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Send me a DM here (it doesn't let me respond), OR email me: imagineabetterworld2020@gmail.comToday I'm thrilled to have back on the show for a second time: MK ULTRA and Project Stargate survivor and whistleblower, targeted individual, filmmaker, podcaster, musician, athlete and former Virginia Tech all-American running back, entrepreneur, mental health advocate, and hometown hero from the Blue Ridge Mountains of VA: Tommy Edwards aka: Touchdown Tommy!A little bit about Tommy if you are new here, if you missed his debut on ‘The Imagination', or if you need a quick recap: Born in February 1974 in Radford, Virginia - a historic town cradled by one of the world's oldest rivers - Tommy entered a world shadowed by grief yet illuminated by legacy. His father, Ken Edwards, a Virginia Tech Hall of Famer who wore jersey #33 and was drafted by the Buffalo Bills, carried the weight of family tragedies that shaped a dynasty of determination. Tommy, inheriting that same number and spirit, would become a beacon for thousands.As a boy, Tommy faced challenges - dyslexia, feeling like an outsider, family struggles - but he discovered fire on the field. At Radford High School, he exploded as a consensus All-American running back and first-team All-State linebacker. In his junior and senior years alone, he rushed for nearly 4,000 yards and scored an astonishing 57 touchdowns - a record that still echoes through the valleys. Recruited by powerhouses, he chose Virginia Tech in 1992, following his father's footsteps.In 1993, as a redshirt freshman, Touchdown Tommy burst onto the national stage. He scored 10 touchdowns (including four in a single game against Pittsburgh), led the nation in scoring for six weeks, and helped propel the Hokies to a top-15 finish and a bowl victory. He and his father became the first father-son duo in NCAA history to score rushing touchdowns in bowl games - a legacy of grit and glory. Headlines screamed his name; fans chanted "Touchdown Tommy"; the program ascended from mediocrity to dominance, setting the foundation for future championships.Tommy's story deepened into a profound journey of awakening. Repressed memories surfaced of childhood encounters with Project Stargate, MK ULTRA, and lifelong targeting as a gifted "star child." He endured gangstalking, electronic harassment, false hospitalizations, and a terrifying SWAT standoff - yet he emerged stronger, speaking truth against corruption, exploitation in sports, and hidden programs. Diagnosed with advanced CTE symptoms (brain scans showing severe damage that should have left him institutionalized), he battles daily with severe symptomology, but his spirit remains unshakeable. CONNECT WITH TOMMY:YouTube: @tommyedwards7062Twitter: https://twitter.com/TommyEdwardsTo1Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/touchdowntommyedwards/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tommytouchdowntommyedwardsSnapchat: t_edwards7802Cashapp: $DrGonzobingbongCONNECT WITH EMMA:YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@imaginationpodcastofficialRumble: https://rumble.com/c/TheImaginationPodcastEMAIL: imagineabetterworld2020@gmail.com OR standbysurvivors@protonmail.comMy Substack: https://emmakatherine.substack.com/BUY ME A COFFEE: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/theimaginationVESupport the show
It’s actually a good thing that some books push you to the edge of your ability to understand. But there’s no doubting the fact that dense, abstract and jargon-filled works can push you so far into the fog of frustration that you cannot blame yourself for giving up. But here’s the truth: You don’t have to walk away frustrated and confused. I’m going to share with you a number of practical strategies that will help you fill in the gaps of your reading process. Because that’s usually the real problem: It’s not your intelligence. Nor is it that the world is filled with books “above your level.” I ultimately don’t believe in “levels” as such. But as someone who taught reading courses at Rutgers and Saarland University, I know from experience that many learners need to pick up a few simple steps that will strengthen how they approach reading difficult books. And in this guide, you’ll learn how to read challenging books and remember what they say. I’m going to go beyond generic advice too. That way, you can readily diagnose: Why certain books feel so hard Use pre-reading tactics that prime your brain to deal with difficulties effectively Apply active reading techniques to lock in understanding faster Leverage accelerated learning tools that are quick to learn Use Artificial Intelligence to help convert tough convent into lasting knowledge without worrying about getting duped by AI hallucinations Whether you’re tacking philosophy, science, dense fiction or anything based primarily in words, the reading system you’ll learn today will help you turn confusion into clarity. By the end, even the most intimidating texts will surrender their treasures to your mind. Ready? Let’s break it all down together. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9HLbY4jsFg Why Some Books Feel “Too Hard” (And What That Really Means) You know exactly how it feels and so do I. You sit down with a book that people claim is a classic or super-important. But within a few pages, your brain fogs over and you’re completely lost. More often than not, through glazed eyes, you start to wonder… did this author go out of his or her way to make this difficult? Are they trying to show off with all these literary pyrotechnics? Or is there a deliberate conspiracy to confuse readers like me? Rest assured. These questions are normal and well worth asking. The difficulty you might feel is never arbitrary in my experience. But there’s also no “single origin” explanation for why some books feel easier than others. It’s almost always a combination of factors, from cognitive readiness, lived experience, emotions and your physical condition throughout the day. This means that understanding why individual texts resist your understanding needs to be conducted on a case-by-case basis so you can move towards mastering anything you want to read. Cognitive Load: The Brain’s Processing “Stop Sign” “Cognitive load” probably needs no definition. The words are quite intuitive. You start reading something and it feels like someone is piling heavy bricks directly on top of your brain, squishing everything inside. More specifically, these researchers explain that what’s getting squished is specifically your working memory, which is sometimes called short-term memory. In practical terms, this means that when a book suddenly throws a bunch of unfamiliar terms at you, your working memory has to suddenly deal with abstract concepts, completely new words or non-linear forms of logic. All of this increases your cognitive load, but it’s important to note that there’s no conspiracy. In Just Being Difficult: Academic Writing in the Public Arena, a variety of contributors admit that they often write for other specialists. Although it would be nice to always compose books and articles for general readers, it’s not laziness. They’re following the codes of their discipline, which involves shorthand to save everyone time. Yes, it can also signal group membership and feel like an intellectual wall if you’re new to this style, but it’s simply a “stop sign” for your brain. And wherever there are stop signs, there are also alternative routes. Planning Your Detour “Roadmap” Into Difficult Books Let me share a personal example by way of sharing a powerful technique for making hard books easier to read. A few years ago I decided I was finally going to read Kant. I had the gist of certain aspects of his philosophy, but a few pages in, I encountered so many unfamiliar terms, I knew I had to obey the Cognitive Load Stop Sign and take a step back. To build a roadmap into Kant, I searched Google in a particular way. Rather than a search term like, “Intro to Kant,” I entered this tightened command instead: Filetype:PDF syllabus Kant These days, you can ask an LLM in more open language to simply give you links to the syllabi of the most authoritative professors who teach Kant. I’d still suggest that you cross-reference what you get on Google, however. If you’re hesitant about using either Google or AI, it’s also a great idea to visit a librarian in person to help you. Or, you can read my post about using AI for learning with harming your memory to see if it’s time to update your approach. Narrowing Down Your Options One way or another, the reason to consult the world’s leading professors is that their syllabi will provide you with: Foundational texts Core secondary literature Commentaries from qualified sources Essential historical references Once you’ve looked over a few syllabi, look through the table of contents of a few books on Amazon or Google Books. Then choose: 1-2 foundational texts to read before the challenging target book you want to master 1-2 articles or companion texts to read alongside In this way, you’ve turned difficulty into a path, not an obstacle. Pre-Reading Strategies That Warm Up Your Reading Muscles A lot of the time, the difficulty people feel when reading has nothing to do with the book. It’s just that you’re diving into unfamiliar territory without testing the waters first. Here are some simple ways to make unfamiliar books much easier to get into. Prime Like a Pro To make books easier to read, you can perform what is often called “priming” in the accelerated learning community. It is also sometimes called “pre-reading” and as this research article discusses, its success has been well-demonstrated. The way I typically perform priming is simple. Although some books require a slight change to the pattern, I typically approach each new book by reading: The back cover The index The colophon page The conclusion or afterword The most interesting or relevant chapter The introduction The rest of the book Activate Prior Knowledge Sometimes I will use a skimming and scanning strategy after reading the index to quickly familiarize myself with how an author approaches a topic with which I’m already familiar. This can help raise interest, excitement and tap into the power of context-dependent memory. For example, I recently started reading Doubt: A History by Jennifer Michael Hecht. Since the Renaissance memory master Giordano Bruno comes up multiple times, I was able to draw up a kind of context map of the books themes by quickly going through those passages. Take a Picture Walk Barbara Oakley and Terence Sejnjowski share a fantastic strategy in Learning How to Learn. Before reading, simply go through a book and look at all the illustrations, tables, charts and diagrams. It seems like a small thing. But it gives your brain a “heads up” about upcoming visual information that you may need to process than prose. I used to find visual information like this difficult, but after I started taking picture walks, I’m now excited to read “towards” these elements. If still find them challenging to understand, I apply a tip I learned from Tony Buzan that you might like to try: Rather than struggle to interpret a chart or illustration, reproduce it in your own hand. Here’s an example of how I did this when studying spaced repetition: As a result, I learned the graph and its concepts quickly and have never forgotten it. Build a Pre-Reading Ritual That Fits You There’s no one-sized-fits-all strategy, so you need to experiment with various options. The key is to reduce cognitive load by giving your mind all kinds of ways of understanding what a book contains. If it helps, you can create yourself a checklist that you slip into the challenging books on your list. That way, you’ll have both a bookmark and a protocol as you develop your own pre-reading style. Active Reading Techniques That Boost Comprehension Active reading involves deliberately applying mental activities while reading. These can include writing in the margins of your books, questioning, preparing summaries and even taking well-time breaks between books. Here’s a list of my favorite active reading strategies with ideas on how you can implement them. Using Mnemonics While Reading On the whole, I take notes while reading and then apply a variety of memory techniques after. But to stretch my skills, especially when reading harder books, I start the encoding process earlier. Instead of just taking notes, I’ll start applying mnemonic images. I start early because difficult terms often require a bit more spaced repetition. To do this yourself, the key is to equip yourself with a variety of mnemonic methods, especially: The Memory Palace technique The Pegword Method The Major System The PAO System And in some cases, you may want to develop a symbol system, such as if you’re studying physics or programming. Once you have these mnemonic systems developed, you can apply them in real time. For example, if you come across names and dates, committing them to memory as you read can help you keep track of a book’s historical arc. This approach can be especially helpful when reading difficult books because authors often dump a lot of names and dates. By memorizing them as you go, you reduce the mental load of having to track it all. For even more strategies you can apply while reading, check out my complete Mnemonics Dictionary. Strategic Questioning Whether you take notes or memorize in real-time, asking questions as you go makes a huge difference. Even if you don’t come up with answers, continually interrogating the book will open up your brain. The main kinds of questions are: Evaluative questions (checking that the author uses valid reasoning and address counterarguments) Analytical questions (assessing exactly how the arguments unfold and questioning basic assumptions) Synthetic questions (accessing your previous knowledge and looking for connections with other books and concepts) Intention questions (interrogating the author’s agenda and revealing any manipulative rhetoric) One medieval tool for questioning you can adopt is the memory wheel. Although it’s definitely old-fashioned, you’ll find that it helps you rotate between multiple questions. Even if they are as simple as who, what, where, when, how and why questions, you’ll have a mental mnemonic device that helps ensure you don’t miss any of them. Re-reading Strategies Although these researchers seem to think that re-reading is not an effective strategy, I could not live without it. There are three key kinds of re-reading I recommend. Verbalize Complexity to Tame It The first is to simply go back and read something difficult to understand out loud. You’d be surprised how often it’s not your fault. The author has just worded something in a clunky manner and speaking the phrasing clarifies everything. Verbatim Memorization for Comprehension The second strategy is to memorize the sentence or even an entire passage verbatim. That might seem like a lot of work, but this tutorial on memorizing entire passages will make it easy for you. Even if verbatim memorization takes more work, it allows you to analyze the meaning within your mind. You’re no longer puzzling over it on paper, continuing to stretch your working memory. No, you’ve effectively expanded at least a part of your working memory