How to be happy by making good decisions.

Editor's Notes

• #3: New world and new ways of adaptingRequires reeducation – reprogramming the brain
• #5: A critical topic. Here is the problem:About survival…Biggest threat is ourselves.How to integrate things into a wholeRetirement & health careEarth’s resources..Over 10 billion species have had a go at surviving on Earth since it was formed over 4.5 billion years ago. Most species live about four million years then die off – usually due to failures of adaption to changes in the climate.Humans – the species homo sapiens – have been on the earth only about 200,000 years, about 5% of the life expectancy of historical species. Despite alleged intelligence, mankind may only last another 100 years because of population growth and anthroprogentic cause disruptions to the biosphere. We have to make some tough decisions as a species. We also have to make tough decisions as nations and individuals. Rising populations will clash with lack of water, arid land, energy and mineral resources. Changing weather patterns and severe agricultural disruptions will force
• #6: Brain is designed to make decisions based upon risks and outcomes.World has moved from certainty to uncertaintySo, we make ‘best guesses’.
• #7: Cockroach lived 250 million yearsHumans about 2 million years
• #10: From the time of the Greeks…who were the last to think about thinking. From the time of Galileo and mechanistic universeSPEECHLOGICBut, preceded by holistic brain.Back to that!UnconsciousPreconsciousSubconsciousConsciousSelfHigher PowerSpirit
• #11: Perfecting a golf swing is an example of reprogramming….10,000 swings for the motion; more for the emotions.1,000 trillion transistors, air-cooled, fault tolerant computer runs on two bananas (50 cents) a day, vice a 10 megawatt computer at $13,500 per day for power. 300 years of video
• #13: Unconscious -> subconscious – conscious -> frivolous to life saving.As a species, we make all sorts of decisions all the time. 10 trillion molecules1,000 trillion, trillion chemical reactions to power your body each day. Some decisions are profound and conscious and some, like driving a car, are routine and unconscious. The problem is that we are not very good at conscious decision making. As important as these kinds of decisions may be, we do not have a clue about how to make a good decision. Nor do we understand the powerful subconscious currents that regulate our conscious decisions. The consequence is that we screw up all the time and do not even know it.
• #16: Universe is too big and too weird to understand.Life 3.5 Billion years agoFirst living cell made decisions to surviveRadiation treePieces of consciousness exist in many animalsMan alone has the ability to be reflectiveAs many as 250,000 neurons, or brain cells, develop every minute during early pregnancy = 15M an hour = 360M a day.At 6 = 90% of adult; body = 33% of adult.
• #17: Who/what are we: Self, conscious spiritUnified field theoryEverything is ripples in space timeElectrons both a wave and particle…same underlay as photon (which does not have a repulsive/attractive force).7 more dimensionsHome of gravityUp to 10**500 other universesGamma oscillations
• #18: First look at the brain…5 levelsThe cerebellum (Latin for little brain) is a region of the brain that plays an important role in motor control. It is also involved in some cognitive functions such as attention and language, and probably in some emotional functions such as regulating fear and pleasure responses,[1When the cortex has received and processed a sensory stimulus indicating a reward, it sends a signal announcing this reward to a particular part of the midbrain–the ventral tegmental area (VTA)–whose activity then increases. The VTA then releases dopamine not only into the nucleus accumbens, but also into the septum, the amygdala, and the prefrontal cortex.The nucleus accumbens then activates the individual’s motor functions, while the prefrontal cortex focuses his or her attention. Midbrain better at handling complexity which can overwhelm rational brainAs many as 250,000 neurons, or brain cells, develop every minute during early pregnancy.BLIND SIGHTComplex decisions and the emotional brain….IIowa Gambling Experiment 10 -> 50 -> 80Soap opera and ticker tape.225 in. sq.60% of neuronsDeveloped in mammals. Leads to everywhere. size of the prefrontal cortex has increased sixfold over 5M years; the brain itself has only increased in size about threefold. Will power, morals, planning, control, ARISTOTLE TAUGHT ALEXANDER THE GREAT HOW TO MANAGE THIS – THE GREATEST OF ALL WARRIORSI love you with all my brain
• #19: Universe is too big and too weird to understand.Life 3.5 Billion years agoFirst living cell made decisions to surviveRadiation treePieces of consciousness exist in many animalsMan alone has the ability to be reflectiveAs many as 250,000 neurons, or brain cells, develop every minute during early pregnancy = 15M an hour = 360M a day.At 6 = 90% of adult; body = 33% of adult.
