safeway, and Kroger combined!
    8. The retailer has a clear policy for suppliers: On basic products that don’t change, the price Wal-Mart will pay, and will charge shoppers, must drop year after year. But what almost no one outside the world of Wal-Mart and its 21,000 suppliers knows is the high cost of those low prices
      • Wal-Mart has clear policy for suppliers: Basic products must lower in price year after year.
      • Wal-Mart uses its position and power to squeeze profit-killing concessions from vendors. Ex: bras, bicycles, blue jeans must lower in price.
  6. Dec 2020
    1. Dr. Chu recommends saying to yourself “I can or I get to learn” to see attending school as opportunities and choices that we shouldn’t take for granted.

      Change your thinking of a task from an obligation to an opportunity

    2. Sanders explains that often when parents see that a child does not appear to be motivated, they tend to place blame and judge. Instead, she recommends that parents should be curious about what is going on and try to work collaboratively by problem-solving.

      Great Parenting.

      Try to understand why your kid has problems with motivations, maybe along the self-determination theory route (autonomy, relatedness, and competency).

      Try to see if your child has a sense of control of the situation, what skills they have or are lacking to tackle the issue, and if they feel heard and connected.

    3. “Autonomy and relatedness are often missed in household tasks. People say to themselves ‘I have to clean or do laundry’ and this thinking reduces our sense of autonomy,” he said.How to overcome it:Dr. Chu says that we can overcome this lack of motivation for household tasks by enhancing autonomy.“Say to yourself ‘I can or I get to clean’ which changes your thinking of household tasks as opportunities and choices that we shouldn’t take for granted.”

      The way we phrase our motivations is a large part in whether we can get it done.

      Say we phrase our chores as something we 'have' to do then we lose our sense of autonomy or control over the situation. This leads to us less likely to do the task as it is something we are compelled to finish. If we rephrase it to "I get to do my chores" then the sense of autonomy returns as now chores are an oppurinity that I can take advantage of.

    4. Dr. Chu explains that self-determination theory states that three basic psychological needs — autonomy, competence, and relatedness — need to be satisfied for people to be intrinsically motivated.

      Self-Determination Theory says we have 3 psychological needs

      1.Autonomy- Having the ability to make your own choices

      2.Competence- The feeling that you have the skills needed to succeed

      3.Relatedness- Sense of feeling connected with others

    5. Eyal describes the theory called The Fogg Behavior Model which states that for a behavior (B) to occur, three things must be present at the same time: motivation (M), ability (A), and a trigger (T). More succinctly, B = MAT.

      Fogg Behavior Model says that for a Behavior (B) to occur 3 things have to be present at the same time:

      1. Motivation (M)
      2. Ability (A)
      3. Trigger (T)

      B = MAT

    6. “Self-determination theory proposes that the quality, rather than solely the quantity, of motivation influences how people act,” says Dr. Tsz Lun (Alan) Chu, sports psychologist

      The Self-determination theory says that the quality and not the quantity of motivation determines how we action

    7. Motivation guides your behaviors and is “the energy for action,” according to Dr.Edward Deci, professor of psychology at the University of Rochester.

      Motivation is the energy for action

    1. Instead of waiting for a magic fairy to appear and eliminate your problem so that you can enjoy life again, you might want to start adding those little positive events back onto your agenda despite the problem still being present

      This solution based therapy focuses on trying to get people active and engaged with life even when depressed.

      It is important to help patients experience those little positive events. These events can help people get back on track.

    2. If you need to imagine in concrete detail how you would notice that a problem disappeared, you are challenged to leave vague descriptions like “I’ll be happy”, “I’ll be less annoyed” behind.Vagueness in the end is a cognitive avoidance mechanism. It is easy to ruminate on general emotions and thoughts but very hard to imagine concrete outcomes and changes. We would rather not face precise thoughts, emotions or memories because they can be painful. Better to stay at a safe but vague distance.

      This is all about solution based therapy. We need concrete ways of fixing our problems.

      Vagueness is a cognitive avoidance strategy. It is a way to avoid digging deep.

      It is safer for our feelings to stay vague, but that is not where we need to improve.

    3. Rather than defining the problem — which is hard — you are invited to define the change you would like to experience. It is a bit like reverse engineering.

      This is a very interesting way to approach psychotherapy:

      Let the patient define and explore the change they want to experience.

    1. Join professional societies in your subject

      There are professional societies for your subject. They can give you connections and scholarships

    2. Connect with faculty members on social media.

      Follow them on twitter or something and this helps you know more about them

    3. Apply for funding with faculty members who have joint appointments. Identify faculty members with joint appointments with at least two departments. Professors who have joint appointments lead multidisciplinary research teams and have multiple sources of funding. If their area of research aligns with your interest, send them an email, incorporating the steps mentioned earlier in this article

      Funding for faculty members with joint appointments (multiple departments) are more varied so more likely to get something that aligns with your interest

    1. Practice drinking your coffee mindfully, washing your hands mindfully, walking mindfully, folding clothes mindfully, washing dishes mindfully. [And] this simply means while you are doing those things, bring your full attention to it. You are simply training your brain to focus on what’s happening right in front of you, right here [and] now

      The key to meditation is to train your brain to focus on the now.

