Direct Brain Stimulation, a Billion Dollar Invention? Not Yet.

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Every single feeling of perception – of touch, of smell, of color – can be traced back to a particular set of neurons.

Stimulate those neurons directly and a person’s perception of reality can be controlled.

In the 1940s, neurosurgeon Wilder Penfield experimented with the brains of his patients. He sent mild electric shocks to their somatosensory cortex.

As a result, they felt as if their body was being touched even when it wasn't. A shock to one area, a feeling of their arm being pushed, a shock to another and a feeling of their upper lip being nipped.

Science fiction takes brain stimulation technology to its extreme – fully immersive virtual reality. Want the user to feel as if he's actually boxing, not just waving his hands in the air? Sense his arm and body movements. Then stimulate the neurons responsible for his fist and arm when he gives a hit and the neurons responsible for his head and nose when he takes one.

But why limit direct stimulation of the brain to physical perception?

Stimulate the brain’s happiness centers and BAM – you’ve got happiness on demand.

You can purchase a direct brain stimulation device online, plunk it on your head, pick a brain region, get zapping, and enhance your mood, memory, and attention.

You can spend 25 years working hard in order to make your life perfect and finally get those happiness neurons firing as much as you want, or just maybe, you can use tDCS for 25 days.

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Is Depression Really on The Rise?

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It’s an idea repeated so often that it’s now taken for a fact – depression is on the rise. If true, modern society has messed up. In 1985, 10% of people had no one to discuss important matters with. By 2004, that number had grown to 25% – one out of every four people! (1) … Read more

Are You an Overthinker? You’ve Been Poisoned

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Feeling anxious, upset, or sad? Natural.

Feeling reflective? Non-productive?

You may be overthinking. Overthinking is:

  • Going over a failure or conflict, again and again, to see how it could have gone better.
  • Ranting and raving about the wrongs that have been done to you.
  • Trying to figure out why life isn’t living up to your expectations.
  • Constantly reflecting on your sadness.

Overthinking is so common that many consider it natural, sometimes even productive.

No. Sorry. Overthinking is not productive.

Overthinking is a modern phenomenon that's unnatural and counterproductive.

Overthinking? Don't you mean correct thinking? It's better to confront a problem than to ignore it.

Sidebar: One of the simplest ways to stop overthinking is to declutter your mind. This book can help you make that happen.

Spend more time thinking about it and you’ll discover an insight you missed.

That's why your attention keeps coming back to it. The underlying concerns and emotions haven't been addressed.

No.

Overthinking is poison.

Ruminating and venting isn't processing. It’s pouring fuel on the fire. (1, 2)

Most problems have causes which no amount of reflection will uncover. (3)

And what you'll learn in this post – overthinking was designed by evolution to trigger depression and abandonment, not effective problem-solving. (4)

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The 4 Things You Need to Know About Meditation

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Meditation is HARD. Keeping still and staying focused is so unnatural that most who give meditation a try don’t keep it up. So it’s important to understand a few things about meditation: Does it work? Better than other techniques? How quickly? Is one type better than another? If we meditate for 50 hours but see … Read more

The 6 Simplifications of Positive Psychology – The Hot Mess of Measuring Happiness

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An assumption underlying the science of positive psychology is that happiness can be measured.

There is the Bhutan Happiness Scale. There is the Subjective Happiness scale. And there are constant studies that measure happiness. But nothing really measures your personal happiness very well. So all measures of happiness are based on averages from what people report during interviews with psychologists after specific experiments.

We are guild of it here on DGH too. Just look at some of the articles we have where we talk about ways to increase happiness.

Gratitude journals increase well-being…
Money does little for happiness…
Positivity can prevent divorce…
Yelp is more trustworthy than your brain…
Buying many small items is better than buying a few large things…

Prove that assumption false, and hundreds of research findings fall apart into meaningless garble.

In this post, we will take a deep look at the science behind measuring happiness and see if it is these measurements have any value at all…

 

 

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Approach or Avoidance?

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What is better when setting goals, approach or avoidance? Is it better to focus on avoiding things you hate and want to avoid or focus on the positive things you want from life? This post takes a deep look at approach vs avoidance to find out if it is more motivating to set goals that … Read more

The Myth of Inspiration – Why Feeling Excited Isn’t Enough

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You're excited. You feel that this time will be different.

I want it bad enough. I can do this.

You start making plans. Maybe, you take the first step.

But then its gone. After a few hours or a few days, you're back to normal. Feeling mundane, doing the mundane.

Why?

Two reasons.

Problem 1. Inspiration escapes as quickly as it enters.

Hunger is natural. When we ignore it, it gets stronger and stronger until all we can think about is food.

Inspiration is unnatural. With the passage of time, it leaks out of our body, as if it doesn't belong.

No surprise – it doesn't.

Hunger comes, whether we want it to or not. Inspiration doesn't.

That's why we read inspirational books and videos, again and again and again and again. But watching inspirational videos and reading uplifting stories takes time and has an inconsistent effect, sometimes getting us excited, other times leaving us bored.

That's why personal coaches and motivational speakers are so fond of positive visualization. Of imagining your desires having already come true. That's inspiring.

Unfortunately, inspiration isn't enough.

Problem 2. Inspiration unconverted to motivation feels good but doesn't lead to action.

How often have you felt excited and then done nothing to show for it?

There isn't some sort of excitement threshold, past which you actually start getting your goals done. Excitement is like salt water – by itself, completely useless. It takes a purifier to change it into something useful.

Goal setting isn't primarily effective because it's inspiring, but because it converts transient desire into long-term focus and commitment. It's a purifier.

But often, it's not enough.

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Difficult, Not Easy

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The harder the goal, the smaller the motivation. Right? Unless the reward also got better, the effort wouldn’t be worth it anymore. That’s why I use to choose easy over difficult. When trying to accomplish difficult long-term goals, I would break them up into easy sub-goals. Easy means reason for optimism and less effort. That … Read more