Learning Mind: April 2012

Saturday, April 28, 2012

Learning Mind: new post

Posted: 28 Apr 2012 06:45 AM PDT

From school we know that energy can be transferred from one body to another or move to another state, but does not appear out of nowhere and never disappears. A person can gain energy and share it with others.

Since human has not only the soul but also the body, he needs both physical and mental energy. Where to take it from and how to become more energetic?

Everyone knows that energy can be obtained by performing physical exercise, good sleep and balanced nutrition. But even with all of these conditions, you may not get enough energy. As a rule, we have a lack of mental energy.

Usually we get mental energy from love, praise, support, understanding, doing our favorite things and walks in nature.

Unfortunately, in everyday life we tend to lose mental energy, but not to get it. Emotions carry out the transfer of mental energy. You must know that a positive emotion given to another person increases the energy of both people. Negative emotions increase the energy of the recipient and take it from the donor. This bad energy goes from you to another person. Next, it will go from him to another one. Everyone is trying to get rid of this negative energy.

How do people lose their energy? Energy becomes greater if you do not strain. Energy decreases from psychological stress. The strain causes energy shortages. Even a bargain when shopping creates tension. Think about how you are going to feel if you buy something without bargaining and if you insist on a discount? Appreciable difference in the way you feel!

There are many situations when we experience a loss of mental energy. Each person has his own situations. It depends on what activity he is capable of and on his nervous system. The less you are capable of a certain activity, the more energy you will spend on it. For example, an unsociable person will lose a lot of energy even in a small conversation.

If you are doing something with difficulty, you will lose energy. If you like what you are doing and even a thought of it pleases you, then you recharge your batteries.

So, how to stay energetic, if it is not possible to get rid of all the unpleasant things in your life? Compensate the activities you do not like with what brings you joy. Thus you will keep the right balance and the good mood.

LSD effects on brain: hidden potential of psychedelic drugs

Posted: 27 Apr 2012 12:56 PM PDT

Certain scientific studies claim that the well-known psychedelic drug LSD can help in the treatment of alcoholism and improve the condition of hopeless cancer patients, but historical taboos hinder the benefits of medical use of psychedelics.

David Nichols, professor of medicinal chemistry and molecular pharmacology, conducted the above-mentioned study on the LSD effects in patients with terminal cancer. Nichols found alleviation of anxiety and physical pain as well as loss of the fear of death in the most patients.

“The interesting thing about psychedelic drugs is that they greatly alter the views of the world. And I am very curious which part of the brain is so vital that is able to change the way we perceive reality?” said the scientist.

Nichols has been studying the effects of psychedelic drugs on the brain's chemistry since 1969 and found that LSD may be used as a molecular tool to help understand the functions of the brain and decipher the mechanism of the appearance of emotions, which could assist in the treatment of certain mental disorders such as depression.

Nichols's study is a mixture of neuroscience, chemistry and pharmacology. It is conducted on the basis of a study of various research subjects such as rat behaviour, molecular synthesis, cloned brain receptors and computer models.

According to Nichols, brain receptors respond to anything new and make people notice things, for example, when something falls down and breaks suddenly. When a person takes LSD, these receptors become more sensitive, and any usual object may seem "interesting". “It creates novelty where novelty does not exist,” said Nichols.

Except for his study of LSD, Nichols has worked with Ecstasy, exploring the possibility of the drug to activate receptors in schizophrenics, to help them enhance memory and cognitive skills. Although the research is still under way, it may help those who suffer from schizophrenia and Parkinson’s disease.

However, the stigma put on the use of psychedelic drugs hinder many promising scientific ideas.

LSD was discovered yet in 1943 and immediately attracted attention due to its chemical similarity to serotonin, the "happiness hormone". However, after the 1960s social revolution its "bad" reputation stopped serious research. Nichols said: “Imagine if someone invented the transistor, but does not use it“.

Nichols, who has a license to work with substances considered illegal by government, does not support the use of psychedelics for fun. ”I think we need to understand with what purpose they have to be used,” he said. ”I believe that psychedelics have a medical future, just they are not studied enough“.