by bypassing it altogether. You’ve ushered the information into long-term memory. I’m not too shy to admit that I have to do this sometimes to understand everything from the philosophy in Sanskrit phrases to relatively simple passages from Shakespeare. As I shared in my recent discussion of actor Anthony Hopkins’ memory, I couldn’t work out what “them” referred to in a particular Shakespeare play. But after analyzing the passage in memory, it was suddenly quite obvious. Rhythmical Re-reading The third re-reading strategy is something I shared years ago in my post detailing 11 reasons you should re-read at least one book per month. I find this approach incredibly helpful because no matter how good you get at reading and memory methods, even simple books can be vast ecosystems. By revisiting difficult books at regular intervals, you not only get more out of them. You experience them from different perspectives and with the benefit of new contexts you’ve built in your life over time. In other words, treat your reading as an infinite game and never assume that you’ve comprehended everything. There’s always more to be gleaned. Other Benefits of Re-reading You’ll also improve your pattern recognition by re-treading old territory, leading to more rapid recognition of those patterns in new books. Seeing the structures, tropes and other tactics in difficult books opens them up. But without regularly re-reading books, it can be difficult to perceive what these forms are and how authors use them. To give you a simple example of a structure that appears in both fiction and non-fiction, consider in media res, or starting in the middle. When you spot an author using this strategy, it can immediately help you read more patiently. And it places the text in the larger tradition of other authors who use that particular technique. For even more ideas that will keep your mind engaged while tackling tough books, feel free to go through my fuller article on 7 Active Reading Strategies. Category Coloring & Developing Your Own Naming System For Complex Material I don’t know about you, but I do not like opening a book only to find it covered in highlighter marks. I also don’t like highlighting books myself. However, after practicing mind mapping for a few years, I realized that there is a way to combine some of its coloring principles with the general study principles of using Zettelkasten and flashcards. Rather than passively highlighting passages that seem interesting at random, here’s an alternative approach you can take to your next tour through a complicated book. Category Coloring It’s often helpful to read with a goal. For myself, I decided to tackle a hard book called Gödel Escher Bach through the lens of seven categories. I gave each a color: Red = Concept Green = Process Orange = Fact Blue = Historical Context Yellow = Person Purple = School of Thought or Ideology Brown = Specialized Terminology Example Master Card to the Categorial Color Coding Method To emulate this method, create a “key card” or “master card” with your categories on it alongside the chosen color. Use this as a bookmark as you read. Then, before writing down any information from the book, think about the category to which it belongs. Make your card and then apply the relevant color. Obviously, you should come up with your own categories and preferred colors. The point is that you bring the definitions and then apply them consistently as you read and extract notes. This will help bring structure to your mind because you’re creating your own nomenclature or taxonomy of information. You are also using chunking, a specific mnemonic strategy I’ve written about at length in this post on chunking as a memory tool. Once you’re finished a book, you can extract all the concepts and memorize them independently if you like. And if you emulate the strategy seen on the pictured example above, I’ve included the page number on each card. That way, I can place the cards back in the order of the book. Using this approach across multiple books, you will soon spot cross-textual patterns with greater ease. The catch is that you cannot allow this technique to become activity for activity’s sake. You also don’t want to wind up creating a bunch of informational “noise.” Before capturing any individual idea on a card and assigning it to a category, ask yourself: Why is this information helpful, useful or critical to my goal? Will I really use it again? Where does it belong within the categories? If you cannot answers these questions, either move on to the next point. Or reframe the point with some reflective thinking so that you can contextualize it. This warning aside, it’s important not to let perfectionism creep into your life. Knowing what information matters does take some practice. To speed up your skills with identifying critical information, please read my full guide on how to find the main points in books and articles. Although AI can certainly help these days, you’ll still need to do some work on your own. Do Not Let New Vocabulary & Terminology Go Without Memorization One of the biggest mistakes I used to make, even as a fan of memory techniques, slowed me down much more than necessary. I would come across a new term, look it up, and assume I’d remember it. Of course, the next time I came across it, the meaning was still a mystery. But when I got more deliberate, I not only remembered more words, but the knowledge surrounding the unfamiliar terms also stuck with greater specificity. For example, in reading The Wandering Mind by Jamie Kreiner, memorizing the ancient Greek word for will or volition (Prohairesis) pulled many more details about why she was mentioning it. Lo and behold, I started seeing the word in more places and connecting it to other ancient Greek terms. Memorizing those as well started to create a “moat of meaning,” further protecting a wide range of information I’d been battling. Understanding Why Vocabulary Blocks Comprehension The reason why memorizing words as you read is so helpful is that it helps clear out the cognitive load created by pausing frequently to look up words. Even if you don’t stop to learn a new definition, part of your working memory gets consumed by the lack of familiarity. I don’t always stop to learn new definitions while reading, but using the color category index card method you just discovered, it’s easy to organize unfamiliar words while reading. That way they can be tidily memorized later. I have a full tutorial for you on how to memorize vocabulary, but here’s a quick primer. Step One: Use a System for Capturing New Words & Terms Whether you use category coloring, read words into a recording app or email yourself a reminder, the key is to capture as you go. Once your reading session is done, you can now go back to the vocabulary list and start learning it. Step Two: Memorize the Terms I personally prefer the Memory Palace technique. It’s great for memorizing words and definitions. You can use the Pillar Technique with the word at the top and the definition beneath it. Or you can use the corners for the words and the walls for the definitions. Another idea is to photograph the cards you create and important them into a spaced repetition software like Anki. As you’ll discover in my complete guide to Anki, there are several ways you can combine Anki with a variety of memory techniques. Step Three: Use the Terms If you happened to catch an episode of the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast back when I first learned Prohairesis I mentioned it often. This simple habit helps establish long-term recall, reflection and establishes the ground for future recognition and use. Expand Understanding Using Video & Audio Media When I was in university, I often had to ride my bike across Toronto to borrow recorded lectures on cassette. Given the overwhelming tsunamis of complex ideas, jargon and theoretical frameworks I was facing, it was worth it. Especially since I was also dealing with the personal problems I shared with you in The Victorious Mind. Make no mistake: I do not believe there is any replacement for reading the core books, no matter how difficult they might be. But there’s no reason not to leverage the same ideas in multiple formats to help boost your comprehension and long-term retention. Multimedia approaches are not just about knowledge acquisition either. There have been many debates in the magical arts community that card magicians should read and not rely on video. But evidence-based studies like this one show that video instruction combined with reading written instructions is very helpful. The Science Behind Multi-Modal Learning I didn’t know when I was in university, or when I was first starting out with memdeck card magic that dual coding theory existed. This model was proposed by Allan Paivio, who noticed that information is processed both verbally and non-verbally. Since then, many teachers have focused heavily on how to encourage students to find the right combination of reading, visual and auditory instructional material. Here are some ideas that will help you untangle the complexity in your reading. How to Integrate Multimedia Without Overload Forgive me if this is a bit repetitive, but to develop flow with multiple media, you need to prime the brain. As someone who has created multiple YouTube videos, I have been stubborn about almost always including introductions. Why? Go Through the Intros Like a Hawk Because without including a broad overview of the topic, many learners will miss too many details. And I see this in the comments because people ask questions that are answered throughout the content and flagged in the introductions. So the first step is to be patient and go through the introductory material. And cultivate an understanding that it’s not really the material that is boring. It’s the contemporary issues with dopamine spiking that make you feel impatient. The good news is that you can possibly reset your dopamine levels so you’re better able to sit through these “priming” materials. One hack I use is to sit far away from my mouse and keep my notebook in hand. If I catch myself getting antsy, I perform a breathing exercise to restore focus. Turn on Subtitles When you’re watching videos, you can help increase your engagement by turning on the subtitles. This is especially useful in jargon-heavy video lessons. You can pause and still see the information on the screen for easier capture when taking notes. When taking notes, I recommend jotting down the timestamp. This is useful for review, but also for attributing citations later if you have to hand in an assignment. Mentally Reconstruct After watching a video or listening to a podcast on the topic you’re mastering, take a moment to review the key points. Try to go through them in the order they were presented. This helps your brain practice mental organization by building a temporal scaffold. If you’ve taken notes and written down the timestamps, you can easily check your accuracy. Track Your Progress For Growth & Performance One reason some people never feel like they’re getting anywhere is that they have failed to establish any points of reference. Personally, this is easy for me to do. I can look back to my history of writing books and articles or producing videos and be reminded of how far I’ve come at a glance. Not only as a writer, but also as a reader. For those who do not regularly produce content, you don’t have to start a blog or YouTube channel. Just keep a journal and create a few categories of what skills you want to track. These might include: Comprehension Retention Amount of books read Vocabulary growth Critical thinking outcomes Confidence in taking on harder books Increased tolerance with frustration when reading challenges arise You can use the same journal to track how much time you’ve spent reading and capturing quick summaries. Personally, I wish I’d started writing summaries sooner. I really only got started during grad school when during a directed reading course, a professor required that I had in a summary for every book and article I read. I never stopped doing this and just a few simple paragraph summaries has done wonders over the years for my understanding and retention. Tips for Overcoming Frustration While Reading Difficult Books Ever since the idea of “desirable difficulty” emerged, people have sought ways to help learners overcome emotional responses like frustration, anxiety and even shame while tackling tough topics. As this study shows, researchers and teachers have found the challenge difficult despite the abundance of evidence showing that being challenged is a good thing. Here are some strategies you can try if you continue to struggle. Embrace Cognitive Discomfort As we’ve discussed, that crushing feeling in your brain exists for a reason. Personally, I don’t think it ever goes away. I still regularly pick up books that spike it. The difference is that I don’t start up a useless mantra like, “I’m not smart enough for this.” Instead, I recommend you reframe the experience and use the growth mindset studied by Carol Dweck, amongst others. You can state something more positive like, “This book is a bit above my level, but I can use tactics and techniques to master it.” I did that very recently with my reading of The Xenotext, parts of which I still don’t fully understand. It was very rewarding. Use Interleaving to Build Confidence I rotate through draining books all the time using a proven technique called interleaving. Lots of people are surprised when I tell them that I rarely read complex and challenging books for longer than fifteen minutes at a time. But I do it because interleaving works. Which kinds of books can you interleave? You have choices. You can either switch in something completely different, or switch to a commentary. For example, while recently reading some heavy mathematical theories about whether or not “nothing” can exist, I switched to a novel. But back in university, I would often stick within the category while at the library. I’d read a core text by a difficult philosopher, then pick up a Cambridge Companion and read an essay related to the topic. You can also interleave using multimedia sources like videos and podcasts. Interleaving also provides time for doing some journaling, either about the topic at hand or some other aspect of your progress goals. Keep the Big Picture in Mind Because frustration is cognitively training, it’s easy to let it drown out your goals. That’s why I often keep a mind map or some other reminder on my desk, like a couple of memento mori. It’s also possible to just remember previous mind maps you’ve made. This is something I’m doing often at the moment as I read all kinds of boring information about managing a bookshop for my Memory Palace bookshop project first introduced in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utcJfeQZC2c It’s so easy to get discouraged by so many rules and processes involved in ordering and selling books, that I regularly think back to creating this mind map with Tony Buzan years ago. In case my simple drawings on this mind map for business development doesn’t immediately leap out at you with its meanings, the images at the one o’clock-three o’clock areas refer to developing a physical Memory Palace packed with books on memory and learning. Developing and keeping a north star in mind will help you transform the process of reading difficult books into a purposeful adventure of personal development. Even if you have to go through countless books that aren’t thrilling, you’ll still be moving forward. Just think of how much Elon Musk has read that probably wasn’t all that entertaining. Yet, it was still essential to becoming a polymath. Practice Seeing Through The Intellectual Games As you read harder and harder books, you’ll eventually come to realize that the “fluency” some people have is often illusory. For example, some writers and speakers display a truly impressive ability to string together complex terminology, abstract references and fashionable ideas of the day in ways that sound profound. Daniel Dennett frequently used a great term for a lot of this verbal jujitsu that sounds profound but is actually trivial. He called such flourishes “deepities.