Konzentration:

Drei lesenswerte Bücher, die sich der Bedeutung der Fokussiertheit widmen:

Deep Work, Cal Newport [Stichpunkte]

Rapt, Winifred Gallagher

Essentialism, Greg McKeown

Empathisieren:

Wir können vorübergehend das Erleben des Mitmenschen in uns anklingen lassen. Das bedeutet, dass wir vorübergehend in eine Welt eintauchen, die sich um andere Schwerpunkte und Bedeutungen herum aufbaut, und die sich hierdurch von der eigenen Welt unterscheidet.

[Siehe auch: William James on Philosophy]

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Ähnliches kann passieren, wenn wir Erlebnisse aus dem eigenen Leben in uns anklingen lassen, die lange Jahre zurückliegen.

Das gewisse Etwas:

"Compared with today's episodes, the first season of The Simpsons was an awful product. Again, the quality didn't predict success. The better predictor is that The Simpsons was an immediate hit despite its surface quality. It had the x factor."

"But the thing that predicted Dilbert's success in year one is that it quickly gained a small but enthusiastic following. My best estimate, based on shaky anecdotal evidence, is that 98 percent of newspaper readers initially disliked Dilbert, but 2 percent thought it was one of the best comics in the paper despite all the objective evidence to the contrary."

"The executive explained that for television shows, the best predictor is not the average response. Averages don't mean much for entertainment products. What you're looking for is an unusual strong reaction from a subset of the public, even if the majority hates it."

"Back to my point, the enthusiasm model, if I may call it that, is a bit like the x factor. It's the elusive and hard-to-predict quality of a thing that makes some percentage of the public go nuts about it."

Scott Adams, How to Fail at Almost Anything ...

Denken:

A) Das Nachdenken, Vorausdenken, Zurückdenken in Form eines inneren Gesprächs

B) Episodisches Nachdenken, Vorausschauen, Rückschauen, Phantasieren

Innere Fokussierung:

Das innere "Selbstgespräch" / das Denken vorübergehend an die Leine nehmen / einer bestimmten Sache zuwenden.

-----

Im Defaultmodus ("ohne Leine") bewegt sich das Denken frei. Im fokussierten Modus ("mit Leine") schränkt man den Bewegungsspielraum des Denkens bewusst ein. Dem Abdriften von einem eng begrenzten Themenbereich oder Feld wird bewusst entgegengesteuert.

"low-information diet" (II)

"... develop and maintain a low-information diet. Just as modern man consumes both too many calories and calories of no nutritional value, information workers eat data both in excess and from the wrong sources."

Tim Ferriss

Talent und Investment:

"Manches steht in unserer Macht, manches nicht."

Epiktet

Der Einzelne hat keinen Einfluss darauf, über welche angeborenen Talente er verfügt. Wohl hat er aber Einfluss darauf, wie er seine Talente, seine Zeit, seine Aufmerksamkeit, seine Gedanken, seine Affekte investiert. In welche Handlungen, in welche Lernbemühungen, in welche Beziehungen er sich einbringt. Verhaltensmodifikation ist darauf angewiesen, dass wir, im Rückblick auf Ereignisse unseres Lebens, deutlich unterscheiden können, wofür wir verantwortlich waren und wofür nicht. Durch das Überdenken unseres vergangenen Investments, also durch das Durchdenken von derjenigen Lebenskomponente, deren Beeinflussung in unserer Macht liegt, können wir Aufschluss erhalten, in welche Pläne, Projekte, Beziehungen und Handlungen wir uns künftig einbringen wollen, und wovon wir eher die Finger lassen sollten.

Attention:

"attention is all around us. Once you see it, you can't unsee it."

Chris Bailey

Empathy:

"Empathy is key to the functioning of high-trust cultures. If everyone is empathic toward each other, there is no need to waste energy on self-protection or on double-checking every single transaction. Just as importantly, you can make transactions that would otherwise be uneconomical.

Empathy, however, has to be reciprocated. Otherwise, it will divert your limited resources to people who will never reciprocate and who will, in fact, bleed you dry.

The adaptiveness of empathy therefore depends on the cultural environment. Some cultures will favor it but not others."

Peter Frost

Human Toughness:

Individual differences in negatively-biased credulity:

Fessler, D.M.T. (2019) Believing Chicken Little: Evolutionaryperspectives on credulity and danger

"Although negatively-biased credulity is thought to be a species-typical trait of human cognition, nevertheless, individual variation in this trait is plainly evident. A collection of related features underlie such variation. First, the costs and benefits of negatively-biased credulity importantly hinge on the probability that a previously unfamiliar hazard described in a given message does, in fact, exist. One factor shaping individuals’ estimations of this probability is the frequency of other hazards. This is because hazards often co-occur. For example, if an ecosystem harbors one species of, say, dangerous predator, or lethal mushroom, it often harbors others as well (Andheria, Karanth, & Kumar, 2007; Cai, Cui, & Yang, 2016); likewise, a neighborhood blighted by petty crime will frequently suffer from a variety of more serious crimes as well (Perkins, Wandersman, Rich, & Taylor, 1993). Accordingly, individuals living in dangerous environments will often benefit from enhanced negatively-biased credulity, as the presence of multiple known hazards increases the probability that a message purportedly describing a previously unknown hazard is accurate.

