Self Education

2019-02-26 18:59:19 If you`re interested in this topic you can book from Gabriele Oettingen who conducted the experiment: link Open / Comment

2019-02-26 18:57:21 Positive thinking leads to bad result

Gabriele Oettingen conducted an experement after which, as a reslut, she claimed that positive thinking may effects us badly in planning future and achieving success.

Experiment

Students from all over the world who liked people who lived on a great distance from them were asked about what they thought about going with those people from different countries/cities. They also were asked about how they're going to overcome these difficulties.

Result

Eventually, almost no one got into a relationship. Their "positive" dreams about how they're going to spend, for example, their next weekend with their partners gave them some kind of satisfaction of a completed task. They didn't think about facing problems with travel or finding a job, for example.

Conclusion

If you want to achieve success, don't always think negatively or neutral, but always keep in mind difficulties that you're going to deal with and necessarily think about solutions to them. Thus you'll get more benefit Open / Comment

2019-02-12 19:56:51 ​​Things we think we are doing right, but not actually

People tend to make mistakes and there's nothing wrong about it. Moreover, sometimes we think that we're doing everything perfect, but in reality some things that you find obvious and easy to understand give you wrong glimpse about how certain things should be done.

The more effort you make to impress people, the less impressed they are

When you're trying to hard to impress people, you are likely to show your true self. Most people can not control this process, so people will find you insincere and get bored later on.

The harder you try to achieve your goal, the harder it will be to get it

People really like to think about things as something really unreachable and difficult. The less you think about the solving process, the faster you will do it. It's not something that is really hard to do, it's just quiet complicated trick that our brain likes to do with us, because every negative thought gives you unnesecessary details on which we spend a lot of focus which we're lacking pf indeed.

The more small talks you do on the Internet, the more useless your conversations are

Having thousands of aquantiances online has really good outlook. Nevertheless, benefit that you can get from those "friends" is pretty low. Rather than talking with 15 people at the same time without any progress in conversation, you can talk just with a couple of people, thus you'll be more into conversation and get some useful information or maybe a future business partner.

More information about why we do a lot of things wrong you can find here: Link

#psychology #brain Open / Comment

2019-02-06 20:36:47 ​​Forgetting curve

The forgetting curve hypothesizes decrease in memory retention over time. This curve shows how information is getting lost over time, when no attempts were made to save it.

Experiment

The experiment conducted by Ebbingauz included a method of memorizing meaningless syllables which included two consonants and a vowel between them, not causing any semantic associations, that shows us that people were taught absolutely new information.

During the experiments, it was found that after the first unmistakable repetition of a series of such syllables, forgetting occurs very quickly at first: up to 60% of the information received is forgotten within the first hour, 10 hours after memorizing 35% of the studied one remains in memory. After 6 days, about 20% of the total number of originally learned syllables remain in memory. The same amount remains in memory after a month.

Conclusion

Conclusions based on this curve shows us that for effective memorization it is necessary to repeat the memorized material.

To memorize well, you need to use the phenomenon of rational repetition:

If you have two days:
1) The first repetition - immediately after reading;
2) The second repetition - 20 minutes after the first repetition;
3) The third repetition - 8 hours after the second;
4) The fourth repetition - 24 hours after the third.

If you need to remember for a very long time:
1) The first repetition - immediately after reading;
2) The second repetition - 20-30 minutes after the first repetition;
3) The third repetition - 1 day after the second;
4) The fourth repetition - 2-3 weeks after the third;
5) The fifth repetition is 2-3 months after the fourth repetition.

Original source: Link
Wikipedia article: Link

#brain #memory Open / Comment

2019-01-29 19:38:39 ​​ABCDE method

It's a method for setting priorities. Determine your major goals or objectives in your task list(I wrote about how to do that in part 1 and part 2). Mark each of your task on your list with one letter - A/B/C/D/E before you begin.

A stands for “very important;” something you must do. There can be serious negative consequences if you don’t do it.

B stands for “important;” something you should do. This is not as important as your ‘A’ tasks. There are only minor negative consequences if it is not completed.

C stands for things that are “nice to do;” but which are not as important as ‘A’ or ‘B,’ tasks. There are no negative consequences for not completing it.

D stands for “delegate.” You can assign this task to someone else who can do the job instead of you.

E stands for “eliminate, whenever possible.” You should eliminate every single activity you possibly can, to free up your time.

Conclusion

When you use the A-B-C-D-E method, you can very easily sort out what is important and unimportant. It will focus your time and attention on those items on your list that are most essential for you to do.

Original source of author: Link

#management #productivity Open / Comment

2019-01-27 21:43:12 ​​How to overcome Learned Helplessness

When a person feel that he has no control on situation, he may begin to behave in a helpless manner. It's called learned helplessness. Person with learned helplessness usually has difficulties with setting goals, overcoming difficulties, achieving success and starting the action. Nevertheless learned helplessness can be overcomed.

Don't say weak words

Don't say these words: I can't, I don't want, everything is useless, I've never done that, I'm always late/I always forget etc.

Behind all these words lies disbelief in one's own strength, anxiety and fear of failure, the lack of a positive outlook and disbelief that other options for solution may exist and be applied.

Take small steps

Set the small aim which is easy to achieve. You will be proud of yourself and can go further. When small aim will be done, it will be easier for you to set bigger goals and accomplish them.