      This means you can do more than just focus on your breath. Focus on the tea you're drinking, the words you're reading, the feeling of your clothing, and so on.

    2. Mindfulness has been shown to be a valid approach to treating mental health disorders,” she says. “It has strong scientific support for its effectiveness in the prevention of depression relapse and in reducing rumination. It has been studied quite extensively in chronic pain management, addiction relapse prevention, appetite awareness for binge eating disorder — the list goes on and on.”

      Did not know that mindfulness is a valid approach to treating mental health disorders.

      Great scientific support for:

      • Preventing depression relapse
      • Reducing rumination
      • Helps with chronic pain management
      • Addiction relapse prevention
      • Appetite awareness for binge eating disorder
    3. The act of putting your observations into specific word choices and then reflecting on them, whether through conversation or rereading your journal entry, is an important part of the process,” she adds. “This is why, while I like apps like Calm and Headspace, I really recommend that people find some way to verbalize their experiences after using the app.”

      Verbalizing your feelings and thoughts after meditation is very important in helping ourselves observe our thoughts and feeling.

      This verbalizing can be done out loud or through journaling

    4. Mindfulness involves metacognition, which is thinking about the thinking, and recognizing each thought or moment in its broader context.”

      Mindfulness is metacognition.

      Thinking about thinking.

    5. “If the meditator can recognize the maladaptive thoughts as maladaptive,” Carmichael tells me via email, “then meditation can help to increase this awareness. If the meditator doesn’t recognize the thoughts as maladaptive, then meditating upon the thoughts may simply increase their intensity.”

      The important point here is that those who meditate and do not recognize their thoughts as maladaptive will just end up increasing their awareness of this.

    6. it’s not about magically melting away anxiety. It’s about training your brain over time to work with you rather than against you, paying attention to what you actually want to be thinking about rather than whatever’s bringing you stress and rumination

      Meditation is about:

      • Training yourself to work with yourself rather than against yourself
      • Be in more control over what you think. Be able to think about what you want to think rather than anything that pops into your mind.
    7. “It was never intended to help you ‘clear your mind’ or even help you feel relaxed. The point of mindfulness practice is to ‘exercise’ your executive functioning centers and strengthen your ability to focus.

      The goal of meditation is to exercise executive functioning centers and strengthen your ability to focus!

  7. Nov 2020
    1. Maze told me that his team’s latest research (not yet published) has also found this type of epigenetic marking in the brain tissues of people with major depressive disorder. Perhaps this connection even explains why antidepressant drugs take so long to be effective: If the drugs work by activating this epigenetic process, rather than just supplying the brain’s missing serotonin, it can take days or even weeks before these genetic changes become apparent.

      Antidepressants might take so long to start working because they have to induce epigenetic changes to work.

    2. serotonin has another function: It can act as one of those molecular Post-it notes. Specifically, it can bind to a type of histone known as H3, which controls the genes responsible for transforming human stem cells (the forerunner of all kinds of cells) into serotonin neurons. When serotonin binds to the histone, the DNA unwinds, turning on the genes that dictate the development of a stem cell into a serotonin neuron, while turning off other genes by keeping their DNA tightly wound. (So stem cells that never see serotonin turn into other types of cells, since the genetic program to transform them into neurons is not activated.)

      Serotonin can bind to H3 Histone and cause stem cells to become serotonin neurons.

      This research led the same team to wonder if Dopamine might act in a similar way.

      The serotonin paper is here: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30867594/

    3. To put it plainly, the discovery that monoamine neurotransmitters control epigenetic regulation of genes is transformative for basic science and medicine

      Very bold claim to say that discovering that these neurotransmitters can induce epigenetic changes will transform basic science and medicine.

    4. To test that hypothesis, the researchers genetically modified H3 histones in rats by replacing the amino acid that dopamine attaches to with a different one it doesn’t react with. This stops dopaminylation from occurring. Withdrawal from cocaine is associated with changes in the readout of hundreds of genes involved in rewiring neural circuits and altering synaptic connections, but in the rats whose dopaminylation was prevented, these changes were suppressed. Moreover, neural impulse firing in VTA neurons was reduced, and they released less dopamine, showing that these genetic changes were indeed affecting the brain’s reward circuit operation. This might account for why people with substance use disorder crave drugs that boost dopamine levels in the brain during withdrawal. Finally, in subsequent tests, the genetically modified rats exhibited much less cocaine-seeking behavior

      Rats were genetically modified to decrease dopaminylation (modifying M3 so dopamine couldn't attach). This correlated to the Ventral Tegmental Area firing less (less cocaine impulse) and released less dopamine. This showed that these changes to H3, and subsequently the dopaminylation, did impact brain's reward circuit operation.

