Awareness

Science discovering “tastes good” versus “wanting more”

Audio / Awareness / Perception

Science discovering “tastes good” versus “wanting more”

Have you noticed the difference between something tasting good---that you like the sensation---versus wanting more---that it motivates you to eat more, though doesn't always taste good? If the nuance sounds foreign, I've written on it several times. I use it to illustrate the difference between craving and emotional reward. In my experience, the difference seems subtle until you get it. Then it's huge. Emotional reward improves life, craving enables others to control you, among other differences. Here are some of my posts on it: Tastes Good versus Want More, explored in depth "Want to eat more" and "tastes good" aren't the same feeling Examples of "tastes good" versus "want more" Avoid that addictive tug People study this difference. They usually use scientific terms, which I…

May 8, 2020

Do you research how much water certain produce requires to grow?

Awareness / Nature

Do you research how much water certain produce requires to grow?

Someone asked on a message board, "Do you research how much water certain produce requires to grow?" I responded: Yes. At the beginning, when I felt obligated to act and it felt a burden, I avoided learning new things, feeling if I kept learning, there'd be nothing left and I'd feel guilty eating anything.As I practiced more, met the farmers behind my CSAs and farmers markets, and learned how delicious all fruits and vegetables are, I came to act out of love and passion. Like an artist, attention to detail emerged as joyful. Now I love learning more about everything I eat.The result keeps bringing me back to more local foods. Yes, in New York in March that means I've coming off months with few…

March 31, 2020

Covid advice applies to the environment. What we can do here we can do everywhere.

Awareness / Choosing/Decision-Making / Nature

Covid advice applies to the environment. What we can do here we can do everywhere.

EDIT: I recommend everyone watch these videos on preventing pandemics including COVID-19, considering how much our behavior is causing them: Pandemics: History & PreventionCan we stop a future pandemic? Dr. Michael Greger M.D explains what's next. My mom suggested a post from a woman, Jodi Ettenberg, who posts as Legalnomad, I'M IN THE VULNERABLE CLASS FOR COVID-19. A PLEA TO TAKE THIS VIRUS SERIOUSLY. First, if it doesn't go without saying, I recommend you follow the guidelines of the most knowledgeable people and organizations on the virus. I am not one of them so seek them out. I'm sure you already know that advice, but making sure anyway. I'm commenting on what I see could help humanity beyond this situation. I'll copy here advice from…

March 14, 2020

One way to lower white supremacists’ appeal

Awareness / Nonjudgment / Perception / Tips

One way to lower white supremacists’ appeal

Why am I writing so much about white males? Partly because I am one but live in a society that denigrates and silences the group. When I read about people in other groups exploring their accidents of birth---their skin color, sex, sexual preference, geographic origin---society seems to celebrate them. My city hosts parades for many groups. Does anyone wonder how much it would accept a white male parade? I expect the media field day would destroy the careers of anyone seriously proposing it. Would you take it seriously? Would you expect it to fill with white supremacists and neo-Nazis? Would you say white men are already celebrated and don't need a parade? Anyway, my introspection and exploration is secondary. As much as I refuse to…

February 23, 2020

The project I assigned myself following up my posts on white men

Awareness / Models / Nonjudgment / Perception / Psychology Today

The project I assigned myself following up my posts on white men

Yesterday's post Update on automatic thoughts people connect with straight white men culminated with a couple questions I found intriguing: Imagine if your entire life, every time you said you suffered, people said, "actually that's an example of you causing others to suffer."How would that affect your life? and: Imagine every time you said you worked hard at something, people said, "actually that's an example of how easy your life is."How would that affect your life? My recent conversations revealed them. I've started thinking about them. No one I spoke to answered them. As best I can tell, answering them would take empathy, imagining yourself in other people's shoes, and putting yourself in the background. From my perspective, I would value hearing someone speculate on…

February 22, 2020

Update on automatic thoughts people connect with straight white men

Awareness / Models / Nonjudgment / Perception / Psychology Today

Update on automatic thoughts people connect with straight white men

Last month I asked "What automatic thoughts come to you when you think of straight white men?". I also explored the topic with Psychology Today's Editor-at-Large, Hara Estroff Marano, in an audio recording for a piece there, White Men and Preconceived Notions. A white man Some updates. . . First, context. However obvious, I'll still say that the following is a personal account with all the biases of someone just talking to the people he came across in a month, not trying for a representative sample or to account for biases. My goal was to explore life, not publish in a peer-reviewed journal. Everyone seems to go through stages talking about race. First they seem to shy away from it. Then something changes, I believe…