• #20: 5 levelsHigher powerReflectImagineFREE WILLBDNF
• #21: Integration is:All naturalAll Fun (except diet)
• #22: What we will cover
• #23: All Fun (except diet)
• #25: The Hat Trick
• #26: BioinformaticsNeuronSynapseMyelination100B neuronsMassive changesConstantly paring to make roomTrillion of dendritesAlways adding if usedAstrocytes: directly involved in the regulation of signalling between neurons.BioInformaticsGENE Expression25,000 genes of 2500 base pairs = 63,250,000 nucleotides = <3%Turned on an offProduce and assemble 22 different amino acidsProeonomics
• #27: All Fun (except diet)
• #29: Who you are and what you can get done…..Requires some reprogramming.
• #30: Start the reprogramming: Be in the present..EasyShower, taste, treesEYE Contact
• #31: Who you are and what you can get done…..
• #32: Who you are and what you can get done…..
• #33: Many ways…Looking back or forward, positive or negativeCarl JungHere is a review of the different personality dimension of member of a professional networking group based upon Carl Jung’s archetypes.Four dimensions…to which others can be added like introversion or extroversion. So, we see that everybody is different. Just about everybody has strengths and weaknesses…So we need to understand our self as just one actor in the decision making process. Sometimes we can be a one-person show. But, we have our biases and have a need for – and gain benefit fro m – getting outside perspectives, filters and ideas.
• #34: Many ways…Looking back or forward, positive or negativeCarl JungHere is a review of the different personality dimension of member of a professional networking group based upon Carl Jung’s archetypes.Four dimensions…to which others can be added like introversion or extroversion. So, we see that everybody is different. Just about everybody has strengths and weaknesses…So we need to understand our self as just one actor in the decision making process. Sometimes we can be a one-person show. But, we have our biases and have a need for – and gain benefit fro m – getting outside perspectives, filters and ideas.
• #35: Many ways…Looking back or forward, positive or negativeCarl JungHere is a review of the different personality dimension of member of a professional networking group based upon Carl Jung’s archetypes.Four dimensions…to which others can be added like introversion or extroversion. So, we see that everybody is different. Just about everybody has strengths and weaknesses…So we need to understand our self as just one actor in the decision making process. Sometimes we can be a one-person show. But, we have our biases and have a need for – and gain benefit fro m – getting outside perspectives, filters and ideas.
• #36: BDNF acts on certain neurons of the central nervous system and the peripheral nervous system, helping to support the survival of existing neurons, and encourage the growth and differentiation of new neurons and synapses
• #37: Berkeley, shows that an hour’s nap can dramatically boost and restore your brain power. Indeed, the findings suggest that a biphasic sleep schedule not only refreshes the mind, but can make you smarter.that sleep is needed to clear the brain’s short-term memory storage in the hippocampus and make room for new informationthis refreshing of memory capacity is related to Stage 2 non-REM sleep, which takes place between deep sleep (non-REM) and the dream state known as Rapid Eye Movement (REM)
• #38: Insula functions include perception, motor control, self-awareness, cognitive functioning, and interpersonal experience.Another important area of mindfulness and a healthy mind or social activities. Now, as members of the ape family – the so-called hominids – we are born to be social. Kids have it naturally. But over time, perhaps because the pace of society were losing our ability to be social. But that’s something that we need to read in stalling ourselves, because social activity releases a variety of very positive neurotransmitters such as dopamine and oxytocin. And by doing that our brains stay healthier.One of the joys of enhanced mindfulness or activities that increase the power of your mind. Most notably is dancing, which not only provides social contact, but improve cognition as you learn new steps and great exercise.