    5. dopaminylation. The term refers to the brain chemical dopamine’s ability, in addition to transmitting signals across synapses, to enter a cell’s nucleus and control specific genes

      Dopaminylation - Dopamine's ability to enter a cell's nucleus and control specific genes.

      CRAZY!

    6. they showed that the same enzyme that attaches serotonin to H3 can also catalyze the attachment of dopamine to H3 — a process, I learned, called dopaminylation.

      The same enzyme that helps serotonin bind to H3 can also help dopamine bind to H3.

      Paper found here: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32273471/

    7. if the magnetic tape remains tightly wound, you can’t read the information on the cassette. Epigenetics works by unspooling the tape, or not, to control which genetic instructions are carried out. In epigenetic inheritance, the DNA code is not altered, but access to it is.

      An interesting way to describe epigenetics. It is like magnetic tape on a cassette, you have to unwind it to be able to read its content. Epigenetics, by analogy would be controlling the spooling of the DNA for accessibility.

    8. “Half of what you learned in college is wrong,” my biology professor, David Lange, once said. “Problem is, we don’t know which half.”

      Very interesting that a biology professor believes that 50% of what we learn can be wrong.

    1. “I think of the self-actualizing man not as an ordinary man with something added, but rather as the ordinary man with nothing taken away.”

      Interesting way to look at it. We are all capable of greatness and what stops us are things that hold us back, not traits we do not posses.

      It is saying that we have all we need to self-actualize

    2. The Thirteen Sources of Well-Being:More positive emotionsFewer negative emotionsLife satisfactionVitalityEnvironmental masteryPositive relationshipsSelf-acceptanceMasteryAutonomyPersonal growthEngagement in lifePurpose and meaning in lifeTranscendent experiences

      The Thirteen Sources of Well-Being

      1. More positive emotions
      2. Fewer negative emotions
      3. Life satisfaction
      4. Vitality
      5. Environmental mastery
      6. Positive relationships
      7. Self-acceptance
      8. Mastery
      9. Autonomy
      10. Personal growth
      11. Engagement in life
      12. Purpose and meaning in life
      13. Transcendent experiences
    3. “Within the humanistic psychology framework, the healthy personality is considered one that constantly moves toward freedom, responsibility, self-awareness, meaning, commitment, personal growth, maturity, integration, and change, rather than one that predominantly strives for status, achievement, or even happiness."

      The humanistic psychology framework focuses on larger scale values than on individual achievement

    1. Once the person opens up about what they’re feeling, resist the temptation to find a solution. Instead, validate. McGrath suggests telling them their emotions makes sense, reiterating how hard their experience sounds, then asking what they need.If you’re burning to share how you see things, ask permission before dishing out advice. Sometimes, well-intentioned attempts to fix the problem send a message that you’re uncomfortable with the other person’s emotions, which does anything but forge trust and connection.

      Something I need to practice more.

      When someone opens up, do not be so quick to fix. Understand the issue, what is causing them pain, why it is causing them pain, and validate that concern by reiterating the experience to them.

      This way you allow them to not feel like they are wrong for feeling that way.

    2. simple as tacking on an “I could be wrong, but” at the beginning, or an “Am I off base?” at the end. “This way, you provide an out so the other person can deny they feel that way,” she says, and give them a chance to correct the record by sharing what’s actually going on, if they choose.

      You don't have to be right about your observation, you just have to try. This shows that you are trying, that you are willing to empathize.

      So it is important to make your observation but also give space for them to talk about their feelings. How can you do that? Well you can say: "Am I off base?", "Correct me if I'm wrong"

    3. Observations, on the other hand, cultivate connection by showing you’re paying attention, Braman explained in her post; that’s why she encourages parents to lead with statements like “You seem frustrated,” or “You’re full of smiles.”

      Asking a kid "how was your day" can cause them anxiety because they still don't have the language to describe their feelings. This question usually don't lead to any good.

      On the other hand, make observations! Say something like "you seem frustrated" or "You seem pretty happy today". This helps them develop a language to describe how they are feeling.

      As I was writing this I thought about how important books are. They can describe the emotional language of someone and help the reader empathize with it and also adopt ways to express themselves.

    4. Observations “send the message that you notice changes in a person and are interested in knowing more about their experience, says New York-based psychologist Sabrina Romanoff, “all the while rejecting the superficial ‘how are you’ exchange and replacing it with genuine connection.”

      Another important point is that observations show interest in the subject matter while simply asking for a broad summary of a day does not.

