Change is hard. Always.
Continue readingTag: Psychology
A Puff of Absurdity: Pandemic Amnesia
Someone told me that we need to adapt to Covid faster, and get used to masks and checking air quality much faster for our own survival. They think our problem is our inability to adapt to this new environment. I said that I think we have adapted quickly, but we’ve done
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: The Nine Most Common Cognitive Distortions
Reading a new book called the Coddling of the American Mind by Gregg Lukainoff and Jonathan Haidt. Just started, but it has been very interesting so far as describes some of the less than ideal strategies we have have for making our way through society. Some of the maladaptive strategies
Continue readingThings Are Good: Kids Taught to Think the World is Nice are More Successful
Children raised with a positive world view are more successful than children raised with a negative one. A negative instruction about the world given to kids could be to distrust strangers despite the evidence that a child isn’t likely to be harmed by someone they don’t know. It turns out
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Dealing With Lemmings, and The Delusional
“Never underestimate the power of denial.” – American Beauty” Cowards can never be moral.” – Gandhi “The world is a dangerous place, not because evil people do terrible things, but because millions of people let them.” – Einstein “Just because you bury your head in the sand, doesn’t mean the
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Danny Westneat discusses Steven Taylor’s work on the psychology of pandemics which has proven prescient as we’ve responded to COVID-19. And Umair Haque writes that people are understandably burned out on collapse – even as there’s little prospect of some of the slow-motion
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: Excerpt from Gender Transition by Ellyn Kaschak, Ph.D
Ellyn Kaschak, Ph.D. is Professor Emerita of Psychology, San Jose State University Watch out for Dr.Kaschak as she’s violated the first rule of Trans Club – You don’t talk about Trans Club… “The diagnostic of “gender dysphoria” actually came into existence as “gender identity disorder” and replaced the pathologizing
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: On Puritan-Capitalism: Money As The Measure Of All Things
The mechanistic materialist world view, which the West, beginning with Europe, adopted a mere 400 years ago, and then exported through economic, financial, military and cultural colonialism and neocolonialism to the rest of the world, has been nothing short of a cultural, sociological, political, economic, ecological, spiritual, public health and
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Stressed? Read This. Amygdala Highjacking – A Few Brief Thoughts
When under great stress, or when in great fear, our biological fight or flight response is triggered strongly, the amygdala is highjacked, which then highjacks our frontal cortex and our brain, and destroys both our peace, and also our capacity for rational thought. Knowing how to respond to, or better,
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: On Fads and Pop Culture Gurus
Interesting discussion here (linked below), on the power of ritual, the positive functions of mythology, and the value of mentors. One negative point: the cold immersion fad is rooted in ignorance. If you preheat your body with saunas, sweat lodges or vigorous exercise, a short cold dunk is very health-promoting,
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Free Your Mind: Escaping The Mental Prison Of Cognitive Bias
As Emerson said, “A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.” People who cannot admit that they were wrong, turn their minds to stone, turn their brains off, and turn themselves into functional idiots. The intelligent response to a conflict or discrepancy between new evidence and our pre-existing beliefs,
Continue readingScripturient: Montaigne on Ketchup-Flavoured Cheetos
In his famous work, Essays, Michel de Montaigne, channelling the Epicureans, wrote that, “All the opinions in the world point out that pleasure is our aim. (Book I: On the Power of Imagination).” And I have to admit that what we euphemistically call “junk food” is a widespread pleasure that
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Reflections on the good life – Simplify, simplify
What brings true happiness? A healthy lifestyle; a positive attitude, outlook and philosophy; a simple life close to nature; meaningful work; time spent in solitude and stillness, reconnecting with yourself; and surrounding yourself with people, and an environment, a place, that fit with you: these things bring happiness and peace
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Philosophy & Metaphysics 101
(Excellent talk on philosophy, metaphysics and human happiness is linked below.) When we let go of attachment, aversion and ego, our energy naturally rises, increases and expands, and our happiness, health, energy, joy, peace, power, love, compassion and clarity increases. This is the central lesson of all the great spiritual
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Getting Comfortable With Uncertainty
People everywhere are the same – people are people. We have far more in common than we have differences between us. And all the differences, or at least the great majority, are on the surface only. That being said, we do have some significant differences in psychology, views, values and
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: On Cynicism
John Lennon was a millionaire, though he talked about having no possessions; Thomas Jefferson had slaves; and Martin Luther King Jr. was a philanderer, true enough, but I think it is a bad idea to mock and attack people who are doing, or have done, generally very positive, important things
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Mass Digital Addiction vs Reading
Remember, as Thoreau said, “Read the best books first, otherwise you might never read them at all.” And in this age of pandemic digital addiction, media overload and mass information glut, when most people’s lives are far too “busy” – meaning, they have lost all sense of priorities and spend
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Enlightenment: Raising Consciousness & The Cloud of Unknowing
Ideology is neither salvation nor liberation. As important as a paradigm shift, a shift in world view, or a shift in consciousness and perspective, clearly is, we must understand this. It is not ideas or ideology that will save
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: The Hollow Men Encounter The Spirit of Capitalism
And We Recoil In Horror Before The Reality Is Anything More Than A flickering and Fleeting Perception, Which Can Be Easily Denied, and Swept Aside “We are the hollow men, the stuffed men” Weber’s, The Protestant Ethic & The Spirit of Capitalism remains the most important text in sociology, and
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: The Psychology and Therapeutic Benefits of D&D
Or, Why D&D Kicks Butt There is a mounting body of evidence and experience that shows that D&D, the original role playing strategy game (like chess, but with improv theatre, and no great powers of concentration required), has very positive psychological and therapeutic effects on children, youth and adults. The
Continue reading