Don't blame yourself

Most of bad things happened not because of your fault. And if it's your fault that doesn't mean that you need to stop doing anything - for example, Donald Trump was bankcrupt 4 times and after those didn't give up.

Think under another angle

In the experiment the dogs didn't try to avoid an electric shock because during the experiment they tried to avoid it several times , but since it did not work out, they stopped. If dogs thought about solutions, for example, that they can try to jump over or break the walls, it could work out for them. Same for people: sometimes you just need stop and thing about different possibilities and options.

Motivation and optimism

It's always a good booster for you to start. Objects from which people get motivation are very different and you need to find one for yourself. I usually get motivation from famous people who accomplished big goals.

#psychology #motivation Open / Comment

2019-01-23 21:12:20 ​​Friendship paradox

Friendship paradox describes statement what says that your friends have more friends than you.

Reason

It's very simple: the more a person has friends, the bigger chance that he'll be observed in one's own friends.

Research

Many researches were conducted, and results show that it was true for 98% of Twitter users and more than 90% of Facebook.

Example

Your friend wants to check how popular he is. He goes to your friends list and sees that your friends have more friend than he has. Even though it sounds complex, it's really easy. If a person is not popular, there are more chances to find him in different friends lists. If a person is not that popular, he has less chances to be noticed in those lists.

There are just less chances to see unpopular people in friends lists, thus you only see popular people who have a lot friends.

Original research: Link

#psychology #paradox Open / Comment

2019-01-14 00:09:33 ​​Learned helplessness

It's a state in which a person does not try to influence on the situation, even when he can do it.

Experiment

This phenomenon was discovered by American psychologist Martin Seligman in 1967 in a series of studies.

In the experiment Seligman participated three groups of dogs and each of them was placed in different cages. Animals from the first and the second groups received a light discharge of current through the floor, and the third one - the control group did not. The first group could turn off the current by pressing the button inside the cell. The second had no options: electric shocks stopped only when the dogs from the first group pressed the button.

Later, all the subjects were put in boxes with a partition, which can be easily jumped over(look at the picture below). Animals received electric shocks, and to avoid discomfort, they just had to jump to the other side.

Result

The dogs from the first and third groups quickly figured out what needs to be done and moved to a safe area.The dogs from the second group remained where they were shocked, whined, but did not even try to escape.

Conclusion

Seligman suggested that the dogs might not try to avoid an electric shock because during the experiment they tried to avoid it several times , but since it did not work out, they got used to its inevitability. In other words, the dogs "learned helplessness".

Later, other psychologists conducted a similar experiment in humans and the phenomenon of learned helplessness also worked .

How to get rid of the feeling of helplessness will be written in the next post.

Original source: Link

#experiments #psychology Open / Comment

2019-01-09 00:42:15 ​​Buridan's ass

A paradox which describes how external factors influence on our decisions. For example, we'd prefer to buy yogurt with attractive package than the same yogurt with less attractive one.

Paradox

It refers to the situations where a donkey is given 2 similar piles of hay and put between them. The distances from piles to the donkey are the same and piles are the same size, color and weight. They are just identical. The problems is that the donkey can not decide which pile he wants to eat, as a result, he'll starve to death.

Why does this happen?

This happens because the donkey do not have any reasons to choose one of them. It will be just thinking about why one of the piles is better than the other one. Since piles are identical the donkey won't make any decision and eventually die.

Result

Of course, if we were in the same situation as the donkey, we wouldn't die of starving, but it perfectly shows this paradox's concept. Comparing with people, this paradox shows us how our choice depends on external conditions, for example, talking about food it's smell, taste, form etc. If it's given 2 cakes, but one of them has a cherry on the top, even it doesn't really change the taste, we're more likely to take this cake.

Original research: Link

#psychology Open / Comment

2019-01-06 23:48:21 How to generate ideas

Here are some tips from Kevin Daum - Inc. 500 entrepreneur and best-selling author.

Observe the world

Great ideas won't happen in a vacuum. You need to find the way to make your brain think in new and creative directions. You should determine time for special sessions where you stimulate your brain into thinking differently. A simple walk through the city can introduce you to exciting activities and different behaviors that makes you think about something new. Any crowded urban area, mall or zoo may influence on you the similary.

Meet and talk with new people

Hanging around with the same friends and colleagues can get you in a thinking routine. Speak with strangers, random people at cafe, parks etc. New people don't know all your thought patterns and old stories, so you're like a blank paper for them.

Read More Books

Books are wonderful for creating new thoughts and stimulating great ideas. Stories in books will get you out of daily headspace and activate your idea generator. Even if you don't have time for a novel, go hunt down a bookstore and spend an hour browsing. You'll find plenty of thought stimulations.

Randomly Surf the Web

Google is great when you know what you are looking for, but the best way to generate new ideas is unexpected learning. Take an hour each week and go on a web journey. Start with the I'm "Feeling Lucky" button and just take it(что it?) from there.


Meditate

It's hard to come up with great ideas when your mind is full of everyday thoughts and concerns. You need quiet space. Meditation will help you clear your mind from daily business and stress. Then you can quietly focus on your future or solving world issues. Do to two hour-long sessions every week and soon you'll find new ideas flowing.

All of these methods require a commitment of time and energy, but that's the key to great ideas. You need to give your brain time and space to work on you. Aftet trying each of these methods, you are bound to come up with a great idea or two. Make sure you record them and set a plan of accountability. The execution is up to you.

Original article: Link

#brain Open / Comment