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ey-UeaSi1rI This kind of empty linguistic dexterity will be easier for you to spot when you read carefully, paraphrase complex ideas in your own words and practice memorizing vocabulary frequently. When you retain multiple concepts and practice active questioning in a large context of grounded examples and case studies, vague claims will not survive for long in your world. This is why memory training is about so much more than learning. Memorization can equip you to think independently and bring clarity to fields that are often filled with gems, despite the fog created by intellectual pretenders more interested in word-jazz than actual truth. Using AI to Help You Take On Difficult Books As a matter of course, I recommend you use AI tools like ChatGPT after doing as much reading on your own as possible. But there’s no mistaking that intentional use of such tools can help you develop greater understanding. The key is to avoid using AI as an answer machine or what Nick Bostrom calls an “oracle” in his seminal book, Superintelligence. Rather, take a cue from Andrew Mayne, a science communicator and central figure at OpenAI and host of their podcast. His approach centers on testing in ways that lead to clarity of understanding and retention as he uses various mnemonic strategies. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlzD_6Olaqw Beyond his suggestions, here are some of my favorite strategies. Ask AI to Help Identify All Possible Categories Connected to a Topic A key reason many people struggle to connect ideas is simply that they haven’t developed a mental ecosystem of categories. I used to work in libraries, so started thinking categorically when I was still a teenager. But these days, I would combine how traditional libraries are structured with a simple prompt like: List all the possible categories my topic fits into or bridges across disciplines, historical frameworks and methodologies. Provide the list without interpretation or explanation so I can reflect. A prompt like this engineers a response that focuses on relationships and lets your brain perform the synthetic thinking. Essentially, you’ll be performing what some scientists call schema activation, leading to better personal development outcomes. Generate Lists of Questions To Model Exceptional Thinkers Because understanding relies on inquiry, it’s important to practice asking the best possible questions. AI chat bots can be uniquely useful in this process provided that you explicitly insist that it helps supply you excellent questions without any answers. You can try a prompt like: Generate a list of questions that the world’s most careful thinkers in this field would ask about this topic. Do not provide any answers. Just the list of questions. Do this after you’ve read the text and go through your notes with fresh eyes. Evaluate the material with questions in hand, ideally by writing out your answers by hand. If you need your answers imported into your computer, apps can now scan your handwriting and give you text file. Another tip: Don’t be satisfied with the first list of questions you get. Ask the AI to dig deeper. You can also ask the AI to map the questions into the categories you previously got help identifying. For a list of questions you can put into your preferred chat bot, feel free to go through my pre-AI era list of philosophical questions. They are already separated by category. Use AI to Provide a Progress Journal Template If you’re new to journaling, it can be difficult to use the technique to help you articulate what you’re reading and why the ideas are valuable. And that’s not to mention working out various metrics to measure your growth over time. Try a prompt like this: Help me design a progress journal for my quest to better understand and remember difficult books. Include sections for me to list my specific goals, vocabulary targets, summaries and various milestones I identify. Make it visual so I can either copy it into my own print notebook or print out multiple copies for use over time. Once you have a template you’re happy to experiment with, keep it visible in your environment so you don’t forget to use it. Find Blind Spots In Your Summaries Many AIs have solid reasoning skills. As a result, you can enter your written summaries and have the AI identify gaps in your knowledge, blind spots and opportunities for further reading. Try a prompt like: Analyze this summary and identify any blind spots, ambiguities in my thinking or incompleteness in my understanding. Suggest supplementary reading to help me fill in any gaps. At the risk of repetition, the point is that you’re not asking for the summaries. You’re asking for assessments that help you diagnose the limits of your understanding. As scientists have shown, metacognition, or thinking about your thinking can help you see errors much faster. By adding an AI into the mix, you’re getting feedback quickly without having to wait for a teacher to read your essay. Of course, AI outputs can be throttled, so I find it useful to also include a phrase like, “do not throttle your answer,” before asking it to dig deeper and find more issues. Used wisely, you will soon see various schools of thought with much greater clarity, anticipate how authors make their moves and monitor your own blind spots as you read and reflect. Another way to think about the power of AI tools is this: They effectively mirror human reasoning at a species wide level. You can use them to help you mirror more reasoning power by regularly accessing and practicing error detection and filling in the gaps in your thinking style. Why You Must Stop Abandoning Difficult Books (At Least Most of the Time) Like many people, I’m a fan of Scott Young’s books like Ultralearning and Get Better at Anything. He’s a disciplined thinker and his writing helps people push past shallow learning in favor of true and lasting depth. However, he often repeats the advice that you should stop reading boring books. In full transparency, I sometimes do this myself. And Young adds a lot of context to make his suggestion. But I limit abandoning books as much as possible because I don’t personally find Young’s argument that enjoyment and productivity go together. On the contrary, most goals that I’ve pursued have required fairly intense periods of delaying gratification. And because things worth accomplishing generally do require sacrifice and a commitment to difficulty, I recommend you avoid the habit of giving up on books just because they’re “boring” or not immediately enjoyable. I’ll bet you’ll enjoy the accomplishment of understanding hard books and conquering their complexity far more in the end. And you’ll benefit more too. Here’s why I think so. The Hidden Cost of Abandoning Books You’ve Started Yes, I agree that life is short and time is fleeting. But if you get into the habit of abandoning books at the first sign of boredom, it can quickly become your default habit due to how procedural memory works. In other words, you’re given your neurons the message that it’s okay to escape from discomfort. That is a very dangerous loop to throw yourself into, especially if you’re working towards becoming autodidactic. What you really need is to develop the ability to stick with complexity, hold ambiguous and contradictory issues in your mind and fight through topic exhaustion. Giving up on books on a routine basis? That’s the opposite of developing expertise and resilience. The AI Risk & Where Meaning is Actually Found We just went through the benefits of AI, so you shouldn’t have issues. But I regularly hear from people and have even been on interviews where people use AI to summarize books I’ve recomended. This is dangerous because the current models flatten nuance due to how they summarize books based on a kind of “averaging” of what its words predictability mean. Although they might give you a reasonable scaffold of a book’s structure, you won’t get the friction created by how authors take you through their thought processes. In other words, you’ll be using AI models that are not themselves modeling the thinking that reading provides when you grind your way through complex books. The Treasure of Meaning is Outside Your Comfort Zone Another reason to train for endurance is that understanding doesn’t necessarily arrive while reading a book or even a few weeks after finishing it. Sometimes the unifying insights land years later. But if you don’t read through books that seem to be filled with scattered ideas, you cannot gain any benefit from them. Their diverse points won’t consolidate in your memory and certainly won’t connect with other ideas later. So I suggest you train your brain to persist as much as possible. By drawing up the support of the techniques we discussed today and a variety of mnemonic support systems, you will develop persistence and mine more gold from everything you read. And being someone who successfully mines for gold and can produce it at will is the mark of the successful reading. Not just someone who consumes information efficiently, but who can repeatedly connect and transform knowledge year after year due to regularly accumulating gems buried in the densest and most difficult books others cannot or will not read. Use Struggle to Stimulate Growth & You Cannot Fail As you’ve seen, challenging books never mean that you’re not smart enough. It’s just a matter of working on your process so that you can tackle new forms of knowledge. And any discomfort you feel is a signal that a great opportunity and personal growth adventure awaits. By learning how to manage cognitive load, fill in the gaps in your background knowledge and persist through frustration, you can quickly become the kind of reader who seeks out complexity instead of flinching every time you see it. Confusion has now become a stage along the path to comprehension. And if you’re serious about mastering increasingly difficult material, understanding and retaining it, then it’s time to upgrade your mental toolbox. Start now by grabbing my Free Memory Improvement Course: Inside, you’ll discover: The Magnetic Memory Method for creating powerful Memory Palaces How to develop your own mnemonic systems for encoding while reading Proven techniques that deepen comprehension, no matter how abstract or complex your reading list is And please, always remember: The harder the book, the greater rewards. And the good news is, you’re now more than ready to claim them all.
You're listening to Burnt Toast. I'm Virginia Sole-Smith. Today my conversation is with Dr. Lauren Muhlheim. Lauren is a psychologist, a fellow of the Academy for Eating Disorders, a certified eating disorder specialist and approved consultant for the International Association of Eating Disorder Professionals. She's also a Certified Body Trust Provider and directs Eating Disorder Therapy LA, a group practice in Los Angeles. Lauren is the author of When Your Teen Has an Eating Disorder and a co-author of the brand new The Weight-Inclusive CBT Workbook for Eating Disorders. Lauren joined me to chat about how she and her colleagues have been working to make eating disorder treatment less fatphobic, because, yes, that really needed to happen. We also get into why it's feeling harder than ever to treat eating disorders, or live with one, in this era of RFK, Jr., MAHA and GLP-1s. Plus what to do if your child is hiding food, lying or otherwise showing signs of developing an eating disorder. When do you intervene? And how do you do so in the most supportive way possible?If you enjoy this conversation, a paid subscriiption is the best way to support our work!Join Burnt Toast
A Parenting Resource for Children’s Behavior and Mental Health
Ever wonder why no becomes your child's default response? It's rarely defiance—often, it's their nervous system seeking safety. In this episode, Dr. Roseann Capanna-Hodge, expert in Regulation First Parenting™, explains how to understand and respond to these stress signals with calm, confidence, and clarity. Feeling like every request to your child is met with an automatic “No”? You're not alone. Many parents feel like they're raising a defiant child, but often, what you're seeing is a nervous system protecting itself—not a power struggle.In this episode, I break down why “No” becomes your child's default response and how you can respond with calm, strategy, and empathy.Why does my child say no to everything, even the things they like?For many kids, “No” is a self-protective shield, not rebellion. When a child's brain senses pressure, unpredictability, or tasks that feel overwhelming, it reacts with an automatic refusal. Many default parents—often the parent who is primarily responsible for daily child-related tasks—feel the weight of this automatically, sometimes experiencing default parent resentment toward the other parent, especially if one is a stay-at-home parent and the other parent works full-time.Cultural gender norms can also shape who ends up carrying more of the emotional labor, adding to stress and fatigue.Demand sensitivity triggers immediate “No” responses, especially in children with anxiety, ADHD, or trauma histories.Low autonomy makes children feel powerless, so saying “No” restores a sense of control.Cognitive overload and unclear tasks lead to avoidance, not defiance.Parent example: Matthew shared that his daughter refused brushing teeth, getting dressed, and even dessert. By slowing down commands and giving small choices—like “Do you want socks first or shoes first?”—her nervous system felt safe, and the automatic “No” faded.How can I stop taking “No” personally as a parent?It's easy for default parents or primary caregivers to feel attacked. Remember: it's not disrespect—it's the brain signaling stress. Many parents, especially many moms, notice they carry the bulk of the daily emotional labor and often need more support from their co-parent or family network.Regulate first: Your calm tone, posture, and pacing invite cooperation.Reduce pressure: Less rushing, fewer demands, smaller instructions.Offer mini control: Simple choices like “Do homework before or after snack?” help buffer the “No.”When your child is dysregulated, it's easy to feel helpless.The Regulation Rescue Kit gives you scripts and strategies to stay grounded and in control.Become a Dysregulation Insider VIP at www.drroseann.com/newsletter and get your free kit...