Second, because, independent of issues of danger, people evaluate the plausibility of new information against the backdrop of their existing knowledge such that messages that are consistent with prior understanding are viewed as more plausible than those that are inconsistent with previous knowledge (White, Pahl, Buehner, & Haye, 2003b). This offers another pathway whereby beliefs regarding the frequency of hazards should influence assessments of statements purporting to describe previously unknown hazards – whether the individual’s environment is objectively dangerous or not, those who believe their environment to be dangerous should find new information about hazards more congruent with their prior knowledge, and thus more plausible. 

Third, due to differences in physical and social resources, people differ in their ability to weather encounters with hazards. As a result, the threat posed by a given source of danger will often vary across individuals, with corresponding consequences for the utility of negatively-biased credulity. Lastly, driven by variation in personality (Zuckerman & Kuhlman, 2000) that may in part be evolutionarily maintained through frequencydependent selection (Dall, Houston, & McNamara, 2004) and may in part result from differing adaptive developmental trajectories (Wang, Kruger, & Wilke, 2009), people differ in their willingness to take risks with their safety; correspondingly, features of personality correlate with the extent to which the world is perceived as dangerous (Dallago, Mirisola, & Roccato, 2012), and, together, these features likely drive enhanced negatively-biased credulity.

To summarize the above, people can be expected to vary in their perceptions of the frequency of hazards in their environment and their willingness to confront them, and this variation should influence the propensity for negatively-biased credulity. Paralleling this prediction, as both a trait and a state, anxiety is associated with the tendency to acquire and transmit rumors (Anthony, 1992; Bangerter & Heath, 2004; Pezzo & Beckstead, 2006; Rosnow, 1980; Rosnow, Esposito, & Gibney, 1988; Walker & Beckerle, 1987). More specifically, concern about threats enhances susceptibility to rumors about imminent hazards (Greenhill & Oppenheim, 2017). Against this backdrop, directly testing the aforementioned prediction, Fessler, Pisor, and Navarrete (2014) found that the degree to which participants evinced negatively-biased credulity correlated with their responses on a three-item survey assessing generalized belief in a dangerous world (e.g., “The world is a dangerous place,” etc.)."

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"Correspondingly, and critical for the present purposes, conservatives tend to see the world as more dangerous than do liberals (Federico, Hunt, & Ergun, 2009). ... [To] the extent that (social) liberalism embraces cultural pluralism and innovation, the reshaping of social structures, and the revamping of institutions, it constitutes a strategy of experimentation rather than maintenance. Existing practices have, by definition, passed the test of time, including weathering any dangers that confronted society and its members in the past. Experimentation necessarily entails the risk of failure, and both the likelihood of failure and the costs of failure escalate as the level of danger confronting a group increases. Accordingly, conservatism will generally be the better strategy in a dangerous world, while liberalism will be more effective in a safe world."

-----

"Biases to pursue information about hazards; believe information about hazards; elevate the stature of those who provide information about hazards; and transmit to others information about hazards should, aggregated over time and numerous information transmission events, create an imbalance wherein information about hazards is more common than information about benefits."

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Do you have a chocolate problem or an oxygen problem?

https://seths.blog/2019/01/do-you-have-a-chocolate-problem-or-an-oxygen-problem/

"Junk culture":

Freeman Dyson, Infinite in all directions, 1985:

"Junk culture is replicated together with memes, just as Junk DNA is replicated together with genes. Junk culture is the rubbish of civilization, television commercials and astrology and jukeboxes and political propaganda. Tolerance of junk is on of life's most essential characteristics. In every sphere of life, whether cultural, economic, ecological or cellular, the systems which survive best are those which are not too fine-tuned to carry a large load of junk. ... the qualitative features of life which I consider essential: looseness of structure ad tolerance of errors."

The Double Helix, James Watson:

"I am sure this occasionally bothered Francis, even though he obviously knew that most High Table life is dominated by pedantic, middle-aged man incapable of either amusing or educating him in anything worthwhile."

"An important truth was slowly entering my head: a scientist's life might be interesting socially as well as intellectually."

"No obstacle thus prevented me from talking at least several hours each day to Francis."

