This beautiful, warm afternoon ("warm" in MN = 40º F/ 4.4ºC) was the first time ever that I went for a walk with headphones in (my iPhone's earbuds).
It was fab:
I listened to the 50-min. episode of the podcast Hidden Brain, "Secret Friends: Tapping Into The Power Of Imagination", in which one of the researchers said, "Imagination is a skill."
It's one of the best and closest-to-home episodes yet of this podcast about brain science & human behavior that I'm generally fascinated by. It's about the power of our imaginations to create/call up/contact friendly voices, whether they're the voices of dolls or God or pop stars. (The episode doesn't talk about schizophrenia or unfriendly audio-hallucinations along those lines.)
It starts with a woman who in her troubled school years heard the voice of Cher, who she'd learned has dyslexia (really):
Oh--you can also see I have new glasses. ^
I'd been tired of the square, black plastic ones I've worn for almost nine years, but I find it so hard to choose new frames, I put off getting new ones.
Then the other day my plastic ones dropped (for the nth time) and the bridge snapped.
I like these new ones OK--glad to have the dark frames gone anyway.
bink had left the link to this Hidden Brain episode in the comments to my post "Fearful & Wonderful", where I was trying to talk about how religion works even if it's not factually true.
But does religion work, Steve asked, even if practitioners KNOW it's not real, they way books and movies and some placebos are effective even when we know they're not "real"?
It seems, yes.
I think of the 12 Steps program.
I went to OA (Overeaters Anonymous) off and on in my younger years, so I can talk about the steps from personal experience, though I never fully "worked the steps".
AA and other 12-Step programs are not exactly a religion, but pretty close:
participants are encouraged to acknowledge they are powerless over their (our) addictions (food, drugs, dysfunctional relationships, whatever), and to turn them over to "God, as we understand God".
If you don't believe in any such thing as a god, then you're encouraged to consciously develop some sort of belief in some sort of "Higher Power" (H.P.)--to just choose anything that is outside of your conscious mind, the one that insists it can recover from addiction on its own without this stupid group, thank you very much.
Your H.P. could even be your subconscious mind, or the communal wisdom of the group, or a toy, or anything.
Penny Cooper would make a great H.P., and in fact sometimes I do consult her on things I'm unsure of.
Like, I might ask her, "Should I take the dog for a walk?"
She reasonably weighs all factors (outside temperature, etc.).
If it's too cold, she'd say to stay inside. She'd take my mood into account too, but might encourage me to take the dog for a walk even if I don't want to.
Obviously I know that Penny Cooper is me, but it helps me to imagine her as a dispassionate dispenser of advice
Anyway, I never really got into a 12-Step HP, but I think that step of the program is a good thing, and I know the 12 Steps can be effective:
I know people who credit it with saving their lives.
(Plus, it's free! I'm distrustful of spiritual teachers/groups who charge money.)
So, yeah, it can work to believe in an imaginary thing, even if we know we're making it up.
It's funny though. Even as I write that Penny Cooper is me, I can hear her saying indignantly,
"I am not! I'm me!"😀
It was fab:
I listened to the 50-min. episode of the podcast Hidden Brain, "Secret Friends: Tapping Into The Power Of Imagination", in which one of the researchers said, "Imagination is a skill."
It's one of the best and closest-to-home episodes yet of this podcast about brain science & human behavior that I'm generally fascinated by. It's about the power of our imaginations to create/call up/contact friendly voices, whether they're the voices of dolls or God or pop stars. (The episode doesn't talk about schizophrenia or unfriendly audio-hallucinations along those lines.)
It starts with a woman who in her troubled school years heard the voice of Cher, who she'd learned has dyslexia (really):
Megan had dyslexia, and "Cher" offered encouragement when she struggled to read in school.Here I am with the dog, who hates having his photo taken and turns away, even if I cluck at him...
"The one thing I always remembered her saying to me is, 'If you think you are dumb, then you think I am dumb, and I am not dumb.' And then she would tell me to 'go back to reading' or 'go back to trying to write something.'"
I'd been tired of the square, black plastic ones I've worn for almost nine years, but I find it so hard to choose new frames, I put off getting new ones.
Then the other day my plastic ones dropped (for the nth time) and the bridge snapped.
I like these new ones OK--glad to have the dark frames gone anyway.
bink had left the link to this Hidden Brain episode in the comments to my post "Fearful & Wonderful", where I was trying to talk about how religion works even if it's not factually true.
But does religion work, Steve asked, even if practitioners KNOW it's not real, they way books and movies and some placebos are effective even when we know they're not "real"?
It seems, yes.
I think of the 12 Steps program.
I went to OA (Overeaters Anonymous) off and on in my younger years, so I can talk about the steps from personal experience, though I never fully "worked the steps".
AA and other 12-Step programs are not exactly a religion, but pretty close:
participants are encouraged to acknowledge they are powerless over their (our) addictions (food, drugs, dysfunctional relationships, whatever), and to turn them over to "God, as we understand God".
If you don't believe in any such thing as a god, then you're encouraged to consciously develop some sort of belief in some sort of "Higher Power" (H.P.)--to just choose anything that is outside of your conscious mind, the one that insists it can recover from addiction on its own without this stupid group, thank you very much.
Your H.P. could even be your subconscious mind, or the communal wisdom of the group, or a toy, or anything.
Penny Cooper would make a great H.P., and in fact sometimes I do consult her on things I'm unsure of.
Like, I might ask her, "Should I take the dog for a walk?"
She reasonably weighs all factors (outside temperature, etc.).
If it's too cold, she'd say to stay inside. She'd take my mood into account too, but might encourage me to take the dog for a walk even if I don't want to.
Obviously I know that Penny Cooper is me, but it helps me to imagine her as a dispassionate dispenser of advice
Anyway, I never really got into a 12-Step HP, but I think that step of the program is a good thing, and I know the 12 Steps can be effective:
I know people who credit it with saving their lives.
(Plus, it's free! I'm distrustful of spiritual teachers/groups who charge money.)
So, yeah, it can work to believe in an imaginary thing, even if we know we're making it up.
It's funny though. Even as I write that Penny Cooper is me, I can hear her saying indignantly,
"I am not! I'm me!"😀
I worry seeing people walking with headphones on...for the safety aspect.
ReplyDeleteInteresting listening though.
GZ: I wouldn't bike with these earbuds in, for safety's sake,
ReplyDeletebut I could hear surrounding noises pretty well---I could stop and chat with other dog-walkers, for instance, without turning the sound down or off.
Maybe it depends what you're listening to? The podcast was just people talking--perhaps music would be more distracting.
One use for earbuds is to keep the wind out of your ears...with no sound in them...then you can hear other things!!
ReplyDeleteI would definitely never dispute the effectiveness of the 12 steps. Like you, I know people who credit them with saving their lives! Love the new glasses!
ReplyDelete