Friday, April 27, 2012

Learning Mind: new post

Fast food is proven to cause depression

Posted: 27 Apr 2012 06:39 AM PDT

Delicious dishes that are part of the menu of fast food outlets do not only “burden” our silhouette with extra pounds, but according to a Spanish study, affect our mental health.

As researchers from the University of Las Palmas, Canary Islands explained in a publication in the Journal of Public Health Nutrition, people who often eat fast food have more increased risk of developing depression than those who follow a healthier nutritional pattern.

The study involved 9,000 volunteers who until then had not been diagnosed with depression. Experts were watching them for a period of six months. As a result they found that people who often ate fast food such as hamburgers, pizzas and hot dogs were 51% more likely to develop depression than those who did not fall to such "temptations”.

At the end of the experiment about 493 people who went to fast food nutritional choices were diagnosed as suffering from depression and were given antidepressants.

“Even the consumption of small quantities is associated with greater possibilities of developing depression“, explains leadinmg researcher Dr Almudena Sanchez-Villegas. According to her, the study serves to confirm previous research findings linking fast food eating with depression.

“Although these findings need further study, consumption of specific foods should be done with caution as it appears that they have serious impacts on both physical (obesity, cardiovascular diseases) and mental health“, concludes the expert.

Thursday, April 26, 2012

Learning Mind: new post

10 reasons to become an optimist
New iPhone app can influence your dreams!
Secrets of developing positive thinking

10 reasons to become an optimist

Posted: 26 Apr 2012 06:41 AM PDT

The "half full glass" principle can affect almost every aspect of our lives, whether it is health, career or relationships with other people. There are at least 10 reasons to help you become an optimist and see the world in more positive colors.

1. It is proved that optimists live longer, faster restore their health after a serious illness and are self-confident.

2. Optimists tend to be happy in marriage, they have a large circle of acquaintances and friends.

3. These people are more successful in their careers and are always full of creative ideas. The optimist is open to anything new and his mind is almost devoid of stereotypes.

4. The optimist takes more from life, he is luckier than others. In a case of failure he quickly gets over it and starts all over again.

5. Especially optimism helps in critical situations. Legendary traveler Alain Bombard, who crossed theAtlantic Ocean alone in a boat without food or water, wrote in his book: “In the ocean, it is not loneliness, thirst, hunger or sharks that kill people. The fear does“. Our life is like ocean. As Friedrich Nietzsche once said: “That which does not kill us makes us stronger".

6. People who think positively are almost always in good mood. It does not mean that they never feel frustrated or overwhelmed, sometimes it happens. But optimists have the ability to quickly regain their composure as well as to find a positive in a negative. They consider their defeats and failures temporary and passing, that is why they do not give up and reach their goals.

7. Positive thinking affects even the senses. Optimistic and balanced people are more creative, attentive, have better-developed vision and hearing.

8. Optimists longer maintain youth and health. They believe that their health is in their hands. Scientific studies show that with help of positive thinking the body’s defence becomes stronger. The harmony of the soul is the base of the harmony of the body, and the harmony of the body is the best defence against disease. When the optimist falls ill, he devotes all his energy to recovering. Positive attitude is replenished by the power of autosuggestion. The optimist is well aware that the disease is a signal that it is time to change something in his life.

9. Optimists are more successful financially and professionally. Where others see obstacles, they see opportunities. For them any problem is some kind of opportunity, a small obstacle on the path to the goal, but not a burden.

10. Initially optimists do not consider other people enemies. Even if they are disappointed in someone, they do not transfer their frustration on other people. They are easy to agree with and have an open and friendly style of communication.

Now you see how nice is to be an optimist! And it is really easy to become one! Check out these tips on developing positive thinking.

New iPhone app can influence your dreams!

Posted: 25 Apr 2012 02:56 PM PDT

A British psychologist carries out a mass participation experiment in order to verify whether an application for smartphones with the name Dream:On can positively influence human dreams.

