Wissenschaft ...

... als disziplinierter gedanklicher Zugriff auf Phänomene dieser Welt;

... als diszipliniertes gedankliches Erfassen von Phänomenen dieser Welt;

Das sinnvolle Maß an Spannung:

Leben bedeutet letztlich auch, nach einem sinnvollen Verhältnis zwischen anspannungsreichen und spannungsfreien bzw. spannungsarmen Zeiten zu suchen.

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Spannunsfreie Zeiten:

Z.B. Zeiten, in denen Tagträumen stattfinden kann;

Vorausschauen:

Ein gedankliches Ertasten möglicher künftiger Ereignisse;

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Analog hierzu - Rückblicken:

Ein gedankliches Ertasten vergangener Ereignisse;

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Im Gegensatz zu anderen Tieren können wir gedanklich weit in die Zukunft und in die Vergangenheit greifen.

Intelligenzhöhe:

Salopp:

Der Wirksamkeitsgrad des gedanklichen Tastens;

Ursprünge des sprachlichen Denkens:

interessantes Thema;

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Die Begabung zu sprachlichen Überlegungen / zum stillen Selbstgespräch als etwas, das den Menschen wesentlich von anderen Lebewesen unterscheidet.

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Stille "Selbstgespräche" / verbale Gedankengänge als maximal private Überlegungen;

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Denkbereiche über die selten gesprochen wird versus Denkbereiche über die häufig oder regelmäßig gesprochen wird;

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Wie weit, bei einer bestimmten Person, verbale Gedankengänge in die Zukunft hineinreichen / hineingreifen; wie weit Vorausschau und Rückschau bei "Selbstgesprächen" greifen;

On Goals and Targets:

http://meinnaturwissenschaftsblog.blogspot.com/2017/12/on-goals-and-targets.html

Faulheit, Behäbigkeit, Bequemlichkeit:

https://allesevolution.wordpress.com/2019/12/30/faulheit-behaebigkeit-und-bequemlichkeit-als-menschliche-eigenschaften/

"[Es spart] erst einmal Energie [,] wenn man sich in den Zuständen einrichtet und wenn man den für einen selbst bequemen Weg geht."

"Diesen Eigenschaften [gegenüber] steht der Wunsch einen hohen Status zu erlangen, erfolgreich zu sein oder auch anderweitig eine hohe Position zu erreichen."

"Hier geht es dann darum, den sogenannten inneren Schweinehund zu überwinden und sich aufzuraffen für ein abstraktes Ziel, das man so vielleicht nicht so direkt vor Augen hat wie bei kurzfristigen Zielen."

"Umso ungreifbarer das Ziel, umso weiter entfernt es ist, umso weniger es bezüglich der Umsetzbarkeit für einen ohne weiteres erreichbar ist, und auch umso eher es nicht einen direkten Vorteil bringt, sondern allenfalls einen indirekten, umso schwerer ist auch der Kampf gegen den inneren Schweinehund. In einer Jäger und Sammler Gesellschaft war eben das Erreichen langfristiger abstrakter Ziele wesentlich weniger bedeutsam, so dass es unserer Denkweise nicht so gut entspricht und es daher Kraft fordert, solche Ziele umzusetzen."

Work versus Labor:

Lewis Hyde:

"Work is an intended activity that is accomplished through the will. A labor can be intended but only to the extent of doing the groundwork, or of not doing things that would clearly prevent the labor. Beyond that, labor has its own schedule. Things get done, but we often have the odd sense that we didn't do them. Paul Goodman wrote in a journal once, 'I have recently written a few good poems. But I have no feeling that I wrote them.' That is the declaration of a laborer. ... And labor, because it sets its own pace, is usually accomplished by idleness, leisure, even sleep."

Gute Dinge:

"we tend not to assign comparative values to those things to which we are emotionally connected."

Lewis Hyde

"Charity is dangerous in the underworld":

"In ancient tales the hero who must pass through hell is warned that charity is dangerous in the underworld; if he wishes to return to the land of the living, he should lend a hand to no one, nor accept the food offered by the dead."

Lewis Hyde

Konstruktiver Hass:

Z.B. ein Hass, der Verlogenheit angreift;

Manipulatives Verhalten:

Z.B. "zuckersüßes" Verhalten;

Forschung:

https://meinnaturwissenschaftsblog.blogspot.com/2019/03/forschung_7.html

Erlebnisunfähigkeit:

http://meinnaturwissenschaftsblog.blogspot.com/2019/02/erlebnisunfahigkeit.html

Werterleben:

Das Erlebnis von wertvollen / gemütlichen Stunden;

Menschen:

Planende / vorausschauende Lebewesen;

[siehe auch]

Love Bombing:

Cosmopolitan:

"Love bombing is the practice of showering a person with excessive affection and attention in order to gain control or significantly influence their behavior. The love bomber's attention might feel good, but the motive is all about manipulation. What separates love bombing from just regular honeymoon feelings is an abrupt switch—one moment they may be totally idealizing their partner, and the next, they'll cut them down to size in an effort to control them."

" 'Love bombing is largely an unconscious behavior,' Kaplan says. 'It’s about really getting the other person.' "

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Salopp: Exzessives Loben gehört sich nicht, da exzessivem Lob der Beigeschmack des Manipulativem anhaftet.

Striatalisierung:

http://meinnaturwissenschaftsblog.blogspot.com/2018/06/striatalisierung.html

Gaslighting:

Wikipedia:

"Als Gaslighting (Kompositum aus englisch gas und lighting, deutsch: ‚Gasbeleuchtung‘) wird in der Psychologie eine Form von psychischer Gewalt bzw. Missbrauch bezeichnet, mit der Opfer gezielt desorientiert, manipuliert und zutiefst verunsichert werden und ihr Realitäts- und Selbstbewusstsein allmählich deformiert bzw. zerstört wird."

"Beim Opfer wird von einer oder mehreren Personen über einen langen Zeitraum wiederholt, aber nicht permanent, dessen Wahrnehmung der Realität in Frage gestellt. Das kann durch Verleugnung von real existierenden Dingen, Verhaltensweisen oder Ereignissen geschehen, seltener auch durch eine bewusste Inszenierung derselben. Dabei ist eine Grundvoraussetzung, dass sich Täter und Opfer in einem Vertrauensverhältnis befinden, also dass das Opfer dem Täter und seinen manipulierenden Aussagen vertraut. Mit der Zeit beginnen die Opfer, an ihrem Gedächtnis, ihrer Wahrnehmung und an ihrem Verstand zu zweifeln. Einen Grund, die manipulativen Aussagen durch einen Dritten überprüfen zu lassen, gibt es nicht, weil das Opfer dem Täter ja vertraut."

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Probleme entstehen, wenn eine Person ein Vertrauensverhältnis mit einem "Psychopathen" eingeht, d.h. mit einer Person, die im Lügen, Täuschen und Manipulieren extrem geübt ist.

Persönlichkeitsstörungen:

Peter Fiedler:

"Die Diagnose >Persönlichkeitsstörungen< sollte vernünftigerweise ... erst erwogen werden, wenn zwischenmenschliche Beziehungskonflikte zu weit extremisieren, dass die private und berufliche Leistungsfähigkeit oder die Lebensqualität des Betroffenen und / oder ihrer Bezugspersonen erheblich beeinträchtigt ist."

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"Persönlichkeitsstörungen sind komplexe Störungen des zwischenmenschlichen Beziehungsverhaltens."

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"Das Phänomen, dass die den Persönlichkeitsstörungen zugeschriebene Devianzmuster aus der Eigenperspektive zunächst eher selten als störend, abweichend oder normverletzend erlebt werden und dass sie deshalb als solche bei sich selbst nur schwer als Persönlichkeitsstörungen diagnostizierbar sind, bezeichnet man als >Ich-Syntonie< der Persönlichkeitsstörungen. Ganz im Unterschied dazu werden die meisten anderen psychischen Störungen und Syndrome (wie beispielsweise die phobischen oder affektiv-depressiven Störungen) als >ich-dyston< erlebt, eben als nicht zu sich gehörig, weshalb sich die Betroffenen von diesen Störungen gern wieder frei machen würden."

