> When we are stressed/anxious/afraid, the part of the brain called the amygdala activates our “fight or flight” response. When that happens, we stop thinking rationally and start looking for the quickest way to relieve the stress/anxiety/fear.
It’s typically the right amygdala responsible for this. Authors often write “amygdala” in an ambiguous fashion. You have two amygdala (amygdalae is the plural term) which have differing-but-related responsibilities.
Good article — taking the micro-steps towards the longer-term habits is wise.
I raise this as given the extent of research performed on my brain, the fMRI was not discussed with me whatsoever, nor was it mentioned in the pre-operative justifying factors. I raise this in relation to this submission; I hadn't given it any thought before.
I'm not a specialist by any means, although I am a patient of an fMRI. One thing I will note is that in the eventual, resultant paperwork from the broad array of tests I had, the fMRI was not noted whatsoever, neither was it discussed with me by any of the numerous neurologists or surgeons involved in my case. I was quite curious as to why it was performed at all, but presumably it was some formality to check a box.
Progressive epilepsy that only got worse and untreatable. The most powerful of drugs wouldn’t work. I had an experimental surgery; more of my brain was removed than usual.
Last year I had the entirety of my left hippocampus and amygdala removed (yes, seriously). And yet I still work in a highly cognitive area of software engineering as a senior engineer. Has my short term memory gone to hell? Wait, what was this post about again? I joke.
Many, many years ago when I was in college studying computer science I spent an extraordinary amount of time studying holistic learning techniques to help aid in my exams. The next year I was in a coma. Shortly thereafter, I swung back fighting, making sure the universe knew it didn’t have the upper hand. I won.
So there’s several things here. There are people like yourself, battling this kind of thing. Don’t feel like you’re alone. Secondly there are approaches to help improve things, whether it be holistic learning, repetition, or both. And finally, tell the universe to go screw itself, otherwise you’re giving it permission to win.
I live in the Bay Area. The problem here is the temporary nature of those residing here. They tend to plan to leave after a few years when enough of their RSUs have vested to afford a nice home elsewhere.
One thing that helped me enormously was… getting a dog. I’ll take multiple walks in the neighborhood each day and eventually got to know a whole bunch of neighbors. Even now I’ll go out for a brisk thirty minute walk only to end up spending multiple hours chatting with neighbors.
In terms of career; don’t get comfortable. If you are comfortable then you’re not being challenged enough, and if you’re not being challenged enough then you’re not growing at a decent rate.
It’s ok to be comfortable absolutely, but if you’re looking to advance your career then do not get comfortable.
I once heard a great tip to prevent those pre-bedtime snacks. After dinner, brush your teeth as if you’re going to bed. Your brain already associates that with “no more food” and so programmatically dissuades you from eating. It’s always worked for me.
Exactly this. I have three kids and a dog. There is zero spare time. I typically sit down for the first time at 9pm at which time I'm so exhausted that learning is not really possible. I may get to read for 30 mins to an hour before I crash.
> This is not a bad route to go if you enjoy/feel comfortable doing the work and don't care about air quality, smart thermostat integration, etc
You're insinuating that doing the work yourself means you'll have poor air quality, poor thermostat integration etc. That's not true at all. If you've gone to the trouble to do a DIY install then you're now already experienced enough to install a heat-recovery ventilator to get fresh air into your home via an independent system. I installed my own ecobee thermostat with my heat pump and electric furnace and it works with HomeKit so is integrated with my entire ecosystem.
Yes pretty much this. It’s subjective based on an enormous number of factors. Your lifestyle, your personal experiences, reading too much news (especially in the US), having a pessimistic attitude towards everything, your general personal beliefs and how they align with the world. The list goes on. Many of these factors can be personally influenced.
For example, I live in the Bay Area and love it, have lived here seven years now. I had a friend live here for three years and tell me how terrible it was and listed off all the terrible things about it. The experience was subjective and I respect that; he found a way to have a more positive life by leaving and good for him.
Not all things are equal, especially our perceptions of the world.
> because I associate those decisions with low resilience to frustration I had, and low discipline to exert my patience further
Absolutely this. You’re always going to end up in testing environments somewhere so it’s good to practice both patience and resilience. The more you train that muscle the easier it becomes to work in those situations.
Interesting because I’ve been doing the same these last few months; getting back into physical books. I find there’s so much more peace and focus in reading a book vs scrolling the Internet. I don’t think our minds were supposed to have so many distractions communicated through a backlit medium.
I live in the Bay Area and I’m curious about trying mushrooms for personal reasons. I’m not addicted to anything and don’t drink alcohol or smoke or do any other drugs After reading information about mushrooms recently I’ve been interested to try them for personal growth and wellbeing.
Where do you even get them? How do you know how much to take? How do you take them? I’ve tried finding centers to go to where they assist you but can’t seem to find any that aid with it end-to-end.
I live in Silicon Valley so can speak from experience. Typically one person pays for everything (and gets the CC points) then sends everyone a picture of the receipt and requests the exact amount of money owed, often given via Venmo or the likes. Whoever used the salsa pays the person who paid for the entire meal the precise amount.
It’s typically the right amygdala responsible for this. Authors often write “amygdala” in an ambiguous fashion. You have two amygdala (amygdalae is the plural term) which have differing-but-related responsibilities.
Good article — taking the micro-steps towards the longer-term habits is wise.