The application is developed by a scientific team led by Richard Wiseman, professor at the University of Hertfordshire. It is considered to monitor and record sleep patterns, eventually producing a particular sound when a sleeping person sees a dream.

An iPhone with the Dream:On application is positioned next to bed before the user is going to bed. Firstly the application records the movements of the user and when he passes into the REM sleep stage (dream stage), the mobile plays a soothing piece of music.

The sound is considered to unconsciously create a sense of pleasant experiences for the sleeping person: it makes him feel lying on the beach, flying or walking through the forest.

When the person leaves the REM sleep stage, the application generates an alarm sound so that the user wakes up and describes his dream into a “dreamcatcher-database". Dreams can be instantly shared on social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook.

Professor Wiseman and his team expect thousands of entries. So far, the application is free and can be downloaded for iPhone and iPad from the Apple official site. A version for other smartphones will be released later this year.

Secrets of developing positive thinking

Posted: 25 Apr 2012 10:12 AM PDT

Positive thinking helps achieve success in all endeavors. Here are 3 secrets of its application.

The power of desire

In your mind imagine what you would like to achieve or what character features to acquire. Think for a moment that all this is possible.

Awaken in yourself a strong desire to attain your wishes reflecting on the subject of your aspirations. Provoke in you vivid emotions and strong desires, and new ideas will replace your old fears and negative thoughts.

If you carefully think over the above, you will see that it is not new for you. When you worry, then first of all you imagine a vivid picture of potential unpleasant outcome. You do not make any effort, but just persistently think of the final result. The only difference now is that you should change the imagined negative results to the positive ones.

By continuous 'playback' of the image of potential unpleasant outcome, it begins to seem to you more and more real. After some time it automatically provokes appropriate emotions: fear, anxiety, frustration. Now, by changing the 'outcome image', you can easily cause positive emotions.

Mentally drawing a desired outcome and reflecting on it, you make it more and more likely to happen, but this time it causes enthusiasm, cheerful mood, confidence and joy in the anticipation of victory.

Without trying you will never know

Do not forget that your mind with equal ease can act as a 'mechanism of failure' or as a 'mechanism of success', depending on the information that you put into it and on the goals you set. After all, our mind is a 'device' striving for particular goals. Many of us unconsciously and unintentionally determine the failure as the ultimate goal due to a routine habit of drawing in mind the images of possible negative outcome.

Remember that your mind does not 'negotiate' the incoming information and does not 'put it into question'. That is why it is very important to give it real and truthful information about the world. The purpose of conscious logical thinking is to find the truth, to work out the right assessments and opinions. In fact, most of us are inclined to underestimate ourselves and overestimate the nature of the challenges we face.

Many people get easily upset by a nonchalantly dropped negative comment. When someone is treating them not enough respectfully or even contemptuously, they unconditionally “swallow” this fact, concluding that they are defective in some way. Almost every one of us every day becomes a subject of negative suggestion. If our mind is functioning normally, there is no need to blindly accept this suggestion. If you are criticized or get a negative comment, just tell yourself: “It is far from that.”

The purpose of conscious rational thinking is to develop a logical conclusion. The thought “I failed in the past that is why I will certainly fail in future” is not logical. It is absolutely unreasonable to say to yourself “I can't” in the absence of any evidence to support such a conclusion. Take the example of a person who replied to the question whether he can play the piano like this:
- I don't know.
– What does it mean “I don't know”? - Followed a puzzling question.
– I’ve never tried to.

Decide what you want

The point is to decide what you want, to set goals you want to achieve and focus on them. Don't spend time and effort on identifying what you do not want because it is unreasonable. Check out detailed tips on how to discover what you really want from life.

You have to believe and trust your subconscious mind. Only by trusting and acting you can expect real results. You need to learn to do your job and act decisively, believing in the best and letting the results take care of themselves.