• #39: Kids learn best when they interact with other humans (vice a TV)Nonhuman primates spend about 10 to 20 percent of their waking day grooming each other. guessing the right emotion by chance were about eight percent. But remarkably, participants guessed compassion correctly nearly 60 percent of the time. Gratitude, anger, love, fear—they got those right more than 50 percent of the time as well.preterm newborns who received just three 15-minute sessions of touch therapy each day for 5-10 days gained 47 percent more weight than premature infants who’d received standard medical treatment.  When teachers pat students in a friendly way, those students are three times as likely to speak up in class. Another recent study has found that when librarians pat the hand of a student checking out aOXYTOCINMIRROR NEURONSAnother important area of mindfulness and a healthy mind or social activities. Now, as members of the ape family – the so-called hominids – we are born to be social. Kids have it naturally. But over time, perhaps because the pace of society were losing our ability to be social. But that’s something that we need to read in stalling ourselves, because social activity releases a variety of very positive neurotransmitters such as dopamine and oxytocin. And by doing that our brains stay healthier.One of the joys of enhanced mindfulness or activities that increase the power of your mind. Most notably is dancing, which not only provides social contact, but improve cognition as you learn new steps and great exercise.
• #40: Give thanks, too
• #43: All Fun (except diet)
• #45: About your life and your situation:Even if we perceive the problem correctly, we frequently jump at the first plausible solution.Frequently is risk-averse, short term and sub optimal. Very important to look for a valuable, enduring goal to be achieved.
• #46: DIAGNOSTC SCAHMost errors of thinking are errors of perception because the brain jumps to conclusions. Frozen brain syndrome.Your brain creates a mental model of the world to enable coping and survival.Perceptions are rigid interpretations of data which freeze our brains into traditional thinking. Very important to try new perspectives.Perception is by far the most important part of thinking.. If perception is faulty then no amount of logical excellence will give a useful answer.
• #47: Frozen brain syndrome.Your brain creates a mental model of the world to enable coping and survival.Perceptions are rigid interpretations of data which freeze our brains into traditional thinking. Very important to try new perspectives.Perception is by far the most important part of thinking. Most errors of thinking arewe see this in operation on a daily basis for example the same wine poured into our wine bottle priced at five dollars will be charged to be tasted as an inferior wine when compared to the same Jews poured into a bottle marked $90. Similar air rarely stereotypes which aggregates a lot of perceptions into a hole frequently dismantle our ability to think properly time and time again studies have shown that teachers will grade the students written essay differently depending on the angle of occasion of the student’s name say John Smith versus Leon DallRempel-or even their handwriting. errors of perception. If perception is faulty then no amount of logical excellence will give a useful answer. So in addition to mindfulness, we need to become better thinkers, and good thinking begins with good perceptions of its hard to believe that the dimensions of these two tables are identical. But we perceive them as being different, because this is what our mind tells us is true. So to be a good thinker, you have to be aware that your perceptions. Sometimes fool you.
• #48: The mind is not designed to be creative…it is designed to compartmentalize and take action.A recent IBM poll of 1,500 CEOs identified creativity as the No. 1 “leadership competency” of the future.The mind goes where the imagination goes. But creativity doesn’t mean artsy creativity. The key is the ability to generate a number of useful ideas, all of which have valuable possibilities.Creativity – the ability to generate original, useful ideas can be learned. If we don’t have creativity. Then we have routine, and in today’s world. Routine is bad
• #50: All Fun (except diet)
• #52: AdaptationFinally if you’re in control of your mind via mindfulness and if you develop good thinking skills. Then you need a playbook to implement a decision. And a new decision is not a good decision, unless it can be implemented. So here’s a thinking tool that allows you to categorize the situation. Based on its complexity, the urgency of the decision and the information that’s available.So when the time of our ancestors decisions were not terribly complex. They were very urgent, and there probably wasn’t too much information. So decisions could be made quickly, in fact had demanded equally. Now, decisions are different or very complex. We have a little more time and a lot more information.So in some cases. For example, driving a car. When you see a signal light change. The decision is not complex, urgent and information is limited, and generally unnecessary.
