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Quite unworthy article of HN front page in my opinion, besides the possible interesting discussion that might arise based on it.
Try it.
Videos of monks performing self-immolation are enough proof to me. These monks practice mindfulness meditation for decades, and as a result, they have such control over their minds that they are literally able to "ignore" the pain of being on fire and sit still through the entire duration.
I'm pretty sure I could do that too without much practice. Assuming it was an intentional choice, anyway. Your body can only handle so much pain before it basically shuts off, and then you don't feel much of anything. The real pain comes later, when you're healing. Not going to test it out though.
You could wait for the research to be conclusive, or you could dive in right now and radically improve your life. I recommend starting with the free short book, Mindfulness In Plain English - http://www.wisdompubs.org/sites/default/files/preview/Mindfu...
That's kind of begging the question, though. The question is, will diving in radically improve my life? I'm not saying it won't, by the way. I myself practice something that some might consider to be mindfulness. But you are assuming facts not in evidence, as a lawyer might say.
For these reasons studies on nutrition are also hard and mostly flawed. But do we need a study to tell us that sugar is poison?
Well, ok, we do, but we can also notice our grandparents weren't eating that much sugar, they weren't suffering that much from obesity or diabetes and that's enough for me.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm pretty sure I could do that too without much practice. Assuming it was an intentional choice, anyway. Your body can only handle so much pain before it basically shuts off, and then you don't feel much of anything. The real pain comes later, when you're healing. Not going to test it out though.
No, you wouldn't be able to do that. They burn themselves to death.
Videos of monks performing self-immolation are enough proof to me. These monks practice mindfulness meditation for decades, and as a result, they have such control over their minds that they are literally able to "ignore" the pain of being on fire and sit still through the entire duration.
And that is proof of what ? That some forms of mindfulness can overcome some physical or mental stimuli ? I think this can cause an increase in self-destructive behaviour as much as affirmative ones (as your example shows). Why would that be proof of the positive mental effects ? (I think it's what this general discussion is about at least.)
What would it mean for it to "work"? What would such proof look like? (Self-reports of well-being? Seems wrong)
Why would that seem wrong ? Because it could miss cases where people don't know their own happiness ? I think a model based on actual observations is more right than a hypothetical transcendental happiness. Because people could lie ? That's where the proper design of the experiment steps in.
This is off the top of my head.
I frequently hear an argument against these practices that they're just a placebo. But wouldn't that actually be an argument for it? If the placebo makes you believe that you have less stress and greater stillness, I don't see how that's different from "really" having less stress. Which means it's not a placebo but really works. Just a food for thought. In any case aside from the endless and consistent anecdotal evid…
Stress has a big psychological component, but it is also something that can be physilogically seen and can be measured. It's important to see the distinction between the psychological perception and the true physiology.
Stress may not be the best example because as stated, stress has a lot to with the psychological state.
https://www.bensonhenryinstitute.org/research-published-rese...