"Spacing disorders":

Evolutionary Psychiatry, Anthony Stevens and John Price:

"spacing disorders [avoidant, paranoid, schizoid, schizotypal, schizophrenia] ... have a major characteristic in common: people with these conditions all have difficulties in forming and maintaining personal relationships and in functioning appropriately as members of a social group. In addition, they tend to deal with these social difficulties by adopting a strategy of withdrawal. Withdrawal effectively removes them from the common social arena of linked interpersonal transactions and puts them in an alternative space of their own making. This alternative, private space may have a geographical location (such as a hermitage, a desert island, a cave, or a monastic cell) or it may have a psychological location – a ‘walled citadel’, so to speak, within themselves. It is true to say, therefore, that people with these disorders have crossed the social boundary which contains all other members of their group, and have moved into ‘outer’ (or ‘inner’) space."

Kernidee der Selbstkontrolle:

Eine grobe Schilderung der Kernidee:

Ein selbstbeherrschter Mensch führt selektiv Handlungen aus, auch wenn er gegebenenfalls "keine Lust verspürt",  diese Handlungen auszuführen. D.h. eine bestimmte Auswahl an Handlungen wird auch dann ausgeführt, wenn die Erwartung besteht, dass das Ausführen dieser Handlungen mit keiner angenehmen oder mit einer unangenehmen Empfindung einhergeht.

Ein selbstbeherrschter Mensch unterlässt selektiv Handlungen, auch wenn er gegebenenfalls "Lust verspürt", die Handlungen auszuführen. D.h. er unterlässt eine bestimmte Auswahl an Handlungen auch dann, wenn die Erwartung besteht, dass das Ausführen dieser Handlungen mit einer angenehmen Empfindung einhergeht.

[Siehe auch: Consciousness, Self-Awareness, Foresight, and Conscience]

Humorists:

"A humorist is always on the cusp between foolishness and wisdom. Always. That's the right place for them."

Jordan Peterson

"I suppose most scientists—most authors—have one piece of work of which they would say: It doesn't matter if you never read anything else of mine, please at least read this."

Richard Dawkins

Taste and Style:

Freeman Dyson, Birds and Frogs:

>On another occasion Yang said, "That taste and style have so much to do with one's contribution in physics may sound strange at first, since physics is supposed to deal objectively with the physical universe. But the physical universe has structure, and one's perceptions of this structure, one's partiality to some of its characteristics and aversion to others, are precisely the elements that make up one's taste. Thus it is not surprising that taste and style are so important in scientific research, as they are in literature, art and music."<

-----

Chen Ning Yang, Selected Papers (1945-1980) - With Commentary:

"In every field of creative activity, it is one’s taste, together with ability, temperament, and opportunity, that determines one’s style and through it one’s contribution. That taste and style have so much to do with one’s contribution in physics may sound strange at first, since physics is supposed to deal objectively with the physical universe. But the physical universe has structure, and one’s perceptions of this structure, one’s partiality to some of its characteristics and aversion to others, are precisely the elements that make up one’s taste. Thus it is not surprising that taste and style are so important in scientific research, as they are in literature, arc, and music.

I have said that my taste in physics was largely formed during the six years from 1938 to 1944 when I was a student in Kunming. It was in those years that I learned to admire the work of Einstein, Dirac, and Fermi. They have, of course, very different styles. Nonetheless, they share the ability to extract the fundamentals of a physical concept, a theoretical structure, or a physical phenomenon and to zero in on the essentials. Later, when I came to know Fermi and Dirac, I realized that they spoke and thought about physics very much in the way that I had imagined them to do from studying their papers.

In contrast, I did not resonate with the style of Heisenberg. That is not to say that I did not appreciate that he was a great physicist. I did. In fact, I felt thrilled and transformed upon understanding the uncertainty principle in late 1942. But I could not appreciate his approach. My later brief encounters with him at meetings and lectures in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s only strengthened my earlier impression. 

I did appreciate Schrödinger’s approach to wave mechanics, perhaps because it was more in the tradition of classical mechanics and optics, perhaps because Schrödinger’s purpose was more clearly defined. In any case, I found wave mechanics to be geometrical and appealing, to be, a priori, more easily appreciated."

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Was charakterisiert einen Menschen am meisten?

Vermutlich ist es ja die spezifisch eigene Weise des Wählens.

Kindness

"I'm an evolutionary scientist who studies kindness as a strategy that can succeed or fail, depending upon the circumstances. When kind people lavish their kindness upon each other, life blooms. But kind people are vulnerable to exploitation by people who aren't kind. Conversely, selfishness and exploitation in all forms provide benefits for the individual, at least over the short term, no matter what the collateral damage to others and even everyone over the long term."

