Talking to Crazy Notes

What I [the author] mean by crazy is irrational. There are four ways in which the people you deal with can be irrational:

1. They can’t see the world clearly.
2. They say or think things that make no sense.
3. They make decisions and take actions that aren’t in their best interest.
4. They become downright impossible when you try to guide them back to the side of reason.

The Sanity Cycle:

1. Recognize that the person you’re dealing with isn’t able to think rationally in the current situation . In addition, you’ll realize that the person’s crazy has deep roots in either the recent or distant past rather than the present moment, and that it isn’t something you can argue or reason away.
2. Identify the person’s modus operandi—the specific way he acts out his crazy . This is the strategy he uses to make you crazy, by causing you to become angry, guilty, ashamed, afraid, frustrated, or otherwise crazy yourself . When you understand the person’s M. O., you’ll feel calmer, more centered, and more in control when the two of you interact—and you’ll be able to select the right counterstrategy.
3. Realize that the crazy behavior isn’t about you . Instead, it’s all about the person you’re dealing with . To keep yourself from taking his words personally, you’ll identify and neutralize many of your buttons before talking with him . And while talking with the person, you’ll use powerful mental tools to keep yourself from escalating into crazy . These tools will allow you to prevent an amygdala hijack (a term coined by psychologist Daniel Goleman), which occurs when your amygdala—the threat-sensing part of your brain—blocks out your rational mind.
4. Talk with the irrational person, leaning into his crazy by entering his world calmly and with intention . First, you will assume innocence . That is, you’ll believe that the person is truly good at heart and that there’s a reason for the crazy behavior . Rather than being judgmental, you will be curious about what underlies that behavior. Second, you’ll imagine yourself experiencing those underlying emotions—feeling attacked, misunderstood, and defensive.
5. Show the person that you are an ally rather than a threat by listening calmly and empathetically as he vents. Rather than shutting him down, you’ll encourage this venting. And rather than attacking back, as the person expects, you’ll align yourself with him . In fact, you’ll even apologize to him . As you listen kindly and mirror the person empathetically, he’ll begin to listen to and mirror you.
6. Help guide the person to a saner way of thinking when he is calm.

Source: Talking to Crazy. How to Deal with the Irrational and Impossible People in Your Life (2016) by Mark Goulston.

Possibly good advice for dealing with the far-Left. Then again, like the author says, maybe it’s better just to walk away and not be pulled into their craziness.

Democrats Back Bill to Ban Sale of Gas-Powered Cars by 2040

From The Daily Signal.com (May 15):

Democrats will introduce legislation to mandate zero-emissions vehicles make up all new car sales by 2040.

The bill is co-sponsored by three Democrats running for president in 2020 who support the Green New Deal.

……………..

Democrats will introduce legislation to completely phase out the use of gasoline-powered cars by mandating that only zero-emissions vehicles can be sold by 2040.

“When I take a lungful of air in this moment, it has 30% more carbon in it than when I was born,” Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley, the bill’s main sponsor, told The Huffington Post on Wednesday. “That is a change that has never happened in a single generation of humankind on this planet.”

The bill is co-sponsored by Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, Brian Schatz of Hawaii, Kamala Harris of California, Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, and Bernie Sanders of Vermont. California Rep. Mike Levin will introduce a House version of the bill, Huffington Post reported.

Harris, Gillibrand, and Sanders are running for president in 2020, and all of them co-sponsored the Green New Deal resolution. However, no Democrat voted for the Green New Deal in March when it came up for a vote in the Senate.  [read more]

The bill is a bunch of malarkey.

How to live longer: Why scientists think they can 'increase life expectancy to 200’

From Express.co.uk (Apr. 30):

SCIENTISTS identified a gene with the potential to extend human life to an age of 200, thanks to the case of one woman with a unique condition.

The action of a single gene can have huge effects on how long humans live. A gene is a sequence of nucleotides that codes a molecule’s function in a strand of DNA. Over the first 18 to 20 years of our life, these undergo a vital process where they communicate with each other to develop humans from a child to an adult.

It is around this age, though, that genes begin to deteriorate, with the body slowing down over the next half a dozen decades until eventually, some form of illness takes over.

Dr. Christophe De Jaeger, a French expert in the science of longevity, has suggested there could be a way of “restoring” genes that begin to malfunction.

Speaking on Amazon Prime’s “Steps to the Future”, he explained how this could mean humans could extend life expectancy.

He said in 2010: “We will be able to modify and correct our various healing systems in order to allow us to constantly restore capacities from the age of 18 or 20.