In this episode, we're exploring the first of Francis Weller's Five Gates of Grief: "Everything we love, we will lose." This isn't just another depressing truth about life—it's a surprisingly liberating gateway to deeper love, presence, and joy. We'll share some stories and practical wisdom about how savoring practices can help us hold both love and loss simultaneously. Most importantly, we'll highlight why grief is a skill, not just a feeling, and you'll learn a simple five-minute micro-ritual for tending to loss before it accumulates. This conversation weaves together Buddhist teachings on impermanence, neuroscience research on grief and savoring, and the vital reminder that grief is absolutely a team sport. p.s. Find your Simple Joy practice for this episode right here at our blog. About: The Joy Lab Podcast blends science and soul to help you cope better with stress, ease anxiety, and uplift mood. Join Dr. Henry Emmons and Dr. Aimee Prasek for practical, mindfulness-based tools and positive psychology strategies to build resilience and create lasting joy. If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and review us wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts! And... if you want to spread some joy and keep this podcast ad-free, then please join our mission by donating (Joy Lab is powered by the nonprofit Pathways North and your donations are tax-deductible). Like and follow Joy Lab on Socials: Instagram TikTok Linkedin Watch on YouTube Sources and Notes for this full grief series: Joy Lab Program: Take the next leap in your wellbeing journey with step-by-step practices to help you build and maintain the elements of joy in your life. Wild Edge of Sorrow by Francis Weller "Grief is not a feeling, grief is a skill." — Francis Weller "Ritual is a maintenance practice that offers us the means of tending wounds and sorrows, for offering gratitude, allowing our psyches regular periods of release and renewal." — Francis Weller "Half of any person is wrong and weak and off the beaten path. Half the other half is dancing and laughing and swimming in the invisible joy." — Rumi "We are all the walking wounded in a world that is a war zone. Everything we love will be taken from us. Everything. Last of all life itself. Yet this reality does not diminish love. It shows us that loving is the most important business." -Christina Pinkola Estés' Website Skye Cielita Flor & Miraz Indira, The Joyful Lament: On Pain for the World. 2023 Access here Learn more about Joanna Macy's work from the Commons Library. Beckes & Sbarra, Social baseline theory: State of the science and new directions. Access here Beckes, et al. (2011). Social Baseline Theory: The Role of Social Proximity in Emotion and Economy of Action. Access here Bunea et al. (2017). Early-life adversity and cortisol response to social stress: a meta-analysis. Access here. Eisma, et al. (2019). No pain, no gain: cross-lagged analyses of posttraumatic growth and anxiety, depression, posttraumatic stress and prolonged grief symptoms after loss. Access here Lehrner, et al. (2014). Maternal PTSD associates with greater glucocorticoid sensitivity in offspring of Holocaust survivors. Access here Kamis, et al. (2024). Childhood maltreatment associated with adolescent peer networks: Withdrawal, avoidance, and fragmentation. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2024.107125 Sheehy, et al. (2019). An examination of the relationship between shame, guilt and self-harm: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Access here Strathearn, et al. (2020). Long-term Cognitive, Psychological, and Health Outcomes Associated With Child Abuse and Neglect. Access here Yehuda et al. (1998). Vulnerability to posttraumatic stress disorder in adult offspring of Holocaust survivors. Access here. Yehuda, et al. (2018). Intergenerational transmission of trauma effects: putative role of epigenetic mechanisms. Access here Full transcript available here Please remember that this content is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not intended to provide medical advice and is not a replacement for advice and treatment from a medical professional. Please consult your doctor or other qualified health professional before beginning any diet change, supplement, or lifestyle program. Please see our terms for more information. If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call the NAMI HelpLine: 1-800-950-6264 available Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. – 10 p.m., ET. OR text "HelpLine" to 62640 or email NAMI at helpline@nami.org. Visit NAMI for more. You can also call or text SAMHSA at 988 or chat 988lifeline.org.
Welcome to the Social-Engineer Podcast: The Doctor Is In Series – where we will discuss understandings and developments in the field of psychology. In today's episode, Chris and Dr. Abbie explore imposter syndrome, examining what it is, why it occurs, and how cultural and professional pressures can intensify it. They discuss common symptoms, personal experiences, and the psychological roots behind feeling undeserving of success. Through scientific insight and practical strategies, they share ways to recognize, reframe, and manage imposter syndrome with greater self-awareness and confidence. [Feb 2, 2026] 00:00 - Intro 00:20 - Meet the Hosts 00:54 - Upcoming Events and Announcements 02:29 - Defining Imposter Syndrome 06:42 - Cultural and Gender Influences 12:26 - Personality Traits and Imposter Syndrome 14:46 - Sponsor 16:12 - Balancing Humility and Confidence 19:34 - Strategies to Overcome Imposter Syndrome 27:02 - Billy Boatwright's Story 30:36 - Conclusion and Next Episode Preview Find us online: LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/dr-abbie-maroño-phd Instagram: @DoctorAbbieofficial LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/christopherhadnagy References: Beck, J. S. (2011). Cognitive behavior therapy: Basics and beyond (2nd ed.). Guilford Press. Bennett-Levy, J., Butler, G., Fennell, M., Hackmann, A., Mueller, M., & Westbrook, D. (2004). The Oxford guide to behavioral experiments in cognitive therapy. Oxford University Press. Breines, J. G., & Chen, S. (2012). Self-compassion increases self-improvement motivation. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 38(9), 1133–1143. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167212445599 Bravata, D. M., Watts, S. A., Keefer, A. L., Madhusudhan, D. K., Taylor, K. T., Clark, D. M., Nelson, R. S., Cokley, K. O., & Hagg, H. K. (2020). Prevalence, predictors, and treatment of impostor syndrome: A systematic review. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 35(4), 1252–1275. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-019-05364-1 Clance, P. R. (1985). The impostor phenomenon: Overcoming the fear that haunts your success. Peachtree Publishers. Clance, P. R., & Imes, S. A. (1978). The impostor phenomenon in high achieving women: Dynamics and therapeutic intervention. Psychotherapy: Theory, Research and Practice, 15(3), 241–247. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0086006 Edmondson, A. (1999). Psychological safety and learning behavior in work teams. Administrative Science Quarterly, 44(2), 350–383. https://doi.org/10.2307/2666999
Does your mind feel like a browser with too many tabs open? Are you stuck in a loop of replaying the past or rehearsing disasters for a future that hasn't happened?In this episode of Calming Anxiety, we tackle the exhaustion of Overthinking and Rumination. We often think we need to solve our thoughts to find peace, but the truth is we need to detach from them.In the next 10 minutes, you will learn:The "River Bank" Visualization: A powerful Cognitive Defusion technique where you learn to view your thoughts as leaves floating by, rather than jumping in to drown in them.The Physical Anchor: How to use a somatic "drop" to turn your body heavy like lead and instantly lower your stress response.Affirmations of Boundaries: Re-wiring your brain to understand that "You are the observer, not the absorbed."3 Caring Tips to Stop Spiraling: To keep you grounded in the real world, we cover three actionable tools:The Labeling Technique: How to break the spell of a sticky thought by simply naming it ("I am having a thought about...").The "Not Now" Shelf: A visualization to park your worries until 5 PM so you can focus on today.The 30-Second Unplug: Creating immediate physical distance from your phone to create mental distance from your stress.Break the Cycle of Anxiety Today Are you ready to stop the spiral? Join me in the Anxiety Circuit Breaker course, specifically designed to help you regain control and find your calm in just minutes. You can access the full course and take the first step toward a quieter mind by visiting calminganxiety.fm.Host: Martin (Clinical Hypnotherapist)
In this introduction to our 10-part grief series, we'll explain why a podcast about joy is diving deep into grief—and why you can't truly have joy without grief. During this series, we'll mainly lean on Francis Weller's "gates of grief." And importantly, as we move through these gates, the goal is not to help you "get over it" or rush through some prescribed grief stages so you can dismiss "bad" feelings. Instead, we'll explore more about the healing power of grief, how you can see and accept loss with less resistance, and we'll share some practices and realistic ways you can build skills to navigate grief in more nourishing ways. p.s. Find your Simple Joy practice for this episode right here at our blog. About: The Joy Lab Podcast blends science and soul to help you cope better with stress, ease anxiety, and uplift mood. Join Dr. Henry Emmons and Dr. Aimee Prasek for practical, mindfulness-based tools and positive psychology strategies to build resilience and create lasting joy. If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and review us wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts! And... if you want to spread some joy and keep this podcast ad-free, then please join our mission by donating (Joy Lab is powered by the nonprofit Pathways North and your donations are tax-deductible). Like and follow Joy Lab on Socials: Instagram TikTok Linkedin Watch on YouTube Sources and Notes for this full grief series: Joy Lab Program: Take the next leap in your wellbeing journey with step-by-step practices to help you build and maintain the elements of joy in your life. Wild Edge of Sorrow by Francis Weller Skye Cielita Flor & Miraz Indira, The Joyful Lament: On Pain for the World. 2023 Access here Learn more about Joanna Macy's work from the Commons Library. Beckes & Sbarra, Social baseline theory: State of the science and new directions. Access here Beckes, et al. (2011). Social Baseline Theory: The Role of Social Proximity in Emotion and Economy of Action. Access here Bunea et al. (2017). Early-life adversity and cortisol response to social stress: a meta-analysis. Access here. Eisma, et al. (2019). No pain, no gain: cross-lagged analyses of posttraumatic growth and anxiety, depression, posttraumatic stress and prolonged grief symptoms after loss. Access here Lehrner, et al. (2014). Maternal PTSD associates with greater glucocorticoid sensitivity in offspring of Holocaust survivors. Access here Kamis, et al. (2024). Childhood maltreatment associated with adolescent peer networks: Withdrawal, avoidance, and fragmentation.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2024.107125 Sheehy, et al. (2019). An examination of the relationship between shame, guilt and self-harm: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Access here Strathearn, et al. (2020). Long-term Cognitive, Psychological, and Health Outcomes Associated With Child Abuse and Neglect. Access here Yehuda et al. (1998). Vulnerability to posttraumatic stress disorder in adult offspring of Holocaust survivors. Access here. Yehuda, et al. (2018). Intergenerational transmission of trauma effects: putative role of epigenetic mechanisms. Access here Full transcript here Please remember that this content is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not intended to provide medical advice and is not a replacement for advice and treatment from a medical professional. Please consult your doctor or other qualified health professional before beginning any diet change, supplement, or lifestyle program. Please see our terms for more information. If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call the NAMI HelpLine: 1-800-950-6264 available Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. – 10 p.m., ET. OR text "HelpLine" to 62640 or email NAMI at helpline@nami.org. Visit NAMI for more. You can also call or text SAMHSA at 988 or chat 988lifeline.org.
