In this week’s spotlight I wish to discuss patience. Lao Tse is credited with offering this advice, “I have just three things to teach: simplicity, patience, compassion. These three are your greatest treasures.” We live at a time when folks seem to rush to conclusions, and judgments, and are easily riled over the slightest disagreements. We don’t seem to have time to hear each other out or the patience to consider alternative options. Add to this the constant state of increased arousal driven in large by world events, the news, ... Read More
In this week’s spotlight I wish to discuss giving. There are many forms of giving and they all lead to some interesting findings. For example, did you know that you’re hard wired in such a way that the brain’s reward centers light up, to use the words of neuro-scientists, when you do something as simple as write a check to a cause that you believe in? Think of that for a moment, the act of giving actually rewards you with the stress busting feel-good chemical known as endorphins. Did you ... Read More
In this week’s spotlight I wish to discuss possibilities. I truly think of the mind as the ultimate frontier. There are so many potentials possible that it is staggering to consider. Take for instance savant syndrome. What is it that happened when someone was struck in the head only to awake in the hospital a mathematical genius—seeing the world in fractal geometry? What mechanism makes it possible for an autistic child with a limited vocabulary to correctly read the mind of their therapist and type words unknown to them such ... Read More
In this week’s spotlight I wish to discuss perception. We live in a wonderful world, if we choose to see it that way. Let me flesh that out some. I was enjoying myself last evening while contemplating on life and the many experiences it has delivered to me. I reflected on several different occasions where perception defined the experience. For example, one warm summer evening not long ago, my youngest son, wife, and I were cruising in our freshly restored 1969 Impala SS Convertible, when suddenly there was no power! ... Read More
In this week’s spotlight I would like to discuss the idea of paradigms. The American physicist and philosopher, Thomas Kuhn, proposed the notion of paradigm cycles that can eventually lead to paradigm shifts. A paradigm shift is a construct that describes a fundamental change in the basic concepts and experimental practices of a scientific discipline. Paradigm Shift Cycle The Kuhn Cycle, as it is known, has pre-science leading to science, followed by a model drift that leads to a model crisis and subsequently a model revolution and consequently a paradigm ... Read More