“We will fix ourselves and we are capable of doing it – at 18 years old, our systems functions are operational.

“It’s only after that they deteriorate.

“So if these systems can remain operational, our lifespan, which we now set at a statistic of 120 maximum, could reach 150, 200, or even more.”  [read more]

How to Deschool Yourself for Success and Satisfaction

From FEE.org:

The first step in taking charge of your learning and livelihood is to shed these schooled myths and become adept at self-education.

Most of us spent at least 15,000 hours of our childhood and adolescence being schooled before we turned 18. Now in adulthood, we may need to unlearn some of what we were taught and embrace self-education for career success and personal fulfillment.

Much of what we learned in school was dictated by others, disconnected from our own passions and proclivities. We were taught what to learn, and we learned to be taught. With self-education, we take back control of our own learning, exploring topics and skills that matter to us, free from coercion. In many ways, pursuing self-education is the difference between learning in a library and in a school. A library offers abundant resources to support our learning, including tangible and digital tools, optional classes, and helpful facilitators, but it is free from compulsion.

Granted the freedom to learn, our true talents and ambitions can begin to emerge. But first, we need to deschool ourselves and shed some of the common myths we may have internalized about learning that could get in the way of our self-education and related success:

Myth #1: Color Inside the Lines

One of the first things most of us learned as a tot when we stepped into a classroom is to color inside the lines. Follow instructions, be neat, do what everyone else does. Now as we embrace self-education and discover our full human potential, we need to do the opposite. If everyone is coloring in the lines, we should be coloring outside of them. We should be looking at opportunities for creativity, not conformity.

……………..

Myth #2: Ask for Permission

In school, we quickly learn to ask for permission. Obedience is heartily rewarded, and non-compliance is swiftly punished. If we want to succeed at playing the game of school, we learn to be led. Now, as a self-directed learner with personal and professional goals, we need to be bold! If we wait around for permission to pursue those goals, we won’t get anywhere. Be intrepid.

Myth #3: Be Quiet and Stay Still

This schooled expectation is getting even worse than it was when many of us were kids. We were all taught to be quiet and stay still (especially when forming those straight lines in the hallway), but today young children are increasingly being diagnosed with and medicated for ADHD when they don’t keep still and remain attentive. Aside from the tragedy of medicalizing what, in many cases, is just normal childhood behavior, we become conditioned to stay passive.

But to achieve our audacious goals in adulthood, what we need more than anything is exuberance. We need to be constantly moving, constantly questioning, constantly exploring new pathways. Energy and agility are critical characteristics for achieving success in a fast-moving, always-changing world.

Myth #4: Don’t Read Ahead

Remember this one? We were often given reading assignments of certain pages or paragraphs with the warning to not read ahead. Now, of course, we need to be curious instead of compliant and seize all opportunities to read ahead! Digging deeply into topics that matter to us or reading a wide variety of different materials to broaden our worldview can help us to uncover our enthusiasms and crystallize our goals.

Myth #5. Winners Never Quit

One of the more pervasive myths we hang onto from childhood is the belief that we shouldn’t quit. Yet, some of the most successful people are those who stopped wasting their time and energy in jobs or activities that were not meaningful to them.

Myth #6. Failure Is Unacceptable

Failure can be as valuable as quitting. Contrary to what we were schooled to believe, failure is an important part of risk-taking and experimentation. If we spend our adulthood seeking only gold stars and Good Job! stickers, we may find only hollow rewards. [read more]

Mutant snake with three working eyes found in Australia

From Fox News.com (May 2):

Wildlife officials in Australia have shared bizarre photos of a three-eyed snake they found on the highway.

The photos, shared to Facebook by the Northern Territory Parks and Wildlife Service, were described as "peculiar" due to the formation of the skull.

"The snake is peculiar as an x-ray revealed it was not two separate heads forged together, rather it appeared to be one skull with an additional eye socket and three functioning eyes," the Parks and Wildlife Service wrote on Facebook.
…………..

It's likely that the strange development of the baby carpet python, which was approximately 15 inches in length, came about during the early embryonic stage, the Parks and Wildlife Service added.

"It is extremely unlikely that this is from environmental factors and is almost certainly a natural occurrence as malformed reptiles are relatively common."

Known as Monty Python, the snake died just weeks after it was found in March, park officials confirmed. "It's remarkable it was able to survive so long in the wild with its deformity and he was struggling to feed before he died last week," Ranger Ray Chatto told NT News.  [read more]

Weird.