Blickwinkel:

(A) Die Bemühung, einen Menschen so zu sehen, wie er ist.

(B) Die Bemühung, einen Menschen so zu sehen, wie man ihn sehen möchte.

Extraversion but not Depression Predicts Implicit Reward Sensitivity

Extraversion but not Depression Predicts Implicit Reward Sensitivity: Revisiting the Measurement of Anhedonic Phenotypes

Scott D. Blain, Tyler A. Sassenberg, Muchen Xi, Daiqing Zhao, & Colin G. DeYoung

Abstract

Recently, increasing efforts have been made to define and measure dimensional phenotypes associated with psychiatric disorders. One example is an implicit reward learning task developed by Pizzagalli et al. (2005) to assess anhedonia, by measuring participants’ responses to a differential reinforcement schedule. This task has been used in many studies, which have connected blunted reward response in the task to depressive symptoms, across clinical groups and in the general population. The current study attempted to replicate these findings in a large community sample and also investigated possible associations with Extraversion, a personality trait linked theoretically and empirically to reward sensitivity. Participants (N = 299) completed the reward-learning task, as well as the Beck Depression Inventory, Personality Inventory for the DSM-5, Big Five Inventory, and Big Five Aspect Scales. Our direct replication attempts used bivariate analyses of observed variables and ANOVA models. Followup and extension analyses used structural equation models to assess relations among latent reward sensitivity, depression, Extraversion, and Neuroticism. No significant associations were found between reward sensitivity (i.e., response bias) and depression, thus failing to replicate previous findings. Response bias and change in response bias showed significant positive associations with Extraversion, but not with Neuroticism. Findings suggest reward sensitivity as measured by this implicit reward learning task may be related primarily to Extraversion and its pathological manifestations, rather than to depression per se, consistent with existing models that conceptualize depressive symptoms as combining features of Neuroticism and low Extraversion.

Intergroup aggression in meerkats

Intergroup aggression in meerkats

Mark Dyble, Thomas M. Houslay, Marta B. Manser and Tim Clutton-Brock

Abstract

Violent conflicts between groups have been observed among many species of group living mammals and can have important fitness consequences, with individuals being injured or killed and with losing groups surrendering territory. Here, we explore between-group conflict among meerkats (Suricata suricatta), a highly social and cooperatively breeding mongoose. We show that interactions between meerkat groups are frequently aggressive and sometimes escalate to fighting and lethal violence and that these interactions have consequences for group territories, with losing groups moving to sleeping burrows closer to the centre of their territories following an intergroup interaction and with winning groups moving further away. We find that larger groups and groups with pups are significantly more likely to win contests, but that the location of the contest, adult sex ratio, and mean within-group genetic relatedness do not predict contest outcome. Our results suggest that intergroup competition may be a major selective force among meerkats, reinforcing the success of large groups and increasing the vulnerability of small groups to extinction. The presence of both within-group cooperation and between-group hostility in meerkats make them a valuable point of comparison in attempts to understand the ecological and evolutionary roots of human warfare.

Temporal Junctures in the Mind

Temporal Junctures in the Mind
Jonathan Redshaw, Thomas Suddendorf

Highlights

Many recent studies have examined the development, evolution, dysfunctions, and neurocognitive mechanisms of the capacity to consider events from alternative timelines.

Children begin to consistently prepare for alternative versions of immediate future events around 4 years of age, but do not accurately consider alternative versions of past events and present situations until around 6 years of age.

There is no compelling evidence that non-human animals consider and compare events from alternative timelines, although interpretations of some results remain contentious.

Representing alternative versions of the future enables humans to form contingency plans and otherwise compensate for their inability to perfectly predict future outcomes.

Representing alternative versions of the past enables humans to learn associations not only between actual behaviours and outcomes, but also counterfactual behaviours and outcomes.

Abstract

Humans can imagine what happened in the past and what will happen in the future, but also what did not happen and what might happen. We reflect on envisioned events from alternative timelines, while knowing that we only ever live on one timeline. Considering alternative timelines rests on representations of temporal junctures, or points in time at which possible versions of reality diverge. These representations become increasingly sophisticated over childhood, first enabling preparation for mutually exclusive future possibilities and later the experience of counterfactual emotions like regret. By contrast, it remains unclear whether non-human animals represent temporal junctures at all. The emergence of these representations may have been a prime mover in human evolution.

Frohe Weihnachten!

Ich wünsche allen Lesern dieses Blogs ein besonders schönes, fröhliches und gemütliches Weihnachten!

Merry Christmas to all readers of this blog!

Verzicht:

"Er beschloss, nach einem Sturz, nach einem misslungenen Flugversuch, das Fliegen zu lassen."

Daydreaming:

Edgar Allen Poe:

"They who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night."

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Dem Tagträumen erschließen sich manche Aspekte dieser Welt.

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Mythen: 'Tagträume', die manche Aspekte dieser Welt erfassten;

Idealismus:

High-Mindedness als Grundlage echter Leistungen ersten Ranges;

[Siehe auch: high-minded]

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Der enge, nüchterne Blick / das enge, nüchterne Dasein als Gegenspieler des gehobenen Lebens;

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Hochkultur: Wenn Lebensweise, wenn Kunst, Architektur und Philosophie, "High-Mindedness" / Gehobenheit, Idealismus, Hochgesinntheit spiegeln;

Hedonism:

"down-to-earth hedonism"

[See also: High-minded]

High-minded:

"having very high moral standards of behaviour"

"marked by elevated principles and feelings"

"elevated ideals or conduct; the quality of believing that ideals should be pursued"

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Synonyms for high-minded:

chivalrous, elevated, gallant, great, greathearted, high, lordly, magnanimous, noble, sublime;

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Idealism:

"Idealism, as 'noble-mindedness,' is the belief that we should always strive for our highest ideals."

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Noble-minded:

"of high moral or intellectual value; elevated in nature or style"

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[See also: Elevation and Idealistic Attitudes]

Making Sense of the British System of Social Class:

Occupational Distribution of Men and Women in US Labor Force:

Via Steve Stewart-Williams / Reddit:

Creative Minorities & High Culture:

http://meinnaturwissenschaftsblog.blogspot.com/2014/08/smart-fractionscreative-minorities-high.html

Art:

Seth Godin, Linchpin:

"Artists write down what the daemon says. In Elizabeth's words, 'I showed up for my part of the job.' The daemon is the artist inside of you; your work is just to allow it to do its thing."

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Salopp: Die eigentlich generativen Vorgänge ereignen sich außerhalb der bewussten Ebene.

Gemütliche Stunden:

Stunden, in denen der Mensch sein eigenes Wesen erfährt;

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Analog hierzu, der Gedanke, dass beim Musikhören nicht die Erfahrung von Tönen, sondern Selbsterfahrung im Mittelpunkt steht.

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(A) die Erfahrung der Dinge selbst;

(B) die Erfahrung des Widerhalls, den Dinge wecken;

Aufdeckung von Unbekanntem:

http://meinnaturwissenschaftsblog.blogspot.com/2019/11/aufdeckung-von-unbekanntem.html

Punishments and Threats:

"From the cybernetic perspective, punishments are any stimuli that signal definite inability to attain a goal, whereas threats, or cues of punishment, signal a decrease in the probability of attaining a goal."

Colin DeYoung

Interessante Forschungsarbeit:

Wenn dir Zeit zur Verfügung stünde, die Artikel genau einer Person gründlich zu lesen, für welche Person/Artikel würdest du dich entscheiden?

In meinem Fall würde ich mich wohl für die Artikel von Colin DeYoung entscheiden.

Partnerwahl:

Es findet sich etwas in einem das wählt: Das Auskunft darüber gibt, wie viel Widerhall und welchen Widerhall eine andere Person weckt.