    5. A direct, “you seem” statement might work with your own kid, but for an adult, it might feel like labeling, which can trigger defensiveness or an emotional shutdown. The goal is to encourage the other person to open up about how they’re doing by showing you care, so frame your observation in a way that won’t make them feel judged or misinterpreted.Instead, couch your observation with softer, curiosity-driven language. Mia Rosenberg, a therapist and the owner of Upsider Therapy, recommends the “I’ve noticed that” and “I’m wondering” formula. For example, you could say, “I’ve noticed that you’re quieter lately; I’m wondering if you’re stressed?”

      "You seem" might work on a child but can be seen as labeling when used on an adult.

      Instead use "I've noticed that" and "I'm wondering". Also observe body language.

      Do not say "You look tired" because that can seem mean to someone struggling. Instead use emotion focused words such as burned out or frustrated.

    1. This is fascinating. I recognize it as something that is common knowledge to trained Feldenkrais Method practitioners. I have gained similar benefits from visiting a Feldenkrais practitioner and many more musculo skeletal benefits as well. They use very gentle, gradual and time-consuming "movement training" to "reset" muscular habits, many of which are harmful. It is amazing how much they can improve in every part of the musculo-skeleture, there are hundreds of muscles in complex patterns that can be getting inefficiently and parasitically employed. It can make a massive difference to the ease of daily life.When it comes to posture, trying to force the correct posture is hopeless; what is needed, is to "switch off" the muscles that shouldn't be "on", and vice versa. Most people can't just do that by mimicking a position. In Feldenkrais, mostly you are relaxed and lying on your back, and the practitioner gently performs repetitive counter-intuitive movements of your limbs etc which "persuade" muscles a certain way. Then when you sit up or stand up again, you tend to be "relaxed in the correct posture" rather than trying to force yourself into it.
    2. OK, speaking as a trumpet & cornet player — good strong diaphragm is EXTREMELY important to us. From what you’re saying, we’d expect back pain to be uncommon amongst trumpeters.

      A comment from the article:

      A possible research question. It is also an interesting counterpoint to PRI theories because if unexplained back pain is very common among these players then maybe it is not too tenable as a theory.

    3. Kim says. But even he admits that something like 60% of people with back pain have no spinal abnormalities or injuries. Could the reason those people’s backs hurt be a breathing issue? Kim puts it at maybe. From his perspective, PRI is an interesting set of theories.

      PRI is a set of theories on how back pain (not explained by other factors) can be caused by improper breathing.

    4. For the past eight months, I’ve started every day with at least 15 minutes of PRI training. There are a number of different techniques that PRI trainers use based on what’s going on with a person’s body — or how deeply stuck in a certain movement pattern they are. But the key to all PRI exercises is that you exhale slowly, making sure you push all the air out. (This helps you reposition your ribs.) In normal breathing, exhalation requires no effort. But elongating the exhale is itself a kind of workout that activates the internal obliques. Making these specific abdominal muscles stronger helps you keep your ribs on the left side down and your diaphragm and ribs in the optimal position, even during normal breathing

      PRI training says that you should exhale out slowly and fully. This will help workout internal obliques and make specific abdominal muscles stronger.

    5. But this idea that there is singularly one healthy posture for everybody — regardless of differences in size or asymmetry or what daily activities you do — is what I’ve found to be dangerously bunk.

      Great point. Why should there be one universal posture position for all people when so many asymmetries between people exist?

    6. multiple recent studies suggest the link between back pain and posture is weak, if not nonexistent. Take this 2016 metanalysis of 10 studies that couldn’t confirm a link between “excessive thoracic kyphosis” (the technical term for slouching) and shoulder pain. Or this 2018 study that found no link between “text neck” (the technical term for looking down at your iPhone) and neck pain in 624 young adults.

      The link between back pain and posture is weak according to multiple metanalysis.

      There is also no confirmed link between:

      • Slouching and shoulder pain
      • 'Text neck' and neck pain.

      WOW.

    7. Greeks understood posture as the defining character of mankind, Gilman says. Greek myths are rife with postural lessons. There’s Thersites, the hump-backed and dull-witted soldier who gets beat up by Odysseus for causing trouble during the Trojan Wars, and posture and gait is even a recurring theme in the tale of Oedipus. The Greeks believed that man stood upright to face the Gods.

      Just some interesting history

    1. You can find your mental health triggers by beginning a thought diary

      A Thought Diary will help you find triggers when you write down things that went wrong and your accompanying feelings.

      An example would be how not meeting a deadline made you feel. What happened right after you realized you didn't meet the deadline?

    2. The best course of action is to discreetly arrange a one-to-one meeting, and sensitively explore how he’s feeling. It can be useful to write a wellness action plan together. This is a document in which the employee writes down information about the mental-health problems he’s experiencing, and what triggers exist in his workplace that contribute to these feelings. You can then draw up a strategy together for how to help him improve his mental health in the workplace, and make a list of actions that both of you can take to help get him back on track.

