The true magnificence of humanity is by what we create together, and to understand this we need to see the complete specter of he human spirit. These are one of the most beautiful/touching/powerful images from all around the globe that will put a lot of things in perspective.
Source: http://www.higherperspectives.com;
There’s an old saying in neuroscience: “neurons that fire together wire together.”
This means the more you run a neuro-circuit in your brain, the stronger that circuit becomes. This is why, to quote another old saw, “practice makes perfect”. The more you practice piano, or speaking a language, or juggling, the stronger those circuits get.
Scientists have known this for years. However, nowadays researchers learn another part of the truth: In order to learn something, even more important than practicing is the ability to unlearn, or to break down the old neural connections. This is called “synaptic pruning”.
Imagine your brain is a garden, except instead of growing flowers, fruits, and vegetables, you grow synaptic connections between neurons. These are the connections that neurotransmitters like dopamine, seratonin, and others travel across.
“Glial cells” are the gardeners of your brain—they act to speed up signals between certain neurons. But other glial cells are the waste removers, pulling up weeds, killing pests, raking up dead leaves. Your brain’s pruning gardeners are called “microglial cells.” They prune your synaptic connections. The question is, how do they know which ones to prune?
Researchers are just starting to unravel this mystery, but what they do know is the synaptic connections that get used less get marked by a protein, C1q (as well as others). When the microglial cells detect that mark, they bond to the protein and destroy—or prune—the synapse.
This is how your brain makes the physical space for you to build new and stronger connections so you can learn more.
Your brain cleans itself out when you sleep!
Have you ever felt like your brain is full, usually when you learn something new, or start a new job or a hobby? Well, it may just be.
When you learn lots of new things, your brain builds connections, but they’re inefficient, ad hoc connections. Your brain needs to prune a lot of those connections away and build more streamlined, efficient pathways. It does that when we sleep.
When you sleep your brain cells shrink by up to 60% to create space for your glial gardeners to come in and take away the waste. That’s how they prune the synapses.
Have you ever woken up from a good night’s rest and been able to think clearly and quickly? That’s why. It’s like running fragmentation on your computer.
This is the same reason naps are so beneficial to your cognitive abilities. A 10 or 20 minute nap gives your microglial gardeners the chance to come in, clear away some unused connections, and leave space to grow new ones.
Thinking with a sleep-deprived brain is like hacking your way through a dense jungle with a machete. It’s overgrown, slow-going, exhausting.
Thinking on a well-rested brain is like wandering happily through Central Park; the paths are clear and connect to one another at distinct spots, the trees are in place, you can see far ahead of you. It’s invigorating.
It’s the synaptic connections you don’t use that get marked for recycling. The ones you do use are the ones that get watered and oxygenated. So be mindful of what you’re thinking about.
If you spend too much time reading theories about the end of “Game of Thrones” and very little on your job, guess which synapses are going to get marked for recycling?
If you’re in a fight with someone at work and devote your time to thinking about how to get even with them, and not about that big project, you’re going to wind up a synaptic superstar at revenge plots but a poor innovator.
What you focus on prevails! You literally craft your own mind by choosing what you pay attention towards.
Of course, you can hardly control what happens to you throughout your day, but you can control how much it affects you. To be more specific, you can choose WHAT affects you and construct your own neural connections.
Instead of focusing on things that hold you back, focus on things that make you a better human being. Instead of imagining scenarios that will most likely never happen, meditate. Clear your mind. Bring your mind to the now and use your mental energy toward things that benefit you.
It really is a game of strategy. You need to smartly use your mind, to be smart. Resisting the temptation of things that don’t benefit you, that’s what makes you smart.
In order to delete something, simply, stop thinking about it. Even when you are reminded, change your focus and attention. Sooner or later it will get marked for recycling.