Krise:

~ Unter starker, immer zunehmender Kraftanstrengung, wird das bisherige Selbst- und Weltbild aufrecht erhalten, bis schließlich ein Reboot notwendig wird.

Retrieval practice as a study strategy:

http://meinnaturwissenschaftsblog.blogspot.com/2017/04/retrieval-practice-as-study-strategy.html

Flow / Creative Risk-Taking:

Daniel Levitin:

"During flow, two key regions of the brain deactivate: the portion of the prefrontal cortex responsible for self-criticism, and the amygdala, the brain's fear center. This is why creative artists often report feeling fearless and as though they are taking creative risks they hadn't taken before - it's because the two parts of their brain that would otherwise prevent them from doing so have significantly reduced activity."

Zweckmäßigkeit des Verhaltens:

(A) zielführende Handlungen

(B) nicht-zielführende Handlungen

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Eine streng rationale Moral oder Wertkunde kann nur sehr bedingt über "gutes Verhalten" Auskunft geben. Allerdings lässt sich rational die "Zweckmäßigkeit", das "Zielführende" oder das "Nicht-Zielführende", von Handlungen erfassen.

Moral:

~ Die Idee des Guten findet sich im menschlichen Bewusstsein;

Lösungen:

(A) die Suche nach der best-möglichen Lösung;

(B) die Suche nach einer Lösung;

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Wenn jemand bestrebt ist, auf allen Lebensgebieten zu optimieren, kann dies rasch zu einer Verkrampfung führen. Häufiger scheint es angebracht, bloß innerhalb bestimmter Aufgabenbereiche nach optimalen Lösungen zu suchen, sich aber auf anderen Gebieten mit (nicht-optimalen) Lösungen zufrieden zu geben.

"In an age of narcissism the centers of culture are populated with larva and lemures, the spooks of unfulfilled genii."

Lewis Hyde

Art:

http://meinnaturwissenschaftsblog.blogspot.com/2018/04/art.html

Ehrgeiz:

Der Ehrgeizige sagt sich in etwa folgendes: "Du zählst nur dann, wenn du in etwas einer der Besten / der Beste bist."

[Kaum brauchbar als Lebenskredo.]

Produktivitätsverkrampfung:

Keine Sonntage;

Der Fund:

"Ich habe etwas Gutes gefunden. Und möchte euch von diesem Fund berichten."

Harold Pinter in a letter to the director of his play The Birthday Party:

"The writing arranged itself with no trouble into dramatic terms. The characters sounded in my ears - it was apparent to me what one would say and what would be the other's response, at any given point. It was apparent to me what they would not, could not, ever, say, whatever one might wish ..."

Books:

Which are some of the very best books you've ever read?

Interesse:

Z.B.:

Das subjektive Erleben/Erlebnis von Objektwert / Informationswert;

The General Factor of Personality and daily social experiences: Evidence for the social effectiveness hypothesis

Dirk H.M.Pelt, Dimitri van der Linden, Curtis S.Dunkel, Marise Ph.Born

P & ID, March 2020

Abstract

Using data from the Berlin diary study (N = 1223), we examined associations between the General Factor of Personality (GFP) and daily social experiences, self-esteem, and mood (positive and negative affect). As predicted, high-(vs. low) GFP individuals reported fewer daily interpersonal conflicts, better relationship quality, and better impressions on others. Also, relationship quality and daily impressions both mediated the relation between the GFP and mood and self-esteem. Multilevel analyses showed that, compared to low-GFP participants, high-GFP participants seemed less disturbed when experiencing conflict. In sum, the results were in line with the notion of the GFP as social effectiveness, with important consequences for people's daily social life and well-being.

Scientific Discoveries:

http://meinnaturwissenschaftsblog.blogspot.com/2019/06/scientific-discoveries.html

Bevorzugungen:

http://meinnaturwissenschaftsblog.blogspot.com/2019/03/bevorzugungen.html

Fakten & Szenen:

Fakten, die sich dem Gedächtnis eingraben;

Szenen, die sich dem Gedächtnis eingraben;

Antwort:

(o) die Geschwindigkeit einer Antwort

(o) die Beschaffenheit einer Antwort

(o) die Gewöhnlichkeit einer Antwort

Das spezielle Etwas:

Das "spezielle Etwas" an einem Mitmenschen. Letztlich das, was wir "Seele" nennen. Bei manchen Mitmenschen ist etwas mehr von diesem "speziellen Etwas" da. Bei manchen etwas weniger.

[Siehe auch: Das gewisse Etwas, small souled men]

Das sprachliche Denken:

Das sprachliche Denken zwingt uns, von der großen Fülle an Details, die wir beachten könnten, viele Details bei Seite zu legen / wegzuwerfen.

Reizüberflutung:

Wenn man sich in einer Situation befindet, in der potentiell alles beachtenswert sein könnte.

Der Alltag als ein Test:

Alltägliche Ereignisse "testen" den Willen und die Leistungsstärke des Denkvermögens.

Oder anders:

Willensstärke/Gewissenhaftigkeit/Selbstkontrolle und Intelligenz machen sich im Umgang mit alltäglichen Ereignissen bemerkbar.

[Siehe auch: everyday life as an intelligence test]

Intelligenz:

~ Intelligente Personen finden sich rasch in kognitiv beanspruchenden Situationen zurecht.

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Intelligenz ermöglicht es uns, den Informationsgehalt von Phänomenen abzubauen:

Es wird rasch eine Bekanntheit mit einem Phänomen hergestellt. Das Phänomen hat nicht mehr weiter beachtet zu werden. Weitere Beobachtung des Phänomens ist kaum mehr informativ.

Selbstvertrauen:

Salopp:

Man sollte es von seinen Fähigkeiten abhängen lassen, ob man einen sicheren oder einen anspruchsvolleren Kurs fährt.

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high self-esteem path: the risky path - in particular risky for lowly skilled people;

Kreative Personen:

Personen, in deren Köpfen sich regelmäßig "gute Ideen" einfinden.

Prospection:

http://meinnaturwissenschaftsblog.blogspot.com/2018/01/prospection.html

Low self-esteem:

Low self-esteem as a strategy;

Ob einer in Beruf und Leben seinen Mann steht, hängt auch damit zusammen, wie wirkungsvoll sein Denkorgan arbeitet.

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Das Zurechtfinden in schwierigen, kognitiv beanspruchenden Situationen;

Misjudgments about individual IQ-levels:

http://meinnaturwissenschaftsblog.blogspot.com/2014/01/misjudgments-about-individual-iq-levels.html

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"the teachers usually noted the child’s typical behavior in cognitively demanding situations, whereas mothers more often pointed out exceptional instances of clever behavior."

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How does a person behave in cognitively demanding situations?

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Wie verhält sich eine Person allgemein in kognitiv beanspruchenden Situationen?

The g factor and the "w" factor:

http://meinnaturwissenschaftsblog.blogspot.com/2014/01/the-g-factor-and-w-factor.html

Distribution of facial resemblance in romantic couples suggests both positive and negative assortative processes influence human mate choice

Iris J Holzleitner, Kieran J O’Shea, Vanessa Fasolt, Anthony J Lee, Benedict C Jones & Lisa M DeBruine

Abstract

Previous research suggests that humans show positive assortative mating, i.e. tend to pair up with partners that are similar to themselves in a range of traits, including facial appearance. Facial appearance can function as a cue to genetic similarity and plays a critical role in human mate choice. Evidence for positive assortative mating for facial appearance has largely come from studies showing people can match pictures of couples’ faces at levels greater than chance and that facial photographs of couples are rated to look more similar than those of noncouples. However, interpreting results from matching studies as evidence of positive assortative mating for facial appearance is problematic, since this measure of perceived compatibility does not necessarily reflect actual physical similarity, and may be orthogonal to, or even negatively correlated with, physical similarity. Even if participants are asked to rate facial similarity directly, it remains unclear which, if any, face shape cues contribute to an increased perception of similarity in romantic couples. Here we use a shape-based assessment of facial similarity to show that the median similarity of long-term couples’ face shapes is only slightly greater than that of an age-matched control sample. Moreover, this was driven by the most similar 40% of couples, while the most dissimilar 20% of couples actually showed disassortative mating for face shape when compared to the control sample. These data show that a simple measure of central tendency obscures variability in the extent to which couples display assortative or disassortative mating for face shape. By contrast, a more fine-grained analysis that considers the distribution of variation across couples in the extent to which they resemble each other suggests that both positive and negative assortative processes influence human mate choice

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"The extent to which romantic couples physically resemble each other is a long-standing question with implications for influential theories of mate choice, such as optimal outbreeding theory. Optimal outbreeding theory acknowledges that mating with closely-related individuals can have a large negative effect on reproductive fitness (i.e., results in less viable offspring), but emphasizes that excessive outbreeding (mating with highly genetically dissimilar individuals), too, can have a negative effect on reproductive fitness. Consequently, while folk psychology theories predict that romantic couples will physically resemble each other, optimal outbreeding theory predicts that both assortative and disassortative processes may influence human mate choice."