Nikki Haley on The Ben Shapiro Show: UN Is ‘Wasteful,’ ‘Bureaucratic,’ a ‘Lot of Talk’

From CNS News.com (May 6):

When asked about the efficacy of the United Nations during a segment of “The Ben Shapiro Show Sunday Special” on Sunday with host Ben Shapiro, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said that the U.N. is “wasteful,” “bureaucratic,” a “lot of talk.”

“It’s wasteful; it’s bureaucratic; it’s a lot of talk and not as much action,” stated former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley. “There’s resentment. We’re being taken advantage of, but we would not have gotten those three North Korean sanctions packages and had the international community all on the same page against North Korea without the U.N.” [read more]

I agree.

Galileo and the Academic Professors

Galileo was actually a firm believer in God and the Bible and remained so all of his life.

He once said that “the laws of nature are written by the hand of God in the language of mathematics” and that the “human mind is a work of God and one of the most excellent”.

Galileo initially enjoyed a great deal of support from religious people. The astronomers of the powerful Jesuit educational institution, the Collegio Romano, initially endorsed
his astronomical work and fêted him for it. However, he was vigorously opposed by secular philosophers who were enraged at his criticism of Aristotle.

This was bound to cause trouble; however, let me [the author] emphasize, not at first with the church. In his famous “Letter to the Grand Duchess Christina” (1615), Galileo claimed that
it was the academic professors who were so opposed to him that were trying to influence the church authorities to speak out against him. The issue at stake for the academics was clear: Galileo’s scientific arguments were threatening the all-pervading Aristotelianism of the academy.

In the spirit of developing modern science, Galileo wanted to decide theories of the universe on the basis of evidence, not on arguments based on an appeal to the current ruling theories in general and the authority of Aristotle in particular.

Source: Can Science Explain Everything? (2019) by John Lennox.

So, it seems that Galileo was bucking the scientific establishment or swamp if you will. Hmmm. I wonder if this truth is taught in science history classes in today’s universities? Probably not.

Scientists testing gas that kills 99.9% of deadly airborne germs

From New York Post.com (May 1):

Now, a new study examining the potential of a special gas to eliminate airborne viruses and bacteria is showing some serious promise and it could curb major public health problems if utilized correctly.

As reported in The Conversation, researchers have been exploring the potential applications of what is known as non-thermal plasma or NTP. NTP is the term given to gasses consisting of charged particles, where the particles have been energized but the gas itself remains cool, such as the gas inside of a fluorescent light.

NTPs aren’t just useful for lighting a room, however, and their power to rapidly kill microorganisms has been exploited in the food industry as well as various medical fields. The energized gasses are extremely efficient at sterilization and the researchers involved in this new study discovered that such gasses can effectively eliminate some 99.9 percent of airborne viruses when the two come into contact.

The team built a non-thermal plasma reactor to test its feasibility in sterilizing large quantities of air, using it on the ventilation system of a farm to determine how well it could rid the air of pathogens. The NTP system appears to be a promising alternative, or perhaps an augmentation, for existing air filtration systems that are used in public spaces where many bodies pass through. [read more]

Sounds promising. Hopefully the scientists can make the process more economically.

Scientists have found a way to convert thoughts into speech

From CNET.com (Apr. 29):

Sure, speaking is great, and an effective method of communication, but what if that's not a possibility? What if you suffer from some sort of paralysis or neurological impairment and you literally can't speak?

Researchers at the University of California think they've made a crucial first step at solving the problem. Using a "state-of-the-art brain-machine interface", neuroscientists art UC San Francisco say they have successfully been able to convert brain waves into literal speech.

By placing electrodes on the heads of study participants, the researchers took information from measured brain activity, and fed that data into a "virtual vocal tract": an anatomically correct computer simulation designed to accurately mimic movements from the lips, jaw, tongue and larynx. The end result: something that absolutely resembles human speech.

"For the first time, this study demonstrates that we can generate entire spoken sentences based on an individual's brain activity," said Edward Chang, a professor of neurological surgery and the lead author on this study. "This is an exhilarating proof of principle that with technology that is already within reach, we should be able to build a device that is clinically viable in patients with speech loss."  [read more]

Nice, especially for those who can’t talk. It’s a good start but the technology needs to be refined some more before it goes into production. Right now I believe it is just a beta-version.

