Description of some of the wildest science I have ever heard of – Skip to 52:09 in the video attached below to hear it
Notes:
- The interviewee, Dr. Ellen J Langer is professor of psychology at Harvard University. She has written 13 books and published 200 research articles.
- If the studies described below are legitimate (which, based on my research, they are) they have some incredibly profound implications.
- They are a few of the most powerful examples of the placebo effect I have ever come across.
- I haven’t listened to the full interview and am not endorsing anything else that is said in it. I want to note this because the interviewer, Dr. Jordan Peterson, often says quite a lot that I disagree with. That said, I do have a lot of respect for his willingness to speak with those who don’t share his views, and his incredible perseverance in spite of the challenges that he has faced throughout his life.
Description of the results of one of the studies discussed above, known as “The Chambermaid Study“
- “In a study testing whether the relationship between exercise and health is moderated by one’s mind-set, 84 female room attendants working in seven different hotels were measured on physiological health variables affected by exercise. Those in the informed condition were told that the work they do (cleaning hotel rooms) is good exercise and satisfies the Surgeon General’s recommendations for an active lifestyle. Examples of how their work was exercise were provided. Subjects in the control group were not given this information. Although actual behavior did not change, 4 weeks after the intervention, the informed group perceived themselves to be getting significantly more exercise than before. As a result, compared with the control group, they showed a decrease in weight, blood pressure, body fat, waist-to-hip ratio, and body mass index. These results support the hypothesis that exercise affects health in part or in whole via the placebo effect.”
Famous people with dyslexia, ADHD and other disorders
Excerpts:
- Michael Phelps won 28 Olympic swimming medals and is the most decorated Olympian of all time. He talks candidly about his ADHD in his autobiography, No Limits: The Will To Succeed. As a child, he had attention and focus problems at school, and one of his teachers said he would “never succeed at anything.”
- Bob Weir is a singer, songwriter, guitarist, and co-founder of The Grateful Dead. He had trouble in school due to severe dyslexia and “was suspended or removed or expelled from school on at least eight occasions.”
- Richard Rogers is an award-winning British architect who has designed landmarks like the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris. Of his dyslexia, he says, “In my youth… I was called stupid. Not only could I not read, but I couldn’t memorize my school work. I was always at the bottom of my class.”
- Robert Toth had dyslexia and ADHD. He repeated fourth grade three times, and didn’t learn to read until he was 12. Now his paintings, sculptures, and bronzes are on display throughout the world, including at the Smithsonian.
- Sir Richard Branson is a billionaire entrepreneur from the United Kingdom. Due to dyslexia, his teachers considered him “stupid and lazy.” Today, he regards his cognitive condition as his “greatest strength.”
Excerpts From My Journal
Asking the universe works a lot better if you spend some time listening for its response.
You can be frightened by life’s uncertainty, or you can bask in it.
The quality of your life is largely determined by where you choose to direct your awareness. What you choose to look at. What you choose to listen to.
I’ve seen again and again that pain and “disabilities” both mental, and sometimes physical, are often simply indicators that there is energy that wants to move. That there is something that “wants to be said.”
In every object
In every movement
The truth is present
Music Recommendation