Generative AI was sold as the next industrial revolution — but what if it is doing very little good and creating much harm? Cognitive scientist and AI expert Gary Marcus joins Daniel Horowitz to expose why large language models are failing to deliver real productivity, damaging human cognition, and consuming massive amounts of capital with little return. Instead of a productivity boom, we are seeing a misallocation of capital, massive energy waste for data centers, and an internet filled with "algorithmic slop." Gary explains why LLMs are just "autocomplete on steroids" and why the promise of artificial general intelligence is failing to deliver profits. We also discuss the cognitive atrophy of the next generation, the theft of intellectual property, and why China might actually be winning by NOT destroying its education system with chatbots. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
5pm: Audit: King County Parks cannot show whether millions in grants used as intended // 600,000 WA drivers have expired tabs — a new bill could increase the fine // New Real ID fee to take effect on Feb. 1 for some flyers // The decline of cognitive ability in Gen Z // Letters
From the "Seduction Phase" of agentic AI to the terrifying prospect of human cognitive atrophy. We debate the rise of Claude Bot and local LLMs, breakdown Dario Amadei's warning of a "country of geniuses," and ask if we are becoming nothing more than "Meat AI." Plus, how to position your portfolio when capital eats labor.Welcome to the Alfalfa Podcast
Dr. Paul RochonDr. Paul Rochon is a Biopsychologist, Doctor in Cognitive Sciences about Sleep, State of Consciousness and Cognitive process, Master in Biology, Physiology and Neuroscience, and Master in Cognitive Psychology from the University of Bordeaux, France.He is also a clinical behaviour specialist, former director of the mental health department, and current director of the sleep center at Raffles Hospital Beijing. As well as certified in Social Cognition from the Military Academy of Lisbon (Portugal), and Cognitive Linguistics from the University of Mons (Belgium).Dr. Rochon has been practicing biopsychological counselling for 20 years, working mostly with athletes, companies, schools, and individuals. He is making science accessible to everyone with clear and easily implementable behaviour management programs.He is a certified Hypnotherapist from the American Hypnosis Association and the Hypnosis Motivation Institute, Los Angeles. He uses hypnosis for Smoking Cessation, Weight Loss, Anxiety, Guilt and Shame, Mindfulness Cognitive therapy, Sport Performance, Pain Management, and Childbirth.He is also a serial entrepreneur, certified in Executive Business Management from SKEMA Business School, with 25 years of experience in the food and beverage industry, and Director of the North Asia International Area of the Entrepreneur Organisation.In addition, as a former professional rugby player and coach, he is passionate about the impact of mindset on athletes' performance.Insights from this episode:Emotions start in the body, not the mindWellbeing is a hard skillSleep is a performance multiplierPsychological safety beats motivationEngagement rises when emotions are supportedRecovery must be designed, not assumedEnvironment matters more than programsWearables can increase anxietyPresenteeism is the real productivity drainEmotional literacy is foundationalQuotes from the show:“We are not thinking machines that feel. We are feeling machines that think.” - António R. Damásio“Emotion is not just linked to performance — it is the base of everything you do.” - Dr. Paul Rochon“People don't burn out from too much work. They burn out from too much threat.” - Dr. Paul Rochon“If you are a dysregulated leader, you will create a dysregulated team.” - Dr. Paul Rochon“When people feel safe, they perform at their full potential.” - Dr. Paul Rochon“Presenteeism costs two to three times more than absenteeism.” - Dr. Paul Rochon“The future of work is not resilience workshops — it's biological and emotional skills to stay human.” - Dr. Paul Rochon“What you can name, you can tame.” - Dr. Sue Johnson “The best trick to have a good sleep is to wake up at the same time.” - Dr. Paul Rochon“When people feel supported, even if they never use the support, engagement rises.” - Dr. Paul RochonSTAY CONNECTED—Dr. Paul RochonLinkedInhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/rochonpaul/Engineering Wellbeinghttps://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/vC91-IoW4sLjUMNbkWpjLwEngineering Sleephttps://engineeringsleep.com/ *Emotional inclusion:https://www.emotionalinclusion.com/https://www.instagram.com/emotional_inclusion/https://www.linkedin.com/company/emotional-inclusion/ *Get your copy of Emotional Inclusion: A Humanizing Revolution at Work:https://www.penguin.sg/book/emotional-inclusion/
Practical techniques for dealing with all of life's curveballs. Maya Shankar is a cognitive scientist and creator of the podcast A Slight Change of Plans, previously named "Best Show of the Year" by Apple. She served as a Senior Policy Advisor in the Obama White House and was also appointed as the first Behavioral Science Advisor to the United Nations. She is the author of The Other Side of Change: Who We Become When Life Makes Other Plans. In this episode we talk about: The two major life events that caused her to study the topic of change How to build a more expansive sense of self Practical tools for navigating change Cognitive biases such as "the end of history illusion" The utility of distraction and denial Tools for getting unstuck from rumination And much more Related Episodes: The Science of Handling Uncertainty | Maya Shankar Get the 10% with Dan Harris app here Sign up for Dan's free newsletter here Follow Dan on social: Instagram, TikTok Subscribe to our YouTube Channel To advertise on the show, contact sales@advertisecast.com or visit https://advertising.libsyn.com/10HappierwithDanHarris
Wednesday, January 28, 2026 Host Kerby Anderson speaks with first time guest Michael Lundie. Dr. Lundie joins Kerby in our studio. They'll talk about faith, spiritual fitness, and the marvelous human brain. As a Cognitive Scientist, he is developing ways to improve cognitive functions in warfighters who sustained traumatic brain injuries. Connect with us on […]
We walk through a practical approach to evaluating cognitive change with Dr. Seth Gale, from fast domain-based questions and high-yield screening to when, and how, to utilized imaging and biomarkers meaningfully. We also cover reversible factors, older medications used in dementia management, lifestyle changes that can benefit, and how new Alzheimer's treatments shift urgency in making a definitive diagnosis.Send us a textUnderstanding Hypophosphatemia: Recognition, Diagnosis, and TreatmentEndocrine experts distinguish Hypophosphatemia from osteoporosis & osteomalaciaListen on: Apple Podcasts SpotifySupport the show Check out our website at www.theneurotransmitters.com to sign up for emails, classes, and quizzes! Would you like to be a guest or suggest a topic? Email us at contact@theneurotransmitters.com Follow our podcast channel on
“Caernarfon Heritage Steam Train, why must you forsake me?” Now that's a taste of what to expect on this episode. The next step in Elis's English language stand up return has hit the buffers as he plays a room which isn't Europe's best gig. Just how can he produce laughs from wealth managers when Llanfairfechan Community Centre is some of the best stuff in his arsenal? Fear not however, because the bit about a big table in a miners' institute is always ready to go in emergencies. But it's not all anxiety dreams, as we take a journey into the forest mind via John's new mantra for life. There's also one of our greatest jingles ever and a game which Elis hates, thus meaning great aural enjoyment for yourselves.Want to get in touch? Your go-to's are elisandjohn@bbc.co.uk on email and 07974 293022 on WhatsApp, which is like text messages but also works on internet only SIM packages.
In this episode of the Science of Skin podcast, Dr. Ted Lain interviews Dr. Matt Zirwas, a leading expert in dermatology, focusing on the latest advancements in treatments for atopic dermatitis and psoriasis. They discuss the potential of new drugs targeting the OX40 pathway, innovative drug delivery methods, and the emergence of highly effective oral therapies for psoriasis. The conversation highlights the evolving landscape of dermatological treatments and the exciting prospects for long-term patient outcomes. In this conversation, Dr. Zirwas and Dr. Lain discuss various dermatological treatments, focusing on drug administration, bioavailability, and the efficacy of new medications for conditions like hidradenitis suppurativa and chronic spontaneous urticaria. They explore the implications of PDE4 inhibitors, the challenges of assessing treatment outcomes, and the importance of pain management in patient care. The discussion highlights the evolving landscape of dermatology and the significance of clinical trials in advancing treatment options. To watch this and other episodes, be sure to check out our YouTube page Takeaways: New drugs targeting the OX40 pathway may revolutionize treatment for atopic dermatitis.Innovative drug delivery methods could lead to less frequent dosing for patients.The potential for long-term remission in atopic dermatitis is an exciting prospect.Adverse events in new drugs may correlate with better efficacy.Oral therapies for psoriasis are emerging as a new class of effective treatments.The efficacy of new oral drugs may surpass traditional biologics.The importance of understanding pharmacokinetics in drug efficacy is highlighted.The development of advanced systemic therapies is changing the landscape of dermatology.The future of psoriasis treatment may include drugs that effectively target both skin and joint disease. Drug bioavailability is significantly affected by food intake.PDE4 inhibitors show promise in improving various conditions.Cognitive benefits have been observed with PDE4 inhibitors.Pain management is a critical endpoint in HS treatment.Assessing HS severity is challenging for investigators.New treatments are emerging for chronic spontaneous urticaria.Patient satisfaction is essential in evaluating treatment success.Innovative drugs are changing the landscape of dermatology.Clinical trials are crucial for advancing treatment options.Understanding patient needs is key to effective care. Disclaimer: This podcast is not intended to provide diagnosis, treatment, or medical advice. Content provided in this podcast is for educational purposes only. Please consult with a physician regarding any health-related diagnosis or treatment. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Have you ever felt completely unqualified for what God has asked you to do? Enoch felt the same way. He was "but a lad" and "slow of speech," yet he became the man who led an entire city to be translated. Discover how your weaknesses can become your greatest strengths. Summary: In this episode, we explore the rich doctrines found in Genesis 5 and Moses 6. We look at the legacy of Adam and the rise of Enoch, uncovering the patterns of faith that define the patriarchal priesthood. The Book of Remembrance: We discuss why the early Saints kept a record in their own language and how writing down our spiritual experiences preserves them for our children. Parenting in the Gospel: Adam and Eve taught their children "in the way of understanding," providing a model for teaching by the Spirit and through the "power of God". The Call of Enoch: We analyze Enoch's deep insecurity when called to preach—his youth and his speech impediment—and God's promise to "open thy mouth" and "fill it". The Power of a Seer: Enoch was commanded to "wash thine eyes with clay," a symbol of purifying his vision to see things not visible to the natural eye. The First Principles: Enoch teaches the fundamental "plan of salvation" through baptism, the Spirit, and the Atonement, showing that the gospel has been the same from the very beginning. Call-to-Action: What "speech impediment" or insecurity is holding you back from doing what God has asked of you? How can Enoch's story help you move forward today? Share your experience in the comments! If you want to dive deeper into the Old Testament with us, please like, subscribe, and hit the notification bell to stay "Unshaken." Chapter Timestamps: 0:00 Introduction 0:59 Moses 6-7 background 4:06 Cognitive vs. Experiential Knowledge 9:28 Artwork of Cain & Abel 17:47 The Births of Cain and Seth 23:01 Naming Seth 25:53 Genealogy of Adam 29:27 Pulled between Opposing Forces 35:12 Multigenerational Families of Faith 38:52 Scriptural Literacy 42:18 Passing down Priesthood 46:36 Prophesying & Preaching 49:52 Enoch 54:29 Heart, Ears, and Eyes 59:44 What Enoch was Up Against 1:04:11 Sense of Inadequacy 1:07:54 Divine Reassurance 1:13:38 Opening Ears & Filling Mouths 1:26:23 Moving Mountains & Rerouting Rivers 1:30:23 Spiritual Sight 1:37:23 Reactions to the Call to Repent 1:40:37 A Wild Man 1:46:21 Knowing Those Who Know God 1:49:34 Enoch's (and Adam's) Message 2:00:15 Tasting and Prizing 2:07:35 The Law of the Gospel; Birth & Rebirth 2:18:13 Celestial Homesickness 2:24:08 Conclusion
Today, I'm joined by Dr. Muthu Alagappan, founder & CEO of Counsel Health. Counsel Health is an AI-native virtual care platform combining medical AI with human doctors to provide accessible, high-quality guidance at a fraction of traditional costs. In this episode, we discuss building the new front door to care. We also cover: AI-native primary care via messaging AI vs. human roles in clinical decisions Redefining cost and access for personalized medicine Subscribe to the podcast → insider.fitt.co/podcast Subscribe to our newsletter → insider.fitt.co/subscribe Follow us on LinkedIn → linkedin.com/company/fittinsider Counsel Health's Website: https://www.counselhealth.com/ - The Fitt Insider Podcast is brought to you by EGYM. Visit EGYM.com to learn more about its smart fitness ecosystem for fitness and health facilities. Fitt Talent: https://talent.fitt.co/ Consulting: https://consulting.fitt.co/ Investments: https://capital.fitt.co/ Chapters: (00:00) Introduction (01:09) Muthu's background (01:40) What is Counsel Health (03:08) Patient interaction and care modules (04:27) From AI to human doctors (05:38) The clinician side (06:45) The clinician cockpit (07:47) The AI healthcare landscape (09:16) Medical information vs. medical care (10:38) Re-aggregating fragmented primary care (12:00) The 10x doctor (13:45) AI autonomy (15:00) Will AI replace doctors entirely? (16:45) Cognitive aspects of primary care (18:59) Recent AI healthcare product releases (20:30) Integration challenges (22:00) Clinical use cases (23:15) Patient adherence challenges (25:45) Series A fundraising (27:15) Scarcity and value in the AI healthcare era (28:15) Business model challenges (30:15) Improving quality, lowering cost, and improving access (31:00) Prevention vs. primary care (33:00) Wearables and lab data (34:00) Full-stack convergence vs. singular focus (35:45) What's next (36:58) Conclusion
Send us a textIn this episode of the Autonomic Homeostasis Activation Podcast, Tom Pals and Ruth Lorensson explore how the brain thinks independently of the conscious mind—and how this capacity supports healing, clarity, and thriving.Building on their previous conversation, they examine the difference between mind-based problem solving and brain-based wisdom, introducing the concept of cognitive homeostasis. The discussion unpacks why the mind often loops in fear, trauma, and overanalysis, while the brain integrates information holistically and delivers insight through spontaneous “aha” moments.You'll learn:What cognitive homeostasis is and how it differs from somatic homeostasisWhy the brain generates involuntary insights, memories, and realizationsHow trauma and stress disrupt the brain–mind partnershipWhy “thinking harder” often blocks healing and problem-solvingHow Autonomic Homeostasis Activation (AHA) facilitates access to the brain's wisdomThis episode is especially relevant for anyone experiencing chronic stress, trauma patterns, health anxiety, or feeling stuck despite trying to “figure things out.”Support the showThanks for listening!You can follow us onFacebook Instagram Leave us a review on Apple Podcasts Check out the Autonomic Healing Website & InnerWorkings WebsiteEmail Tom thomasjpals@innerworkings.orgEmail Ruth ruth@bridgeandrhino.comSupport usWe appreciate you!