February 21, 2020

Psychology Today: White Men and Preconceived Notions

Audio / Awareness / Models / Nonjudgment / Perception / Psychology Today

Psychology Today: White Men and Preconceived Notions

Psychology Today's Editor at Large, Hara Estroff Marano, and I continue our conversations on challenging topics. Today we continue with white men and preconceived notions of us. We were talking about topics before hitting record, I started to describe the pattern that comes up a few minutes into this recording, she lit up in the way someone who has thought about something and has something to say about it does, so we picked stereotypes of white men. Here's the article. Here's the recording: https://youtu.be/HKjrnnOd-jc I think we both thought, "I hope we don't get fired," but also felt, "how can we learn if we don't speak?", so we bit the bullet and recorded. I haven't heard a conversation like it before. The number of threads…

February 17, 2020

What automatic thoughts come to you when you think of straight white men?

Awareness / Nonjudgment / Perception

What automatic thoughts come to you when you think of straight white men?

Comedians joke about stereotypes. People laugh when the jokes resonate with something in their heads. Everyone is unique, but as far as I can tell, many of thoughts of groups' stereotypes come to mind automatically. I'm not sure if we can choose any thoughts. Here is an example of Larry David joking about Jewish stereotypes: https://youtu.be/uGkLjfPWqeI Here is an example of David Chappelle joking about black and white stereotypes: https://youtu.be/wJ4B7G8Rw3Q I searched online and found a couple top lists of stereotypes, which I'll quote below. Many people have automatic thoughts when seeing other people, often based on their skin color, gender, and sexual orientation. You are probably familiar with the stereotypes Larry David and David Chappelle referenced, even if you don't think them. You're probably…

January 27, 2020

Why record temperatures matter

Awareness / Nature

Why record temperatures matter

The temperature in New York City hit 65F (18C) earlier this month. This week's forecast predicts highs in the 40s every day but one---higher than the historic average high of 38F. The following conclusion should be obvious, I would think, and lead people to change their behavior big and soon. Somehow people aren't acting, or are acting minimally. So what's the problem? 45F is more comfortable than 38F. When the temperature hits the 60s, people go out and enjoy themselves, as they do in the spring. Everybody likes spring weather. The problem with record-setting high temperatures is that enough of them for years give credence to the climate models that predicted them. The problem with credence in those models is what they predict beyond this…

January 26, 2020

My thoughts from when the alarm goes off

Awareness / Habits / Perception / SIDCHAs

My thoughts from when the alarm goes off

I love my sidcha to wake up, make my bed, cross the room, and turn off my alarm within sixty seconds. Loving the sidcha doesn't mean I love every moment of it. On the contrary, the first few moments of it feel the same as they always have. I start with the same thoughts. Over the years, my inner monologue has come to change to purposeful enthusiasm faster. But I want to clarify: I'm the same as anyone. I don't like the feeling of an alarm waking me up. I want to stay in bed, especially in the winter, when my apartment is cool and my comforter keeps me warm. My thoughts go something like this: Oh no, what is that noise? . . .…

January 17, 2020

Why do people ask about energy levels?

Demonstrating my primate roots

Awareness / Fitness

Why do people ask about energy levels?

Tell someone you're vegetarian and the most common response will have something to do with protein---where you get it from, how much they eat, etc. The next most common I hear is a question I don't understand nor know how to ask: Do you have more energy? Energizing myself on the ferry on the way to swimming across the Hudson in 2008. The question comes in other forms: do you have less energy, how has it affected your energy levels, etc. Can someone help me understand the question? What are energy levels in relation to diet? I can tell when I feel exhausted after exercise or tired from lack of sleep. I can tell if caffeine jolts me. At the end of a three-day fast…

January 8, 2020

What rowing 2,000 meters for time feels like

Awareness / Fitness

What rowing 2,000 meters for time feels like

The standard distance people compare rowing skills is 2,000 meters. Because of current and wind, you can't compare times on the water, but you can with a rowing machine. World records are around 5:40, something like a sub-four-minute mile. Most rowers will describe the experience of rowing a 2k for time some of the most grueling six-to-eight minutes of their lives. Here's why. Rowing works you to your soul Benching a weight uses some muscles, but 90% of your body is resting. Rowing, you're using nearly everything---to exhaustion and then some. Every part of you is exhausted. You go beyond feeling it in your muscles to feeling it in your mind and soul. You ask, "why am I doing this" and "this" goes from meaning…

January 7, 2020

My dominant question. What’s yours?

