Tag: Video

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5 Things To Do Everyday To Be Happier

You can do an experiment where you give two groups of people a hundred dollars in the morning. You tell one of them to spend it on themselves, and one on other people. You measure their happiness at the end of the day. Those who spent on other people are much happier than those who spent it on themselves.”

— Nic Marks

Founder of the Center for Well-Being, an independent think tank at the New Economics Foundation, in London, Marks is particularly keen to promote a balance between sustainable development and quality of life. To investigate this, he devised the Happy Planet Index, a global index of human well-being and environmental impact.

The results made headlines: People in the world’s wealthiest countries, who consume the most of the planet’s resources, don’t come out on top in terms of well-being. Which raises the question: What purpose does unfettered economic growth serve?

5 Things To Do Everyday To Be Happier

According to Marks’ analysis of well being and happiness, what are the 5 things you should do every day to be happier?

1. Connect
Connect with the people around you. With family, friends, colleagues and neighbors. At home, work, school or in your local community. Think of these as the cornerstones of your life and invest time in developing them. Building these connections will support and enrich you every day.

2. Be Active…
Go for a walk or run. Step outside. Cycle. Play a game. Garden. Dance. Exercising makes you feel good. Most importantly, discover a physical activity you enjoy and one that suits your level of mobility and fitness.

3. Take Notice
Be curious. Catch sight of the beautiful. Remark on the unusual. Notice the changing seasons. Savor the moment, whether you are walking to work, eating lunch or talking to friends. Be aware of the world around you and what you are feeling. Reflecting on your experiences will help you appreciate what matters to you.

4. Keep Learning…
Try something new. Rediscover an old interest. Sign up for that course. Take on a different responsibility at work. Fix a bike. Learn to play an instrument or how to cook your favorite food. Set a challenge you will enjoy achieving. Learning new things will make you more confident as well as being fun.

5. Give…
Do something nice for a friend, or a stranger. Thank someone. Smile. Volunteer your time. Join a community group. Look out, as well as in. Seeing yourself, and your happiness, linked to the wider community can be incredibly rewarding and creates connections with the people around you.

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Social Scientist Philip Zimbardo: Factors Other Than Character Determine Behavior [TED Talk]

As a child growing up in a tough neighborhood in the South Bronx (an inner city ghetto of New York), social psychologist Philip Zimbardo learned at an early age that

the line between good and evil (which privileged people like to think is fixed and impermeable – with them on the good side and others on the bad side); I knew that line was movable and permeable.”

In this TED video [23 minutes] Zimbardo presents three factors which can determine the likelihood of evil acts from healthy, normal well-intentioned people:

Bad Apples, A Bad Barrel Or Bad Barrel-Makers?

The 3 factors influencing the transformation of human character towards evil can be summarized as:

• Dispositional: Inside the person. This is the factor most often considered by culture, religions and government as the cause of behavior.

• Situational: Outside the person. This is the factor pointing to the influence of a person’s immediate surroundings, typically one in which a person’s normal, habitual behavior is not possible.

• Systemic: The power structure that creates and sustains the situation.

Since the inquisition we’ve been dealing with problems at the level of the individual and it doesn’t work.”

He recommends a paradigm shift of focus

away from the medical model which focuses only on the individual, towards a public health model that recognizes situational and systemic vectors of disease.”

 

Promoting Heroism As The Antidote To Evil

Zimbardo suggests the following:

• Promote the heroic imagination of kids in our educational system.

We want kids to think, ‘I’m a hero in waiting,’ waiting for the right situation to come along to act heroically.”

• Motivate people to overcome the natural tendency towards passive inaction in social situations [as demonstrated in the Bystander Experiment].

• Teach children to think and act socio-centricly, rather than ego-centricly.

• Unlike childhood heroes such as Superman and Wonder Woman who have special powers, children need to be told that heroes can come from everyday people.