God and Science

Eminent Australian ancient historian Edwin Judge writes:

Christianity or, above all, the biblical doctrine of creation, is itself the creator … of the methodology of modern science. We don’t hold the Greeks’ perspective anymore; in spite of the fact that people keep looking back to it as the origin of science. It is not the origin of science. The book of creation is the origin of modern science: the book of Genesis.

C.S. Lewis sums it up well when he says, “Men became scientific because they expected law in nature, and they expected law in nature because they believed in a Legislator.”

Johannes Kepler (1571-1630), who discovered the laws of planetary motion, wrote:

The chief aim of all investigations of the external world should be to discover the rational order which has been imposed on it by God and which he revealed to us in the language of mathematics.

Source: Can Science Explain Everything? (2019) by John Lennox.

Unions Keep Deducting Dues Without Consent, Teachers Say

From The Daily Signal.com (Apr. 29):

Just a few weeks before school let out last May, unexpected visitors showed up in Bethany Mendez’s classroom.

They didn’t come to discuss the nuts and bolts of education or the work the teacher was doing to assist young students with learning disabilities.

Instead, the visitors wanted to know why she was leaving the teachers union, and if she fully understood the ramifications of resigning her membership.

“This made me very angry and upset to actually have them come to my classroom during instructional time during the day,” Mendez told The Daily Signal in an interview. “I thought the meeting was regarding a student who might have to go into one of my classes. But these were union representatives who showed up in my classroom to question me as to why I was leaving the union.”

Mendez teaches elementary school students with learning disabilities in California’s Fremont Unified School District.

Since she had her own bouts with dyslexia when she was roughly the same age as her students, Mendez explains, she became motivated to become a teacher and devote herself to assisting children who require specialized instruction.

For union officials to interrupt her instructional time, Mendez thought, was inappropriate and overly intrusive.

………………….

“It would be fine to have a friendly conversation outside of class, but to actually have two people come to my class while I was teaching and ask these questions I thought was a little offensive,” she said. “They asked if I knew what I was doing and if I knew what I would be giving up. My answer is I think everyone should have a choice to either opt in or opt out of joining the union.” [read more]

Intimidation is the number one tactic of the Left. They didn’t like the teacher not following the party line. In actuality, the union could care less about the teacher herself but they cared more for the dues she was paying to them and now not paying to them.

ISIS plotted to send westerners to US through Mexico border: report

From Fox News.com (June 6):

A chilling confession from a captured ISIS fighter has shed light on how the terrorist group intended to exploit the vulnerabilities of the U.S. border with Mexico, using English speakers and westerners to take advantage of smuggling routes and target financial institutions.

Seized ISIS fighter Abu Henricki, a Canadian citizen with dual citizenship with Trinidad, last month said that he was sought out by the violent insurgency’s leadership to attack the U.S. from a route starting in Central America, according to a study by the International Center for the Study of Violent Extremism (ICSVE) and published in Homeland Security Today.

“ISIS has organized plots in Europe with returnees so it seems entirely plausible that they wanted to send guys out to attack. The issue that makes a North American attack harder is the travel is more difficult from Syria,” Anne Speckhard, who co-conducted the study as the director of ICSVE and Adjunct Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Georgetown University, told Fox News. “So the idea that they would instead use people who were not known to their own governments as having joined ISIS might make it possible for them to board airplanes.”

Another reason why the border needs to get under control. Build the wall!

Another article about terrorists: JW Confirms: 4 ISIS Terrorists Arrested in Texas in Last 36 Hours