Pessimismus:

Überspitzt: Pessimismus ist letztlich ein Luxus, und man sollte sich manchmal fragen, wie viel Schwarzseherei man sich überhaupt leisten kann.

Steven Pressfield:

"I'm a believer in the muse and I believe that projects come to us almost like assignments and that we have to follow them, or at least that's my theory. I only want to write what I want to write. Not everybody does that. A lot of people like to write for hire, but in that case, again, not only can't we control our level of talent, I believe, but we can't even control what we're gonna work on. I've always said that the books that I've written, I never knew I was gonna write them before I wrote them."

Repression:

Randolph M. Nesse:

"I suspect that keeping some desires out of consciousness is a major function of repression. We can get only a fraction of what we want. Gaps between what we have and what we want generate envy, anxiety, anger, and dissatisfaction. Keeping unsatisfiable desires out of consciousness not only avoids mental suffering, it also allows us to focus on projects that are possible, instead of ruminating about those that are not."

Randolph M. Nesse:

"I recall one professor who started an antidepressant in the spring and experienced an excellent remission from moderately severe depression. She returned in the fall to report that the stress of teaching was no longer a problem. In December, she returned to report that her mood was still fine, but she was in danger of losing her job. She had become so free from concern that she had not graded any student papers or exams all term. She decided to stop her medication."

Low latent inhibition:

"With low latent inhibition, an individual almost treats familiar stimuli in the same manner as they would new stimuli."

[Source]

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~ Wenn ein Gehirn "vertraute Gegenstände" in etwa so behandelt, als ob keine Vertrautheit mit ihnen bestehen würde.

"Der 'Ort', von dem die guten Ideen herkommen;"

Low latent inhibition, working memory:

"It looks like in order to handle the excess sensory input of low latent inhibition it's really useful to have very high IQ and high working memory[.] It seems probable that if you are prone to be overwhelmed by sensory information that you need the cognitive capacity to handle that and also perhaps ... the personality/ability to sort through that critically. So you don't end up overwhelmed."

Jordan Peterson

Steckenpferde:

Sich jeden Tag auch dem widmen zu wollen, wofür ein maximales Interesse besteht.

Erkunden und sich Vertiefen:

Salopp:

Vorerst muss man einiges, nicht weniges, kennen lernen, um etwas kennen zu lernen, für das ein echtes, tiefes Interesse besteht.

"As evolutionary psychologist David Buss points out, women can normally land a more attractive partner if they offer sex without commitment, whereas man can land a more attractive partner if they offer commitment as well."

Steve Stewart-Williams

"Frank Harris was only exaggerating a little when he observed that, 'A man without ambition is like a woman without beauty.' "

Steve Stewart-Williams

Ambition/Zeal & Exceptional Achievement:

The g factor, 1998, Arthur Jensen:

"The sine qua non of truly exceptional achievement, or greatness, in any field is an extraordinary level of ambition and zeal in one's endeavors. It is the opposite of a lackadaisical attitude toward one's work. Zeal is probably what makes possible the enormous amount of diligent practice in one's pursuit without which a world-class level of performance is simply not possible. The extraordinary level of virtuoso skill seen in great musicians, Olympic athletes, world-class mathematicians, chess champions, and top-level surgeons, for example, owes at least as much to their many years of disciplined study and practice as to their inborn talent. Their talent, in fact, might actually consist in large part of their unusual drive and capacity for assiduous persistence in developing their specialized skills over many years. Ten years seems to be about the minimum amount of 'practice time' needed for attaining a high level of expertise in one's vocation, even for famous geniuses. Ambition seems to consist of a high level of goal-directed drive, persisting in the face of difficulties and obstacles. It is possessed to an extraordinary degree by the world's greatest achievers. The personal sources of the immense ambition that overrides all obstacles are scarcely understood and, as yet, have not been very much studied by psychologists. Dean Simonton, the leading contemporary researcher on the origins of high-level achievement, has remarked that the source of the exceptional level of drive and ambition evinced by the most illustrious achievers in history is still one of the great mysteries of psychology. Psychologists often speak of 'achievement motivation', but this simply names the phenomenon without explaining it. The topic is crying out for scientific research."

Aiming too low:

"Icarus was also warned not to fly too low because seawater would ruin the lift in his wings – but low-flying, says Godin, is even worse as it feels deceptively safe."

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~ you will loose if you aim too high & you will loose if you aim too low;

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aiming too low as a losing strategy that feels safe;

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Halt dein Rößlein nur im Zügel,
kommst ja doch nicht allzuweit.
Hinter jedem neuen Hügel
dehnt sich die Unendlichkeit.

Wilhelm Busch

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[Siehe auch: Übermut]

Das "Konsumenten-Leben":

Ein Leben führen, dessen Höhepunkte exklusive Zeitspannen des Konsumierens darstellen;

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Manche Personen fühlen sich bei der Führung eines reinen "Konsumenten-Lebens" recht wohl. Anderen erscheint solch eine Lebensgestaltung kaum erstrebenswert oder aushaltbar.

Well-being:

Trotz dem Vorhandensein von Störgrößen, trotz Hindernissen und Schwierigkeiten, intakt sein und intakt bleiben.

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Der "intakte Mensch", die innerlich unverwüstete, lebendige Person, als Ideal einer Kultur;

Have a thing:

Robin Hanson:

http://www.overcomingbias.com/2019/01/have-a-thing.html

Robin Hanson:

>Actually most interesting people I've ever known cared more @ learning than acing tests. But most all the "successful" people I've known are the opposite. <

Robin Hanson:

"I tend to disagree with most people about who are the best speakers and writers. Most people prefer those with lots of interesting tidbits; I prefer those that stay focused on and deliver a key interesting point."

Decision-making around risk:

"confidence is part of our genetic makeup; it evolved over thousands of generations as a mental tool to guide our decision-making around risk."

Geoffrey Miller

[See also: The role of shame and self-esteem in risk taking by Daniel Fessler, 2001]

Risiko und Höhe des möglichen Gewinns:

"[M]an [wird] angesichts der Ungewissheit einen bestimmten Einsatz vernünftigerweise dann riskieren ..., wenn der Gewinn ... entsprechend hoch ist."

Peter R. Hofstätter

Kuhn and Galison - new tools versus new concepts:

http://meinnaturwissenschaftsblog.blogspot.com/2019/01/kuhn-and-galison.html

"[gequälte] Bemühungen um eine absolute Sicherheit, die in einer bloß nach Wahrscheinlichkeitsgraden fassbaren Welt schlechthin keinen Platz hat."

Peter R. Hofstätter

Work:

The ideal case: doing work that matters on a daily basis.

1,000 True Fans

https://kk.org/thetechnium/1000-true-fans/

"One thing I haven't explored in 25 years of making books is creating the big fat significant book, the one that sits on the counter or the end table and gets read now and then–for years. I still remember the art books my mom used to keep throughout our house growing up. Some of them took me literally a decade to get through, but I'm glad I did."

