/sci/ - Science & Math

[Anonymous No.15338185]

Does meditation being beneficial for the brain have any scientific backing?

[Anonymous No.15338218]

>>15338185
Davidson, Richard J., et al. "Alterations in brain and immune function produced by mindfulness meditation." Psychosomatic medicine 65.4 (2003): 564-570.

[Anonymous No.15338370]

>>15338185
Meditation is good for the mind, and yoga is good for the mind and spine/tendons/body

[Anonymous No.15338548]

>>15338185
Consider this; math has advanced from simple addition and subtraction and the mathematical "notation" of gouges in sticks, to an abstract language so intricate as to seem alien to laymen.
What made this possible was the mere invention of written language. Math was no longer the labor af an isolated human mind. Doomed to oblivion alongside the fleshy vessel that encompassed it. What we could communicate precisely and unfettered by our own death became the labor of generations, of not *A human* but of *Humanity*. By now it has spanned millenia and it has given us the wings to set foot on the moon and uncover secrets of reality never dreamt of.

Now consider meditation. There is no standardized language for disseminating the techniques. There is no defined methodology - because every mind is unique. What comes closest are literal religious treatises and wishy washy new age nonsense that cannot be replicated accurately nor defined to allow for refinement. And still Buddhist monks can create Tulpas. re; meditate themselves into clinical benign schizophrenia, one of the best case studies for anatomical and neuroelectrically divergent neurological anomalies.
They can hone and reshape the structure, function and nature of their brains the same way an athlete can cultivate physical capacity to human extremes.
And they do this with vague guidelines and hearsay that corresponds to attempting to build a Mars rover using engineering that's detailed on a single sheet of wet toilet paper by a blind man smearing a paint covered dick on it for 2 minutes.

Once we discover a way to somehow convey accurate information about abstract thought and internal cognitive processes. 40 milleniums ago we somehow found a way for two people to collectively agree on how many berries "10" was. Imagine what will happen once we discover a common ground of recognition for the things that makes us human like "Pain", "Joy", "Hunger" or even "Justice", "Truth" and "Hope"?

[Cult of Passion No.15338561]

>>15338548
>"Pain", "Joy", "Hunger" or even "Justice", "Truth" and "Hope"

[Anonymous No.15338661]

>>15338561
Eh, we need pain. We might not like it and it's unpleasant when it happens but we'd be a lot worse off without it.
There's a good book about this called "Pain - The gift nobody wants"
I can highly recommend it. You don't realize how much you appreciate being able to feel pain before you read about a street urchin leprosy patient that with both feet amputated
How he joyfully runs to the doctor to proudlyshow how fast he still is. Only he's running on the stumps of his shins, covered in mud and day old blood, skin torn open to expose cracked stumps and rotting marrow beneath. They did an encore and had to amputate what was left of his legs

He didn't hurt though. Nope. Didn't feel a thing. Goddamn, but fuck me I'll take pain over that shit any day.

[Anonymous No.15339224]

>>15338185
My theory is it's a placebo that has physiological effects instead of only psychological effects like a placebo would normally have. I don't know if there's a word for that. There's health benefits to not being stressed, which is done by just not thinking stressful thoughts. So shutting out the bad thoughts. Whereas meditation shuts out all the thoughts good and bad. My guess is there's some link there and that simply not thinking negative thoughts and staying positive to lower your stress and being mindful of your stress level is just as powerful as meditation

[Anonymous No.15339253]

[Anonymous No.15340115]

>>15338185
Meditation can be many things
Climbing a mountain or running can be meditation if you get the right mindset