Emotions are not simple cause-and-effect reactions to events, but responses filtered through the stories your mind tells. Your thoughts act as a middleperson between what happens and how you feel, which means distorted thinking can create distorted emotions that don't actually match reality. Emotions involve your nervous system, body sensations, thoughts, and sometimes outward behavior; they are adaptive signals, not “good” or “bad.” The intensity, duration, and context of an emotion matter: how long it lasts, how strong it is, and how meaningful the situation is all shape whether your reaction fits the moment. Cognitive psychologists like Aaron Beck and Albert Ellis showed that emotions are driven by interpretations of events, not the events themselves, which means your feelings often reflect your thoughts about reality more than reality itself. When those interpretations are biased or extreme, your emotions become “amplified,” turning manageable concern into overwhelming dread and often driving unhelpful behaviors at work and in relationships. The seven emotional amplifiers All‑or‑nothing thinking: Only total success “counts,” so anything less feels like failure. Overgeneralization: One bad outcome becomes “this always happens to me.” Magnification/catastrophizing: Low‑probability worst‑case scenarios feel like near‑certainties. Jumping to conclusions: Neutral events (a missed call, a short email) get a negative meaning without evidence. Mind reading: Assuming you know what others think about you—usually something critical—without checking. “Should” statements: Rigid rules about how you, others, or the world must behave that fuel anger, resentment, and shame. Personalization: Taking responsibility for outcomes shaped by many factors, leading to excessive guilt. Thanks for Listening!
Cognitive scientist Maya Shankar has made a career of cleverly using insights from behavioral economics to fuel her work in the Obama White House and in Silicon Valley. She talks with host Jeff Berman about the tools everyone can use to be more resilient in the face of change. You can find Maya's book The Other Side of Change here: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/729180/the-other-side-of-change-by-maya-shankar/Check out Maya's podcast A Slight Change of Plans here: https://www.pushkin.fm/podcasts/a-slight-change-of-plansSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Behind every clever AI response is a massive, windowless data center humming with heat. From the water-starved plains of West Texas to the sprawling 'Stargate' megaprojects in Wisconsin, the infrastructure that powers ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude is eating up natural resources and altering the landscapes of countless communities. And while news headlines are hyper-focused on what AI can do, the real story lies in the uncovering the important resources it's devouring. On today's show we're pulling back the curtain on AI data centers to reveal the good, the bad, and the ugly. We're also outlining action steps if a data center is in your community. Here's a preview: [5:00] Data centers simply must stay on 99.999% of the time (and other little-known data center facts) [10:00] A single AI query emits ten times more carbon into the atmosphere. Plus: Rising electricity prices for everyone! [21:00] Cognitive offloading? AI offloads *thinking* [25:00] Your attention is your most valuable currency [27:00] Not in your backyard! If a data center being planned in your community, stop, drop, and follow these action steps Resources mentioned: What We Can Know by Ian McKewan Community Action Works This show is listener-supported. Thank you for supporting! Join our (free!) Facebook community here. Find your tribe. Sustainable Minimalists are on Facebook, Instagram + Youtube @sustainableminimalists Say hello! MamaMinimalistBoston@gmail.com. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Perimenopause is the natural transition leading into menopause, marked by erratic fluctuations in estrogen and progesterone. These unpredictable shifts can trigger emotional, cognitive, and physical changes – often years before menopause officially begins. We spoke with Megan Spence, PsyD, PMH-C, a licensed clinical psychologist, about the whole-body experience of perimenopause, including mood and memory changes, the structural and social factors that place some groups at higher risk, available hormonal and non-hormonal treatments, lifestyle strategies that may help, and when – and how – to ask for support. Your symptoms matter, and you deserve informed, compassionate care.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Duji and JLR take a cognitive test. Charlie and Rover score their tests.
Have any mice been caught? Mentalist Oz Pearlman. The nightclub where Nick Fuentes, Andrew Tate and friends requested "Heil Hitler" terminated 3 employees after they investigated the incident. Charlie locked the keys in his car after he was kicked out for underage drinking. William Shatner was seen eating a bowl of cereal while driving. Did Duji always want a child? Man claims it enrages him to have to hang out with his kid. People complain that the new Star Trek series is too woke. Heated Rivalry. Scientists injected mice with a compound that seemed to cure symptoms of Alzheimer's disease. Liking the smell of your own farts. Rover has a poop playlist. Duji and JLR take a cognitive test. Charlie and Rover score their tests.
Duji and JLR take a cognitive test. Charlie and Rover score their tests. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Have any mice been caught? Mentalist Oz Pearlman. The nightclub where Nick Fuentes, Andrew Tate and friends requested "Heil Hitler" terminated 3 employees after they investigated the incident. Charlie locked the keys in his car after he was kicked out for underage drinking. William Shatner was seen eating a bowl of cereal while driving. Did Duji always want a child? Man claims it enrages him to have to hang out with his kid. People complain that the new Star Trek series is too woke. Heated Rivalry. Scientists injected mice with a compound that seemed to cure symptoms of Alzheimer's disease. Liking the smell of your own farts. Rover has a poop playlist. Duji and JLR take a cognitive test. Charlie and Rover score their tests. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Dr. Li-Meng Yan w/ The Voice of Dr. Yan – If democracies want to resist this assault, they must do three things. (1) Track and disrupt hidden financial flows. (2) Protect independent platforms from covert manipulation. (3) Recognize the danger when familiarity replaces scrutiny. The enemy of liberty does not always wear a uniform. Sometimes it speaks with the voice of someone we once trusted...
Discover all of the podcasts in our network, search for specific episodes, get the Optimal Living Daily workbook, and learn more at: OLDPodcast.com. Episode 1939: Dr. Jenny Brockis shares a deeply personal experience of workplace pregnancy bias to highlight how unconscious bias can undermine fairness and decision-making. She explores the science behind our mental shortcuts, the consequences of unchecked bias, and the practical strategies that help us build a more equitable and aware workplace. Read along with the original article(s) here: https://www.drjennybrockis.com/2013/7/3/breaking-bias/ Quotes to ponder: "The reality is we are all biased and probably to a far greater extent than we either know or care to admit to." "Bias is simply a mental shortcut in our unconsciousness that allows us to perceive the world in a certain way and contributes to the decisions we make." "Because we don't realise the extent of our biases, we often don't know the difference between being right about our beliefs, and believing we are right." Episode references: K. Schulz's TED Talk on Being Wrong: https://www.ted.com/talks/kathryn_schulz_on_being_wrong
In this episode of the Let's Talk Brain Health! Podcast, we were joined by Professor Adrian Owen, a globally recognized neuroscientist, author, and Chief Scientific Officer of Creyos. The conversation delves into Professor Owen's extensive career in cognitive neuroscience, his groundbreaking research on brain function and dementia, and the innovative digital tools his team has developed to make cognitive assessment more accessible to the public. Key topics include the importance of brain health, the role of sleep in cognitive function, and practical strategies for monitoring and enhancing brain health using technology. Listeners will gain valuable insights on how to take proactive steps to care for their brains and why it's crucial to measure cognitive health accurately and consistently.The episode wraps up with actionable steps listeners can take to prioritize their brain health daily. Join this enlightening conversation to learn more about protecting and optimizing brain function at every stage of life.00:00 Introduction to Let's Talk Brain Health! Podcast00:41 Meet Professor Adrian Owen03:11 Professor Owen's Journey into Neuroscience06:37 Understanding Dementia and Cognitive Decline12:24 The Importance of Brain Health and Cognitive Assessments18:04 The Role of Technology in Brain Health27:06 Future of Neuroscience and Brain Health31:34 Actionable Steps for Better Brain Health37:24 Conclusion and Final ThoughtsResources:Learn more about Creyos' digital cognitive assessments on their website.Explore Creyos' blog for additional resources and information.Stay in touch with Creyos on LinkedIn, Facebook, X, and YouTube. Questions? Email help@creyos.com for additional information.Read more about his book “Into the Gray Zone” and sign up for his next book's release on August 4, 2026, “Think Before You Think: Understanding and Mastering Executive Function.”