Sources: http://www.fastcompany.com; Judah Pollack is the co-author of The Chaos Imperative, and Olivia Fox Cabane is the author of The Charisma Myth;
Peter Dinklage, most famous for his role on “Game of Thrones” as Tyrion Lannister gave a POWERFUL commencement speech to Bennington College graduates. His honest and uplifting charisma mixed with the modest and humane wisdom produced one of the best speeches you’ll ever hear.
“Raise the rest of your life to meet you. Don’t search for defining moments because they will never come.. The moments that define you have already happened. And they will already happen again. And it passes so quickly, so please bring each other along with you…”
“…Life after college sucks. It really does. I mean, I don’t know, at least it did for me, but that’s the only thing I know. You just get a bit derailed. But soon something starts to happen, trust me. A rhythm sets in. Just like it did after your first few days here. Just try not to wait until, like me, you’re 29 until you find it. And if you are that’s fine too, some of us never find it…”
“…Don’t wait until THEY tell you “you are ready”! Get in there! Sing!.. The world might say “You are not allowed to yet” I waited a long time out in the world before I gave myself permission to fail. Please, don’t even bother asking. Don’t bother telling the world you are ready. Show it! Do it! What did Beckett say: “Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.”.. Treat everyone kindly and LIGHT UP the night!”
A number that shocks the world – people process around 74 GIGABITES of information, every day! That’s exactly why most people, especially more intelligent ones who use a higher amount of their brain’s potential, usually get overload of information that leads to “Option Fatigue” or getting tired of making decisions.
That’s the main cause why most geniuses responsible for the smartest inventions the world has ever seen choose to wear the same clothes they are most familiar with.
Daniel Levitin, a cognitive psychologist and neuroscientist, says that overload of information happens when we try to process more information than our brain can handle.
“Not long ago we thought that people can pay attention to 9 things simultaneously. Now we know that this is incorrect. That’s overestimated. The conscious mind can take care about up to 3 things simultaneously. When you start to “juggle” with more things at once, that’s when you start losing your mental power” says Daniel.
This is exactly why, when you see an image from Albert Einstein, Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg and many other highly intelligent people, they almost always wear the same clothes.
Albert Einstein always wore his gray suit, Steve Jobs his black turtleneck, and Mark Zuckerberg his gray t-shirt.
Zuckerberg said in one of his interviews back in 2014 that he wants to organize his life in a way that he would need to make only a few decisions that do not apply about social problems, like what to wear.
Barack Obama in a 2012 “Vanity Fair” interview said “You’ll see I wear only gray or blue suits, I’m trying to pare down decisions. I don’t want to make decisions about what I’m eating or wearing. Because I have too many other decisions to make.”
Our mind uses almost the same amount of energy and nutrients when we make trivial and important life decisions. Even though our brain is something truly remarkable it too has limits.
Sometimes we spend our brain’s potential on things that really doesn’t make any difference in our lives and when a time comes to make a truly important decision we are tired. That’s why you need to use your brain in a smart way.
Most of the times what makes smart people SMART is the way they use their brain not their brain’s potential per se. They declutter their lifestyle from trivial problems most of the people preoccupy with and they focus on important problems.
We all have the same powerful organ in our head. Being smart is all about HOW you use your brain’s potential and what you focus your energy towards. I’m not saying to start wearing the same clothes all of a sudden, but realize that you have a certain amount of energy throughout your day, so learn to use it efficiently.
Skin tags are common soft skin growths that can appear quickly in inconvenient places. Specifically, they often form around the eyes, on the neck, in the armpits, around the breasts, and in the groin area.
Most people will grow at least one skin tag in their lives. They are not a serious health concern, but can be obnoxious, embarrassing, and even scary if a person has no knowledge of them.
Common methods of removal include freezing and cutting skin tags off. A dermatologist normally handles these methods of removal. However, there is a simpler way to remove skin tags at home. All you have to do is rub apple cider vinegar on the skin tag 2 to 3 times a day for a week, and the skin tag will fall off.
