It is a warm autumn Saturday in Oz. I have never heard Helen so enthused before to tell her dreams to me on the phone in the early morning. In fact it was the first time she told one of her dreams to me on a phone conversation like this surprisingly with a tag of importance. Helen has committed suicide in her dream last Thursday. She lucidly remembered to throw herself to the large ocean entry around the Cape Schanck Lighthouse Reserve in the Mornington Peninsula then turned into a Lavagirl in the middle of this vast ocean.
I knew why Helen was telling me this dream and she also told it to another friend (David). This dream triggered a number of memories and thoughts in me when I was listening to her on the phone. Four years ago in a warm January day, one of our most interesting collaborative idea was emerged whilst having a cup of tea with Vegemite sandwiches in the Keeper's Cottage after filling our lungs with fresh ocean air in over 2 hours of walk. Still remembering a fiery discussion between our joint friend David (a retired cognitive scientist) and Helen’s father Bruce (retired professor of anthropology) whether amygdalae were considered part of the limbic system. Helen was pressing Bruce’s sensitive buttons with evolutionary nonsense and I was pressing David’s with artificial intelligence theories ironically to witness how their amydalae were in function in this discussion which we called kind of a meta dream or type of dream in dream like life itself. And, when we finished drinking our tea, Helen mentioned later a piece of research news from Monash Uni where she did her first degree and where I did my masters. The study then revealed that patients with more severe social phobia showed a correlation with increased response in the amygdala which David re-iterated as “a marker of the effectiveness of pharmacological and psychological treatments”.
I knew the main reason of this dream for Helen was her recent initiative to prevent youth suicide in Australia which has been an important phenomenon. Helen made a number of shows to raise funds for her research in this area. As a person of golden heart, Helen also directly interacts with the disadvantaged young people in streets and loves them "until it hurts". She listens to their dreams and dreams about their dreams. And Helen, unlike mythological Altjira of our aboriginals, will not seem to retire when the "Dreamtime" vanished!
In my view, jumping over the ocean is a fascinating symbol for Helen as those who knew her resembled her shows to, a number of times, close to committing suicide. Of course, this was nothing new to Bruce when David who also heard Helen’s story and started conversation this morning with Bruce saying “Helen committed suicide” as a teaser. But Bruce is now immune to or more tolerant to uncertainties attacking his amygdala about Helen. What else could he choose in these circumstances! Don’t you think oceans and uncertainties tell us poignant and incisive stories about volcanoes in our minds and hearts!
Friday, May 21, 2010
Monday, April 26, 2010
Importance of compromises in our lives
As Emerson said for everything we have missed, we have gained something else, and for everything we gain, we lose something else. Life is about ongoing compromises. We trade off our resources constantly for our survival and add new meanings. Sometimes they are tangible and sometimes intangible.
It is interesting and important how we make decisions what to trade off. And it is important to be aware of this universal principle reflected in all walks of our lives. There are many factors affecting our decisions from constants to variables. As highlighted throughout the history, compromise can be seen a kind of sacrifice of a right or good thing in the hope of obtaining another one. The sad part (which we need to be cautious) is that we may end up losing both, I mean the compromised and the compromising goals; hence we need to be careful when we are making decisions and apply an intelligent risk assessment process based on the relationships of our needs, gains, goals and what we compromised. For example we see that through our compromises of tactical gains we neglected very important parts of our humanity such as human rights in some countries, collective creation and transformation which may lead us towards enlightenment.
Last week, I had to compromise my blogging and online social networking time to gain some different perspectives in life which will be important for me in the long term. There were almost no other areas for me to cut time and spend for my new transformation activity hence I have deliberately chosen blogging and social networking time because their impact on my life is seen less than the impact of my other goal; at least as an indication of my own risk assessment for this decision. Even though I missed the interaction of blogging and other social networking activities last 10 days, I am grateful about my choice, decision and the progress which produced satisfactory outcomes for me. How about you? How and what do you trade off for what reasons?