David Sloan Wilson

Wesentliche Stunden:

Stunden, in unserem Leben, die wir aus einem eigenen, freien Wünschen heraus gestalten: Die wir mit Tätigkeiten unserer Wahl, mit Mitmenschen unserer Wahl, mit Naturphänomenen unserer Wahl, mit Musik unserer Wahl, mit Gedankengängen unserer Wahl, mit Schriftstücken unserer Wahl, mit Gegenständen unserer Wahl verbringen.

"Zweifellos sind kreative Prozesse keine rein intracortikalen Vorgänge, sondern sind sehr stark von subcorticalen limbischen Vorgängen beeinflusst, und zwar mehr als bei einer reinen Intelligenzleistung."

Gerhard Roth

Intrinsische Belohnungen:

"[Intrinsische Belohnungen] sind die einzige Belohnungsart, die nicht in Sättigung geht und in ihrer Wirkung auch nicht nachlässt, es sei denn aufgrund anhaltender Misserfolge."

Gerhard Roth

[Siehe auch: Intrinsische Belohnungen]

Problemlösen unter Zeitdruck:

"Intelligenz lässt sich allgemein als >Fähigkeit zum Problemlösen unter Zeitdruck< definieren. Ein intelligenter Mensch ist jemand, der schnell sieht, was Sache ist, und dem ebenso schnell einfällt, was jetzt zu tun ist ..."

Gerhard Roth

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"Der intelligente Mensch ... ist dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass er relativ schnell eine Lösung des anstehenden Problems findet. Beim Problemlösen muss nicht nur relevante Information aktiviert, sondern auch irrelevante Information unterdrückt werden, und all dies geschieht meist unter Zeitdruck. Hiernach sollte sich das Gehirn eines intelligenten Menschen dadurch auszeichnen, dass das Abrufen relevanter Information ..., das Unterdrücken irrelevanter Information sowie das anschließende Zusammenfügen der relevanten Information möglichst schnell und mit möglichst geringem Aufwand geschieht."

-----

"[D]ie Aufgabe [besteht] im Wesentlichen darin, sehr schnell den Kern eines Problems zu identifizieren und dann aus verschiedenen Teilen des Gedächtnisses geeignetes Wissen bzw. geeignete Fertigkeiten aufzurufen und sie in kreativer Weise miteinander zusammenzusetzen."

“being able to identify, attract, and develop human capital is increasingly critical for business, scientific, and technical organizations as they strive for a competitive edge” 

Kell et al., 2013

Alltagspsychologie:

In der Alltagspsychologie versteht man unter "Seele des Mitmenschen" wohl ein Etwas, das man als Urheber seiner Handlungen auffasst.

"The calculation that I did for Hans [Hans Bethe], using the orthodox theory, took me several months of work and several hundred sheets of paper. Dick [Richard Feynman] could get the same answer, calculating on a blackboard, in half an hour."

Freeman Dyson, Disturbing the Universe

Intelligence and neural efficiency:

Intelligence and neural efficiency: Measures of brain activation versus measures of functional connectivity in the brain

Aljoscha C. Neubauer, Andreas Fink (2009)

"A well-established finding in the neuroscientific study of human intelligence is that brighter individuals use their brains more efficiently when engaged in the performance of cognitively demanding tasks than less intelligent people do. This phenomenon, referred to as neural efficiency (Haier et al., 1988), has been confirmed in a variety of studies employing different neurophysiological measurement methods and a broad range of different cognitive task demands. In this context, neural efficiency is reflected in a more strongly localized brain activation during cognitive task performance in brighter as compared to less intelligent individuals (Haier et al., 1992; Haier, Siegel, Tang, Abel, & Buchsbaum, 1992; Neubauer, Grabner, Fink, & Neuper, 2005; Neubauer, Fink, & Grabner, 2006). This more strongly focused cortical activation results in a lower total cortical activation and could suggest a more efficient use of the cortex (or even the brain) in brighter individuals — presumably they “use only a limited group of brain circuits and/or fewer neurons, thus requiring minimal glucose use” (Haier et al., 1992, p. 134)."

"in investigating the Event-Related Desynchronization (ERD) of EEG alpha activity Neubauer and Fink (2003) observed evidence that during the performance of a reasoning task neural efficiency (i.e., inverse relationship between brain activation and intelligence) was much more pronounced when fluid intelligence instead of crystallized or general mental ability was taken as a measure of intellectual ability. Interestingly, males were more likely than females to show brain activation patterns in line with the neural efficiency hypothesis. Moreover, the findings in the female sample even point to the opposite direction (i.e., more brain activation in brighter individuals). Similar evidence was reported by Grabner, Fink, Stipacek, Neuper, and Neubauer (2004) who analyzed brain activation during performance of different working memory tasks. Again, neural efficiency was more strongly related to fluid (compared to crystallized) intelligence and males were more likely to display the negative relationship between intelligence and brain activation during working memory processing while in females positive correlations were found."

