Mindsight, The Lecture
Daniel Siegel speaking as part of the Google Personal Growth Series last year, around the time he published Mindsight.
A Little Book on the Human Shadow
Something to consider reading: A Little Book on the Human Shadow, by Robert Bly.
You may know Bly as the author of men’s movement tome, Iron John. He’s also a poet, public speaker, and engaged reader of lots of psych lit–particularly Carl Jung, Alice Miller, and Marie Louise von Franz.
Shadow reproduces a series of readings by and interviews with Bly, tied together with Jungian themes. Who or what do you hate? Take a careful look. It may be that the qualities you despise most are the very qualities you were encouraged (or forced) to refuse yourself as you were growing up–irresponsibility, carelessness, greed, rage.
Bly encourages reconnecting with these despised traits–to honor the items stowed “in your bag.” How? Art, expression. Especially helpful is an exploration of how these “shadow” dynamics play out in romantic relationships. Not unlike the longer, less poetry-filled, more widely read Getting the Love You Want, by Harville Hendrix. Take your pick.
Against Sitting
A standing desk with a treadmill? Maybe a good idea, say some NYT debaters.
Yes, we all sit too much, but will our sedentary ways reduce our lifespans?…Or are there ways to stay in the chair 10 or 12 hours a day?
The Long Road to Adulthood
It’s official: Independence no longer begins at 21.
People between 20 and 34 are taking longer to finish their educations, establish themselves in careers, marry, have children and become financially independent…“A new period of life is emerging in which young people are no longer adolescents but not yet adults.”
Married With (or Without) Children
A survey reported on the Well blog shows fidelity as criteria #1 for a happy marriage.
But what about children? As an ingredient to a happy marriage, kids were far from essential, ranking eighth behind good sex, sharing chores, adequate income and a nice house, among other things. Only 41 percent of respondents said children were important to a happy marriage, down from 65 percent in 1990.
Testosterone v. Trust
NYT: She doesn’t trust you? Blame the testosterone.
Researchers…gave young women a dose of the hormone in the form of a drop of liquid placed under the tongue, then asked them to judge the trustworthiness of a series of men’s faces shown in photographs. The women were significantly less inclined to trust a face when given testosterone than when they had taken a placebo.
Therapy for Depression
Another study showing that depression declines with Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. This one with longer-term treatment–35 sessions.
“On completion of therapy, patients reported significantly fewer symptoms than on commencement,” Schindler summarizes the results of a before/after comparison. Whether patients were also concomitantly taking psychotropic drugs or not evidently had no effect on the outcome.
Long Thoughts and the Internet Sabbath
To the Point joins the chatter re The Internet and the Human Brain–sparked in part by the publication of an apparently doom-heavy new book, The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains.
Want to keep yourself thinking “long thoughts”? Take weekends away from the web, suggests one panelist…if you can.
Money v. Happiness
PsychCentral: Money Impedes Our Ability to Enjoy the Little Pleasures in Life, says study.
Simply seeing a picture of money — which appears to prime our brains, increasing the concept of money at a level below awareness — seems to impede our ability to enjoy life’s little pleasures.
Sexsomnia
NYT: No Sex, Please: You’re Sleeping
Some people sleepwalk; others talk in their sleep. Now a study finds that 1 in 12 patients with sleep disorders reported having had sex while they were asleep.
Yes, there’s a website on the subject: sleepsex.org.