51–60 of 61 posts
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Does your app only work on a smart phone, or can it work on a macbook?
For now, it'll run on the mobile phone only. We're working to make it available on all devices, though. That won't happen for at least a year.
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Sorry if others don't like this but can you elaborate either by pointing me at your startup, with more science or both? I'm going to go on a Google spree but I'm curious about your take. This is completely foreign to me, it fails my bs test but to hear not just the words scientific, but quantifiable, piques my interest.
There's a book called Buddha's Brain that documents several studies of people meditating while being scanned by an fMRI machine. It's quite fascinating. Regular meditation alters connections in the brain, similar to how working out a muscle changes the muscle. I was on the fence on whether claimed effects of meditation were real, and reading this book clinched it for me. It anchored the claims I'd read elsewhere in s…
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From what I have read, and what I would also argue, buddhism makes the point that increasing your own happiness it is not a selfish thing because when you are happy those around you are more prone to also become happy. Like if you are happy and smile at someone and then it makes them happy. So while maybe it could be argued becoming happy is selfish, actually being happy is not selfish. But then again becoming anythi…
guylhem and blissofbeing both make very good points here. We can take into consideration the motivation behind the wish to be happy. It reminds me of a story I read while studying. I'm going to paraphrase here so please forgive any mistakes. There was a man traveling down a road while it was raining. He came across a statue of Lord Buddha. He thought to himself, "The Buddha is getting all wet, that is not right. I sh…
Good article, but it leads you to believe that meditation is the key to his happiness. I'm not here to discount the potential benefits of meditation but I think it's important to keep in mind how much effort the monks put into living an altruistic life. Meditation may help bring to the surface subconscious thoughts and feelings, but the responsibility of taking action and improving negative circumstances that are rea…
I read an article a decade or so ago that challenged people to think "bless you" at everyone they encountered. Just walking down the street, at work, whatever.
Visualizing all those people sneezing did make me feel happier.
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Mind talking a little bit about the technology that you're using and how it's worked out for you? I've been running EEG studies for years, and those small headband-type readers are notorious for being so finnicky as to be almost useless, especially since they have no way of controlling for eye motion. I've never seen a decent setup for anything less than 5-10 grand, and even then they need Ag-AgCl electrodes with con…
Thanks Itaxpica. I come from an academic cognitive neuro background too and shared a lot of your concerns. We've shown empirically that you can use an active (non-gel) EEG system to do limited things. We are interested in mindfulness and meditation, which often involves sitting still and closing your eyes. These facts make it easier to use our detection algorithms successfully than it might in other realms. Check out…
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He's probably quite happy that he gets so much attention and has to do so little except sit around and smile.
Yes, he spent 26 years studying Buddhism so he could get media attention. What's with this dismissive attitude?
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They should test starving African war orphans to see if meditation helps with their happiness too, or if it's only rich entitled assholes who really really don't know what the fuck unhappiness is if the best they can come up with is being "disillusioned" by a bunch of bourgeoisie painters. Oops sorry, my cynicism slipped out a bit there. Let me just tuck that back in!
Because these guys: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhist_monasticism#Monastic_l... are "rich entitled assholes", right? Nice.
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For now, it'll run on the mobile phone only. We're working to make it available on all devices, though. That won't happen for at least a year.
Will it be iOS 5 and up only? I have a very old iPhone sitting around. :) (iOS4)
That's all fine and dandy, but what about his Midi-chlorians levels? Shouldn't they focus on what's important?
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What about when your selfishness is at a cost to others?
Is the cost direct or indirect? If it is direct, it means you are sacrificing others. It is not a good thing as said above. You can find happiness and be selfish in various ways that will not directly harm others. In Atlas Shrugged, refusal to remain a part of the system is just this (John Galt, the gulch) - trying to find one's happiness, without directly causing damage to others. The whole society may be less happy…