Source: Zimbardo quotes, cartoon and video from YouTube/Philip Zimbardo: Why Ordinary People… 

Source: Popeye word cloud courtesy Terry McCombs

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Crash Course In The 3 Interconnected E’s: Economy, Energy, Environment

The future is going to be about moving from an ‘I’ to a ‘we’ culture … back to a bygone era, where neighbors weren’t just nice to each other, but relied on each other. As an informed person, it is now your responsibility to help others as best you can.”

Chris Martensen, PhD, a post-doctorate neurotoxicologist-turned-economist, presents a 45 minute Crash Course on the economic crisis & describes the changes humanity faces.

In the course, Martenson presents an analysis of economy, energy, and the environment (the 3 E’s, as he calls them) and the ways in which they are interlinked.

He specifically outlines a “substantial mismatch between an economic model that must grow and a physical world of peaking oil and depleting resources,” and explains why the problems presented cannot be solved individually, but only by macro-cultural change.

What Role Do You Want To Play?

… in this dramatic turning point in our species’ history?

Shall your life be filled with fear or a resolute sense of purpose?

The only way these challenges can become insurmountable is if we let them, by ignoring them for too long.”

–Chris Martensen introducing his Crash Course

The 3 Interconnected E’s & The Problems They Pose

Economy:

…the banking system must continually expand – not necessarily because it is the right (or wrong) thing to do, but, rather, simply because that is how it was designed …the extremely wealthy are saving incredible amounts of money, while at the lower ends the savings rate is deeply negative. Why is this important? Because as the Greek philosopher Plutarch once stated, ‘An imbalance between rich and poor is the oldest and most fatal ailment of all republics.'”

Energy:

Energy is the lifeblood of any economy. But when an economy is based on an exponential debt-based money system, and that is based on exponentially increasing energy supplies, the supply of that energy therefore deserves our very highest attention…. Peak Oil is simply a fact. World production of conventional crude has been flat for the past four years, even as prices have increased by 140%.”

Environment:

Multiple essential resources are being depleted at ever faster rates. Our money system requires continual economic growth, but energy depletion will run headlong into dwindling resource returns to limit future growth options …So the question is this: What happens when a human-contrived money system that must expand, by its very design, runs headlong into the physical limits of a spherical planet?”

Watch Chris Martensen’s 45 Minute Crash Course (UK Version)

       

 

 

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Meaningful Labor Explained By Prof. Dan Ariely

Merriam-Webster dictionary defines “labor” as:

a : expenditure of physical or mental effort especially when difficult or compulsory.
b (1) :human activity that provides the goods or services in an economy
(2) : the services performed by workers for wages as distinguished from those rendered by entrepreneurs for profits.”

But, says Prof. of Behavioral Economics, Dan Ariely,

On an intuitive level most of us understand the deep interconnection between identity and labor… ‘What do you do?’ has become as common a component of an introduction as the anachronistic ‘How do you do?’ once was—suggesting that our jobs are an integral part of our identity, not merely a way to make money…”

Here is Ariely describing the psychology behind how we view labor:

Like Rats In A Maze?

As mentioned in a previous post, behavioral economics differs from standard economics because it doesn’t assume that people are strictly rational. Ariely describes this difference in the perception of labor:

… the basic economic model of labor generally treats working men and women as rats in a maze… all the rat (person) wants to do is to get to the food with as little effort as possible. But if work also gives us meaning, what does this tell us about why people want to work?”

Blogging As An Example

In his book, The Upside of Irrationality: The Unexpected Benefits of Defying Logic at Work and at Home, Ariely looks into what motivates so many people to write blogs:

… blogs have two features that distinguish them from other forms of writing.  First, they provide the hope or the illusion that someone else will read one’s writing… Blogs also provide readers with the ability to leave their reactions and comments–gratifying for both the blogger, who now has a verifiable audience, and the reader-cum-writer. Most blogs have very low readership… but even writing for one person, compared to writing for nobody, seems to be enough to compel millions of people to blog.”