Seth Godin

"no one exists in a universe with no pushback or risk."

Seth Godin

Crystal cave:

[via Massimo]

Average is over, Tyler Cowen:

"There is no high morale without exclusion, no integrity without exclusion, and no corporate culture without exclusion. If the management styles at today's quality companies seem so nice, so friendly, and sometimes so downright heartwarming, it is possible only because those cultures are so very picky, snobbish, and elitist at the same time. There is no open door.

Basically what's happening is that a lot of jobs are becoming more like Google - you have to meet a certain grade or you are out[.]"

The surprising power of the long game:

http://meinnaturwissenschaftsblog.blogspot.com/2019/01/the-surprising-power-of-long-game.html

finding value:

e.g. spotting the value of some information;

"Absolute Redundanz":

Der Fehlbetrag der Unsicherheit gegenüber der maximalen Unsicherheit.

Conversational Topics - Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Openness:

Jordan Peterson:

"when I have an agreeable person in my clinical practice, because what happens when they come in is that they instantly start to talk about relationships. So they'll lay out their biography ... A conscientious person will talk about the things they have to do and the things they've done over their life and an open person will say, well, here's the things I'm really interested in, you know, but an agreeable person will say well, from ... 1980 to 1987 I went out with this person and then I had a relationship with this person and so they naturally seemed to configure their biographies in terms of dyadic intimate relationships."

The charm of conversation:

"the charm of conversation is in direct proportion to the possibility of abridgment and elision, and in inverse ratio to the need of explicit statement."

William James

Monogamy and Reproductive Opportunity Leveling:

http://meinnaturwissenschaftsblog.blogspot.com/2016/04/monogamy-and-reproductive-opportunity.html

Sicherheit oder Freiheit?

Setzt Freiheitsstreben eine gewisses Maß an Risikobereitschaft und Risikotoleranz voraus?

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Gefährliche Sicherheit:

Das gesicherte Terrain nie zu verlassen, auf das Erkunden von Neuem hochgradig zu verzichten, ist keine eigentlich sichere Strategie. Die Gefahren und Risiken sind bloß andere als bei erkundungsfreudigeren Strategien.

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Salopp gesagt: Der Mensch braucht ein gesichertes Terrain um effektiv erkunden zu können, um den für das Erkunden nötigen Mut aufzubringen. Fällt die Sicherheit weg, schwindet wohl auch, zumindest vorübergehend, die Erkundungsfreude.

Werterleben:

Z.B.:

Die Freude am "Schönen", am "Wahren", am "Wertvollen";

Intelligenz:

Die Leistungsstärke eines Denkorgans lässt sich ...

... über den Komplexitäts- und Schwierigkeitsgrad von Aufgaben bestimmen, die dieses Denkorgan bewältigen kann;

... über die Geschwindigkeit bestimmen, mit der es Aufgaben bewältigt.

Die eigene Intelligenz kennen lernen:

Es geht darum, ein Gefühl dafür zu entwickeln, welche Aufgaben man kognitiv bewältigen kann, und welche Aufgaben man nicht bewältigen kann.

Grenzen der kognitiven Leistungsfähigkeit:

Welche Aufgaben gerade noch kognitiv bewältigbar sind;

Das gewisse Etwas:

https://meinnaturwissenschaftsblog.blogspot.com/2019/01/das-gewisse-etwas.html

Mentales Rauschen:

Salopp:

Bei Gesprächen mit manchen Personen wird man mit Fehlurteilen über die Welt (oder über einzelne Aspekte dieser Welt) geradezu bombardiert.

Expertise:

Z.B.:

Wenn eine Person bestimmte Aufgaben rasch und mit großer oder hinreichender Genauigkeit bzw. Güte lösen kann.

Aussagen:

(A) neue Aussagen über die Welt generieren

(B) Aussagen prüfen

general intelligence:

David C. Geary:

"It has been well over a century since Spearman discovered that individuals who perform well in one cognitive or academic domain generally perform well in all other domains, leading him to conclude 'that all branches of intellectual activity have in common one fundamental function (or group of functions)', which he termed general intelligence, or g."

Wesentliche Stunden:

http://meinnaturwissenschaftsblog.blogspot.com/2019/01/wesentliche-stunden.html

Warmth and Competence:

http://meinnaturwissenschaftsblog.blogspot.com/2019/02/warmth-and-competence.html

Intrinsisch motiviertes, tagtägliches Lernen:

Eine Person, die tagtäglich dazulernen will, einfach nur deshalb, da es belohnend ist, dazuzulernen.

Racehorses:

Randolph M. Nesse:

"Racehorses are prone to breaking the cannon bone in their legs. Why didn't natural selection make it thicker? It did; wild horses are unlikely to break their legs. However, breeding only the fastest horses made their leg bones longer and longer, thinner and thinner, and lighter and lighter. Successive generations of racehorses have become faster and faster but also more and more vulnerable to breaking a leg, something that now happens about once every thousand times a racehorse starts a race."

Der Wechsel hyperthymer und hypothymer Stimmungen:

http://meinnaturwissenschaftsblog.blogspot.com/2016/07/der-wechsel-hyperthymer-und-hypothymer.html

Aufmerksamkeit:

Was bewertet ein bestimmtes Gehirn als bemerkenswert?

Techniker:

Ein "guter Techniker" ist eine Person, die beruflich relevante Probleme, insbesondere neue Probleme, rasch und hinreichend genau lösen kann.

Stunden, die ohne klares Ziel oder eindeutige Aufgabenstellung verbracht werden;

Lebendige Unterhaltungen:

Zeitspannen, in denen wir uns ganz in einem Gespräch verlieren;

Eric Weinstein on Excellence:

http://meinnaturwissenschaftsblog.blogspot.com/2019/03/eric-weinstein-on-excellence.html

Intelligenz:

Salopp:

Eine intelligente Person ist gut darin, gedanklich Aufgaben zu bewältigen, die neu und schwierig sind.

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Wenn Gerhard Roth erwähnt, dass Sprache ein außerordentlicher Intelligenzverstärker sei, so meint er hiermit wohl auch, dass sprachliches Denken uns ermöglicht, Aufgaben gedanklich zu bewältigen, die den Horizont vorsprachlicher Denkbemühungen übersteigen.

Zufall:

Salopp gesagt:

Zufall ist dasjenige, was die Welt schwer verständlich oder rätselhaft erscheinen lassen kann. Dass etwas nicht bloß so, sondern auch so oder so oder so oder so ausgehen kann.

"I suspect — and I know others do too — that much of the theorizing that happens in psychological science is interpreting noise."

Richard D. Morey

Wissenschaft:

Heiner Rindermann:

"Zunächst einmal ist es die Aufgabe der Wissenschaft, wahre Aussagen zu formulieren, wahre und neue, also Erkenntnis zu schaffen und diese weiterzugeben."

Narzissmus:

Eine extreme Befangenheit in sich selbst, in der manche Menschen leben.

[Siehe auch: Narzissmus]

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Selbstbefangenheit:
~ Wenn die Zuwendung zum "Schönen", zum "Wahren", zum "Du" nicht gelingt.

Linda R. Hirsch, Luci Paul:

"True mutual assessment requires openness and honesty[.]"

William Hart, Kyle Richardson:

"research suggests people higher in dark-personality constructs may perceive others’ dark characteristics as less undesirable ('darkness tolerance'). "

Conscious-Psychological-Systems:

http://meinnaturwissenschaftsblog.blogspot.com/2019/06/conscious-psychological-systems.html

Ja und Nein:

Man muss zu vielem "Nein" sagen, um zu manchem entschieden "Ja" sagen zu können.

On teaching intelligence:

Arthur R. Jensen:

"To teach intelligence might mean to point out more or less all the conceivable connections, generalizations, and possible transfer of every item of acquired information, and to elicit and reinforce the appropriate responses to these situations. This could involve teaching more than anyone could ever learn. Probably no one would live long enough ever to acquire even a mental age of six."