      A manager can sit down with the affected employee and write an wellness action plan. This will include:

      • Employee's mental health problems
      • Triggers within the workplace
      • A strategy to work together with employee to help them improve in the workplace.
      • A list of actions that can be done. e.g. Counseling, reduce working time, set limits with coworkers
    3. Your brain is hardwired to constantly think about all your unfinished activities until they’re completed, a phenomenon known as the Zeigarnik effect. This presents a problem for your work-life harmony, because when you leave the office, the last thing you want is to be inundated with thoughts about work. Luckily, evidence suggests that when you write a to-do list of outstanding tasks, your mind will stop reminding you about them, leaving you free to enjoy your evening in peace.

      Zeigarnik effect - Thinking about unfinished tasks unitl they are finished.

      The remedy for this is to write a to-do list.

    1. Keep sentences small. They’re easier to work with that way.If something doesn’t feel right, there’s a problem with one or more of your sentences. Listen to that feeling. Try to pinpoint exactly which word or phrase is triggering it. Naming exactly what’s wrong, in grammatical terminology or otherwise, will come later.Understanding a word’s etymology will teach you how to use it. Words contain imprints of their histories.The subject of a sentence should appear as close to the beginning of a sentence as possible.You don’t have to “grab” anyone with the first line of your story. Just write a simple sentence that says what you want it to say. It’s harder than it sounds! And also very effective, if done well.“A writer’s real work is the endless winnowing of sentences, the relentless exploration of possibilities, the effort, over and over again, to see in what you started out to say the possibility of saying something you didn’t know you could.”Noun phrases (“the realization that…”) almost always sound clunky and dead. Try rewriting them as verb phrases (“realizing that…”).Prepositions are difficult to get right, even for native English speakers.A reader’s experience has nothing to do with a writer’s. A sentence that reads “naturally” or “conversationally” to a reader may have been painstakingly assembled by a stressed-out writer who wishes they could sound more natural or conversational.

      How to write more effectively:

      • Keep sentences small. They’re easier to work with that way.

      • If something doesn’t feel right, there’s a problem with one or more of your sentences. Listen to that feeling. Try to pinpoint exactly which word or phrase is triggering it. Naming exactly what’s wrong, in grammatical terminology or otherwise, will come later.

      • Understanding a word’s etymology will teach you how to use it. Words contain imprints of their histories.

      • The subject of a sentence should appear as close to the beginning of a sentence as possible.

      • You don’t have to “grab” anyone with the first line of your story. Just write a simple sentence that says what you want it to say. It’s harder than it sounds! And also very effective, if done well.

      • “A writer’s real work is the endless winnowing of sentences, the relentless exploration of possibilities, the effort, over and over again, to see in what you started out to say the possibility of saying something you didn’t know you could.”

      • Noun phrases (“the realization that…”) almost always sound clunky and dead. Try rewriting them as verb phrases (“realizing that…”).

      • Prepositions are difficult to get right, even for native English speakers.

      • A reader’s experience has nothing to do with a writer’s. A sentence that reads “naturally” or “conversationally” to a reader may have been painstakingly assembled by a stressed-out writer who wishes they could sound more natural or conversational.

    1. Be kind. Yes, absolutely. Not enough makes you mean. Too much makes you appear insecure or sycophantic. Part of being likable is saying and doing the right things at the right time.A better approach than Mandino’s is to merely remind yourself or consider that you may have to interact with this person again, so act accordingly. You’ll be more patient, understanding, and generous, while also taking your situation into account.

      Do not be too kind. It can come off as creepy.

      Be kind, not too much.

    2. When engaged with someone who occupies a lower rung on the economic, education, or professional ladder, don’t try to fit in by adopting their cultural or social norms. Instead, recognize that you can learn something from everyone you meet. Get curious about their interests, challenges, history, and skills.

      Stop trying to treat others as equals.

      Do not try to fit in by treating everyone like they are the same (e.g. A CEO trying to treat his worker as the same level as him). Instead, get curious about the other person, and how they are BETTER THAN YOU at.

    3. Nobody likes to admit it, but we love it when others recognize our feelings, worth, effort, or talent; that’s validation. Think of it as a compliment in disguise. Unlike unabashed praise, it’s challenging to pull off without sounding forced.When it’s too overt, you sound sycophantic — excessive and insincere flattery to gain an advantage. To make it work, you want the recipient to interpret your words in such a way that triggers a feeling of validation. Say it without saying it.
      1. Upgrade shallow compliments to validations

      Listen attentively.

      Pay attention to nuance and body language (when face to face).

      Learn what skills they take pride in — they’ll talk about them often.

      Pay attention to where they direct their efforts — it gives you hints about what they like and enjoy.

      Listen for clues as to where they feel they’re not being seen and heard.