Effizientes Problemlösen:

Ein Problem lösen / eine Aufgabe bewältigen mit wenig Aufwand an Zeit und Ressourcen.

Time-lapse of Neurite Outgrowth:

Neuron time lapse:

Fetal Neurons:

"Neurons from a fetal animal growing in tissue culture. "

[via Massimo]

Auffassungsgabe:

Wikipedia:

"Auffassungsgabe ist die Fähigkeit, das Wesentliche von Sachverhalten und Sachzusammenhängen schnell und exakt aufzunehmen und zu verwerten."

Jänner-Artikel: "Wir sind Gedächtnis" von Martin Korte

Als erster Artikel zu einem naturwissenschaftlichen Thema wird gegen Ende des Monats eine Besprechung zum Buch "Wir sind Gedächtnis" veröffentlicht. (Autor ist der Biologe Martin Korte.)

Selbstbewusstsein:

Ein klares Selbstbewusstsein hat wohl viel damit zu tun, dass ein Mensch, der über ein solches verfügt, verhältnismäßig genau darüber Auskunft geben kann, welche "Geister" sich in seinem Innern finden, und in welchem Kräfteverhältnis zueinander diese "Geister" in etwa stehen. Oder, besser ohne esoterische Anklänge: Welche Motive und Motivationen sich in seinem Innern finden, und welche von diesen Motiven oder Motivationen verhältnismäßig stark, welche verhältnismäßig schwach ausgeprägt sind. In Stunden, in denen wir eine starke Zugwirkung auf unser Verhalten erfahren, erleben wir den Einfluss unserer starken Motive bzw. Motivationen. Es geht hier keineswegs darum, eine übertriebene Selbstbeobachtung zu propagieren. Wohl kann es allerdings von Vorteil sein, zumindest über eine grobe Landkarte vom eigenen Innern zu verfügen.

Nikotinabhängigkeit:

Die Nikotinabhängigkeit kommt nicht ungebeten und nicht von allein. Im Leben jedes Rauchers gab es eine Zeit, in der er den "Nikotingeist", d.h. das Motiv, zur Zigarette zu greifen, in sein Leben einlud. Ist dieses erst eingeladen worden, und gibt man ihm Zeit zum Wachsen, so lässt es sich nicht allzu leicht vertreiben. Vielen Rauchern gelingt es vorübergehend mit dem Rauchen aufzuhören. Doch nur wenige werden nicht mehr rückfällig. Der Gast taucht in den meisten Fällen, früher oder später, wieder auf. Darum gilt bei Süchten sicherlich: "Wehret den Anfängen!" Oder anders: "Sei vorsichtig, welche Handlungstendenzen du in dein Leben einlädst." Sind sie erst einmal gewachsen und wohlgenährt, lassen sie sich generell nicht von heute auf morgen vertreiben.

[Siehe auch: Tabakabhängigkeit, II]

Viruses - lots of them - are falling from the sky

"An astonishing number of viruses are circulating around the Earth's atmosphere -- and falling from it -- according to new research. The study marks the first time scientists have quantified the viruses being swept up from the Earth's surface into the free troposphere, beyond Earth's weather systems but below the stratosphere where jet airplanes fly. The viruses can be carried thousands of kilometers there before being deposited back onto the Earth's surface."

[via Massimo, ScienceDaily]

Shakespeare (II)

Human Accomplishment, Charles Murray:

>Some readers have memories similar to mine: Forced to read Shakespeare as a class assignment in secondary school, I was determined not to be impressed. Then, ineluctably, I could not help seeing the stuff in those words - the puns and allusions, the layers of meaning, the way that a few of his lines transformed a stage character into a complex human personality. Sooner or later, the question forces itself upon anyone who reads Shakespeare and pays attention: "How can a human being have written this?"<

Lebendigkeit:

Das wir einen Mitmenschen als beseelt erleben, ist wohl eng damit verknüpft, dass sich im Leben dieses Menschen etwas findet, das dieser Mensch als wertvoll erlebt oder empfindet. Nihilisten, unabhängig davon, ob sie implizit ihren Nihilismus leben, oder ob sie sich explizit zu ihm bekennen, scheinen generell nicht sonderlich lebhaft zu sein.

Metamorphosis:

"The world of biology is full of miracles, but nothing I have seen is as miraculous as [the] metamorphosis of the Monarch caterpillar."

