The science of consciousness: August 2015

Monday, August 31, 2015

The role of positive emotions in well-being, health and success

Dance by Eva Deli

Although negative emotions change from sadness and incapacitating fear to aggravation and even physical violence, positive emotions spur motivating energy and optimistic enthusiasm. Whether we laugh, smile, or jump for joy, positive emotions inspire generosity, kindness, embrace, and a uniting feeling. In contrast, negative emotions rigger isolation, and stress.

Sages, philosophers, and artists have understood the importance of positive emotions for well-being for millennia. Still, science did not take feelings seriously until the second part of the twentieth century. Like the sound of an engine or a waterfall, emotions were thought to be just symptoms of consciousness and, therefore, secondary to higher mental functions. In recent years the importance of emotions is quietly gaining ground in neurological, psychological, and common-sense observations. It is increasingly clear that emotions are the sole motivations of higher animals.

Without motive, we do nothing. Our sentiments determine whether we want to live or die, but they do not let us take our lives; suicide must be planned carefully. When motivation is strong, it can even give us superhuman abilities. The greatest emotions, such as love, faith, enthusiasm, or belief, inspire the most significant achievement. The behavior of mammals and people (and even nations) can be impeccably manipulated by emotions. This is intuitively understood by every great teacher, leader, politician, or artist.

Over time emotional interactions form a mental landscape, which determines our confidence level, and regulates our thinking, behavior, and relationships in an intimate way. Only positive emotions generate optimism, trust, and confidence, the source of emotional stability. Behind every notable piece of art, music, literature, or science, we find positive emotions, for only an optimistic mind, are capable of creativity or „flow.” Even art that describes terror and suffering carries a positive, hopeful, emotional message: the belief in our human potential. Even abstract mathematics depends on harmony, symmetry, and beauty.

Positive emotions also have a short shelf life. Faith, love, courage, and awe bubble up with instant enthusiasm, which cannot be postponed until tomorrow. Although the force of the moment, positive emotions have a profound long-term effect. They increase mental potential (energy), which is the success generator of the social world. A positive attitude eliminates unnecessary details and expands the sense of time, which fuels enthusiasm, generosity, allowing more happiness. It is important to note that some "positive" feelings, such as glee, and selfish pleasure generate insecurity and remorse. At the same time, catharsis and reaching closure in sadness are uplifting and lead to wisdom.

A new understanding of space and time

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The concept of spacetime is tightly connected to Einstein general relativity. Although it was supposed to simplify the description and mathematical treatment of the universe, Einstein's field equations have remained intractable for over a hundred years. In spacetime, time is considered a fourth, minor dimension to space. But time is mostly irreversible, whereas space can be navigated at will. To change spatial coordinates, we have to invest energy, whereas time moves on even if we stay in one space. These differences illustrate how different the manifestations of pace and time are. Space and time occupy fundamentally separate dimensions, as time emerges from micro dimensions, and space forms our macro-dimensional world.

Some of the latest research demonstrates that the universe is static toward the outside, time evolution is limited to internal constituents of the cosmos, which experience time evolution by entanglement. Landauer's principle recognizes a thermodynamic connection between energy and information. Erasing information frees heat. Therefore information enrichment generates heat and energy accumulation corresponds to a cooling effect. As energy and information separate via entanglement, information accumulation would form a heated, compacted region, called the black hole. In black holes, time expands into infinity. Due to the principle of static time, entanglement also accumulates energy and forms cold, expanded space, called white holes. White holes are the time zero of the universe. Time increases in proportion with information accumulation, whereas space gradually contracts. The opposing dynamics between the poles leads to a spatial expansion in the white holes known as dark energy, and it compacts space to form black holes. This new view of space and time has far-reaching consequences for many fields of sciences, even evolution and the understanding of consciousness.

The coherent, overarching hypothesis that encompasses theoretical physics, consciousness, and evolution and it is congruent with the natural human aspiration about an organic unity in the universe is now available on Amazon.

Monday, August 24, 2015

Negative emotions lead to stress, disease, and compromise your chance of success

Lucretia by Rembrandt

Whether anxious, angry, or sad to the point of crying, negative emotions feel like physical pain. Examining the brain during and after negative experiences by placing electrodes over the scalp reveals their complex psychology.