Robert Plomin:

"The nature of nurture suggests a ... model of experience in which we actively perceive, interpret, select, modify and create experiences correlated with our genetic propensities."

Schizophrenia Spectrum, Autism Spectrum:

Robert Plomin:

"Although some problems such as schizophrenia and autism have symptoms so severe as to seem outside the normal distribution, if we accept that we all have thought disorders to some extent sometimes, we can assess these symptoms quantitatively, if we stop being obsessed with diagnosing whether people 'have' the disorder or not. In the same way, we can assess autistic symptoms such as problems with social relationships and communication quantitatively."

Prestige:

Robin Hanson, Kevin Simler:

>although there are many different ways to look at prestige, we can treat it as synonymous with "one's value as an ally."<

People are more eager to talk than listen:

Robin Hanson, Kevin Simler:

"our species seems, somehow, to derive more benefit from speaking than from listening."

Major findings on g’s impact on job performance:

Linda S. Gottfredson, Major findings on g's impact on job performance:

https://meinnaturwissenschaftsblog.blogspot.com/2017/05/linda-s-gottfredson-major-findings-on.html

Social competition:

~ the competition for mates and allies;

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"Show me your allies / your mate and I will tell you who you are."

Animated Representation of Multi-Planet Systems Discovered by Kepler Space Telescope:

[via Massimo: "This is an animated representation of all the multi-planet systems discovered in the Milky Way galaxy by NASA Kepler Space Telescope as of October 30, 2018. The systems are shown together at the same scale as our Solar System (dashed lines)."]

Justin Kruger and David Dunning:

"We argue that when people are incompetent in the strategies they adopt to achieve success and satisfaction, they suffer a dual burden: Not only do they reach erroneous conclusions and make unfortunate choices, but their incompetence robs them of the ability to realize it. Instead ... they are left with the mistaken impression that they are doing just fine."

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"as Charles Darwin (1871) sagely noted over a century ago, 'ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge'. "

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"In essence, we argue that the skills that engender competence in a particular domain are often the very same skills necessary to evaluate competence in that domain-one's own or anyone else's. Because of this, incompetent individuals lack what cognitive psychologists variously term metacognition (Everson & Tobias, 1998), metamemory (Klin, Guizman, & Levine, 1997), metacomprehension (Maki, Jonas, & Kallod, 1994), or self-monitoring skills (Chi, Glaser, & Rees, 1982). These terms refer to the ability to know how well one is performing, when one is likely to be accurate in judgment, and when one is likely to be in error. For example, consider the ability to write grammatical English. The skills that enable one to construct a grammatical sentence are the same skills necessary to recognize a grammatical sentence, and thus are the same skills necessary to determine if a grammatical mistake has been made. In short, the same knowledge that underlies the ability to produce correct judgment is also the knowledge that underlies the ability to recognize correct judgment." 

Randolph M. Nesse:

"A vast swath of life is taken up by judging, being judged, and getting prepared for being judged in the mating competition."

Couch Lock:

Scott Adams:

"Lazy people and stoners have a term that describes how it feels when they can't motivate themselves to get off the couch. It's called couch lock."

Das Fokussieren:

Es geht darum,

(A) einen starken Fokus zu kultivieren;

(B) den Fokus Wichtigem / ausgewählten Dingen zuzuwenden.

Signals:

Geoffrey Miller:

"The key thing in the biology of signals is, the signal has to be credible, and reliable, and hard to fake, in order for the other animal or the other human, to pay any attention to it. So if you go around sending signals that are easy to fake ..., then the other animal has no incentive to pay any attention to that."

Dominance in mating contexts:

Geoffrey Miller:

"Dominance is great for intimidating other men, so you scare them away. But when you show dominance upfront to a woman, and you don't really know how to use it in an attractive way, it codes as "danger" in a woman's brain. ... the woman thinks: 'Why is this guy acting belligerent, and assertive, and even hostile to me?' ... if you don't know what you are doing with dominance it can drive a lot of women away."

Female macaques compete for ‘power’ and ‘commitment’ in their male partners

Christine B. Haunhorst, Ines Fürtbauer, Oliver Schülke, Julia Ostner

(Evolution and Human Behavior)

Abstract

The formation of male-female social bonds and the resulting competition among females for male partners is a core element of human societies. While female competition for a male partner outside the mating context is well studied in humans, evidence from non-human primates is scarce, and its evolutionary roots remain to be explored. We studied two multi male – multi female groups of wild Assamese macaques (Macaca assamensis), a species where females gain benefits from selectively affiliating with particular males. Using a behavioral data set collected over several years, we tested whether females competed over access to male social partners, whether success in competition was driven by female dominance rank, and which male traits were most attractive for females. We found assortative bonding by dominance rank between females and males, which together with females initiating and maintaining contact suggests direct female competition over males. Two male traits independently predicted male attractiveness to females: (1) current dominance rank, a measure of “power” or a male's ability to provide access to resources, and (2) prior male affiliation with immatures, a measure of a male's potential paternal proclivity or “commitment” to infant care. Both traits have been consistently identified as drivers of female partner choice in humans. Our study adds to the evidence that female competition for valuable male partners is not unique to humans, suggesting deep evolutionary origins of women's mate choice tendencies for ‘power’ and ‘commitment’.

Heiner Rindermann, Interview - 17. November 2019:

"Auch das, was wir als Umwelt wahrnehmen, etwa elterlicher Wohlstand und Bildung oder Unterricht in der Schule, ist großenteils ein genetischer Effekt, weil Gene erst diese Umwelt hervorrufen oder auswählen und je nach Veranlagung die gleiche Umwelt verschieden wirkt."

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"Wir haben ein kognitives Elitenproblem in der Wissenschaft. Die meisten verstehen gar nicht die Grundlagen der eigenen Arbeit. Ein Beispiel: Die Mehrheit der Sozialwissenschaftler, um die 90 Prozent, versteht nicht Signifikanztests, obwohl sie diese ständig durchführen."

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"In den USA sind um die 90 Prozent aller Sozialwissenschaftler dem linken Spektrum zuzuordnen, in Deutschland dürften es ähnlich viele sein. Hinzu kommt, dass die Wissenschaft unter einer Deintellektualisierung leidet. Wissenschaftler lesen kaum mehr Bücher, [konzentrieren sich] stattdessen [auf] Projekte und Geldeinwerbung, [auf] Kommunikation, Emails und WhatsApp-Nachrichten. Der geistige Horizont wird eng und enger, Informationen außerhalb des eigenen fachlichen und politischen Spektrums werden nicht wahrgenommen."

Tiefes Lesen:

Z.B.: Eine Stunde lang die Gedanken nicht abschweifen lassen und voll und ganz dem Inhalt eines Buches / eines Artikels zuwenden.

Divorce:

A Treatise on the Family

Gary S. Becker (1981)

"If participants in marriage markets have complete information about all prospects, divorce would be a fully anticipated response to a demand for variety in mates or to life-cycle changes in traits. Most divorces would then occur after many years of marriage, because traits change gradually. The facts, however, suggest the opposite: about 40 percent of all divorces (and annulments) occur prior to the fifth year of marriage, and separation usually precedes divorce by a year or more (U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, 1979).

If, however, participants had highly imperfect information, most divorces would occur early in marriage by virtue of the fact that information about traits increases rapidly after marriage. Several years of marriage is usually a far more effective source of information on love and many other traits than all the proxies available prior to marriage. I suggest that marriages fail early primarily because of imperfect information in marriage markets and the accumulation of better information during marriage."

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"The more rapid accumulation of information during the first few years of marriage implies that divorce is more likely early in marriage than later. Divorce rates are highest during the first few years of marriage and decline steeply after four or five years, although the explanation is partly that those most prone to divorce tend to drop out early from the cohort of married persons (see Heckman, 1981, on the effects of heterogeneity).