• #53: Eat or be eaten..IntuitionFinally if you’re in control of your mind via mindfulness and if you develop good thinking skills. Then you need a playbook to implement a decision. And a new decision is not a good decision, unless it can be implemented. So here’s a thinking tool that allows you to categorize the situation. Based on its complexity, the urgency of the decision and the information that’s available.So when the time of our ancestors decisions were not terribly complex. They were very urgent, and there probably wasn’t too much information. So decisions could be made quickly, in fact had demanded equally. Now, decisions are different or very complex. We have a little more time and a lot more information.So in some cases. For example, driving a car. When you see a signal light change. The decision is not complex, urgent and information is limited, and generally unnecessary.
• #54: The route depends on the place in the decision matrix….in itself a judgment.There is no ‘right’ way to make decisions. But, there is a good way, depending upon your assessment of the type of decision.Here are where your networks can help. Here are three approaches.Make a simple decision yourself. Use a checklist where you write down the problem, write down alternatives; rank order the solutions and make a choice.Use your professional friends as a sounding boardPOWER BASEBelong to a decision support group
• #55: The route depends on the place in the decision matrix….in itself a judgment.There is no ‘right’ way to make decisions. But, there is a good way, depending upon your assessment of the type of decision.Here are where your networks can help. Here are three approaches.Make a simple decision yourself. Use a checklist where you write down the problem, write down alternatives; rank order the solutions and make a choice.Use your professional friends as a sounding boardPOWER BASEBelong to a decision support group
• #57: Decision making is a key role for any manager or leader. Surprisingly many people struggle when it comes to taking decisions. This might be due to:
• #63: All Fun (except diet)
• #64: So, we are concluding the topic of good decision making. Here is a good checklist.
• #66: Universe is too big and too weird to understand.Life 3.5 Billion years agoFirst living cell made decisions to surviveRadiation treePieces of consciousness exist in many animalsMan alone has the ability to be reflectiveAs many as 250,000 neurons, or brain cells, develop every minute during early pregnancy = 15M an hour = 360M a day.At 6 = 90% of adult; body = 33% of adult.
• #67: First look at the brain…5 levelsThe cerebellum (Latin for little brain) is a region of the brain that plays an important role in motor control. It is also involved in some cognitive functions such as attention and language, and probably in some emotional functions such as regulating fear and pleasure responses,[1When the cortex has received and processed a sensory stimulus indicating a reward, it sends a signal announcing this reward to a particular part of the midbrain–the ventral tegmental area (VTA)–whose activity then increases. The VTA then releases dopamine not only into the nucleus accumbens, but also into the septum, the amygdala, and the prefrontal cortex.The nucleus accumbens then activates the individual’s motor functions, while the prefrontal cortex focuses his or her attention. Midbrain better at handling complexity which can overwhelm rational brainAs many as 250,000 neurons, or brain cells, develop every minute during early pregnancy.BLIND SIGHTComplex decisions and the emotional brain….IIowa Gambling Experiment 10 -> 50 -> 80Soap opera and ticker tape.225 in. sq.60% of neuronsDeveloped in mammals. Leads to everywhere. size of the prefrontal cortex has increased sixfold over 5M years; the brain itself has only increased in size about threefold. Will power, morals, planning, control, ARISTOTLE TAUGHT ALEXANDER THE GREAT HOW TO MANAGE THIS – THE GREATEST OF ALL WARRIORSI love you with all my brain
• #68: Who/what are we: Self, conscious spiritUnified field theoryEverything is ripples in space timeElectrons both a wave and particle…same underlay as photon (which does not have a repulsive/attractive force).7 more dimensionsHome of gravityUp to 10**500 other universesGamma oscillations