High brain frequencies are critical in many brain functions (sensory perception, analytic problem solving, motoric action) and appear in negative emotions. The detail-oriented and energetically expensive activations represent stressful information flow, which siphons spiritual power. Over the long term, negative emotional states lead to impatience, insecurity, fear, and weakness. These problems in emotional processing can lead to social issues, such as rigidity, paranoia, and psychological and psychiatric consequences. Social difficulties and unhappiness can also lead to cognitive decline, mental issues, auto-immune diseases, and heart disease. The possible role of emotions in mental problems and disease gives urgency to understand them.

A gradually shifting neuronal activation pattern guides the mental focus, unfolding a conceptual landscape. Like elevation in physical space, the brain oscillations formulate a mental, abstract surface. A neutral state corresponds to a flat terrain; high brain frequencies curve toward lower elevation, whereas decreasing oscillations represent an expanding ground. Consequently, positive emotions give the sense of being on the peak of a mountain, allowing the overarching picture of an open horizon, free of distracting details. In contrast, negative emotions' narrow, restricted, and detailed focus are analogous to being in a valley. This way, negative emotions reflect weakness and inferiority. Guilt triggers insecurity. Negative emotions represent an emotional weight, causing an overestimation of physical and psychological burdens causing avoidance.

Many studies have shown the connection between negative emotions and high brain frequencies. Although they often disappear from conscious awareness, negative emotions also have an insidious, long-term presence, manipulating the mind from the background. Stress is a perceived shortage of time, corrupting mental abilities and blinding us to opportunities. It inhibits positive focus or analytic thinking and causes irritation, passive aggression, and the need for criticism. For example, anxious individuals are attracted to negative stimuli (such as looking at angry faces), heightening aggravation.

Fear is a typical trigger for aggression, like the derailed train that moves inevitably toward an accident; emotional cruelty and negativity cause failure, sickness, and family problems. Although suppressing negative emotions reverses the negative state, long-term results come from positive mental change, such as learning, meditation, and mindfulness-based therapies.

The long-term consequences of emotions on well-being, success, or lack are recognized as karma—further reading: The Science of Consciousness.

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Monday, August 17, 2015

Understanding is the first step to conquer stress

Sorrowing old man by Vincent van Gogh

Stress is generally considered a state in which timely information processing is inhibited due to added expectation load. It occurs across the social spectrum and in almost all age groups; it even affects children. Stress leads to confusion and productivity problems; over the long term, hormonal and bodily changes weaken the immune system and lead to high blood pressure, heart attack, stroke, and even mental problems. In addition, stress probably contributes to diseases as varied, like depression or cancer. This makes stress is a serious professional as well as a health issue. For this reason, it is imperative to look in detail at what anxiety is, what its causes are, and how to alleviate or at least reduce its adverse effects.

Stress is connected to time pressure and to circumstances that are challenging, difficult, or even impossible to manage. Everybody gets stressed at one time or another, and the same stressors affect people very differently. Therefore, the mental state is crucial during challenging situations. Detail-oriented cognitive processing requires high brain frequencies. The overwhelming information load leads to a perceived shortage of time, forming a sense of deficiency or difficulty and inhibits the ability to see clearly.

The brain generates thoughts in a similar vein or mood, so ideas and memories acquire the same flavor. For example, people judge others more severely after experiencing negative emotion (disgust), even if the decision in question is unrelated to the original feeling. Those with guilty conscience overestimate their weight and consider chores harder than those with a clear conscience. Threatening, pessimistic, or failed experiences represent fragmented and distorted information, masquerading as objective reality. Information overload causes aggravation or desperation, which is the typical stress symptom. It inevitably interferes with concentration and compromises problem-solving ability. The stressed mind is on an inevitable path toward conflict. Like a released bow, conflicts relax the mind, resilience, and emotional stability. However, the emotional struggle and conflicts exact high personal and professional toll: broken promises cause problems at work and strain relationships in private life. Not surprisingly, long-term stress contributes to a host of health problems.

Recognizing stress resulting from latent high brain frequencies can give us the tools to manage our lives better. Rehearsing stressful situations whenever possible is empowering, so is using relaxation techniques before challenging situations. The goal should not be to eliminate stress from our lives entirely because occasional stress enhances focus and concentration. However, long-term stress is incapacitating and dangerous. Get rid of grudges, hurts of any kind, as soon as you have them. This is an emotionally challenging and meticulous task but well worth the effort! You will have to develop a unique method that you can regularly follow. For example, taking a walk while focusing on a mantra, prayer, or meditation liberates the mind from negative thinking. Eliminating the after-effects of negative emotions is the best preparation for any challenge. Do not forget to regularly challenge your improved mind. Adversities allow us to grow and develop.