Scott Adams passing is a great loss to those of us who object to herd mentality. Scott was brilliant in his analyzing of cognitive dissonance, irrationality, and mass delusion. He unraveled the complexity of human persuasion better than most, If not all, psychologists. Thank you to Scott and may you rest in peace.Clip Used: "I'll never forget this": Glenn Beck's emotional tribute to "Dilbert" creator Scott AdamsBy: Glenn BeckFollow Us:YouTubeTwitterFacebookBlueskyAll audio & videos edited by: Jay Prescott Videography
In this episode, Dr. Tommy Woods, a neuroscientist and performance coach, shares the best practices you should follow if you want to achieve optimal brain health. He also details how how these practices are tied into your overall health. Dr. Wood introduces his 3S Model, “Stimulus, Supply, and Support,” a simple and practical way to think about how the brain adapts, performs, and stays resilient over time. You'll learn why how you use your brain is the primary driver of brain function, how cardiovascular and metabolic health influence cognition, and why sleep is where the real adaptation happens. You'll also hear powerful coaching insights on handling stress (including why you can't think yourself out of stress), practical tools to downshift when you're under pressure, and the science-backed truth that the adult brain can learn “new tricks”. And you'll also learn why mistakes (and the grace to forgive yourself and others when they occur) are so necessary for continued growth. YOU WILL LEARN: How the “Stimulus–Supply–Support” framework make “brain optimization” doable without the overwhelm. You can't “outthink” yourself out of being stressed, but you can learn effective ways to manage it. Why mistakes should be reframed as necessary and critical components to growth. MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE: The Stimulated Mind, by Dr. Tommy Wood Behave, by Robert Sapolsky The Neuroscience of You, by Chantelle Pratt NOTEWORTHY QUOTES FROM THIS EPISODE: “The 3S are stimulus, support and supply. In terms of brain function, stimulus is the most important.” — Dr. Tommy Wood “The most important thing somebody should do for their brain health is the thing that they will actually do and do it consistently.” — Dr. Tommy Wood “You don't get stronger in the gym — you get stronger when you recover. And the brain is exactly the same.” — Dr. Tommy Wood “One of the best ways to buffer stress and build our stress capacity is exercise.” — Dr. Tommy Wood “You don't know all the amazing things that can happen if you just go out into the world and you're nice to other people.” — Dr. Tommy Wood Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Change rarely asks permission. Cognitive scientist Maya Shankar joins to unpack why we cling to certainty, how rumination traps us in mental spirals, and what it actually takes to build a self that can survive life's curveballs. From identity loss and grief to moral beauty, compassion, and the psychology of “default options,” this conversation blends neuroscience, philosophy, and spiritual wisdom into practical tools for modern anxiety. Maya's new book, The Other Side of Change
Show Notes: "Before You Give or Take Financial Advice, Read This" [SMMC Blog Post]: https://blogs.uofi.uillinois.edu/view/7550/862829868 FTC Disclosures 101 for Social Media Influencers: https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/resources/disclosures-101-social-media-influencers Investor.gov professional verification tools: https://www.investor.gov/introduction-investing/getting-started/working-investment-professional/check-out-your-investment-professional Illinois Department of Financial & Professional Regulation: https://online-dfpr.micropact.com/lookup/licenselookup.aspx IRS guidance on choosing tax preparers: https://www.irs.gov/tax-professionals/choosing-a-tax-professional “Hack-Proof Your Holidays #GetSavvy Webinar Recording” [YouTube Video]: https://youtu.be/p2Leqox64cY?si=VAKsFJTuZFcCvyEF Related Episodes: Ep. 14 – Short-selling: https://blogs.uofi.uillinois.edu/view/7550/433822269 Ep. 25 – Choosing a Financial Professional: https://blogs.uofi.uillinois.edu/view/7550/518681996 Ep. 65 – Financial Planner vs AI: https://blogs.uofi.uillinois.edu/view/7550/1933077943 Ep. 76 – What is Crypto Anyway?: https://blogs.uofi.uillinois.edu/view/7550/1253298616 Ep 78 – Is Crypto the Wild West?: https://blogs.uofi.uillinois.edu/view/7550/1888916702 Ep. 99 – Financial Socialization: https://blogs.uofi.uillinois.edu/view/7550/1342187809 References: American Institute of CPAs. (2024). AICPA.org. https://www.aicpa.org/ Benson, J. (2016). Cognitive bias codex. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/65/Cognitive_bias_codex_en.svg Center for Advanced Hindsight. (2024). Resources. https://advanced-hindsight.com/resources/ CFA Institute. (2024). CFA Institute. https://www.cfainstitute.org/ CFP Board. (2024). Code of ethics and standards of conduct. https://www.cfp.net/ethics/code-of-ethics-and-standards-of-conduct Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards. (2024). CFP.net. https://www.cfp.net/ Dictionary.com. (2021). Parasocial relationship. https://www.dictionary.com/e/tech-science/parasocial-relationship/ Federal Trade Commission. (2019). Disclosures 101 for social media influencers. https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/resources/disclosures-101-social-media-influencers FINRA. (2024). FINRA.org. https://www.finra.org/ Illinois Department of Financial & Professional Regulation. (2024). License lookup. https://online-dfpr.micropact.com/lookup/licenselookup.aspx Internal Revenue Service. (2024). Choosing a tax professional. https://www.irs.gov/tax-professionals/choosing-a-tax-professional Investment Advisers Act of 1940, 15 U.S.C. § 80b-1 et seq. https://www.sec.gov/about/laws/iaa40.pdf Investor.gov. (2024). Check out your investment professional. https://www.investor.gov/introduction-investing/getting-started/working-investment-professional/check-out-your-investment-professional Klayman, J. (1995). Varieties of confirmation bias. Psychology of Learning and Motivation, 32, 385-418. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0079-7421(08)60315-1 National Association of Personal Financial Advisors. (2024). NAPFA fiduciary standard. https://www.napfa.org/fiduciary-standard Pellegrini, A. (2025). Before you give or take financial advice, read this. University of Illinois Extension Blog. https://blogs.uofi.uillinois.edu/view/7550/862829868 Securities and Exchange Commission. (2022, October 3). SEC charges Kim Kardashian for unlawfully touting crypto security [Press release]. https://www.sec.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2022-183 The Decision Lab. (2024). Cognitive biases: A list of the most relevant biases in behavioral economics. https://thedecisionlab.com/biases Yakoboski, P. J., Lusardi, A., & Sticha, A. (2024). The TIAA Institute-GFLEC Personal Finance Index (P-Fin Index). Global Financial Literacy Excellence Center (GFLEC). https://gflec.org/initiatives/personal-finance-index/
Discover all of the podcasts in our network, search for specific episodes, get the Optimal Living Daily workbook, and learn more at: OLDPodcast.com. Episode 3882: Colin Wright explores the transformative power of metacognitive exercises, simple yet profound self-inquiries that challenge your default habits, emotional reactions, and behavioral inconsistencies. By pausing to ask why we do what we do, we gain clarity, reduce self-deception, and make choices that better align with the person we aspire to become. Read along with the original article(s) here: http://exilelifestyle.com/metacognitive-exercises/ Quotes to ponder: "Being conscious of the reasons behind our actions isn't something most of us are taught to make time for." "All of us, in some aspect of our lives, do cognitive gymnastics to justify our bad behaviors." "Our brains are consistently tricking us into mentally adjusting circumstances to favor our behaviors." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
This is a clip from Raised By Giants! Get access to the full episode and all thier content on all podcast platforms or click the link below!Full episode here!https://www.spreaker.com/episode/cognitive-dominion-media-override--67206737Get access to every Raised by Giants episode! Podcasthttps://spreaker.page.link/Q1qN1M4A9Ve8QqaX8Forbidden Knowledge Network https://forbiddenknowledge.news/Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/forbidden-knowledge-news--3589233/support.
Discover all of the podcasts in our network, search for specific episodes, get the Optimal Living Daily workbook, and learn more at: OLDPodcast.com. Episode 3882: Colin Wright explores the transformative power of metacognitive exercises, simple yet profound self-inquiries that challenge your default habits, emotional reactions, and behavioral inconsistencies. By pausing to ask why we do what we do, we gain clarity, reduce self-deception, and make choices that better align with the person we aspire to become. Read along with the original article(s) here: http://exilelifestyle.com/metacognitive-exercises/ Quotes to ponder: "Being conscious of the reasons behind our actions isn't something most of us are taught to make time for." "All of us, in some aspect of our lives, do cognitive gymnastics to justify our bad behaviors." "Our brains are consistently tricking us into mentally adjusting circumstances to favor our behaviors." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Discover all of the podcasts in our network, search for specific episodes, get the Optimal Living Daily workbook, and learn more at: OLDPodcast.com. Episode 3882: Colin Wright explores the transformative power of metacognitive exercises, simple yet profound self-inquiries that challenge your default habits, emotional reactions, and behavioral inconsistencies. By pausing to ask why we do what we do, we gain clarity, reduce self-deception, and make choices that better align with the person we aspire to become. Read along with the original article(s) here: http://exilelifestyle.com/metacognitive-exercises/ Quotes to ponder: "Being conscious of the reasons behind our actions isn't something most of us are taught to make time for." "All of us, in some aspect of our lives, do cognitive gymnastics to justify our bad behaviors." "Our brains are consistently tricking us into mentally adjusting circumstances to favor our behaviors." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
In Episode 10, Kim opens Season Two by breaking down procrastination in a way most people have never heard it explained before. This episode isn't about productivity, discipline, or time management. It's about emotional risk, fragile self-esteem, and the identities we built in childhood to survive. Kim explains why procrastination shows up around the things that matter most. Big conversations. Creative work. Boundaries. Healing. Growth. And why avoidance isn't laziness. It's protection. Drawing from attachment theory, trauma, neurobiology, and her own lived experience, Kim connects procrastination to emotional attunement, identity, shutdown, people-pleasing, catastrophizing, and the fear of inner collapse. She also explains why insight alone doesn't change behavior, and what actually has to shift for real movement to happen. –––––––––––––––––– Time Stamps & Topics 00:00 – Rage, triggers, and decades of stored emotional memory 00:25 – Why feeling misunderstood cuts so deeply 00:52 – Procrastination isn't about time management 01:22 – Emotional risk vs practical difficulty 01:50 – Personal example: writing a first book 02:29 – Procrastination around hard conversations 03:01 – Mistakes, shame, and fragile self-esteem 03:59 – Inner collapse and identity threat 05:04 – Why systems learn to avoid emotional danger 05:28 – What self-esteem actually is (and isn't) 05:51 – Self-esteem as emotional resilience 06:25 – Emotional attunement explained 06:44 – Empathy vs shared experience 07:37 – Why "they'll never understand me" isn't true 08:10 – Childhood emotional neglect and minimization 09:14 – Avoidant coping and jumping to solutions 09:57 – Why being sat with matters 10:27 – Religion, conflict avoidance, and emotional bypassing 11:30 – Biology of trauma and implicit memory 12:33 – Adoption, abandonment, and cognitive bias 13:46 – Anger as a lifelong trigger 14:52 – Suppression vs expression of emotion 15:41 – Coping mechanisms and shutdown 16:24 – Anxious vs avoidant responses in conflict 17:09 – Self-esteem and "what happens when something goes wrong" 18:28 – Catastrophizing and control 19:13 – Why anxiety feels protective 20:00 – Avoidance as nervous system safety 21:25 – Silence, minimization, and relational procrastination 23:14 – Childhood roles: good child, peacemaker, achiever 24:38 – Survival strategies vs self-esteem 25:27 – Relational procrastination and suppressed anger 26:25 – Waiting until you're angry to speak 27:08 – Walking on eggshells and staying silent 28:02 – Triggers as accumulated implicit memory 29:12 – Why your partner isn't the whole cause 30:07 – Shutdown as self-protection, not punishment 31:05 – Why insight doesn't change behavior 31:56 – Awareness without emotional capacity 32:23 – Cognitive vs behavioral change 33:11 – Reframing hard conversations 33:56 – Procrastination in personal growth and healing 35:02 – Childhood identities and family roles 36:16 – How family freezes you in old identities 37:35 – Why growth feels threatening 38:05 – Holding competing emotions about parents 39:22 – Letting go of old identities 40:05 – Why growth feels risky, not empowering 41:18 – What actually reduces procrastination 41:46 – Emotional regulation and self-trust 42:09 – Questions to ask yourself about avoidance 43:16 – Tasks that carry emotional weight 43:44 – Identity disruption and behavior change 44:31 – Alcohol, belonging, and identity shifts 44:58 – Pay attention to what you avoid 45:26 – What avoidance is protecting –––––––––––––––––– This episode is especially relevant if you feel stuck despite insight, avoid hard conversations, or keep postponing the things that matter most to you. Kim's website: https://www.kimpolinder.com/ Kim's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kp_counseling/ Kim's YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@engineeringlovepodcast
Cognitive health is one of the most important yet often overlooked aspects of overall wellness. John Silva, DC, a leading expert in neurofeedback and brain optimization, guides us through the steps we can take to stay mentally sharp, reduce the risk of cognitive decline, and even reverse some early changes naturally. From improving sleep and nutrition to harnessing neurofeedback and other integrative therapies, Dr. Silva shares strategies that help maintain focus, memory, and clarity. These practical insights empower us to take control of our brain health and proactively support long-term mental vitality for 2026 and beyond. Now you can listen commercial free at your leisure…Click here and let's grow together: Getting Ahead of Cognitive Decline, John Silva, DC If you love this podcast episode, share it with a friend. The Lillian McDermott Radio Show/Classroom ~ When You Need a Friend… PREMIERE: Telegram, Facebook, YouTube, WhenYouNeedaFriend.com SUBSCRIBE, LIKE, & FOLLOW: Facebook, Instagram, X, Website, Odysee, BitChute, YouTube! LISTEN: Amazon Podcast, Apple Podcasts, YouTube Music, Spotify, Pandora, TuneIn, iHeartRadio! CALL or TEXT: 407-373-5959 “You can take a pill, or You can take Responsibility!” ®
Cognitive scientist Maya Shankar explains why change and uncertainty can feel so destabilizing, how they threaten our sense of identity, and the science-backed tools that actually help us stay grounded and whole when life makes other plans.15 Daily Steps to Lose Weight and Prevent Disease PDF: https://bit.ly/46XTn8f - Get my FREE eBook now!Subscribe to The Genius Life on YouTube! - http://youtube.com/maxlugavereWatch my new documentary Little Empty Boxes - https://www.maxlugavere.com/filmThis episode is proudly sponsored by:OneSkin is a skincare company for minimalists utilizing their revolutionary OS-01 peptide which can reverse signs of skin aging according to their research. Visit http://oneskin.co/max and use code MAX for 15% off.AG1 is my favorite multivitamin now in delicious new flavors! Enjoy a free welcome kit including flavor sampler, AGZ sleep, vitamin D+K2 with your first subscription. All you have to do is visit drinkag1.com/GENIUS.
Professor Nita Farahany of Duke Law is an expert on the implications of new technologies on society, law, ethics, and privacy. We spoke about today's culture of smart tech and surveillance.VIDEO of this conversationBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/thethinkingatheist--3270347/support.