It is interesting and important how we make decisions what to trade off. And it is important to be aware of this universal principle reflected in all walks of our lives. There are many factors affecting our decisions from constants to variables. As highlighted throughout the history, compromise can be seen a kind of sacrifice of a right or good thing in the hope of obtaining another one. The sad part (which we need to be cautious) is that we may end up losing both, I mean the compromised and the compromising goals; hence we need to be careful when we are making decisions and apply an intelligent risk assessment process based on the relationships of our needs, gains, goals and what we compromised. For example we see that through our compromises of tactical gains we neglected very important parts of our humanity such as human rights in some countries, collective creation and transformation which may lead us towards enlightenment.
Last week, I had to compromise my blogging and online social networking time to gain some different perspectives in life which will be important for me in the long term. There were almost no other areas for me to cut time and spend for my new transformation activity hence I have deliberately chosen blogging and social networking time because their impact on my life is seen less than the impact of my other goal; at least as an indication of my own risk assessment for this decision. Even though I missed the interaction of blogging and other social networking activities last 10 days, I am grateful about my choice, decision and the progress which produced satisfactory outcomes for me. How about you? How and what do you trade off for what reasons?
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Philosophical clarity with atheistic pessimism for diagnosing unhappiness
I was talking with my wise yet controversial friend Helen whose real life stories I used to blog in another site but stopped with her final request. Even though she is very young (at her early twenties), Helen looks at things from multiple angles and has vast knowledge of philosophy and human psychology within sociological context with the practical sharpness. Her capabilities even challenge her father's many years of academic and corporate experience in dealing with a number of life situations.
When I asked Helen about recent issues related to her father, she diagnosed her father's recent unhappiness with two words (boredom and pain)which later I found borrowed from Arthur Schopenhauer who is known with his atheistic pessimism and philosophical clarity. She said Bruce was recently unhappy due to excessive boredom at emotional and severe pain at physical level.
First it was hard to conceptualize the scope of these two words and interrelationship for one's unhappiness within such complexity. When she gave me a number of examples related to her father's situation with thirst of unfulfilled material desires and link to our previous discussion on whether reason alone can unlock key answers about the world, I started seeing an unexpected yet pleasant light upon a dark issue in my perceived world too.
It was easier to relate to Helen's challenging thoughts as I used to read theories of Schopenhauer's in my early twenties as well. It was inspiring to understand views of an aesthetic pessimist relating to teachings of well known Buddhist, Vedanta and ancient Greek Stoic philosophers. And more importantly, Schopenhaeur always reflected something familiar for me with the intellectual and emotional taste of my favourite thought leaders like Nietzsche, Freud, Jung, Borges, Wagner, Camus, Wittgenstein, Schrödinger, Einstein, and more...And his philosophical clarity was evident with sharp and wise remarks like "The more unintelligent a man is, the less mysterious existence seems to him” or metaphorically "Wealth is like sea-water; the more we drink, the thirstier we become; and the same is true of fame.”
I learnt through Schopenhauer's analysis that emotional, physical, and sexual desires can never be fulfilled! And it was amazing how empowering to have such a fundamental yet powerful piece of knowledge in early twenties which may even shed lights on senior citizens' complex issues.
What kind of privileged knowledge or insights have you obtained at your younger ages which you still use in your life for enlightenment or other purposes of your life?
When I asked Helen about recent issues related to her father, she diagnosed her father's recent unhappiness with two words (boredom and pain)which later I found borrowed from Arthur Schopenhauer who is known with his atheistic pessimism and philosophical clarity. She said Bruce was recently unhappy due to excessive boredom at emotional and severe pain at physical level.
First it was hard to conceptualize the scope of these two words and interrelationship for one's unhappiness within such complexity. When she gave me a number of examples related to her father's situation with thirst of unfulfilled material desires and link to our previous discussion on whether reason alone can unlock key answers about the world, I started seeing an unexpected yet pleasant light upon a dark issue in my perceived world too.