    1. Psychologists have only seriously begun analyzing self-talk in the last couple of decades, and here’s what we know:1) Positive self-talk improves performance in most sports.2) Questions like “Will I do this?” produce better results than statements like “I will do this.”3) Using “we” in self-talk is better than using “I.”4) Talking about yourself in third person is more effective than talking in first person.5) Both motivational (“I will do this!“) and instructional (“See the target…straighten elbows…lock onto target…“) self-talk seems to be effective in enhancing performance.

      How to talk to yourself! Positive Self - talk and motivation are best executed when done this:

      1) Positive self-talk improves performance in most sports.

      2) Questions like “Will I do this?” produce better results than statements like “I will do this.”

      3) Using “we” in self-talk is better than using “I.”

      4) Talking about yourself in third person is more effective than talking in first person.

      5) Both motivational (“I will do this!“) and instructional (“See the target…straighten elbows…lock onto target…“) self-talk seems to be effective in enhancing performance.

  8. Oct 2020
    1. The perfect breath is this: Breathe in for about 5.5 seconds, then exhale for 5.5 seconds. That’s 5.5 breaths a minute for a total of about 5.5 liters of air. You can practice this perfect breathing for a few minutes, or a few hours. There is no such thing as having too much peak efficiency in your body.

      The perfect breath is 5.5 seconds of breathing in and 5.5 seconds of breathing out.

    2. Breathing less offered huge benefits. If athletes kept at it for several weeks, their muscles adapted to tolerate more lactate accumulation, which allowed their bodies to pull more energy during states of heavy anaerobic stress, and, as a result, train harder and longer. All of them claimed to have gained a boost in performance and blunted the symptoms of respiratory problems, simply by decreasing the volume of air in their lungs and increasing the carbon dioxide in their bodies.

      Breathing less can increase toleration to lactate accumulation. This is because of increase tolerance to CO2

    1. Some legislation allows for treatment to be given in certain circumstances without the patient's volition. For example, irresponsible people with communicable diseases may be treated against their objection, as in the case of patients with tuberculosis who are noncompliant with treatment. Also, all provinces allow for the involuntary admission of patients to psychiatric facilities, provided they present an immediate risk to themselves or others, or are unable to take care of themselves

      These highlight cases where you can treat patients without their consent.

      1. Irresponsible people with communicable diseases (e.g. Tuberculosis)

      2. Psychiatry patients that pose an immediate threat to themselves and/or those around them.

    2. Voluntariness is a legal requirement of valid consent. In Beausoleil v. Sisters of Charity[8] a young woman about to undergo spinal surgery repeatedly requested a general anesthetic and refused a spinal anesthetic. After the patient had been sedated, the anesthetist convinced her to have a spinal anesthetic. The patient was subsequently paralyzed as a result of the procedure and successfully sued the anesthetist. In testimony, a witness said that the patient "refused [the spinal anesthetic], but they continued to offer it to her; finally she became tired and said: 'You do as you wish' or something like that."[9] The judge stated that the patient's agreement to the spinal anesthetic was involuntary, because it rested on "words which denote defeat, exhaustion, and abandonment of the will power."

      Very interesting case in which the doctor wore out out the patient by repeatedly asking her to for permission for spinal anesthetic to the point where the lady 'gave permission'. This was found by the courts to be involuntary as it was permission gained from loss of willpower.

  9. Sep 2020
    1. HARs are short stretches of DNA that while conserved in other species, underwent rapid evolution in humans following our split with chimpanzees, presumably since they provided some benefit specific to our species. Rather than encoding for proteins themselves, HARs often help regulate neighboring genes. Since both schizophrenia and HARs appear to be for the most part human-specific, the researchers wondered if there might be a connection between the two.dfp.loadAds("right2","MPU2","dfp-right2-article-1")Advertisement

      Schizophrenia is unique to humans. There are also regions that human and other species have, but have undergone more rapid evolution in humans called Human Accelerated regions (HAR).

      Maybe these HARs and Schizophrenia are linked.

      Also HARs are regions whose purpose is to regulate the expression of other genes, not so much directly code for a protein.

    2. numerous non-human species suffer from psychiatric symptoms. Birds obsess; horses on occasion get pathologically compulsive; dolphins and whales—especially those in captivity—self-mutilate. And that thing when your dog woefully watches you pull out of the driveway from the window—that might be DSM-certified separation anxiety. "Every animal with a mind has the capacity to lose hold of it from time to time" wrote science historian and author Dr. Laurel Braitman in "Animal Madness

      Animals can have psychiatric issues as well.

      Examples include:

      • Dolphins that self-mutilate when in captivity
      • Horses that can get pathologically compulsive
      • Brides that obsess
    3. schizophrenia. Though psychotic animals may exist, psychosis has never been observed outside of our own species; whereas depression, OCD, and anxiety traits have been reported in many non-human species

      Humans are the only ones that develop schizophrenia

  10. Aug 2020
    1. Well, you don’t have to choose another niche. Writing about niche topics is not the only approach. You can write about popular topics and provide value by giving those topics your own unique take. You won’t get exceedingly rich, but you may find more success.