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Malcolm Gladwell Explains Why Human Potential Is Being Squandered [PopTech Video]

Sociologist and best-selling author, Malcolm Gladwell, uses the term “Capitalization” to discuss

the abundance and scarcity as it applies to people.” More specifically, Gladwell sees “capitalization” as “the rate at which a given community capitalizes on the human potential… what percentage of those who are capable of achieving something actually achieve it.”

Gladwell’s most recent book, Outliers: The Story of Success, investigates human potential, how it is squandered, how that trend can be reversed, and the reasons why some succeed so much more then others.

Through his research Gladwell discovered that,

Cap rates are really low. They are much lower then you think they are and that’s why I think this is such a worthy topic for investigation.”

Here is a clip with highlights from Gladwell’s talk at Pop Tech on this issue [11 min.]:

3 Conditions Which Constrain The Capitalization Of Human Potential

1. Poverty.

… is the obvious thing that limits the exploitation of human potential.”

2. Stupidity.

… where institutions get in the way of the development of human potential.”

3. Culture.

When we look at these different rates of capitalization, 20 and 30 years later, what we’re seeing is the consequence of those early ingrained cultural notions…”

Why Is This Important?

It is important because I think when we observe differences in how individuals succeed in the world our initial thought is always to say, to argue that that is the result of some kind of innate difference in ability.

And when we look at the different rates that groups succeed we think that that reflects some underlying innate trait in the characteristics of that group. And that is wrong… what capitalization rates say… is there’s another explanation and that has to do with poverty, with stupidity, and with culture.”

Low ‘Capitalization’ = Room For Improvement

We have a scarcity of achievement… not because we have a scarcity of talent. We have a scarcity of achievement because we’re squandering our talent. And that’s not bad news that’s good news; because it says that this scarcity is not something we have to live with. It’s something we can do something about.”

Here is Gladwell’s full talk at PopTech [19 min.]

Here is Gladwell’s description of his new book Outliers: The Story of Success

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The Recipe For A Better World: 21 Billion Hours Of Online Gaming Per Week [TED Talk]

If we want to solve problems like hunger, poverty, climate change, global hunger, and obesity, I believe that we need to aspire to play games online for at least 21 billion hours a week by the end of the next decade.”

Jane Mcgonigal, Ph.D., a game designer, has been making online games for over ten years, and she has a plan. Her goal for the next decade is to make it as easy to save the world in real life, as it is in online games.

Right now, we spend 3 billion hours a week playing online games, she says. But according to McGonigal’s research at The Institute for the Future, that’s not nearly enough to solve the world’s most urgent problems, because

gamers are a human resource that we can use to do real world work” and “games are a powerful platform for change.”

When I look forward to the next decade” she shares, “I know two things for sure: that we can make any future we can imagine, and we can play any games we want. So I say, let the world changing games begin.”

Watch Jane McGonigal’s Ted talk [20 min.] about how gaming can make a better world:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dE1DuBesGYM

Why Are Games So Essential To The Future Of Humanity?

  • The first thing gamers get good at according to McGonigal is “urgent optimism,” extreme self motivation, the desire to act immediately to tackle an obstacle, combined with a belief that we have a reasonable hope of a success.
  • Secondly, gamers are virtuosos at “weaving a tight social fabric.” “It takes a lot of trust to play a game with someone, so playing a game together builds up bonds and trust and collaboration, and we build stronger social relationships as a result.”
  • Thirdly, gamers experience “blissful productivity.” According to Mcgonigal, we know when we’re playing a game, that we’re actually happier working hard than we are relaxing, or hanging out. We know that we are optimized as human beings to do hard meaningful work and gamers are willing to work hard all the time if they’re given the right work.
  • Lastly, there is a sense of “epic meaning” in gaming: Gamers love to be attached to awe inspiring missions; to human, planetary scale stories.

In McGonigal’s view, 

These are four super powers that add up to one thing: gamers are people who believe they are capable of changing the world.”

McGonigal has created games that attempt to give people the means to create epic wins in their own futures. “This is a transformative experience. Nobody wants to change how they live just because it’s good for the world, or because we’re supposed to, but if you immerse them in an epic adventure, and tell them: 

We’ve run out of oil! This is an amazing story, an adventure to go on, challenge yourself to see how you would survive”…Most of our players have kept up the habits they learned in this game.”