Chronic insomnia affects millions worldwide and raises risks for cardiovascular disease, mental illness, and cognitive decline. Effective nondrug treatments are essential for restoring sleep and protecting long-term health Cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) is the leading behavioral treatment for chronic insomnia. It uses structured therapy to change sleep-disrupting thoughts and habits A study directly compared tai chi with CBT-I for chronic insomnia, using the same treatment length, standardized instruction, and identical measures to evaluate sleep outcomes CBT-I led to faster improvements early on, while tai chi reached similar results by 12 months and showed higher rates of continued practice after the formal intervention ended Both approaches improved sleep duration, reduced nighttime awakenings, and eased anxiety and depression, offering different but sustainable options for managing chronic insomnia without medication
WORLD WAR QUEUE - 01.12.2026 - #906 BestPodcastintheMetaverse.com Canary Cry News Talk #906 - 01.12.2026 - Recorded Live to 1s and 0s Deconstructing World Events from a Biblical Worldview Declaring Jesus as Lord amidst the Fifth Generation War! CageRattlerCoffee.com SD/TC email Ike for discount https://CanaryCry.Support Send address and shirt size updates to canarycrysupplydrop@gmail.com Join the Canary Cry Roundtable This Episode was Produced By: Executive Producers Gingah*** Sir LX Protocol Baron of the Berrean Protocol*** Felicia D*** Producers of TREASURE (CanaryCry.Support) Cage Rattler Coffee Producers of TIME Timestampers: Jade Bouncerson, Morgan E Clankoniphius Links: JAM Clip: Kristi Neom "We can't trust the Gov anymore…" WW3 8:51 Trump Threat on Cuba (X) Tim Burchett (X) Trump mentions land strikes on mexican cartels Mexican Military Stations around US southern Border (X) Rumor) MONEY 42:24 Clip: Jerome Powell and Trump at FR building back in July 2025 (X) Investigation into Jerome Powell (WSJ) Clip: Federal Reserve Powell defies Trump (FR/X) Clip: Trump mentions eliminating income tax against Clip: Gen Z catching onto the fed game Trump statement on Tariffs "WE'RE SCREWED" (X) AI/WW3 1:14:57 2026 Fiscal Year NDAA (Congress) → How artificial intelligence is reshaping the future of war (The Hill) → Electronic Warfare Market Next Big Thing by Forecast 2021-2028 Size, Share and Comprehensive Research Study (OpenPR) BILL GATES 1:27:20 Clip: Bill Gates eats hotdog in the middle of time square (X) QANON/BBB 1:31:52 X Trending, people noticing direct Q posts for gov accounts (X) Today: "It's Monday, Patriots are in Control!" (DHS/X) → "Patriots in control" (DHS/X) → "Trust the plan" (DHS/X) → Trump posts Q reference analysis from pro patriots (X) → Dept. of labor posts "reject globalism. embrace americanism" (X) ANTARCTICA/BEAST SYSTEM 1:46:44 Doomsday Glacier Bombarded by Earthquakes (Futurism) Clip: MrBeast hits at Ice Wall on Adin Ross live (X) TOILETS/SEWER SURVEILLANCE 1:56:02 Smart toilets are here (Quartz) EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS 2:06:18 TALENT/TIME 2:16:41 END 2:45:58
What if neurodivergence, intuition, and psychic ability are all connected, and we've been misunderstanding them this entire time? In this mind-expanding episode of Mayim Bialik's Breakdown, Dr. Julia Mossbridge—cognitive neuroscientist, author of Have a Nice Disclosure!, and Human Potential Research Lead for The Telepathy Tapes—returns to the studio to pull back the curtain on the brain, consciousness, and humanity's untapped abilities. Dr. Mossbridge reveals what neurodivergence actually looks like in the brain (and why individual lived experience matters more than labels), her groundbreaking view that there's no true distinction between unconscious processing of local information and non-local information, why information is not the same as matter or energy (and why that changes everything), and what kinds of information we can access non-locally through remote viewing. She also breaks down: - Tips anyone can use to strengthen intuition, psychic perception, and precognition - Why nonspeakers may lead the next love revolution, and what their abilities are teaching us about consciousness - How to safely explore non-local awareness without losing grounding - Hidden positives & real drawbacks of diagnostic labels (and how they can both empower and limit us) - Cognitive drain we're all experiencing from modern society, and why so many people feel chronically overwhelmed - Why most people don't understand how they operate until they revisit their childhood and caregiver relationships - How identifying your special abilities offers the clearest window into your internal world - Brain-based factors that affect our ability to filter environmental and non-local input - True definition of unconditional love—and why it's a functional state, not a feeling Dr. Julia also opens up about deeply mysterious chapters of her life, including: - Her experiences in a gifted childhood program she believes she doesn't fully remember - Possible ulterior motives of the program's administrators - Potential ties to research on radiation exposure and radio waves - What it's been like to publicly acknowledge extrasensory abilities as a respected academic - When she first realized she had psychic abilities, and how those abilities evolved over time PLUS...Julia guides Mayim through a live remote viewing exercise, demonstrating how unconditional love can be used as a signal to access information from the future, in real time. This episode challenges neuroscience, psychology, and everything we think we know about the limits of the human mind. TUNE IN to MBB to change how you see yourself, your brain, and reality itself! Dr. Julia Mossbridge's latest book, have a nice disclosure!: https://www.amazon.com/have-nice-disclosure-Julia-Mossbridge/dp/B0G3PKGGSM/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0 or theinspiracy.love Julia's Writings: https://theinspiracy.love/ Julia's nonprofit: https://loveandtime.org Julia's RV team: https://intuitiveforecasting.com Inside The Power We Hold: https://share.google/TY9v2AhHlmgMUVsgI The Bridge Curriculum to Support Nonspeakers: https://bridgetothriving.org/ Follow us on Substack for Exclusive Bonus Content: https://bialikbreakdown.substack.com/ BialikBreakdown.com YouTube.com/mayimbialik Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
“Skin is our most visible biomarker of how we're aging on the inside,” explains Saranya Wyles, M.D., Ph.D. Wyles, a dermatologist, regenerative medicine scientist, and the director of the Regenerative Dermatology & Skin Longevity Lab at the Mayo Clinic, joins us today to unpack how the skin reflects systemic aging and the emerging therapies shaping the future of regenerative dermatology. - The skin's connection to longevity (~3:45) - Markers of skin aging (~5:20) - Senescent cells & systemic aging (~6:35) - 5 pillars of skinspan (~8:25) - How to eat for better skin (~10:20) - The role of exercise (~12:30) - The best topicals (~13:55) - Sunscreen & morning sunlight exposure (~17:05) - What are peptides (~20:20) - Lasers & longevity (~25:20) - Procedures to be mindful of (~32:40) - Underrated skin habits (~33:35) - The future of skin longevity (~35:15) - Cognitive function & skin health (~39:50) - Hair loss (~42:30) Referenced in the episode: - Follow Wyles on Instagram (@drwyles.derm) - Check out her research (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=saranya+wyles) - The Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging (https://www.nia.nih.gov/research/labs/blsa/about) - Participate in the Skin Aging And Longevity Understanding Database (SALUD) (https://www.mayo.edu/research/clinical-trials/cls-20578108) We hope you enjoy this episode, and feel free to watch the full video on YouTube! Whether it's an article or podcast, we want to know what we can do to help here at mindbodygreen. Let us know at: podcast@mindbodygreen.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
What if neurodivergence, intuition, and psychic ability are all connected, and we've been misunderstanding them this entire time? In this mind-expanding episode of Mayim Bialik's Breakdown, Dr. Julia Mossbridge—cognitive neuroscientist, author of Have a Nice Disclosure!, and Human Potential Research Lead for The Telepathy Tapes—returns to the studio to pull back the curtain on the brain, consciousness, and humanity's untapped abilities. Dr. Mossbridge reveals what neurodivergence actually looks like in the brain (and why individual lived experience matters more than labels), her groundbreaking view that there's no true distinction between unconscious processing of local information and non-local information, why information is not the same as matter or energy (and why that changes everything), and what kinds of information we can access non-locally through remote viewing. She also breaks down: - Tips anyone can use to strengthen intuition, psychic perception, and precognition - Why nonspeakers may lead the next love revolution, and what their abilities are teaching us about consciousness - How to safely explore non-local awareness without losing grounding - Hidden positives & real drawbacks of diagnostic labels (and how they can both empower and limit us) - Cognitive drain we're all experiencing from modern society, and why so many people feel chronically overwhelmed - Why most people don't understand how they operate until they revisit their childhood and caregiver relationships - How identifying your special abilities offers the clearest window into your internal world - Brain-based factors that affect our ability to filter environmental and non-local input - True definition of unconditional love—and why it's a functional state, not a feeling Dr. Julia also opens up about deeply mysterious chapters of her life, including: - Her experiences in a gifted childhood program she believes she doesn't fully remember - Possible ulterior motives of the program's administrators - Potential ties to research on radiation exposure and radio waves - What it's been like to publicly acknowledge extrasensory abilities as a respected academic - When she first realized she had psychic abilities, and how those abilities evolved over time PLUS...Julia guides Mayim through a live remote viewing exercise, demonstrating how unconditional love can be used as a signal to access information from the future, in real time. This episode challenges neuroscience, psychology, and everything we think we know about the limits of the human mind. TUNE IN to MBB to change how you see yourself, your brain, and reality itself! Take your food to the next level with Graza Olive Oil. Visit https://graza.co/BREAKERS and use promo code BREAKERS today for 10% off your first order! Dr. Julia Mossbridge's latest book, have a nice disclosure!: https://a.co/d/9DDnwB7 Dr. Julia Mossbridge's article, 10 Questions for People Who Create Minds: https://jmossbridge.medium.com/10-questions-for-people-who-create-minds-22b39ab6e5c4 Follow us on Substack for Exclusive Bonus Content: https://bialikbreakdown.substack.com/ BialikBreakdown.com YouTube.com/mayimbialik Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
SEASON 4 EPISODE 46: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN A-Block (2:30) SPECIAL COMMENT: Well, that's it in sum, isn't it? He's "El Presidente" now, isn't he? Military Dictator. Succeeding Maduro. Until he finds somebody else to “run” it. Not the elected Vice President. Not the actual winner of the last election. Not the U-N. Maybe somebody he, in his dysfunctional haze, somebody he can trust. Maybe an oil executive. Or Elon Musk. Or Catturd. The invasion was illegal there, and illegal here. The kidnapping was illegal. Declaring we would run it is illegal. Naming a proxy dictator is illegal. As was his threat yesterday to the acting president that quote “if she doesn’t do what’s right, she is going to pay a very big price, probably bigger than Maduro” and calling for her belief that her country shouldn’t be invaded by another country breaking its own laws is quote “defiant rejection.” THAT’S illegal. It’s all illegal. That’s a lot of illegal – even for Trump. And I say this, hating Maduro completely. So he needs to be impeached, if not now then a year from now. Rubio can be impeached now for deceiving Congress about its approval. And both of them turned over to the World Court. And the ramifications are almost uncountable, including emboldening them to consider this in Cuba, Greenland, Iran. The poll numbers are terrible, and the risk to Americans of terrorism and violence are just as terrible. And maybe worst of all the evidence of linkage between Putin's strange silence about his ally Maduro, and Trump's dithering about Ukraine, is terrible too. But at least it produced a pretty good Olivia Nuzzi joke. ALSO: WHY DID THEY CHANGE THE TRUMP HEALTH COVER-UP STORY AGAIN? Five significant changes, about his MRI/CT, his cardiovascular health, and now the total of Cognitive tests he's gotten in just the last nine months. Three? Not two? He's really needed three tests in nine months? To repeat the insightful question from his niece Mary Trump: Why do they have to keep giving him cognitive tests? B-Block (40:00) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: There's begging the new boss to let you keep your current job, then there's what CBS Legal Analyst Jan Crawford is doing for Bari Weiss to try to keep hers. Chuck Schumer comes out firing on Venezuela: with one-millionth of one barrel blazing. And just when you think Cheryl Hines can't get any dumber, Tucker Carlson tries to talk to her about vaccines. C-Block (50:00) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL: Will Ferrell did a great comedy bit at the L.A. Kings hockey game on New Year's Day and he did it for the pure joy of it. Which reminded me of the difference between amateurs and pros, and of the days when "Anchorman" was new and Will and I ad libbed a pretty good comedy bit that he said he really loved doing. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.