Awareness / Exercises

My dominant question. What’s yours?

I saw friend-of-a-friend, podcast host, and memory expert Jim Kwik speak this morning. He mentioned a concept related to inner monologue: one's dominant question. He talks about it more on his podcast, but briefly, the concept relates to our inner monologue -- the voice running nonstop in our heads. I've written on inner monologue, including an exercise to help make you aware of yours: The Most Effective Self-Awareness Exercise I KnowA catalog of inner monologue thoughtsSome "The most helpful self-awareness exercise" commentsSome self-talk you'll recognize, to improve your self-awareness If you haven't done the exercise, I recommend it. I call it the most effective self-awareness exercise I know for a reason, and I know a lot of them. You'll find that your inner monologue repeats…

November 5, 2019

Did you ever notice when someone cancels . . .

Awareness / Perception

Did you ever notice when someone cancels . . .

Following my post the other day Did you ever notice when someone interrupts. . . I always have more work that I can do than time. . . but when someone cancels on me I get annoyed. And when I cancel on someone they reassure me by telling me they can use the time to work. I can to when the situation is reversed, but I still get annoyed. Until I get work done, I guess.

October 18, 2019

Did you ever notice when someone interrupts. . .

Awareness / Perception

Did you ever notice when someone interrupts. . .

Sometimes mid-sentence something distracts me and I lose my train of thought. Often when I do, I can't remember what I was saying before. It annoys me but I move on to something else. By contrast, if a person interrupted me to the same effect, I'd get angry, even if what I were saying were no more important. That is, if while saying the same thing, I were interrupted or distracted, despite the outcome being the same, in one case I'd get angry, the other no problem. Funny how we do that, isn't it?

October 15, 2019

Examples of “tastes good” versus “want more”

Awareness / Choosing/Decision-Making / Perception / SIDCHAs

Examples of “tastes good” versus “want more”

I've written on the difference in sensation between something tasting good versus making you feel like you want more of it (see "Want to eat more" and "tastes good" aren't the same feeling). I also spoke about them as a podcast guest in Tastes Good versus Want More, explored in depth. The difference, briefly: when you bite into a fruit you love, say an apple, it tastes good and you want more. Yet rarely do I eat two apples in a row. The second apple tastes as good as the first, but the sensation of wanting more decreases. By contrast, when I bite into a potato chip, it tastes good and I want more. But a few chips in, the feeling of their tasting good…

October 7, 2019

Artificial Intelligence, us, and becoming superfluous

Artificial Intelligence / Awareness

Artificial Intelligence, us, and becoming superfluous

Going off my usual topics, but when I see people talking about computers reaching and surpassing our intelligence, I only see them talk about it from our perspective. What will the machines or robots do with us? It hit me that if they out-think and out-perform us, first of all, the day they equal us, I expect the next day they'll out-perform us. Then the following day, or soon after, they'll surpass us by so much we won't know what's happening. Maybe "day" should be "month" or "year," but the point remains. If it takes intelligence to create intelligence, once they have more, they'll evolve faster and fast. Second of all, wouldn't they become the important character then? Wouldn't concerning ourselves with us after they've…

October 3, 2019

Does Personal Action Matter?

Awareness / Habits / Leadership

Does Personal Action Matter?

If you don't think personal action makes a difference on big things like elections or the environment, try looking at it this way. I'll put it in terms of the environment, but it applies to diet, voting, self-expression, and more. Many people do many things against their environmental values. Not just in general, but many times daily. They buy packaged food, they eat packaged food several times daily. They drive places they could walk, ride, or take public transit. They buy more stuff than they need. They let food spoil and throw it away. They contort their values and self-image to believe (while not really believing) that they're powerless or that what they do couldn't matter. Etc. Here's the other perspective: How many times do…

September 6, 2019

How many times is it normal to be mugged?

Awareness / Stories

How many times is it normal to be mugged?

