Placebo in Chronic Functional Pain
This is the blogified abstract of a congress talk that I delivered in Montreal several years ago. You find the whole talk as delivered in Montreal at [see: “Placebo as Communication to Neur(on)al Networks in Chronic Functional Pain”] Meaning, expectation, hope, belief… These can be seen as alternative explanations for the placebo effect, as different Read the full article…
39. What if COVID Vaccinations are 80% Placebo?
This question still needs to be asked given the probability, lack of disproof, and immensity of the consequences. July 25, 2021 Daily Total Cases worldwide 492.082 194,374,131 Deaths worldwide 8.299 4.168.100 I want as many people as possible to get vaccinated. I’m the opposite of an anti-vaxxer. [see: “How to Make Someone Take His Read the full article…
Not the Winning, but the Striving
In full-hearted striving lies the true valiance. Never-ending, no frustration, just going for it. Not the winning, not the contending One can strive and fail. Then strive again and fail again. Is this a failure? In my view, not necessarily so. It becomes a failure when the striving is done half-heartedly. The striving ― to Read the full article…
The Real Enemy is Inner Dissociation
Looking at the present, one may be very optimistic or pessimistic. Many see ‘the other side’ as a source for pessimism. However, to what degree may the other side be related to one’s own inner side? [Matthew 7:3] “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention Read the full article…
Psychotherapy’s Doors
… should be opened. The contention that psychotherapy plays its role only at the level of conscious processing is holding humanity back manifold. Cleansing the doors? “If the doors of perception were cleansed every thing would appear to man as it is, Infinite. For man has closed himself up, till he sees all things thro’ Read the full article…
Can Motivation be Purely Conscious?
Motivation as we know it is present in a system (you, me) that is partly conscious, partly non-conscious. Thus, the question is much more difficult than it appears at first sight. Nevertheless, towards future A.I., it will need to be solved. Purely conscious? This is also purely (even though possibly partly fuzzy) conceptual. Motivation would Read the full article…
A.I. and In-Depth Sustainability
Soon enough, A.I. may become the biggest opportunity (and threat) to human-related sustainability. I hope that AURELIS/Lisa insights and tools can help counter the threat and realize the opportunity. This text is not an enumeration of what we may use present-day A.I. (or what carries that name) for to enhance sustainable solutions. It’s about Compassionate Read the full article…
Principles of Being an Intelligent Being
Strange times. We are living at the borders of old and new intelligences. We’ll need some agreement in seeing what it’s about. Intelligence is in the eye of the beholder. Definitions of intelligence abound. Therefore, it is better to start from the really basic, where it can be hardly even more basic. There, it’s the Read the full article…
No Compassion, no Sense
In search of sense in the most general way, I come to Compassion. Even intelligence makes no sense without it. What’s the meaning of it all? God is an easy solution. Believe in one or another, and you get meaningfulness for free. However, the solution is so easy that we find a thousand of them. Read the full article…
Mind the Gap
The gap in our knowledge about what causes illness and healing. This gap is huge. It’s almost certainly much bigger than you think, dear reader. [see: “Medically Unexplained Syndromes”] But how is this possible, and where does it come from? People want to feel in control. This is more emotional than rational. The desire is Read the full article…
The Poetic Brain
This view hasn’t been pretty widespread in the past. It may be so in the future. Our brains are made for poetry. The deeper one delves into neuro-brain-stuff – maps, neurons, dendrites, synapses – the more it’s at risk of becoming viewed purely materialistically. Indeed, in the end, even a painting of Goya is nothing Read the full article…
Watzlawick’s Axioms of Communication
… in relation to AURELIS. Paul Watzlawick (1921 – 2007) has been one of the best-known thinkers about communication. His central tenet was that a lot of communication is carried on below the level of consciousness. It happens automatically. I put his five ‘axioms of communication’ in a table and comment on them from an Read the full article…
Slipping into Short Meditation
The aim is to reinforce AurelisOnLine sessions through regular and short (1-2 minutes) exercises that you can do at any time during the day, whenever you feel like it, even while not disturbing your other activities. Part of your life This way, your communication with your deeper self can become much more a part of Read the full article…
The Zen Master and the Samurai
A story from ancient Japan. A samurai approaches a Zen master with the question: “Your honor, people say that you are amongst the most enlightened masters currently alive. I came to you, especially from the other side of the country. Could you, please, give me some clarification about a question that has kept nagging me Read the full article…
Culture Changes when Top-Down meets Bottom-Up
Not separately from each other, but intertwined and as though mutually attracted ― making it personal. Sustainable change is culture change. Top-down (through rules and regulations, encompassing changes on a big scale) This may work when also being carried from the bottom up. This means that rules should only be enacted after the bottom-up has Read the full article…
Compassion towards Happiness
The search for common ground may lead to practical consequences. This is a subtle piece of writing. Its appreciation needs feeling as well as thoughtful understanding. Enforcing happiness doesn’t work. Commonsensically, one cannot enforce happiness nor fight against unhappiness. Trying to do so readily leads to less happiness immediately or in due time ― a Read the full article…
My People is Everybody
Without diminishing the “XX (= my people) first,” it explodes the XX. There is no first, principally, thus also no second and no last. No zero-sum ― only abundance. Please, read first [see: “Compassion, basically“] One can start from the right of the strongest and win ― especially in a game made by oneself with Read the full article…