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Learning Mind: new post

The six basic laws of life

Posted: 23 Apr 2012 11:05 AM PDT

In our life there are certain laws that must be followed. It helps us have a more harmonious relationship with the universe and makes our desires happen faster. Here are these laws:

1. You get what you give

If you want to have good relations with other people, treat them in a good way. Love people, do good, give gifts. Learn to be more generous.

2. Outer world is a mirror of your inner world

If you do not like what is happening to you in the outside world, look deep into yourself and find the cause. By changing yourself you change what is around you. If you do not love your body, it becomes flabby and sick. In addition, your non-love affects other people and they treat you as you treat yourself.

3. Like attracts like

Good attracts good, fears materialize, evil thoughts return like a boomerang. You choose what you want to attract.

4. Love makes wonders

Love is what you should get started with. It is the most powerful healing force. Love for yourself and for others is your first goal in the positive transformation.

5. Thought is material

It all starts in your head. Your thoughts are the key to everything. You yourself create disease and health, wealth and poverty.

6. Responsibility

The law of responsibility is very important, as all the other laws. Its essence is to get rid of the victim's role. Release the guilt and take your life into your hands. You can succeed in anything the point is to believe in it!

These are the basic laws of life. Be aware of them and be happy!

Monday, April 23, 2012

Learning Mind: new post

Astral projection: myth or reality?

Posted: 23 Apr 2012 06:10 AM PDT

What is astral projection? A creature of imagination, a game of the brain or an alternative approach to reality? This question concerns not only those who practice astral projection (intentionally or unintentionally), but all those trying to understand what happens to consciousness and mind. The most suitable organization to answer this question is the International Academy of Consciousness.

Here is a part of the interview of David Lindsay, director of New York Department (which is considered one of the most organized and promising part of the organization), who responded to a series of questions related to the mysterious phenomenon of astral projection.

What is astral projection?

Astral projection is a so-called out-of-body experience, i.e. a situation in which our non-physical body (in other words, conscience or soul) get separated from our material body.

Many psychologists believe that it is some kind of hallucination experienced by people who have had a trauma in childhood and believe being separated from their physical body, because it was very painful for them to be under domestic violence and similar conditions.

However, based on the results of experiments with people who had out-of-body experiences, this phenomenon happens in our non-physical body and seems to be the body which we use after the biological death.

In a nutshell, it is a separation of the individual consciousness from the physical body by using the non-physical body.

What are the types of out-of-body experiences?

There are many different types of out-of-body experiences. The most common by far are those that give a sense of travel and relaxation, for example, when you can fly over a landscape.

Sometimes we can have an out-of-body experience as the result of training and it can us help find information that will be useful in a very practical way in our lives.

What can astral projection give us?

One of the most important benefits of astral projection is a thriving way of perceiving our lives. We do not see it simply as a material world, just a physical body anymore. We understand that we are more than just a physical body. It is a very important advantage, considering the materialistic way of life we have today.

It also helps us to look with a different perspective at our personal problems. When we realize that we are more than just a physical body and this life is temporary, then we begin to have more balance and optimism.

There are other advantages, such as the fact that we become more self-aware. Through the out-of-body experiences we begin to see ourselves in a broader context and acquire images from different cultures. Sometimes we even can discover our previous lives.

“Astral projection proves the existence of the soul”

When we begin to consciously have out-of-body experiences, we see clearly that we have a soul, a spirit. We do believe that we have this existence that survives after physical death, and we will have another life in future, after leaving this life. We can see it very clearly as a result of these experiences.

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Learning Mind: new post

How do we detect lies?
Life on Mars was discovered 36 years ago!
Can computers compete with human intelligence?

How do we detect lies?

Posted: 22 Apr 2012 05:45 AM PDT

According to the researchers from the Universityof British Columbia, the secret is hidden in five muscle groups that change “behavior” when someone is lying.

Experts from the Psychology Department of the University studied 52 cases of people who had appeared on television in several countries talking to the public about safe return of their relatives or gathering information that could lead to the killers of their beloved persons.