Individual Actions for Unleashing Creativity

1. Generating and Recognizing Original Ideas
   1. Question the default. Instead of taking the status quo for granted, ask why it exists in the first place. When you remember that rules and systems were created by people, it becomes clear that they’re not set in stone—and you begin to consider how they can be improved.
   2. Triple the number of ideas you generate. Immerse yourself in a new domain. Originality increases when you broaden your frame of reference. One approach is to learn a new craft, like the Nobel Prize–winning scientists who expanded their creative repertoires by taking up painting, piano, dance, or poetry.
   3. Immerse yourself in a new domain. Originality increases when you broaden your frame of reference. One approach is to learn a new craft, like the Nobel Prize–winning scientists who expanded their creative repertoires by taking up painting, piano, dance, or poetry.
   4. Procrastinate strategically. When you’re generating new ideas, deliberately stop when your progress is incomplete. By taking a break in the middle of your brainstorming or writing process, you’re more likely to engage in divergent thinking and give ideas time to incubate.
   5. Seek more feedback from peers.To get the most accurate reviews, run your pitches by peers—they’re poised to spot the potential and the possibilities.
2. Voicing and Championing Original Ideas
   1. Balance your risk portfolio. When you’re going to take a risk in one domain, offset it by being unusually cautious in another realm of your life.
   2. Highlight the reasons not to support your idea. Start by describing the three biggest weaknesses of your idea and then ask them to list several more reasons not to support it. Assuming that the idea has some merit, when people have to work hard to generate their own objections, they will be more aware of its virtues.
   3. Make your ideas more familiar. Repeat yourself—it makes people more comfortable with an unconventional idea. Reactions typically become more positive after ten to twenty exposures to an idea, particularly if they’re short, spaced apart by a few days, and mixed in with other ideas.
   4. Speak to a different audience. Instead of seeking out friendly people who share your values, try approaching disagreeable people who share your methods. Your best allies are the people who have a track record of being tough and solving problems with approaches similar to yours. 
   5. Be a tempered radical. If your idea is extreme, couch it in a more conventional goal. That way, instead of changing people’s minds, you can appeal to values or beliefs that they already hold.
3. Managing Emotions
   1. Motivate yourself differently when you’re committed vs. uncertain. When you’re determined to act, focus on the progress left to go—you’ll be energized to close the gap. When your conviction falters, think of the progress you’ve already made. Having come this far, how could you give up now?
   2. Don’t try to calm down. It’s easier to turn anxiety into intense positive emotions like interest and enthusiasm. Think about the reasons you’re eager to challenge the status quo, and the positive outcomes that might result.
   3. Focus on the victim, not the perpetrator. In the face of injustice, thinking about the perpetrator fuels anger and aggression. Shifting your attention to the victim makes you more empathetic, increasing the chances that you’ll channel your anger in a constructive direction.
   4. Realize you’re not alone. Even having a single ally is enough to dramatically increase your will to act. Find one person who believes in your vision and begin tackling the problem together.
   5. Remember that if you don’t take initiative, the status quo will persist. Consider the four responses to dissatisfaction: exit, voice, persistence, and neglect. Only exit and voice improve your circumstances. Speaking up may be the best route if you have some control over the situation; if not, it may be time to explore options for expanding your influence or leaving.

Source: Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World Forward (2016) by Adam Grant.

Good advice. Number 8 could result in brainwashing if the persuader is not careful like what Leftists professors do in universities. The Right ought to practice #8 more often. The Left does #10 too. They definitely don’t like to do #9. Especially the far Left. President Trump is trying to do #15.

The advice for leaders (e. g. welcoming criticism—the Left’s elite doesn’t like this advice & asking for problems, not solutions), parents and teachers (e. g. linking good behaviors to moral character & explaining how bad behaviors have consequences for others) is good too. An interesting book.

When you die ‘you KNOW you’re dead because your brain keeps working’, scientist claims

From The Sun.co.uk (Apr. 16):

Top medical experts have forever been at loggerheads over what happens when humans die, with anecdotal evidence of bright lights and flashes reported by people who have 'come back' being the cause of much debate.

However a new study suggests your consciousness carries on functioning after your heart stops beating and your body movements fail.

This means you are essentially 'trapped' inside your dead body with your brain still working, if only for a short time.

Survivors of cardiac arrest were aware of what was going on around them while they were 'dead' before being 'brought back to life', the study revealed.

More surprising still, there is evidence to suggest the deceased may even hear themselves being pronounced dead by doctors. [read more]

Nolte: Scientists Prove Man-Made Global Warming Is a Hoax

From Breibart.com (Apr. 9);

The far-left Think Progress reports that scientists have finally proven that the theory of man-made Global Warming is a total hoax.

Of course, no one will admit it, but that is exactly what has happened.

A new scientific study shows has revealed the following:

Current CO2 levels of 410 parts per million (ppm) were last seen on Earth three million years ago, according to the most detailed reconstruction of the Earth’s climate by researchers at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) and published in Science Advances.

Yes, you read that correctly, three million — million — years ago CO2 levels on Earth were the same as they are today, but there is one major difference between three million years ago and today…

Three million years ago, we humans were not driving cars or eating the meat that requires cow farts; we weren’t barbecuing or refusing to recycle or building factories; there was no Industrial Age, no plastic, no air conditioning, no electricity, no lumber mills, no consumerism, no aerosols. [read more]

Just like most of what the Left does is a hoax.

Other environmental articles:

• There Is No Evidence Weather Is Increasingly Threatening to Human Lives
• Sun could unleash violent 'superflare' in the next century, researchers warn  (This is what the world should be concerned about—not global warming.)