I didn't share about The five times I got mugged growing up most of my life because I thought everyone had similar experiences. I knew we spent a few years in a particularly economically depressed neighborhood. I sensed it was one of the highest-crime areas of Philadelphia. Still, most of the times happened after we moved from that neighborhood. The time I got sucker-punched by random kids waiting for a bus was coming home from Philadelphia's premier public high school -- Philadelphia's Stuyvesant, to compare it to a better-known school. It was broad daylight. What fraction of people get mugged? I thought it was a part of growing up. I thought everyone got mugged at least once, maybe not at knife point, but at all.…

August 24, 2019

Cold Showers Rock

Awareness / Exercises / Fitness / Freedom / Habits / My Favorite Posts / SIDCHAs

Cold Showers Rock

I write a lot about cold showers. They may sound crazy, but bear with me and you may find them more helpful than you could have imagined. After taking a few in Shanghai because the water took five minutes to warm up that I couldn't stand wasting, in December of 2013, I took thirty days of cold showers. I can't tell you how much the discipline, dedication, and so on have helped. Taking them enables you to do things you wouldn't have thought you could but always wanted to, or that others dream of. If you're interested, read the posts in this series. Click on the links below to read my posts about it. 30 days of cold showers review: Lessons in discipline and pleasure…

August 22, 2019

Who knew silence and stillness could bring such joy?

Who knew silence and stillness could bring such joy?

Thrive Global is launching a meditation podcast and asked its contributors, including me, to write stories on meditation. I updated my 2009 post Jumping for Joy. The new story is also called Jumping for Joy. My Thrive Global piece begins . . . By the second day at a recent five-day silent meditation retreat, the mental static of everyday thoughts had mostly passed. Silent meant the whole shebang: no reading, writing, talking, internet, or anything but instruction and focus. Intense and challenging but rewarding, in my experience. The 9am session switched techniques from focusing on breathing to body scans, observing sensations. After one or two scans I found I could hardly sense anything subtler than, say, my shirt on my shoulders. Frustrating. I sensed how…

August 5, 2019

Do you think like an addict?

Pile of Refined Sugar

Awareness / Perception

Do you think like an addict?

For at least 20 years, I always had ice cream in my freezer and pretzels or potato chips in my cupboard. Somewhere inside, I knew I didn't want them. I told myself I couldn't help buying and eating them, but I could. I didn't stop. When I bought them, I would tell myself why buying them was okay, even though I thought I shouldn't. Pile of Refined Sugar How addicts think Addicts tell themselves why something they consciously oppose is okay. When I tell people I avoid packaging or flying, they tell me why some type of packaging is actually okay or that the plane would fly anyway. I know the thinking because we all have it in us. It's not you or me that…

June 19, 2019

“Published” in the New York Times

Awareness / Nature

“Published” in the New York Times

Sorry for the click-bait title. I commented on an article in the Times and it got included in Readers Picks. Hence the quotes in my title. The article was "If Seeing the World Helps Ruin It, Should We Stay Home?", subtitled: "In the age of global warming, traveling — by plane, boat or car — is a fraught choice. And yet the world beckons." You can read the article. From my view, it's an alcoholic struggling to justify stopping drinking, trying to square all the reasons he agrees with but he just wants another drink. With one big difference: the alcoholic drinking only hurts himself. Flying heats and pollutes the planet we all share. Some of the other responses looked beyond the personal thrill of…

June 4, 2019

60 hours only water

Awareness / Freedom / Perception

60 hours only water

Last year I went 72 hours with only water. I'd read and heard chatter about "intermittent fasting," not knowing what people meant. The more I looked into it, the more I found most people chattering didn't know what they were talking about so I ignored it. Then a friend told me about two benefits he experienced -- not read about or imagined, but experienced. He said The first meal after a 3-day fast tasted indescribably goodAfter about the second day, he felt more energetic than usual, though it required persevering a grumpy and challenging second day I love delicious and I love feeling energetic. If I only needed to go without food for a few days -- saving money and time -- why wouldn't I?…

June 1, 2019

An empty boat parable from life

Awareness / Perception / Stories

An empty boat parable from life

You may have read the empty boat parable. I don't much like it. I get its point, it sounds too contrived and fortune-cookie-like. The people who say it tend to sound new-agey, which is not a community I associate with. Yesterday morning, I experienced the point of the story without the contrivance. First I'll share the original for those who haven't read it. A young farmer laboriously paddled his boat up the river to deliver his produce to the village. It was a hot day, and he wanted to make his delivery and get home before dark. As he looked behind, he spied another vessel, heading rapidly downstream toward his boat. He shouted,"Change direction! You are going to hit me!" to no avail - the…

May 21, 2019

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