Links:

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Stanford Prison Experiment Shows How The Abuses At Abu Ghraib Could Be Perpetrated By Otherwise Good People

Dr. Philip Zimbardo, Professor Emeritus of Psychology at Stanford University, and who once conducted the now famous Stanford Prison Experiment, recently related the results of that 1971 experiment to the abuse discovered at Abu Ghraib. He said,

When the images of the abuse and torture in Abu Ghraib were revealed, immediately the military went on the defensive saying it’s a few bad apples. When we see people do bad things we assume they are bad people to begin with. But what we know in our study is: there are a set of social psychological variables that can make ordinary people do things they could never have imagined doing.”

The Stanford Prison Experiment was conducted over a six day period in a mock prison environment in the basement of one of the buildings at Stanford University. It demonstrated how ordinary people can perpetrate extraordinary abuses when placed in a cruel environment without clear rules, as shown in this short documenatry [13 min].

What Happens When You Put Good People In Evil Places?

Dr. Craig Haney, a social psychologist participating in the Stanford experiment said of it, 

We frankly didn’t anticipate what was going to happen. We tried to really test the power of the environment to change and transform otherwise normal people. Much as Milgram had changed or transformed otherwise normal people in an obedient situation, we wanted to do it in a prison-like situation.”

Experiment Participant Relates To The Guards At Abu Ghraib

Dave Eshelman, who played the role of a prison guard in the Stanford University mock prison experiment, said of the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse photos, 

What I first saw those photos, immediately a sense of familiarity struck me because I knew I had been there before. I’d been in this type of situation. I knew what was going on – in my mind.”

Source of images, video and quotes:  Youtube/The Stanford Prison Experiment

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A Roller Coaster Ride Through The Industrial Age And Our Dependence On Fossil Fuels

“It’s all hands on deck” is the clarion call of the Post Carbon Institute in this fast paced 5 min. video, which takes us on a wild ride through the industrial age and our dependence on fossil fuels – culminating in the need for some tough changes to be made:

If we do nothing we will still get to a post carbon future, but it will be bleak. However, if we plan the transition, we can have a world that supports robust communities of healthy, creative people, and ecosystems with millions of other species. One way or another, we’re in for a ride of a lifetime.”

What Is The Solution?

In short, the Post Carbon Institute recommends,

we need to live within Nature’s budget of renewable resources at rates of natural replenishment.”

They further suggest the following:

  • Learn to live without fossil fuels.”
  • “Adapt to the end of economic growth as we’ve known it.”
  • “Support 7 billion humans and stabilize population at a sustainable level.”
  • “Deal with our legacy of environmental destruction.”

Do We Have A Choice?

The Post Carbon Institute makes the following arguments:

  • Alternative energy sources are important, but none can fully replace fossil fuels in the time we have.”
  • “We’ve designed and built our infrastructure for transport of electricity and farming to suit oil, coal and gas. Changing to different energy sources will require us to redesign cities and manufacturing processes.”
  • “We’ll have to rethink some of our cultural values . None of our global problems can be tackled in isolation and many cannot be fully solved.”
  • “We have to prepare for business unusual.”

Source of quotes, image and video : Youtube/300 Years of FOSSIL FUELS in 300 Seconds

The Post Carbon Institute website

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Dan Ariely, Prof. of Behavioral Economics, Seeks To Account For Human Nature

From a rational perspective, we should make only decisions that are in our best interest (“should” is the operative word here)… and choose the option that maximizes our best interests… Unfortunately, we’re not.”

This is where behavioral economics enters the picture. In this field, we don’t assume that people are perfectly sensible, calculating machines. Instead, we observe how people actually behave, and quite often our observations lead us to the conclusion that human beings are irrational.”

The above and subsequent quotes are taken from Dan Ariely’s book, The Upside of Irrationality: The Unexpected Benefits of Defying Logic at Work and at Home. Ariely is a Professor of Psychology and Behavioral Economics at Duke University and author of other works on behavioral economics.