It was easier to relate to Helen's challenging thoughts as I used to read theories of Schopenhauer's in my early twenties as well. It was inspiring to understand views of an aesthetic pessimist relating to teachings of well known Buddhist, Vedanta and ancient Greek Stoic philosophers. And more importantly, Schopenhaeur always reflected something familiar for me with the intellectual and emotional taste of my favourite thought leaders like Nietzsche, Freud, Jung, Borges, Wagner, Camus, Wittgenstein, Schrödinger, Einstein, and more...And his philosophical clarity was evident with sharp and wise remarks like "The more unintelligent a man is, the less mysterious existence seems to him” or metaphorically "Wealth is like sea-water; the more we drink, the thirstier we become; and the same is true of fame.”
I learnt through Schopenhauer's analysis that emotional, physical, and sexual desires can never be fulfilled! And it was amazing how empowering to have such a fundamental yet powerful piece of knowledge in early twenties which may even shed lights on senior citizens' complex issues.
What kind of privileged knowledge or insights have you obtained at your younger ages which you still use in your life for enlightenment or other purposes of your life?
Friday, April 16, 2010
Transforming from ivory tower to collaboration maker status
The term "ivory tower" holds a negative connotation for some academic and research institutions.
There are some efforts to overcome or change this perception. For example, it is great read about some movements from the impression of being an "ivory tower" to developing and implementing partnerships with local communities to foster research efforts that address social problems by new research from North Carolina State University mentioned in Journal of Baccalaureate Social Work.
The media release explaining this effort and guidelines could be obtained from this link titled "Research Lays Guidelines For Real World Scholarship"
Are there any collaborative efforts in your locality to exemplify moving from ivory tower to collaboration maker status? How do they contribute to your community?
There are some efforts to overcome or change this perception. For example, it is great read about some movements from the impression of being an "ivory tower" to developing and implementing partnerships with local communities to foster research efforts that address social problems by new research from North Carolina State University mentioned in Journal of Baccalaureate Social Work.
The media release explaining this effort and guidelines could be obtained from this link titled "Research Lays Guidelines For Real World Scholarship"
Are there any collaborative efforts in your locality to exemplify moving from ivory tower to collaboration maker status? How do they contribute to your community?
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Recent blog posts diversity from Ecademy business network
I like reading blogs to gain different perspectives, insights and individual views from various people coming from various geographies and cultural backgrounds. Today, my focus is on Ecademy network. I observed extra richness in Ecademy blogs within last few days. I am impressed by the content and diversity in general; for example the following categories and representatives took my attention:
1. Injection of business in social context by Jan Mulder, Bernadette Doyle, Martin Bamford, Ty Tyson, Cornelis de Maijer, Penny Power, Bob Nicoll, William Buist, Mark Lee, Marco van Velthuisen, David Winch, Anthony Mullinder, Annabel Kaye, George Emsden, Anna Stephens, Jason Collins and James McBrearty...
2. Challenging social observations and prompts by Wayne Bisset, Stuarte Harris, Sam Borrett, Simon Ellinas, Ann Andrews, Nighet Nasim Riaz and Andreas Wiedow...
3. Exotic cultural input from Fatimea Tedora, Zahir Shamsery, Dr Das Suman, Martin Dewhurst, Nick Dutch, Bernard Bonvivant, Michael Oon...
4. Interesting personal input from Norman Feiner, Mark Mandel, Elizabeth Malouvier, Demos Flouri, Carolyn Williams, Phil Shepherd, Jon Hansen, Keith Whitney, Dr Gaby Cora, Solveigh Calderin, Richard Derwent Cooke, Nic Oliver, Jet Rotmans, Maki Kosaka, Maurice Poole, Hans Terhurne Freddy Daems and Joy Webber ...
5. Highlights from various interesting media types by Richard Perry, Jeff Mowatt, Rajesh Ananda, Daniel-Flavius Lucica, and Tony Hine
6. Sudden breeze from famous Nikki Pilkington and a sad farewell from insightful Andrew Peel...
7. Social media flavour from Alan Stevens, Georgina Lester, Thomas Power, Steve Hall, Andrew Wilcox, Roger Vanstone, Zara Lockwood, Ivor Kellock, Steven Healey, Francois Hotte, Chris Ogle, Marcus Fielding, Nick Tadd and Vanessa Warwick...
