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/sci/ - Science & Math

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3818401 No.3818401 [Reply] [Original]

I find it hard to focus sometimes. I have too many thoughts going on at once.

Does anyone have any personal methods for clearing one's mind? Tips and Tricks?

>> No.3818419

>>3818401
maintain a mental map of what you know and what you don't know.
once you lose the map, it's hard to focus and become more prone to external stimuli

>> No.3818426

write some stuff down.

read Your Brain at Work by David Rock if you haven't already

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XeJSXfXep4M

>> No.3818442

I just tried counting down from 100 in my head, no mouthing the number or moving anything, just imagining the numbers. It helped.

Here are some others:
http://www.successconsciousness.com/index_000005.htm

>> No.3818457

>>3818442
holy shit, best first few paragraphs ever
thanks for that!

>> No.3818484

>>3818457
I actually skipped to the exercises without reading much of the beginning text. It seems rather like... Eastern philosophy.

What did you like about it?

>> No.3818521

>>3818426

About 17 minutes in, the guy refers to the brains of 'lower primates'. WTF why so many scientists believe that life exists on a ladder of higher and lower life... Where did this ranking system come from and why do I hear it so often?

>> No.3818541

>>3818521
It seems almost natural to call them 'lower' because they seem much more similar to raccoons and similar animals, which seem closer to mice, etc.

They have similar species on either side of them. They have chimpanzees and gorillas on one side and raccoons on the other. Humans only seem to have chimpanzees and gorillas beside them.

Just thoughts.

>> No.3818543

>>3818521
Are you trying to tell me a chimpanzee is smarter than a human?

We may have all evolved together under one tree of life, but we're higher in terms of intelligence.

>> No.3818548

>>3818442

>Count in your mind from one hundred to one, skipping each three numbers, that is 100, 97, 94, etc.

oh shit, I totally used to do that as a kid, I guess it was good for something

>> No.3818554

>>3818401

have you tried focusing?

>> No.3818562

>>3818543
Chimpanzees are stronger than humans so they are obviously higher up the evolutionary ladder.
Orangutans burn calories more efficiently than Chimpanzees and Humans so they are obviously higher up the evolutionary ladder.
Naked Mole Rats feel no pain, can breath in environments with toxic levels of CO2, have extremely long lives for rodents, and are immune to cancer. They are obviously higher up the evolutionary ladder than Orangutans, Chimpanzees, and Humans.
Flat Worms can...

>> No.3818566

>>3818554
>A: "I can't focus."
>B: "Step one, focus, you are done."
...

>> No.3818578

>>3818566

you either focus or you don't. it's an active, deliberate mental process. it's not like you can "try" to focus. you just do. that's the biggest mental obstacle. you've already failed

>> No.3818599

>>3818543
>We may have all evolved together under one tree of life, but we're higher in terms of intelligence.
WTF am I reading? I'm sure most mammals think most highly of their own species... It appears you don't understand that animals are good at what is good for their survival... Chimpanzees have proven to be much faster at counting than humans... Animals may have neurological processes more efficient at getting to an answer than humans, if it has had more of a weighting on their ancestor's survival. How are you judging intelligence, besides using your egotistical reasoning?

>>3818541
I did not understand your comment...

>> No.3818616

>>3818578
What if you are trying to study quantum chromodynamics in a small motley room filled with a marching band playing the tune to "This is The Song That Never Ends" and as a little child with a lisp is poking you in the head to ask you a never ending list of questions? Would getting your studying done be as easy as doing it in a calm, simply furnished room? If not, then there are other factors than simply choosing to focus or not.

>> No.3818621

>>3818599
>I did not understand your comment...
I was trying to rationalize why someone would jump to the 'higher' and 'lower' terminology. I barely understood what I was trying to say. Please ignore.

>> No.3818629

>>3818616

then move to another room, you fucking idiot. youre just looking for excuses to validate your mediocrity

>> No.3818651

>>3818541

Though dolphins are on the list too. One of the ew other species that can recognize (and play) with itself in a mirror. They also have sex for fun.

I would say humans are "higher" than others due to adaption. An example is to put a banana in a cage. A monkey (or chip/gorilla, forget the test subject), out side of the cage, will reach for the banana. Griping the banana, the animal's fist is too big to get out of the cage. The animal is often unable to figure out how to get the banana out, as well as not understand that it needs to let go of the banana to get it's hand back.

For strictly physical things (like counting, actually, how do we know they count faster?) I would say that this is a physical ability that we have lost over the years of getting ourselves out of positions where we need to rely on such things as counting.

Also to note: Context. Give my dog a tax return, and it is screwed. This, however, has nothing to do with "enlightenment"

>> No.3818657

>>3818629
>You're just looking for excuses to validate your addiction to Adderall
Fixed that for you, lol.

>> No.3818662

Admittedly, we are the only animal that is self aware. I agree though that it isn't accurate to think about life in terms of superiority or inferiority.
If you insist on ranking things, you first have to establish what you are comparing.

>> No.3818680

Intelligence is arbitrarily defined as problem solving, reaction time, memory etc... Different animals have brains that work in different ways. There's huge variation within the Human species, as with other animals. It's awefully stupid ranking brains which have evolved for different purposes. I feel too many people have been immersed in the idea that HUMUNZ R SMURTEST ANUMAL LUK AT THAT DOLPHN CARRYIN ROCXZ LOLZ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JkNV0rSndJ0

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7124156.stm
although this memory may be similar to humans http://www.springerlink.com/content/h842v2702r60u481/

>> No.3818685

>>3818662
>we are the only animal that is self aware
You are incorrect. Google "mirror test". No offense, but it sounds like you have a lot to learn.

>> No.3818692

>>3818685

Not him, but I have a feeling that the mirror test doesn't necessarily tell us which animals have some sense if self-identity, it probably only really tells us which animals are smart enough to understand what a mirror does.

>> No.3818708

>>3818442

"You are not the mind nor the thoughts that pass through it. "

... and that's when I stopped reading.

>> No.3818784

>>3818708

typical nobody