Divorce is less likely later in the marriage for the additional reason that capital accumulates and becomes more valuable if a marriage stays intact ("marital-specific" capital). Children are the prime example, especially young children, although learning about the idiosyncrasies of one's spouse is also important (Heimer and Stinchcombe, 1979). Divorce is much less likely when there are children, especially young children-not only in the United States and other rich countries (Goode, 1963, pp. 85, 364; BLM, 1977), but also in primitive societies (Saunders and Thomson, 1979).

The accumulation of marital-specific capital is, in turn, discouraged by the prospect of divorce because, by definition, such capital is less valuable after a divorce. Presumably, trial or consensual marriages produce fewer children than legal marriages at least partly because the former are less durable (see the evidence in Kogut, 1972, on consensual and legal marriages in Brazil). Persons who marry outside their race or religion are far more likely to divorce than are others with similar measurable characteristics. Therefore, we can readily understand why marriages between persons of different races or religions have significantly fewer children even when intact marriages are compared (see the evidence for the United States in BLM, 1977), and why marriages between Indians of different castes have fewer children than marriages within a caste (Das, 1978).

Expectations about divorce are partly self-fulfilling because a higher expected probability of divorce reduces investments in specific capital and thereby raises the actual probability. For example, consensual and trial marriages are less stable than legal marriages, and marriages between persons of different religions or races are less stable than those within a religion or race, partly because mixed marriages have fewer children. At the same time, as indicated, mixed marriages have fewer children partly because they are expected to be less stable."

John M. Mcnamara et al., 2009:

"In many animal species, females will benefit if they can secure their mate's help in raising their young. It has been suggested that they can achieve this by being coy (i.e. reluctant to mate) when courted, because this gives them time to assess a prospective mate's helpfulness and hence allows them to reject non-helpful males."

Haste and Coyness:

Lloyd (1979):

"Selection for haste in males, and coyness in females, results in what amounts to competition between the sexes. Males may be selected to bypass any choice that the females attempt to exercise, and then females selected to maintain their options, to not be misled or to have their choices subverted."

The role of humor in mate choice:

David M. Buss:

"But humor is important. Humor actually does convey a wealth of information about someones verbal skills, their level of intelligence, their social skills, and even perspective taking. It requires a certain level of mind reading to get people to laugh."

Catherine Salmon:

"that's why there is so much written stuff, because written stuff isn't just about sex, it's about mate choice, and long term mate choice."

Planen:

Das eigene Handeln für bestimmte Zeitspannen im Vorhinein festlegen.

"Willensschwäche":

Die Intention im Handeln geht mehr und mehr verloren. Der Mensch wird mehr und mehr von zufälligen Einflüssen bestimmt.

Kaffee:

Tendiert man dazu, impulsiv und zu viel Kaffee zu trinken, macht es Sinn, Kaffeepausen zu planen.

Bottom-up attention and top-down attention:

Winifred Gallagher:

>If bottom-up attention asks, "What's the obvious thing to home in on here?" top-down attention asks, "What do you want to concentrate on?"<

Produktive Meditation bei Spaziergängen:

Nach Cal Newport:

Man wendet, für die Dauer eines Spaziergangs, die Gedanken voll und ganz einem Problem / einer Aufgabe zu.

Tiefe Konzentration:

Z.B.: Eine Stunde lang mit den Gedanken voll und ganz bei einer Sache sein;

What characterizes highly g-loaded tests?

>Spearman characterized the most g-loaded tests essentially as those requiring the subject to grasp relationships - “the eduction of relations and correlates.” That is all perfectly correct. But now we can go further. The g factor is manifested in tests to the degree that they involve mental manipulation of the input elements (“fundaments” in Spearman's terminology), choice, decision, invention in contrast to reproduction, reproduction in contrast to selection, meaningful memory in contrast to rote memory, long-term memory in contrast to short-term memory, and distinguishing relevant information from irrelevant information in solving complex problems.<

Bias in Mental Testing - p250

Arthur Jensen (1980)

Randolph M. Nesse:

"As we plan, fantasize, dream, imagine, emotions nudge us toward some paths and away from others."

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"The big news in emotions research is that emotions arise from the "appraisals" people make about the personal significance of information."

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"People prone to intense emotions experience enthusiasms that shift their efforts from one unfinished project to another ..."

"People who hardly experience emotion neither take full advantage of opportunities nor fully protect themselves from threats."

Randolph M. Nesse:

"In the face of threats and losses, anxiety and sadness are useful, but happy relaxation is worse than useless. When opportunities emerge, desire and enthusiasm are useful, but worry and sadness are harmful. The advantage goes not to individuals who are constantly anxious, sad, or joyful, but to those who experience anxiety when loss is threatened, sadness after a loss, and enthusiasm and joy in the face of opportunity and success."

Randolph M. Nesse:

"When people are making progress toward their main life goals, they feel fine. Obstacles provoke frustration, often observed as anger and aggression. Inability to make progress toward a goal causes demoralization and temporary withdrawal. Prolonged failure of a strategy leads to more severe demoralization and attempts to find alternatives. When extended efforts fail to find a new route to the goal, intense low mood disengages motivation from the goal. When the unreachable goal is truly given up, low mood is replaced by temporary sadness aroused by the loss, and the person moves on to pursue other more reachable goals."

Good Reasons for Bad Feelings:

Good Reasons for Bad Feelings: Insights from the Frontier of Evolutionary Psychiatry

Randolph M. Nesse

Der Denkschritt:

Intuitiv:

Denkinhalte werden auf Zusammenhang hin geprüft; der Zusammenhang von Denkinhalten wird gesucht; Denkinhalte werden in Zusammenhang gesetzt;

Low mood:

"People who don't feel bad when pursuing unreachable goals spend their lives in contented useless efforts."

Randolph M. Nesse

Sex differences in humor production ability: A meta-analysis

Gil Greengross, Paul J.Silvia, Emily C.Nusbaum

Journal of Research in Personality, February 2020

Highlights

(o) On average, men have higher humor production ability than women.

(o) Effect is small to moderate.

(o) Humor was rated by independent judges assessing the humor produced by both sexes.

(o) Difference may reflect both evolutionary and environmental influences.

Abstract

We offer the first systematic quantitative meta-analysis on sex differences in humor production ability. We included studies where participants created humor output that was assessed for funniness by independent raters. Our meta-analysis includes 36 effect sizes from 28 studies published between 1976 and 2018 (N = 5057, 67% women). Twenty of the 36 effect sizes, accounting for 61% of the participants, were not previously published. Results based on random-effects model revealed that men's humor output was rated as funnier than women's, with a combined effect size d = 0.321. Results were robust across various moderators and study characteristics, and multiple tests indicated that publication bias is unlikely. Both evolutionary and cultural explanations were considered and discussed.

"Kampf ums Dasein":

~ Der Wettlauf um beschränkte Ressourcen;

Siehe: Motivation to control

"Sitzfleisch":

~ Hartnäckigkeit beim Lösen von Problemen;

Wenn man in vermeintlich chaotischen Ereignissen plötzlich Ordnung zu sehen anfängt...

Siehe: Frans de Waal on Perception;

Two styles of theorizing:

From Eros to Gaia, Freeman Dyson, 1992:

>There is one fairly obvious way of getting a new theory. Keep close to the experimental results, hear about all the latest information that the experimenters obtain, and then proceed to set up a theory to account for them. That is a more or less straightforward procedure and there are many physicists working on such lines, competing with one another, and it might develop somewhat into a rat-race. Of course it needs rather intelligent rats to take part in it. But I don’t want to speak about this method of procedure.

There is another way in which a theoretical physicist may work which is slower and more sedate and may lead to more profound results. It does not depend very closely on experimental work. This consists in having some basic beliefs and trying to incorporate them into one theory. Now why should one have basic beliefs? I don’t know that I can explain that. It’s just that one feels that nature is constructed in a certain way and one hangs onto the idea rather like one might hang onto a religious belief. One feels that things simply have to be on these lines and one must devise a mathematical theory for incorporating the basic belief.