Freeman Dyson

Freeman Dyson - Infinite in all directions - 1988:

"Cosmology is the study of the abstract structure of the universe in the large, biology is the study of its most intricate details. At various times in the historical development of science, one side or the other of these dichotomies has been overemphasized. Sometimes unity and abstract structure are overemphasized. Then the universe is seen as the solution of a finite set of equations, the equations of mathematical cosmology and the equation of superstrings, and once we have these equations right the remaining tasks of science are regarded as little more than butterfly-collecting. Sometimes diversity and richness of detail are overemphasized. Then the universe is seen as infinite in all directions, but without any backbone of mathematical structure to give it coherence."

-----

"The mainstream of biology is the domain of the diversifiers, the domain of events numerous and uncoordinated, flaunting their freedom from formula. But when a unifier like Darwin or Crick arrives on the scene, he is not ignored. ... I am suggesting that there may come a time when physics will be willing to learn from biology as biology has been willing to learn from physics, a time when physics will accept the endless diversity of nature as one of its central themes, just as biology has accepted the unity of the genetic coding apparatus as one of its central dogmas."

Truth seeking / aspy freedom:

"basically saying: all that quirky freedom, that you aspy people value, we are gonna legislate that away."

Geoffrey Miller

Mate Choice:

"If you don't believe in freedom anywhere else, you should believe in mate choice freedom."

Geoffrey Miller

In other words:

~ If you don't believe in the importance of almost anything else, you should at least believe in the importance of mate choice.

The World Magnetic Model needs to be updated because Earth's north magnetic pole is moving...

Source: Nature News - Earth’s magnetic field is acting up ...

Intelligence and executive function: Can we reunite these disparate worlds?

Intelligence and executive function: Can we reunite these disparate worlds?

JMRS de León, MÁ Quiroga, R Colom

Fluid Intelligence (Gf):

"The use of deliberate and controlled procedures (often requiring focused attention) to solve novel, 'on-the-spot' problems that cannot be solved by using previously learned habits, schemas, and scripts."

General Working Memory:

"The ability to maintain and manipulate information in active attention."

Learning Efficiency:

"The ability to learn, store, and consolidate new information over periods of time measured in minutes, hours, days, and years."

Retrieval Fluency:

"The rate and fluency at which individuals can produce and selectively and strategically retrieve verbal and nonverbal information or ideas stored in longterm memory."

Processing Speed:

"The ability to control attention to automatically, quickly, and fluently perform relatively simple repetitive cognitive tasks. Gs may also be described as attentional fluency or attentional speediness."

Reaction and Decision Speed:

"The speed of making very simple decisions or judgments when items are presented one at a time."

Crystallized Intelligence:

"The ability to comprehend and communicate culturally valued knowledge. Gc includes the depth and breadth of both declarative and procedural knowledge, and skills such as language, words, and general knowledge developed through experience, learning and acculturation."

Domain Specific Knowledge:

"The depth, breadth, and mastery of specialized declarative and procedural knowledge (knowledge not all members of a society are expected to have)."

Ein Phänomen, auch wenn es auf den ersten Blick nicht sonderlich interessant oder bemerkenswert erscheint, weckt häufig dann dennoch Interesse, wenn sich der Beobachter Aspekten dieses Phänomens zuwendet, die ihm am allerinteressantesten erscheinen.

Überspitzt: Die Langweiligkeit eines Phänomens ist nicht notwendigerweise über die gesamten Aspekte dieses Phänomens gleichmäßig verteilt.

-----

Auch stimmt folgendes: Im Kopf mancher Menschen sieht die Welt wesentlich interessanter aus, als im Kopf manch anderer Menschen.

"I want to say: You have to be somebody before you can share yourself."

Jaron Lanier - You are not a gadget

"When reviewing e-mails from the students who follow my blog, I can easily sort the readers from the nonreaders."

Cal Newport

Dick Esbenshade about Charlie Munger:

"When it comes to being curious and focused, when Charlie gets interested in something, he REALLY gets interested in it. I remember three talks he prepared and presented to our law firm on some of what he referred to as 'the eminent dead’ he had encountered through his extensive reading: Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein, and Simon Marks. In particular, I remember the central message of the talk on Simon Marks (of retailer Marks and Spencer): 'Find out what you're best at and keep pounding away at it.' This, of course, has always been Charlie's basic approach to life."

#####

"Charlie generally focuses first on what to avoid-that is, on what NOT to do-before he considers the affirmative steps he will take in a given situation."

Kuhn and Galison:

"For Galison the process of scientific discovery is driven by new tools, for Kuhn by new concepts. Both pictures are true and neither is complete. The progress of science requires both new concepts and new tools. The difference between Galison and Kuhn is largely a difference of emphasis."

