Top 10 Common Faults In Human Thought Humans The human mind is a wonderful thing. Cognition, the act or process of thinking, enables us to process vast amounts of information quickly. For example, every time your eyes are open, you brain is constantly being bombarded with stimuli. You may be consciously thinking about one specific thing, but you brain is processing thousands of subconscious ideas. Unfortunately, our cognition is not perfect, and there are certain judgment errors that we are prone to making, known in the field of psychology as cognitive biases. The Gambler’s fallacy is the tendency to think that future probabilities are altered by past events, when in reality, they are not. Reactivity is the tendency of people to act or appear differently when they know that they are being observed. Pareidolia is when random images or sounds are perceived as significant. Interesting Fact: the Rorschach Inkblot test was developed to use pareidolia to tap into people’s mental states. Self-fulfilling Prophecy
Positive Psychology Exercise - Emoclear Self-Helpapedia Emoclear Positve Psychology Exercise I: Doing Pleasurable, Important, and Meaningful Activities Every day for two weeks do the following: 1. Choose a pleasurable activity to do alone and do it to completion. Emoclear Positive Psychology Exercise II: Building Character. Based on Character Strengths (Peterson & Seligman, 2004). For two weeks pick two activities per day from the list below. The Activity List: 1. Here's a reflection exercise for accessing appreciation and gratitude: This exercise is to be done daily for two weeks. 1. Have fun, Steve 47 Mind-Blowing Psychology-Proven Facts You Should Know About Yourself I’ve decided to start a series called 100 Things You Should Know about People. As in: 100 things you should know if you are going to design an effective and persuasive website, web application or software application. Or maybe just 100 things that everyone should know about humans! The order that I’ll present these 100 things is going to be pretty random. So the fact that this first one is first doesn’t mean that’s it’s the most important.. just that it came to mind first. Dr. <div class="slide-intro-bottom"><a href="
Make Your Own Luck Mary and Charles could be considered fortunate—what are the chances that the owner would stop them when they were most in need of a home? And yet, they were the ones who agreed to investigate an unlikely prospect. Their open-mindedness turned a strange moment into a lucky break. People who spot and seize opportunity are different. They are more open to life's forking paths, so they see possibilities others miss. Psychologists are figuring out why some people always seem to juggle incredible opportunities. 1. Luck is hard to study, and yet scientists have uncovered the startlingly large role chance plays in love and work. Elizabeth Nutt Williams, a psychology professor at St. Richard Wiseman, a psychologist from the University of Hertfordshire and author of The Luck Factor, spent a decade researching people's perceptions of their luck. 2. Serendipity smiles upon people who have a more relaxed approach to life. Cognitive flexibility can be cultivated, too. 3. The takeaway? 4. 5.
300+ Mind Expanding Documentaries Source: www.diygenius.com | Original Post Date: January 12, 2014 – I watch a lot of documentaries. I think they are incredible tools for learning and increasing our awareness of important issues. The power of an interesting documentary is that it can open our minds to new possibilities and deepen our understanding of the world. On this list of mind expanding documentaries you will find different viewpoints, controversial opinions and even contradictory ideas. Critical thinking is recommended. Watching documentaries is one of my favorite methods of self-education. I hope you find these documentaries as enlightening as I did! [1] Life In The Biosphere Explore the wonder and interconnectedness of the biosphere through the magic of technology. 1. [2] Creativity and Design: Learn about all the amazing things that people create with their imaginations. 1. [3] The Education Industrial Complex: The modern school where young minds are moulded into standardized citizens by the state. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1.
List of Values The following list of values will help you develop a clearer sense of what's most important to you in life, as explained in the article Living Your Values. Simply print out this page, mark the values which most resonate with you, and then sort your list in order of priority. As you scan the values list below, you may find that while most values have little or no significance to you (and some may even seem negative to you), there are those values that just jump out and call to you, and you feel, "Yes, this value is part of me." Steve RecommendsHere are my recommendations for products and services I've reviewed that can improve your results. Site Build It! Positive Psychology Exercises Mental health is the true concern of psychology. But how can one's health be judged? If a person does not have any mental illnesses, but is still not happy, should he/she see a psychologist? And what technique should be used for treatment? Where and Why is Positive Psychology Used? Positivism can be used in clinical psychology, by encouraging focus on both positive and negative functioning, when understanding distress. Positive Psychology Exercises Keep a Treasure Chest: Store happy memories in a box or album. Be Unique and Show It: Revel in your individuality. How Social Are You: Do a pleasurable activity like gardening or writing, and do it alone to completion. Control Your Emotions: Nothing lasts forever, bad or good. Helping Others Helps You: Philanthropic and charity activities help increase your self-esteem. Write a Gratitude Letter: Thanking someone is a positive feeling for the recipient and you. Love and Listen More: Maintain your relationships with your loved ones.