These two styles of theorizing are well known in the history of science. Historians call the first style Baconian and the second Cartesian. Our young colleagues today, with less awareness of their place in history, are accustomed to call the two styles “bottom-up” and “top-down.”<

Manie:

~ Ein Kraft- und Stärkegefühl, das den Kontakt zur Wirklichkeit verliert;

Centrality and redundancy of the Dark Tetrad traits

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Bojana M.Dinić, Anja Wertag, Aleksandar Tomašević, Valentina Sokolovska

Highlights

(o) Psychopathy is the central dark trait, especially features of primary psychopathy.

(o) Secondary psychopathy and lack of cognitive responsiveness are redundant.

(o) Redundancy of narcissism depends of the hierarchical level of the analyzed traits.

Abstract

The aim of this research was to examine centrality and redundancy of the Dark Tetrad traits (psychopathy, Machiavellianism, narcissism, and sadism) using network analysis. The first sample (N = 546) was assessed using a short instrument, the second (N = 404) and the third (N = 410) samples were assessed with full instruments for the first three dark traits, while for sadism the same instrument was used in all three studies. The results showed that psychopathy is the central feature across all networks, especially its facets which correspond to primary psychopathy or interpersonal manipulation and callousness. Narcissism seemed redundant when total scores of the dark traits were analyzed, but these results should be interpreted with caution given the small number of variables in the network. However, on the facet level, some facets of psychopathy were redundant (secondary psychopathy or lack of cognitive responsiveness). These results reiterate the importance of psychopathy in the core of the dark traits and provide a deeper insight into the relations between the Dark Tetrad traits.

Motivation to control:

David C. Geary:

"The basic thesis is that the brain and mind has evolved to attend to and process the forms of information that covaried with survival and reproductive prospects during the species’ evolutionary history. These systems bias implicit decision making processes and behavioral responses in ways that allow the organism to attempt to achieve access to and control of these resources (see Gigerenzer, Todd, & and ABC Research Group, 1999). Although not typically presented in an evolutionary context, the proposal fits well with the consensus among psychologists that humans have a basic motivation to achieve some level of control over relationships, events, and resources that of significance in their life (Fiske, 1993; Heckhausen & Schulz, 1995; Shapiro, Schwartz, & Astin, 1996; Taylor & Brown, 1988; Thompson, Armstrong, & Thomas, 1998). The proposal here and elsewhere is that the human motivation to control is an evolved disposition and is implicitly focused on attempts to control social relationships and the behavior of other people, and to control the biological and physical resources that covary with survival and reproductive prospects in the local ecology (Geary, 1998, 2005)."

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"In most contexts and for most people, the motivation to control is constrained by formal laws, informal cultural customs, and by psychological mechanisms (e.g., guilt) that promote social compromise and reciprocal social relationships (Barkow, 1992; Baron, 1997; Trivers, 1971)"

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"Nevertheless, consideration of history’s despots allows for a clear assessment of the benefits of resource control. These individuals have considerable social power and their behavior is not typically constrained by psychological (e.g., guilt) or social consequences. "

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"gaining some level of control over the activities of daily life, important social relationships, and material resources affords many of the same benefits, but on a smaller scale, as those enjoyed by despots."

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"The level of actual resources is important but, in addition, one’s position in the social hierarchy influences and is influenced by physical health, lifespan, and psychological functioning (e.g., self esteem)."

Trait Plasticity:

David C. Geary:

"Trait plasticity can evolve if some features of the ecology or social environment that drove the evolution of the trait fluctuate during lifetimes. If the ability to adapt to these fluctuations influences survival or reproductive prospects, then conditions are set for the evolution of trait plasticity. The conditions that create such fluctuations can be climatic or result from biological arms races. The latter are common among organisms with competing interests, as in predator-prey and host-parasite relationships (Darwin, 1859; Dawkins & Krebs, 1979). They are also common in species that live in complex social groups, which results in ever changing patterns of cooperation and competition for control of resources associated with survival or reproductive prospects."

Tending:

D. C. Geary, M. V. Flinn:

"Tending is a form of parental investment. The nature and extent of this investment by one or both sexes strongly influences the dynamics of intersexual and intrasexual relationships, termed sexual selection (Andersson, 1994; Darwin, 1871; Trivers, 1972; Williams, 1966). Species in which females provide the majority of parental effort, such as chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and lions (Panthera leo), are characterized by intense male–male competition for access to females or for control of the resources (e.g., breeding territory) females need to raise their offspring. In these species, female tending and male fighting are salient features of reproductive dynamics. The reverse situation occurs in species in which males provide the majority of parental effort, such as red-necked phalaropes (Phalaropus lobatus), where sexual selection involves female–female competition over resources provided by males."

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"Men’s tending creates a more uniquely human form of female–female competition; that is, competition for high-quality men who are able and are willing to invest their resources in the woman and her children (Buss, 1994; Gaulin & Boster, 1990)."

Signalling Commitment:

Bria Lane Dunham:

"Costly signals, handicaps or otherwise, can also convey information about an individual’s commitment to a certain individual, group, or institution. Commitment may be important to potential sexual and social partners, as it sets a foundation for mutual or collective investment and the anticipation of future behavior."

Fluency:

The Prediction of Achievement and Creativity, Raymond B. Cattell & H. J. Butcher, 1968:

"we must recognize that the popular mind is apt to see high fluency as creativity; but to the psychologist, high fluency is perceived to arise either from vitality of the unconscious or, by contrast, from defective powers of inhibition in the ego, and creativity so defined is therefore a mixed blessing."

Stereotypies:

C.J. Mason:

"[The] development of stereotypies indicates that well-being has probably been poor, with the animal motivated to show a behaviour pattern that it could not perform normally or to completion."

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"[S]tereotypies should warn us that the animal has probably been in an unchanging and frustrating environment, and that its welfare has probably been unsatisfactory."

Das Abbilden (II):

"Die Vorgehensweise [der Wissenschaft ist] die einer Abbildung: ... die Erscheinungen der wirklichen Welt [werden durch Worte repräsentiert]. In stärker formalisierten Theorien oder Darstellungsweisen können das auch Buchstaben oder andere Symbole sein. Ein mehr oder weniger komplexes System solcher Repräsentationen beobachtbarer Erscheinungen und Sachverhalte können wir eine Theorie oder ein Modell der Wirklichkeit nennen. Mit dieser Abbildung oder Repräsentation von Erscheinungen durch Worte oder Symbole gehen Klassifikations- und Abstraktionsprozesse einher: Es wird nicht die Gesamtheit der Erscheinung abgebildet, sondern nur jeweils für relevant erachtete Aspekte[.] Es ist für eine Wissenschaft eine sehr wichtige Frage, welche Aspekte oder Merkmale der Wirklichkeit bei ihrer Abbildung oder Repräsentation durch eine Theorie sprachlich berücksichtigt und abgebildet werden[.]"

P. R. Hofstätter & D. Wendt

The utility of bad feelings (II):

"People of all statuses may get lethargic and glum when social, sexual, or professional prospects look dim, and then grow optimistic and energetic when opportunities arise. It's as if they have been resting up for a big match. And if no opportunities arise, and lethargy passes into mild depression, this mood may goad them into a fruitful shift of course - changing careers, jettisoning ungrateful friends, abandoning the pursuit of an elusive mate."

Robert Wright, The moral animal

"[A]s many studies have shown, creativity (as achievement) must be based on a vast amount of knowledge and practice in order to produce original works of art and science; failing to give children the chance to acquire this basic knowledge condemns them to a life of complete failure as far as genuine, socially valued and creative activity is concerned."

Hans J. Eysenck, Genius, 1995

Suckers for Irrelevancy (II):

Suckers for Irrelevancy: The Surprising Hazards of Multitasking

“… the people we talk with continually said, look, when I really have to concentrate, I turn off everything and I am laser-focused. And unfortunately, they’ve developed habits of mind that make it impossible for them to be laser-focused. They’re suckers for irrelevancy. They just can’t keep on task.”