Standard Economics Vs. Behavioral Economics: A Matter Of Perspective?

… there is a great deal to be learned from rational economics,” he says, “but some of its assumptions—that people always make the best decisions, that mistakes are less likely when the decisions involve a lot of money, and that the market is self correcting—can clearly lead to disastrous consequences.”

Social And Market Forces

The Financial Crisis

… think about the implosion of Wall Street in 2008 and its attendant impact on the economy. Given our human foibles, why on earth would we think we don’t need to take any external measures to try to prevent or deal with systematic errors of judgment in the man-made financial markets?”

This is where behavioral economics veers far from standard economics, because it seeks to look at human evolution and psychology in addition to standard economics, in order for social and market forces to be able to exist in balance:

Essentially the mechanisms we developed during our early evolutionary years might have made perfect sense in our distant past. But given the mismatch between the speed of technological development and human evolution, the same instincts and abilities that once helped us now often stand in our way. Bad decision-making behaviors that manifested themselves as mere nuisances in earlier centuries can now severely affect our lives in crucial ways.”

The Need To Address Human Nature

Ariely argues that this dichotomy between social and market forces, and some of our technological developments existing in discordance with our evolutionary development/nature, holds ramifications far beyond the credit industry:

When the designers of modern technologies don’t understand our fallibility, they design new and improved systems for stock markets, insurance, education, agriculture, or health care that don’t take our limitations into account (I like the term “human-incompatible technologies,” and they are everywhere).”

Behavioral economists want to understand human frailty and to find more compassionate, realistic, and effective ways for people to avoid temptation, exert more self-control, and ultimately reach their long-term goals. As a society, it’s extremely beneficial to understand how and when we fail and to design/invent/create new ways to overcome our mistakes.”

All quotes taken from Prof. Ariely’s book, The Upside of Irrationality: The Unexpected Benefits of Defying Logic at Work and at Home.

Image of Prof. Ariely courtesy of his most recent Pop Tech Talk on Adaptive Responses [21 min.]

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Neuroscience Reveals: Your Consciousness Is Connected To Everyone Else’s [TED Talk]

All that’s separating you from another person is your skin. Remove it and you have removed the barrier between you and other beings. So there is no real independent self aloof from other human beings, inspecting the world and inspecting other people, you are in fact connected not just by facebook and internet, you are connected by your neurons.”

Neuroscientist Vilyanur S. Ramachandran, Ph.D., outlines the fascinating functions of mirror neurons. Only recently discovered, these neurons allow us to learn complex social behaviors, some of which formed the foundations of human civilization as we know it.

Ramachandran is director of the Center for Brain and Cognition at the University of California, San Diego, and an adjunct professor at the Salk Institute. According to his research, we have whole chains of neurons which talk to each other, so 

there is no real distinctiveness of your consciousness from somebody else’s consciousness… And this is not mumbo-jumbo philosophy” he says, “it emerges from our understanding of basic neuroscience.”

Watch Ramachandran’s TED Talk [7 min.] about the neurons that shaped civilization:


Ramachandran looks deep into the brain’s most basic mechanisms. 

[The human brain is] a lump of flesh of about 3 pounds… but it can contemplate the vastness of interstellar space. It can contemplate the meaning of infinity, ask questions about the meaning of its own existence… It’s the greatest mystery confronting human beings”

Also he notes that

there are 100 billion neurons in the adult human brain. And each one makes something like 1,000 to 10,000 contacts to other neurons in the brain… the number of permutations and combinations of brain activity exceeds the number of elementary particles in the universe.”

By working with those who have specific mental disabilities caused by brain injury or stroke, he can map functions of the mind to physical structures of the brain.

So if you are a patient with a phantom limb, and you see another person’s arm being touched, you feel it in your phantom. And the astonishing part is, if you have pain in your phantom, and you squeeze and massage the other person’s hand, that relieves the pain in your phantom hand, almost as if the mirror neuron were obtaining relief from someone else being massaged.”