10 Practical Uses For Psychological Research in Everyday Life | People love to give each other advice. The web is full to bursting with all types of pseudo-psychological advice about life. The problem is, how much of this is based on real scientific evidence? Well, here on PsyBlog we’ve got the scientific evidence. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 7 Habits of Incredibly Happy People While happiness is defined by the individual, I’ve always felt it foolish to declare that nothing can be learned from observing the happiness of others. In our day-to-day lives it is easy to miss the forest for the trees and look over some of the smaller, simpler things that can disproportionally affect our happiness levels. Luckily, we can go off more than just our intuition; there are lots of studies that aim for finding the right behavior that leads to a happier life. Below, we take a look at some of the more actionable advice. 1. Research shows that being “rushed” puts you on the fast track to being miserable. The porridge is just right when you’re living a productive life at a comfortable pace. Feeling like you’re doing busywork is often the result of saying “Yes” to things you are not absolutely excited about. You should be expanding your comfort zone often, but not so much that you feel overwhelmed. 2. 3. Humility is not thinking less of yourself, but thinking of yourself less. 4.
The Buddhist Society: Buddhist Funerals Buddhism originated in North West India some 2,500 years ago, with the enlightenment of Siddhartha Gautama, who became known as the Buddha (the Awakened One). His teaching, or Dharma, then spread from its Indian home throughout Asia, and Buddhist civilisations were established in China, Tibet, Japan and East Asia generally. Many Buddhists in the UK come from families with ethnic links to one of these traditional Buddhist countries (e.g. Thailand, Sri Lanka, Japan, China). The essential teachings of the Buddha are often presented in the following words:- ‘To avoid all evil, to cultivate good, and to cleanse one's mind — this is the teaching of the Buddhas.’ Attitudes To Illness In Buddhism old age, illness and death are acknowledged to be inherent in life itself, so Buddhists will generally appreciate frankness about diagnosis, the effects of treatment and prognosis. Attitudes To Pain Relief Death and Dying Funeral Services Thinking Ahead and Planning Arranging A Buddhist Funeral
Top 10 Thinking Traps Exposed Our minds set up many traps for us. Unless we’re aware of them, these traps can seriously hinder our ability to think rationally, leading us to bad reasoning and making stupid decisions. Features of our minds that are meant to help us may, eventually, get us into trouble. Here are the first 5 of the most harmful of these traps and how to avoid each one of them. 1. “Is the population of Turkey greater than 35 million? Lesson: Your starting point can heavily bias your thinking: initial impressions, ideas, estimates or data “anchor” subsequent thoughts. This trap is particularly dangerous as it’s deliberately used in many occasions, such as by experienced salesmen, who will show you a higher-priced item first, “anchoring” that price in your mind, for example. What can you do about it? Always view a problem from different perspectives. 2. In one experiment a group of people were randomly given one of two gifts — half received a decorated mug, the other half a large Swiss chocolate bar. 3. 4.
The Last Lecture: A Positive Psychology Case Study My colleague Ben Dean and I recently conducted an Internet survey of 1464 adults interested in positive psychology that asked what they would most like to know about this new field. A large number wanted compelling case examples of actual people who lived life well, who embodied the strengths of character that we have been studying with quantitative methods. The world's greatest teachers, from Socrates and Jesus to the present, have always used parables to instruct and inspire others, and in the disciplines of business and law, the detailed examination of particular cases is the preferred method of teaching. Psychologists have also relied on cases, but these have been psychiatric histories that centered on people's problems. Here is another exception, a marvelous example of what it means to live well: Carnegie Mellon Computer Science Professor Randy Pausch, whose "last lecture" is all over the Internet (e.g.. www.randypausch.com ). I watched his last lecture wearing many hats.
7 Secrets of the Super Organized A few years ago, my life was a mess. So was my house, my desk, my mind. Then I learned, one by one, a few habits that got me completely organized. Am I perfect? So what’s the secret? Are these obvious principles? If your life is a mess, like mine was, I don’t recommend trying to get organized all in one shot. So here are the 7 habits: Reduce before organizing. If you take your closet full of 100 things and throw out all but the 10 things you love and use, now you don’t need a fancy closet organizer. How to reduce: take everything out of a closet or drawer or other container (including your schedule), clean it out, and only put back those items you truly love and really use on a regular basis. Write it down now, always.
Top five regrets of the dying There was no mention of more sex or bungee jumps. A palliative nurse who has counselled the dying in their last days has revealed the most common regrets we have at the end of our lives. And among the top, from men in particular, is 'I wish I hadn't worked so hard'. Bronnie Ware is an Australian nurse who spent several years working in palliative care, caring for patients in the last 12 weeks of their lives. Ware writes of the phenomenal clarity of vision that people gain at the end of their lives, and how we might learn from their wisdom. Here are the top five regrets of the dying, as witnessed by Ware: 1. "This was the most common regret of all. 2. "This came from every male patient that I nursed. 3. "Many people suppressed their feelings in order to keep peace with others. 4. "Often they would not truly realise the full benefits of old friends until their dying weeks and it was not always possible to track them down. 5. "This is a surprisingly common one.