Wellsbaum.blog

Writing about life and arts

Psychology

  • Cold water courage

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    1 min read

    The quickest way to get used to cold water is to dive right in. The slowest and more painful way to get used to cold water is to go in gradually, dipping in each body part until it warms up. Most people take the gradual approach because they’re scared. As a result, they’re most likely…

  • ‘Who you are depends on what your neurons are up to, moment by moment’ 🧠

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    1 min read

    “Who you are depends on what your neurons are up to, moment by moment.” — David Eagleman, The Brain: The Story of You

  • The sharing virus

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    1 min read

    The biggest threat to a virus is its own exhaustion. It wants to be said, repeated, and spread until it cements into a meme. Words, ideas, and apps are all types of viruses. Pretty much anything that spreads. Most are benign of course but perhaps none is more pervasive and self-inflicted than the sickness of…

  • How complaining affects the brain

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    2 min read

    “Don’t whine, don’t complain, don’t make excuses, just do the best you can do,” said UCLA coach John Wooden. It turns out the coach was on to something. Recent studies show that complaining every day changes the structure of the brain. Harmful behaviors such as complaining, if allowed to loop within the brain continually, will…

  • When sharing is not so self-caring

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    2 min read

    Social media is a world where everyone tries to out self-promote each other and in doing so, stretch their lives further from reality. Even the destinations — whether it be a restaurant, hotel resort, or kayaking trip — want to make their experiences more Instagrammable. Sharing has commoditized life, turning us into an avalanche of…

  • A mind virus

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    1 min read

    People like to gravitate toward solutions. They’d rather think they know something than cope with all the anxiety surrounding the mysterious present. Truth is a mental implantation. In reality, we just believe the story we tell ourselves. Conversely, thinking is a ‘dialogue between the two me’s.’ The curious mind acts like inserting graphite into a…

  • The courage to believe

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    1 min read

    If you don’t believe in yourself, who will? Faith drives action. Faith drives results. Without faith, nothing works. Indifference and pessimism are attractive because they’re the easiest to obtain, the most accessible to deploy and practice. “Ask yourself this: would your childhood self be proud of you, or embarrassed?” Julien Smith, The Flinch Pursuing the…

  • Making better decisions / Better decision making

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    1 min read

    Indecision is still a decision. Illustration by Tom Gauld

  • Thinking aloud in chemical synchronicity

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    1 min read

        When you can think aloud your own thoughts, you will strip the mind of its own disfluency. The brain’s pen will be mighter than the sword. “Protect yourself from your own thoughts.” Rumi At which point it’s too late.

  • Identifying what matters

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    1 min read

    The brain is an empty void. It waits to remember until we give things meaning. Otherwise, it clings to the instincts of the amagdyla for its main sensory perception. Thankfully, our brains are large processors. It knows that survival depends on exchanging information with others. Information is quid pro quo. But the problem with oral…

  • How to rest and reflect in the age of speed

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    2 min read

    As digital technology colonizes our minds, self-reflection is becoming ever more critical. But not just any reflection. We think best through slices of boredom, gratitude, and mental processing. Boredom No one ever died sitting and doing nothing or staring out into space. Quiet moments permit the mind to wander, dance with fear, and revel in…

  • Managing the amygdala, the fear center of the brain

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    2 min read

    If humans didn’t have an amygdala — the two tiny almond-shaped nuclei in the temporal lobes of the brain — we wouldn’t have any fear. We wouldn’t know how to process risk, thereby letting us go hug a bear or climb the highest cliff. But we do feel fear and in most cases, we’re smart…