"Kuhn wrote about the battles between rival concepts, and some of his readers were left with the impression that science is largely a subjective affair, a struggle between conflicting human viewpoints, rather than an objective struggle between the precision of tools and the ambiguities of nature. Kuhn saw science from the point of view of an theoretical physicist, taking the experimental data for granted and describing the great leaps of theoretical imagination that enable us to understand it. Galison sees science from the point of view of an experimental physicist, describing the great leaps of practical ingenuity and organization that enable us to acquire new data. Although I am an theorist, I happen to find Galison's view of science more congenial. Most theoretical physicists have an opposite bias, having more respect for philosophy and less respect for gadgetry."

Freeman Dyson - The sun, the genome, and the internet - 1999

"In his book 'Age of Em', economist Robin Hanson pointed out that eventually you could drop the cost of intelligence close to the cost of electricity, … We are a long way from this … & many technical hurdles have to be solved before we get there."

[Source]

Advice from Steve Martin:

[via Cal Newport]

Successful craft industries:

"Today the most successful craft industries are concerned with software and biotechnology."

Freeman Dyson - The sun, the genome, and the internet - 1999

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"Because of the enormous variety of specialized applications, there will always be room for individuals to write software based on their unique knowledge. There will always be niche markets to keep small software companies alive. The craft of writing software will not become obsolete. And the craft of using software creatively is flourishing even more than the craft of writing it."

"Gesundheit bricht aus"

"Wenn ein Mensch seine alten Verhaltensmuster aufgibt und lernt, dass auch er ganz andere Möglichkeiten besitzt, ..., entsteht eine Eigendynamik, die den Betroffenen mit Hochgeschwindigkeit Entwicklungen nachholen lässt, die er sich über Jahre und Jahrzehnte nicht zugetraut hatte. Am besten passt zu dieser Situation der Ausdruck: Gesundheit bricht aus. Sobald es dem Betroffenen gelungen ist, seine überkommenen Muster durch neue, ihm angemessene zu ersetzen, saniert sein neues Bewusstsein einen Lebensbereich nach dem anderen. Es ist einer der schönsten Momente der Medizin und insbesondere der Psychotherapie, wenn ein Mensch beginnt, ineffektives, selbstschädigendes Verhalten zu verlassen, um es durch kreatives, seinen wahren Möglichkeiten gerechtes Verhalten zu ersetzen."

Ingo Schymanski - Die Sprache der Seele

Science:

"Science originated from the fusion of two old traditions, the tradition of philosophical thinking that began in ancient Greece and the tradition of skilled crafts that began even earlier and flourished in medieval Europe. Philosophy supplied the concepts for science, and skilled crafts supplied the tools. Until the end of the nineteenth century, science and craft industries developed along separate paths. They frequently borrowed tools from each other, but each maintained an independent existence. It was only in the twentieth century that science and craft industries became inseparably linked."

Freeman Dyson - The sun, the genome, and the internet - 1999

Selbstkontrolle:

Eine der größten Aufgaben in unserem Leben besteht darin, mit unserer Aufmerksamkeit gut zu haushalten; d.h. tagtäglich bewusst darüber zu entscheiden, was wir wichtig nehmen, wem oder was wir Beachtung widmen.

Novelty and Value:

>In the 1974 classic Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, Robert Pirsig decries the conversational opener "What's new?" - arguing that the question, "if pursued exclusively, results only in an endless parade of trivia and fashion, the silt of tomorrow." He endorses an alternative as vastly superior: "What's best?"<

Brian Christian & Tom Griffiths; Algorithms to live by

"Pick an important topic. This is perhaps easier said than done, because you must pick an important topic on which progress can be made. But it still seems remarkable to me how often people bypass what are more important subjects to work on less important ones."

Robert Trivers

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"Do some sustained thinking. To me this is easier than it sounds. There are no great intellectual gymnastics in my paper. I am not proving Fermat’s Last Theorem or generating Goedel’s Proof. I am only trying to think simply and clearly on an interesting and important subject. I was amazed when I went into academic work—and it still baffles me today—why so many people take the first available path off their main argument into trivia land. The sustained thinking must always be directed back to the key subject itself."

Kognitive Dissonanz:

Gabler:

"Kognitive Dissonanz entsteht, wenn zwei zugleich bei einer Person bestehende Kognitionen einander widersprechen oder ausschließen."

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Wikipedia:

"In the field of psychology, cognitive dissonance is the mental discomfort (psychological stress) experienced by a person who simultaneously holds two or more contradictory beliefs, ideas, or values."

Mentors:

>In Benjamin Bloom's classic study of top athletes, scientists, and artists, he found that of the critical elements of a great mentor wasn't just secret knowledge and emotional support; it was pushing you harder. A great mentor's "expectations and demands were constantly raised until they were at a point where the student was expected to do virtually all that was humanly possible."<

Eric Barker - Barking up the wrong tree

Meaningful Work:

"Meaningful work means doing something that's (a) important to you and (b) something you're good at. Plenty of research shows that if you do those things you're uniquely good at (psychologists call them "signature strengths"), they're some of the biggest happiness-boosting activities of all."