According to authorities, half of these individuals based on data (DNA, etc.) appeared to lie and then were convicted of murder.

The American psychologists, for their part, found that the stress experienced by individuals every time they are telling lie does not allow them to control the contractions of the facial muscles.

In a video analyzed by the researchers appeared 26 liars and 26 people who told the truth. Specifically, the experts studied more than 20,000 frames of their performances on TV and found significant differences between them.

The experts focused especially on the facial muscle groups associated with sadness, joy and surprise such as: forehead muscles (frontalis), eyelid muscles and several groups of muscles of the mouth.

Based on the findings of the research, the muscles related to the expression of grief – the eyelid muscles and the levator muscle of angle of mouth – seemed to contract more frequently in people who were telling the truth.

In contrast, in the face of those who were lying there was a small contraction of the zygomatic major muscles, located around the mouth, and a full frontalis muscle contraction.

These movements, according to the experts, contributed to the failed attempt to look sad.

As the scientists emphasize, behind the lie there is an evolutionary component. On average we lie twice a day.

Life on Mars was discovered 36 years ago!

Posted: 21 Apr 2012 11:21 AM PDT

In 1976 NASA conducted a research mission on Mars called Viking. It was an experiment of sending special robots to the red planet and it was aimed to detect extraterrestrial life. Thirty six years later an international team of mathematicians and other scientists concluded that the mission had actually discover traces of life on Mars!

In fact, biologist Joseph Miller argues that a human mission to Mars is necessary to check the results of that experiment. A tiny camera is enough to record the movement of bacteria on the surface of the planet.

A research team led by Miller have decided to re-examine data from the Viking mission. According to the primary interpretation, the mission’s robots had collected inorganic matter. The team of Miller put these results under doubt. The researchers took the initial data collected by the Vikings and estimated their complexity.

Since living systems are more complex than non-biological processes, the idea was to examine the results of the experiment from purely arithmetical point of view.

The researches found a close correlation between the complexity of the experiment results and the terrestrial biological datasets. It might mean that the samples from the Vikings are more likely to have biological character rather than purely geological.

The final conclusions of the new study will be presented in August 2012. Professor Miller added: “Based on what we have done so far, I would say that I am 99% sure that there is life up there“.

Can computers compete with human intelligence?

Posted: 21 Apr 2012 09:24 AM PDT

The question whether machines can compete with human intelligence has concerned scientific community since 1950, when Alan Turing published his historical study.

The science of artificial intelligence provides a series of challenges that must be overcome before the dream of Turing is realized. If you are put the question: “Which element has the atomic number 27 and precedes “blue” and “green”?” The human brain is able to combine language concepts and raise information from a huge database in memory before you answer: “Cobalt”.

Computers have become very proficient in it. Think that the Internet's search engines can find your question just after you type a few letters.

However, modification of the mathematical algorithm behind the search engines, so that they can give chess problems answers, was the beginning of the domination of machines. This was happened in 1999, when the IBM computer Deep Blue won over the world chess champion Garry Kasparov. Twelve years after it appeared the IBM supercomputer Watson which has the ability to analyze the importance and content of human language and quickly process enormous amounts of information.

The analysis of the logical implications of each movement on a chessboard is the easiest task for a computer.

Turing test

The Turing test from the study of 1950 has to do with communication. Turing asked: while talking over the network with a man and a computer can you distinguish one from another?

Since the only way to judge a person's intelligence is to communicate with him, should not we attribute intelligence with a computer if it was able to impersonate a human?

However the modern science of artificial intelligence believes that this definition is not reliable. Even if a computer manages to pass the Turing test, it does not have human perception. This is easily proved if we think that although computers are able to translate languages, they can't digest complex concepts.

The biggest challenge of artificial intelligence is to emulate the human ability to manage visual images. People are able to decode malformed characters and find hidden messages behind them. Computers are not.

The importance of this ability is manifested clearly if we think about the operation of security cameras. Security companies would love to have software capable of recognizing suspicious persons or behavior. So far, only the human eye can do that.