You can also soak a cotton ball with apple cider vinegar and hold it in place over the skin tag with a bandage. It is important to check for skin irritation if you use this method.
Source: http://www.davidwolfe.com;
Green is going global. More and more countries are getting in on the green energy bandwagon, shifting their energy dependencies from fossil fuel burning to renewable energy. And the biggest recipient of this? Solar.
Maybe this is why a zebra is changing its stripes. The world’s largest coal company, China’s state-owned Shenhua Group Corp. has just partnered with Santa Monica, Calif.-based SolarReserve in order to bring 1,000 megawatts of solar thermal plants into China.
The two companies signed a memorandum of understanding earlier this week in Washington, in a ceremony attended by two Deputy Secretaries for Commerce and for Energy.
The most interesting thing about their partnership is the genius technology behind the gathering of solar energy they bring to the table.
Unlike other solar power providers, SolarReserve builds and develops its own molten salt energy storage technology. The way it works is that it focuses the solar energy from the sun into a tall molten salt tower at the center of the complex, heating the molten salt into more than 566 C(1050 F).
This is then transferred to storage tanks and used to run turbines. Because the salt can maintain its heat for up to ten hours, the plant can continue to produce energy long after the sun goes down.
This technology allows SolarReserve’s plants to create power for 24 hours a day and maintain a stable electricity output—in contrast to the inconsistent production from typical renewable plants difficult to cope with.
This is wonderful news for the world and humanity in general as more and more large corporations start to awaken and shift their businesses towards more sustainable and eco-friendly manner.
The more people awake and see the disastrous effect our current way of doing things has over our planet, the more people will choose new eco-friendly companies over old-school ones. In order for the large companies to keep their businesses up to speed they will have no choice but to shift their way of doing things towards a more eco-friendly manner.
Source: http://futurism.com;
The “Frozen” Star, Kristen Bale reveals something not many know about her past. Bell revealed that she has a family history of mental illness and praised her mother for educating her early about prioritizing her mental health needs and ignoring stigma.
She says: “I present this very cheery, bubbly person but I also do a lot of work. I do a lot of introspective work … I got on a prescription when I was really young to help with my anxiety and depression and I still take it today and I have no shame in that.”
We see people presenting their happy and playful charisma upon the world and we take this for granted. We think that they’ve been born like this, or it’s because of their success, and we cannot do anything to be this happy. But that’s not true.
Their success is the result of doing an introspective work, their happiness too. We need to stop being afraid of listening to ourselves and accept whatever inner problems we may be facing inside our consciousness. That’s the only way we can overcome them, not by running from them, but by embracing them.
In the world, as it is today, it is really difficult to stay mentally healthy and we can all help each other out. And if we decide we need professional help there is ABSOLUTELY no shame in that.
Kristen says: “If you do decide to go on a prescription to help yourself, understand that the world wants to shame you for that, but in the medical community, you would never deny a diabetic his insulin. Ever, But for some reason, when someone needs a serotonin [reuptake] inhibitor, they’re immediately crazy.”
There is no shortage of fun puzzles out there on the Internet, but this one takes the cake for the most viral I’ve ever come across. It’s already been shared over three million times, and it’s showing no sign of stopping.
Some people say that if you can solve it, your IQ is above 150, which means that you are an absolute genius.
It would place you 52 points above the average American’s IQ and a whole 43 points above the average Hong Kong citizen’s IQ (Hong Kong is the smartest country in the world according to data.)
Are you ready to try and solve the puzzle?
Take a look at it below and try to figure out the pattern that’s hiding in the numbers. Even if you’re able to figure it out, the key is to know exactly how it works and why it equates to such a high level of intelligence.
The video below attempts to explain it – and I say “attempts” because it’s a little difficult to follow.
No worries. I’ve got you covered!
You need to subtract and then add to get the answer.
1) 6 – 4 = 2 2) 6 + 4 = 10 Answer = 210
Source: http://www.davidwolfe.com;