8. Superior philosophical, realistic and thought provoking observations from Michael Heaney and Steve Holmes...
There were more interesting posts but it was the ones I enjoyed in my limited time and tagged some of them for future reading. What posts did you enjoy last few days and how did they impress you?
Regards,
Mehmet Yildiz
1. Injection of business in social context by Jan Mulder, Bernadette Doyle, Martin Bamford, Ty Tyson, Cornelis de Maijer, Penny Power, Bob Nicoll, William Buist, Mark Lee, Marco van Velthuisen, David Winch, Anthony Mullinder, Annabel Kaye, George Emsden, Anna Stephens, Jason Collins and James McBrearty...
2. Challenging social observations and prompts by Wayne Bisset, Stuarte Harris, Sam Borrett, Simon Ellinas, Ann Andrews, Nighet Nasim Riaz and Andreas Wiedow...
3. Exotic cultural input from Fatimea Tedora, Zahir Shamsery, Dr Das Suman, Martin Dewhurst, Nick Dutch, Bernard Bonvivant, Michael Oon...
4. Interesting personal input from Norman Feiner, Mark Mandel, Elizabeth Malouvier, Demos Flouri, Carolyn Williams, Phil Shepherd, Jon Hansen, Keith Whitney, Dr Gaby Cora, Solveigh Calderin, Richard Derwent Cooke, Nic Oliver, Jet Rotmans, Maki Kosaka, Maurice Poole, Hans Terhurne Freddy Daems and Joy Webber ...
5. Highlights from various interesting media types by Richard Perry, Jeff Mowatt, Rajesh Ananda, Daniel-Flavius Lucica, and Tony Hine
6. Sudden breeze from famous Nikki Pilkington and a sad farewell from insightful Andrew Peel...
7. Social media flavour from Alan Stevens, Georgina Lester, Thomas Power, Steve Hall, Andrew Wilcox, Roger Vanstone, Zara Lockwood, Ivor Kellock, Steven Healey, Francois Hotte, Chris Ogle, Marcus Fielding, Nick Tadd and Vanessa Warwick...
8. Superior philosophical, realistic and thought provoking observations from Michael Heaney and Steve Holmes...
There were more interesting posts but it was the ones I enjoyed in my limited time and tagged some of them for future reading. What posts did you enjoy last few days and how did they impress you?
Regards,
Mehmet Yildiz
Friday, April 9, 2010
Importance of cognitive problem-solving ability for happiness
Why do I highlight importance of cognitive problem-solving ability today? Problem solving is a broad topic and observed in all walks of life and it is a lifelong process. Cognition is a core survival system for human being. When we connect these two large concepts covering multi-disciplines such as Cognitive Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience, it automatically makes it a complex topic to deal with. However, my aim is to focus only one aspect of this topic today: happiness!
According to a study conducted at Iowa State University, they found that diminished cognitive problem-solving ability was a significant predictor of depressive symptoms in octogenarians, while living in a nursing home and greater neurotic tendencies increased depression among centenarians. The title of the media release explaining the study is "Iowa State researchers identify secrets to happiness, depression among oldest of old".
The research also confirmed that worry and anxiety contribute to depression in centenarians. And one of the things they're worried about, according to Martin, is the direction the country is headed and the world they're leaving for their grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
So based on the findings of this study, one may ask that if we maintain our cognitive problem solving abilities and learn to eliminate or at least reduce worry and anxiety in our lives, does that mean we can catch happiness? Or could there be more to happiness from psychological point of view even in such a narrowed scope; let alone neglecting myriad of other compound factors and unknowns in our larger parts?
According to a study conducted at Iowa State University, they found that diminished cognitive problem-solving ability was a significant predictor of depressive symptoms in octogenarians, while living in a nursing home and greater neurotic tendencies increased depression among centenarians. The title of the media release explaining the study is "Iowa State researchers identify secrets to happiness, depression among oldest of old".