Eric Barker - Barking up the wrong tree

Laughter:

"[A] key observation about laughter is that it's a vocalization, a sound. And across the animal kingdom, sounds serve the purpose of active communication. Cobras hiss to scare off predators. Dogs bark as a warning sign. Male birds sing to attract females, while baby birds chirp to let their parents know they're hungry. In all these cases, animals make noise because they want to be heard - because they want to affect their listeners in a predictable way. And so too does laughter."

Robin Hanson - The elephant in the brain

Humor:

Ein Aspekt des Humors hat mit Perspektivwechsel zu tun. D.h. besonders humorvolle Menschen weisen uns oft darauf hin, dass wir Sachen, die wir stets so und so wahrnehmen, eigentlich auch ganz anders wahrnehmen könnten.

Lebende Schatzkammern:

Wann entwickelt sich ein Gedächtnis, über Jahre und Jahrzehnte hinweg, als ein lebendiger Aufbewahrungsort wertvoller Inhalte? Vermutlich dann, wenn der Mensch sich entschlossen darauf festlegt, seine Aufmerksamkeit ausdauernd auf dasjenige zu richten, das ihm, nach tieferen Prüfungen, sehr wesentlich, besonders relevant und wichtig erscheint.

Experten:

"Aber was bedeutet es, ein >Experte< zu sein? Und welche Gedächtnisprozesse laufen dabei ab? Wenn wir Experte auf einem Gebiet sind, strukturieren wir die Welt in diesem Bereich anders, und das hat etwas mit >gestalterischer Wahrnehmung< zu tun: Wir nehmen nicht mehr nur einzelne Daten wahr, sondern haben sofort ein ganzes Netzwerk an Beziehungen vor Augen. Ein Experte erlebt eine gegebene Konfiguration vor dem Hintergrund seines Wissens. Er sieht Umstände als Ganzes und nicht mehr in ihren Einzelteilen. Einzelne Fakten und Daten bilden erst dann ein komplexes Muster (Gestalt), wenn ein Mensch Jahre lang Erfahrungen gesammelt hat."

Martin Korte

Zukunft dieses Blogs:

Um der Bezeichnung "Mein Naturwissenschaftsblog" bzw. um der Bezeichnung "My Science-Blog" gerecht zu werden, wird nun etwa einmal monatlich ein "längerer Artikel" (geplante Länge: ungefähr ein bis drei A4 Seiten) zu einem naturwissenschaftlichen Thema auf diesem Blog erscheinen. Nach Überlegungen kam ich dennoch zu dem Schluss, dass auch weiterhin Beiträge erscheinen werden, bei denen es wohl sehr gewagt wäre, wenn man sie als "naturwissenschaftlich" bezeichnen würde. Im Wesentlichen geht es mir also künftig darum, hier Sachen zu posten, die ich als interessant empfinde. D.h. spekulative oder nicht-naturwissenschaftliche Beiträge werden sich hier, neben den naturwissenschaftlichen Beiträgen, weiterhin finden.

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Für spekulative Beiträge wurde bereits folgender Blog gegründet:

http://spekulativegedanken.blogspot.com/

Wichtiges:

Man kann sich folgende Fragen stellen:

• Was ist mir allgemein wichtig? Was erscheint mir allgemein wertvoll, wichtig oder wesentlich zu sein? 
• Was ist im Moment wichtig? Und hier insbesondere: Tue ich auch das, was im Moment wichtig ist?

Inertia - The Force That Holds the Universe Together

https://fs.blog/2018/04/inertia/

"Inertia is a pervasive, problematic force. It’s the pull that keeps us clinging to old ways and prevents us from trying new things. But as we have seen, it is also a necessary one. Without it, the universe would collapse. Inertia is what enables us to maintain patterns of functioning, maintain relationships, and get through the day without questioning everything. We can overcome inertia much like Hemingway did — by recognizing its influence and taking the necessary steps to create that all-important initial momentum."

The Surprising Power of The Long Game

https://fs.blog/2018/10/long-game/

"The short game is putting off anything that seems hard for doing something that seems easy or fun. The short game offers visible and immediate benefits. The short game is seductive."

"The long game is the opposite of the short game, it means paying a small price today to make tomorrow’s tomorrow easier."

"In everything you do, you’re either playing a short term or long term game. You can’t opt out and you can’t play a long-term game in everything, you need to pick what matters to you. But in everything you do time amplifies the difference between long and short-term games. The question you need to think about is when and where to play a long-term game. A good place to start is with things that compound: knowledge, relationships, and finances."

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"The longer you play the long game, the easier it is to play and the greater the rewards. The longer you play the short game the harder it becomes to change and the bigger the bill facing you when you do want to change."