      You don't have to differentiate yourself by WHAT you write (niche topics) but you can do so by HOW you write (writing style.

      • Write about popular topics with you own spin
      • May not become rich but you will get somewhere
      • Popular topics are popular for a reason. They will bring you decent success.
    2. After all, you need to find your niche. So what do you do? You begin by concocting the weirdest flavors:Salmon-flavored ice cream.Trout-flavored ice cream.Sardine-flavored ice cream.Tuna-flavored ice cream.

      Finding is a Niche is always necessary.

      Its like Vanilla vs. Fish Flavored Ice Cream

      There are plenty of people selling Vanilla, Chocolate, and strawberry and making money. They might not get all the market share but they will sell far more and be liked than any fish flavored ice cream.

    1. 7 powerful questions you can ask your friends, family and co-workers in your next conversation

      1.What are you most grateful for, right now, in this movement? - Help the conversation focus on more positive and grateful side of life.

      2.Working on any exciting personal project lately? - People love talking about their side hustles so this can help you get closer

      3.What's working well for you right now? - Helps transition from negative --> positive. Another question can be: How are you taking care of yourself right now?

      4.What shows, podcasts, or books are you making time for right now? - These sources is where alot of people spend their time on so it makes sense to ask about these. Good conversation starters.

      1. What do you do to get rid of stress?

      6.What would be your perfect weekend? - Have plenty to talk about on this

      7.What are you looking forward to in the future? - People have plans and helps get an idea of their motivations.

    1. Medium itself conducted a study on the optimal reading time. They analyzed loads of data and came to the conclusion that 7 minutes is the optimal length for a post. However, the data varies widely and anything from 4–8 minutes performs great.

      Medium conducted a study and found that optimal reading time is 7 minutes.

      Anything from 4-8 minutes performs great.

    2. Using only half the word count then a conventional text, lead to an increase of usability by 58%. So generally, we can conclude that shorter texts are not only easier to read, but also more likely to be remembered

      Shorter the word count/article size will increase retention.

      700 to 1000 words is good. Just keep it concise.

      Shorter articles are more attractive

    3. Dr. Jakob Nielsen conducted an interesting study on how the average person reads an online article. The short version is: They don’t. He found out, that the reader scans the page, rather than reading it word for word. Thus, he concluded that it’s not the content length that scares off your reader, but how scannable your text is.

      Study shows that the scannability of an article is more important for retention than the length.

      Key factors that are responsible for retaining readers is:

      1.Highlighted keywords- Bold to express important information.

      2.Meaningful subtitles - Someone reading only the subtitles must have a good idea of what the article is about

      3.Variety - Bullet points, different sized sentences and paragraphs, pictures/graphics, and so on.

      4.Credibility - Gotta look like you know what you're talking about.

    4. You have 9 seconds to convince9 seconds is the attention span of a goldfish. And your average reader. Within this short period of time, the person clicking on your article will decide if it’s worth reading.

      Attention span for articles is around 9 seconds.

      9 Seconds is the window to convince someone to keep reading.

    1. When large amounts of money are created out of thin air and that currency is not spent, when that money eventually is spent, it can lead to larger than normal amounts of inflation that devalue the money you’ve worked hard for.

      Velocity of Money - How much money has passed through multiple people's eyes.

      • When velocity decreases, but the government keeps creating money, inflation can occur in larger than normal amounts.
    2. billionaire investor, George Soros, called the stock market a bubble. “Investors are in a bubble fueled by Fed liquidity,” he says and that’s why he “no longer participates.”

      This is what I was thinking: the stock market is fed by liquidity by the government. I am not sure how to think about it in the long run.

      If I keep money in the stock market, the government keeps pumping money, inflation raises, then my money is just constantly devalued. I really don't know

    3. Negative interest ratesNegative interest rates can be bad for you because it means you have to pay to store your money.

      Negative Interest rates - When you have to pay to store money.

    4. Watch what the billionaires do, not what they say.

      Warren Buffet has transitioned his money from bank stocks to gold. This is an indication that Buffet is quietly betting against the US economy.

    1. The trick is to work at 85% capacity rather than 100%. It can be surprisingly challenging to take your effort down a notch and keep it there — especially right now when so many livelihoods feel precarious. But going full-throttle all the time actually works against you. When your mind is relaxed, you’re able to produce better, more thoughtful results.