The research also confirmed that worry and anxiety contribute to depression in centenarians. And one of the things they're worried about, according to Martin, is the direction the country is headed and the world they're leaving for their grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
So based on the findings of this study, one may ask that if we maintain our cognitive problem solving abilities and learn to eliminate or at least reduce worry and anxiety in our lives, does that mean we can catch happiness? Or could there be more to happiness from psychological point of view even in such a narrowed scope; let alone neglecting myriad of other compound factors and unknowns in our larger parts?
Thursday, April 8, 2010
A preliminary and informal study on seven online tools for professional and business use
In this post, I'd like to share my findings for a preliminary study as a partial requirement of a paper to be published. It is related to the use of some popular online tools for business and professional purposes.
Study Approach: I selected 10 active online profiles from my networks. These are the co-networkers whom I established personal trust via a number of correspondence over 12 months. The sample is gender agnostic, representing only English speaking countries (USA, UK, Australia, and New Zealand) with business and professional background. I interviewed these 10 people via Google, MSN, Skype, Yahoo, and Facebook chat tools in an informal way approximately half an hour. I also confirmed some of conflicting and contradictory views via email follow-ups. My key questions were about their current beliefs on Ecademy, Facebook, Google, Linked, Twitter, Yasni and Youtube in terms of the contribution of these tools to their business or profession.
Findings: There were a number of interesting views that I will make available in a paper progressing on these tools. However I'd like to share the key common findings for each online tool related to their profession and business as of 7 April 2010 to validate my findings with a wider sample:
1. Google is the main source of information for their profession and business. They use it everyday.
2. Youtube is secondary source of information for their business. They use it everyday.
3. Twitter has done nothing for their business as yet. However they see it as third important source of information.
4. They all are in Facebook. They believe to have some potential for their profession and business even though they haven't used it for business purpose as yet.
5. Linkedin is seen as a business card or CV collection and they sometimes use it to check some contact references.
6. Ecademy is only known to them by the blogs they saw in Twitter and some email invitations. They have no idea so far how Ecademy can help their profession but they all are interested to explore the possibilities further.
7. Yasni was heard by 4 of them in various online sites but none of them knew its scope and contribution for their profession and business. They all indicated interest to explore the possibilities further.
I have some impressions, perceptions and personal views established based on my experience but what do these findings tell or mean to you? Can you comment on the points you are familiar with? If you prefer your views to be kept confidential; please send me a personal mail linked to my Google profile.
Regards,
Mehmet Yildiz
Study Approach: I selected 10 active online profiles from my networks. These are the co-networkers whom I established personal trust via a number of correspondence over 12 months. The sample is gender agnostic, representing only English speaking countries (USA, UK, Australia, and New Zealand) with business and professional background. I interviewed these 10 people via Google, MSN, Skype, Yahoo, and Facebook chat tools in an informal way approximately half an hour. I also confirmed some of conflicting and contradictory views via email follow-ups. My key questions were about their current beliefs on Ecademy, Facebook, Google, Linked, Twitter, Yasni and Youtube in terms of the contribution of these tools to their business or profession.
Findings: There were a number of interesting views that I will make available in a paper progressing on these tools. However I'd like to share the key common findings for each online tool related to their profession and business as of 7 April 2010 to validate my findings with a wider sample:
1. Google is the main source of information for their profession and business. They use it everyday.
2. Youtube is secondary source of information for their business. They use it everyday.
3. Twitter has done nothing for their business as yet. However they see it as third important source of information.
4. They all are in Facebook. They believe to have some potential for their profession and business even though they haven't used it for business purpose as yet.
5. Linkedin is seen as a business card or CV collection and they sometimes use it to check some contact references.
6. Ecademy is only known to them by the blogs they saw in Twitter and some email invitations. They have no idea so far how Ecademy can help their profession but they all are interested to explore the possibilities further.
7. Yasni was heard by 4 of them in various online sites but none of them knew its scope and contribution for their profession and business. They all indicated interest to explore the possibilities further.
I have some impressions, perceptions and personal views established based on my experience but what do these findings tell or mean to you? Can you comment on the points you are familiar with? If you prefer your views to be kept confidential; please send me a personal mail linked to my Google profile.
Regards,
Mehmet Yildiz
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