My book, The Power of Joy, gives you the tools and advice you need to liberate yourself from your negativity and become the best version of yourself.

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Monday, August 10, 2015

Wonder: mind wandering is a rehearsal for life's upcoming attractions

By Wonderlane from Seattle, USA

A wandering mind is a dangerous mind. In psychology the term, mind-wandering refers to an unintentional disengagement from current activity. It typically occurs during activities that are tedious, and require long-term concentration. For example, mental time travel during long-term driving can lead to accidents.

Understanding brain frequencies can facilitate understanding and prevention. During focused and detailed activity, brain frequencies increase, which indicates the large energy requirement of focus and concentration. The enhanced energy need of the action limits its time. We get tired when we concentrate for a long time. When the high frequencies cannot be maintained any longer, conscious focus fades. This relaxed state is a trip to fantasy land. The mind has a 'mind' of its own; the thoughts are almost impossible to control. Disengagement from the activity curtails performance and leads to mistakes. Such inward, spontaneous wayward thoughts formulate a resting state of imagination and mental time travel, and it is called mind wandering.

The mind forms a resting state, in which new experiences trigger liberal thought associations by intermixing with old memories. Using its free capacity, the mind is in a constant trial-and-error mode to find its limitations and possibilities; current events are evaluated by comparing them to past experiences. This comprehension and examination form a congruent mental picture from spatially and temporally dis-joined and disconnected experiences. This automatic and non-conscious process formulates our beliefs and attitude toward every question and forms the basis of automatic mental activity. This subconscious mental computation lends us 'gut feelings,' a kind of inherent „knowing.” Recent scientific investigations indicate that mind wandering is more frequent in people with a negative mood and that they also have more trouble reorienting to their task. Also, mental wandering was found to result in unhappiness. However, these findings only underline the inherent pessimism and self-defeating nature of a negative mindset. Negative mindset dictates an unhappy future by evaluating recent experience through the distorted vision of remembering. The mind manufactures the future as a perfect mirror of the unfortunate past.

However, in the creative mind mental wandering is a source of new associations, ideas, and discoveries. Spontaneous mind wandering builds confidence, it enhances performance and produces immense happiness. It suffices to think of the purposeful and rewarding mind wanderings of creative geniuses, such as Mozart or Einstein, for example. Mozart was said to have 'seen' a whole symphony in a flash of a creative moment. Einstein apparently had sudden creative ideas while walking with his friends. But you do not have to be Mozart or Einstein to become creative. You can benefit from my The four-step plan for creative success. This way mind-wandering is an automatic (independent of consciousness) exploration of either limitation (for the cynical mind) or, possibilities (for a happy person).
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Monday, August 3, 2015

Complexity: an essential requirement for intelligent life

Time evolution of the universe

According to general relativity, clocks and time can only be defined correctly in the presence of matter. In other words, interaction is an essential ingredient and generator of time. More precisely, the consequence of "static" time is that the universe is static and unchanging for outside observers. Inside, participants perceive the evolution of the cosmos through entanglement. Entanglement triggers interaction (decoherence), which evolves toward polar singularities, called white and black holes. The poles also appear in particular solutions of Einstein's field equations. The gravitational effects of black holes aided their discovery, but white holes remain difficult to observe due to negative-curving, bulging fields, which deflect incoming energy, even light. As their names reflect, they might be the source of illusionary light rays, which is a significant challenge to their discovery.

Thanks to string theory, it is becoming widely accepted that the universe has more dimensions than experienced. In string theory, the holographic principle recognizes the horizon's importance as the information depository of a given volume of space (Susskind, 1994). The holographic principle means that information accumulation of the horizon via interaction turns particles into information-saturated black holes. The Euclidean spatial field, which determines the highest complexity, applies to our world and for life. Evolution is an ever-increasing complexity that works through the self-organization of matter into stars, planets, and living creatures such as us. The apex of evolution is the appearance of the still-evolving, brilliant mind, which cannot be a uniquely human quality. Some other planets in some other galaxies necessarily nurture life.

The universe's drive toward complexity is a humbling realization because the most complicated matter known to man is the human brain. Nevertheless, the idea that evolution, including societal progress, is channeled toward complexity and order suggests a shining future for the cosmos' intelligent occupants, including mankind.

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