Changing Your Addicted Mind
Hard drugs are called ‘hard’ because they change the physical brain, not only the ephemeral mind. Then, how to durably change a mind addicted to hard drugs? In 2019, 70.000 people died from drug overdose in the US; 1.6 million had an opioid use disorder; 2 million used methamphetamine (crystal meth). Brain = mind More Read the full article…
The Challenge of Changing one Thought
The degree of challenge depends on the thought. Deeply embedded thoughts are more challenging to change. The difference between deep and superficial-level thoughts is crucial. Embeddedness Surface-level thoughts are more Lego-like. You can, so to speak, quickly take out one small block and put in another. Of course, there are no pure Lego-like mental blocks Read the full article…
This World is One
It just doesn’t make any logical sense that the peoples on it are divided. Yet here we are. Meanwhile, we may be living in a decade that, more than any other, is decisive in realizing oneness. “This world is one.” Of course, I mean this under the assumption that human beings would be fundamentally rational Read the full article…
Does Talking Help?
Talking as an indiscriminate empathy-vehicle in therapy/coaching may be more than nothing, but the aim should be higher. A good feeling is not enough to profoundly relieve pain and heighten Compassion. Conceptual methodologies for mental help Conceptual methodologies aim for more, but they generally don’t realize much in the direction people need for durable change Read the full article…
Deep Motivational Check-Up
This is – in the idea stage – a yearly check-up (small concrete trajectory of one by default or one + five coaching sessions) that can, in principle, be interesting for every employee. It is a win for everyone: employee, employer, and broad society. A Deep Motivational Check-Up (DMC) aims to let the coached person Read the full article…
Creating the Enemy
Is ‘the ubiquitous enemy’ simply a surface-level mental trap into which human beings get caught out of some vulnerability? Or is finding yet another enemy the result of our looking actively and profoundly for one and – if need be – creating one? This text was written on the 11th of November, armistice day. We Read the full article…
Where do You Go to, My Planet?
Nowhere yet for a while, but people worldwide are rapidly going somewhere. Global politics is on the move. Much depends on how we understand and manage ourselves in-depth and how we deal with a pending paradigm shift at the core of who we are. That sounds dramatic enough. Please, first read about the great mental Read the full article…
The Great Mental Paradigm Shift
One can see the related tension becoming more and more consequential in several fields (from healthcare to politics and more) over decades. This can continue getting worse, or we can take action to make the transition go smoothly. About? The great mental paradigm shift is about transitioning from a largely conceptual take on the human Read the full article…
Concept-Deconstruction as Therapeutic Mindset
Meant here is the deconstruction of concepts through being critical about the meaning of concept-denoting terms in a way that the subconceptual becomes more apparent. See: conceptual, subconceptual. Technique or mindset? As a technique, this constructive deconstruction might be one that transcends (deconstructs) techniques themselves. Even so, it’s better not to see it as a Read the full article…
Contemplation during Meditation
Meditation is an excellent mental environment in which contemplation can take place. In a good way, contemplation doesn’t diminish the meditation but rather strengthens it from the inside. Etymology From the Latin Contemplatio: an ‘act of looking at, considering, religious musing.’ Templum is, of course, a temple where religious musing takes place. Contemplation is not Read the full article…
Why A.I. Must Be Compassionate
This is bound to become the most critical issue in humankind’s history until now, and probably also from now on ― to be taken seriously. Not thinking about it is like driving blindfolded on a highway. If you have read my book The Journey Towards Compassionate A.I., you know much of what’s in this text. Read the full article…
Nothing Special – Everything Special
There is nothing special about understanding this text. Everybody can do so. Yet, if you realize this, you realize something very special. Noise and sound “When a tree falls in an utterly lonely forest, does it make a sound?” It makes a lot of noise, for sure. However, if sound is what a listener hears, Read the full article…
The Humility of Being Infinitely Special
This is no ordinary kind of humility. Also, it is not about faking, nor is it coercion from outside or inside ― just genuine, spontaneous, infinitely special humility. ‘Infinitely special’ is so special it doesn’t matter anymore. You don’t need to strive for anything. You already got it. Have you ever felt this? If not, Read the full article…
How Doctors Think
Surprise! They think like everybody else. This is based on several articles, my own experience, and long-time interest in the topic. ‘System-1 and system-2’ This is the terminology of Kahneman: System-1 is the ‘fast thinking’ ― more intuitive if you like. System-2 is the ‘slow thinking’ ― more formal reasoning, hypothesis-testing. Nr. 1 is more Read the full article…
When You are the Instrument
Then you hear the sounds the universe makes through you. How can the universe do this? How can it not do this? In yoga With you as the instrument, you can let yourself go into yoga postures as gateways. Once you see this, you can also see that each posture is entirely important. Yet it Read the full article…
Lisa, Pragmatically
Something is pragmatic if “It works.” Indeed ― nevertheless, from a pragmatic standpoint, it is crucial to know what works and toward what it works, especially in psychotherapy. Why? And how is this relevant to A.I. coach-bot Lisa? See also FROM “DOES IT WORK?” TO “WHAT IS ‘IT’?” (scientific publication) Definition of pragmatic (Oxford Languages): Read the full article…
The Subconceptual in Future Medicine
Modern Western medicine has been built on an exaggeratedly conceptual premise ― even concerning the mind. What place is there for the subconceptual in the future? Huge current tensions in Western medicine Many patients consult physicians for subconceptual issues. However, with little insight into the domain, many physicians would instead like to eradicate any dealing Read the full article…