      Rather than working 100% of the time most of the time, work 85%. This decreases stress and helps you last longer

    1. How to Get into Flow States, Quickly

      1.Relax

      2.Coffee/Caffeine

      3.Something that inspires your work

      4.Warm-up - get your brain primed for the activity

      5.Sends chills down your spine - Watch something that Inspires you e.g. David Goggins

      6.Avoid distraction - Put phone away and noise cancelling headphones

    1. However, there is one important point: with the visualisation the feeling must be there too. When someone is seeing him/herself in for example delivering a speech for the first time on stage, they really must let the feeling build up in their hearts, minds and body too. Then the vibrations will do their "magic

      Comment in the article suggested that you should focus on visualizing the action AND emotion

    2. “In 2004, Cleveland Clinic physiologist Guang Yue wanted to know if merely thinking about lifting weights was enough to increase strength. Study subjects were divided into four groups. One group tried to strengthen their finger muscles with physical exercise; one tried to strengthen their finger muscles by only visualizing the exercise; another tried to increase arm strength through visualization; while the last group did nothing at all. The trial lasted twelve weeks.When it was over, those who did nothing saw no gains. The group that relied on physical training saw the greatest increase in strength-at 53 percent. But it’s the mental groups where things got curious. Folks who did no physical training but merely imagined their fingers going through precise exercise motions saw a 35 percent increase in strength, while the ones who visualized arm exercises saw a 13.5 percent increase in strength.”Let’s review — these participants did NOTHING BUT VISUALIZING and saw an increase of up to 35% in strength!But things are all the more convincing when you consider that a few years before Yue’s studies, neuroscientists found no difference between performing an action and merely imagining oneself performing that action-the same neuronal circuits fire in either case.

      Experiments have shown that simply visualizing an can have great impacts.

    3. consistently finding strong correlations between mental rehearsal-i.e., visualization-and better performance

      Visualization meditation has scientific backing

    1. what might be learned from the case. The answer, in part, is that prudent psychiatrists and other therapists will want to be thoughtful about how they arrange follow-up care for patients whom they can no longer see.Sometimes a general suggestion that a patient seek follow-up care will be adequate. However, as the patient's condition warrants, clinicians might choose, in ascending order of time commitment, to provide the patient with the name of a particular practitioner or facility, to contact the facility to ascertain that a clinician is willing to see the patient, to help the patient make an appointment, or, with the patient's permission, to make an appointment on the patient's behalf. In some cases, it may be appropriate to ask for the patient's permission to contact his or her family to indicate a need for follow-up and to encourage the family to make sure that follow-up takes place. But of these approaches, no specific one will always be indicated, and the degree of assistance rendered the patient should be calibrated to his or her individual needs.

      What can be learned from this case?

      • Carefully plan follow up plans with patients (general suggestion about follow up can be enough)
      • Ask patient for family information to help them get involved in the follow up process and help increase compliance.

      Consider:

      • Giving the specific name of a provider to follow up with
      • How to contact the facility,
      • See if who you provided/recommended is avaliable to take the patient
      • Help patient make the appointment or make it on their behalf (with permission)
    2. One final questionable aspect of the jury's verdict relates to the legal requirement that before a judgment of malpractice can be reached, any departures from the standard of care must be shown to have been the proximate cause of the resulting harms. The most common test for whether an act or omission constitutes a proximate cause is whether it was reasonably foreseeable at the time that the negligent act occurred that would result in the consequent harms. Williamson had no history of violent behavior and had never revealed a violent impulse during treatment. It is impossible to conclude that he was foreseeably dangerous at the time he was seen by Dr. Liptzin.

      The test for proximate cause "is whether it was reasonably foreseeable at the time that the negligent act occurred that would result in the consequent harms"

      In this case, Dr. Liptzin, having seen Williamson having no history of violence or anything else, could not reasonably foresee that Williamson was going to do something illegal.

    3. When a former psychiatric patient killed two people on the streets of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and then sued the psychiatrist who had treated him for failing to prevent the murders, the mental health world dismissed the suit as frivolous. But when a jury agreed with the killer and awarded him $500,000 in damages, bewilderment was the order of the day (1). Can it be true, psychiatrists asked, that murder pays—as long as you can blame your psychiatrist for your deed?

      This is the case where it was initially ruled that the psychiatrist was the proximate cause for the patient, Williamson, to commit murder. Subsequent higher courts overturned this decision.

    1. “Henneman’s size principle” and it provides the basis for why Myo Reps work so well.Evolution is an effective optimizer. If you are wasting energy, you’re dead. That sounds harsh in the modern, comfortable world, but it’s true, and a large part of how our muscles contract. The brain — via the central nervous system — will only contract as few muscles as it takes to get the job done. If you are walking down the street at a moderate pace, only your weakest muscle fibers will activate, not your strongest ones.

      Henneman's Size Principle says that motor units are recruitted from small to large as the force required increases.

      We use the minimal amount of motor units to get the job done (efficiency). To grow muscles we need to overwork muscles to fatigue, which means doing high intensity or large load exercises.

      Excellent video on Myo Reps: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3awPWm97dA