This is how America ends (TJDS)

This is how America ends

(The Jimmy Dore Show) Nov. 27, 2022. Twitter user "Turncoat Don" has put together a powerful video juxtaposing newscasters' announcements of ongoing and increased government spending on the US proxy war on Russia in Ukraine with footage of other newscasters describing the worsening problem of homelessness in American communities across the country. Jimmy Dore plays the Turncoat Don video and details the mounting evidence that the American Empire is steadily declining and that our days as a global superpower are numbered. #TheJimmyDoreShow

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How many hours to master a skill?

Joshua Burkhart (theascent.pub, March 2018); Ellie Askew, Crystal Q. (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

We don’t need 10,000 hours to master a skill. Here are 5+ steps

You’ve probably heard the theory that it takes 10,000 hours for skill mastery.

 

It’s been a huge part of the self-development community since Malcolm Gladwell released his book Outliers (wiki version).

 

The gist of Outliers

If you’re anything like me, you’ve already run the math to determine how many hours a day for how many years you’ll have to spend in order to master meditation, yoga, martial arts, and everything else from writing to cooking.

 

In some ways this has been empowering. I feel like I can pick up any task, give it 20 years, and master it. In other ways it’s been overwhelming. I mean that’s a lot of practice.

There’s good news: Gladwell was wrong

You see, he didn’t actually interview researcher Anders Ericcson, the scientist whose work he based his 10,000 hour rule on. So he ended up misinterpreting the information. (Journalists and self-help gurus of can't handle scientific data).

 

So let’s set the record straight, it’s not exactly how much we practice, but rather how we practice.

 

According to Anders Ericcson there are two essential parts to practice, which he shares on a Freakonomics episode (LISTEN).

Purposeful practice

Purposeful practice is when we actually pick a target — something that we want to improve — and we find a training activity that would allow us to actually improve that particular aspect.

Deliberate practice

How I see myself when I sit to meditate -- a star in space in a pyramid (Ariana Grande)

.

We think of deliberate practice requiring a teacher that actually has had experience of how to help individuals reach very high levels of performance.

Behavioral shifts occur when we break larger tasks down into their smaller components and practice them one step at a time, with some good teaching, self-awareness, and coaching.

Now in my own experience, a skill’s learning curve tends to be in our favor. 

You might not achieve quick mastery, but you can get exponentially better with just a little effort. 

Right now we’ll be exploring five key points that will help you gain proficiency in any skill. More

3 Ways To Be Unf**kwithable (video)

Vishen Lakhiani, Mindvalley Academy; Dave Kong, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

 

"What if I were enough?" Vishen Lakhiani collaborates with top masterminds to teach how incredibly simple it is to hack our past, present, and future and be completely unf**kwithable (unflappable). Like this stuff? Consider becoming a Mindvalley Academy member for more juicy goodness. Sick of doing ridiculous things for outside approval? What? Like memorizing all the lyrics to "Ice, Ice, Baby" by Vanilla Ice to impress the cool kids?

Whatever happens, it doesn't F with me.

Wish to live fearlessly, be immune to criticism, and feel truly at peace? If so, this is the path to being totally unf**kwithable — and in this spicy A-Fest talk, Vishen Lakhiani helps get us there in the fastest, simplest way possible. He shares the stage with masterminds Dave Asprey, Marisa Peer, and Sonia Choquette to demonstrate three simple hacks to that state. Together, they walk us through the shocking, scientific power of radical forgiveness — and how it even improves our physical biology.

These are kensho moments. They dive into the life-saving power of realizing that I am (and you are) enough, share a presence exercise (being mindful, being here now) that will help us dissolve stress (in any moment), and more. The moral of the video? Being unf**kwithable is easier than anyone thinks.

• 1. The first hack: Radical Forgiveness 15:03 
• Learning forgiveness 20:46
• Interesting facts about forgiveness 25:16 

• 2. The second hack: Realizing You Are Enough 35:54 
• 3. The third hack: Becoming Present 40:49 
• Quick recap

Unf*ckology: A Field Guide to Living

If you would appreciate some extra help learning how to forgive, check out this enlightening video on forgiveness (bit.ly/2Kh2sBe). Also, listen to Vishen Lakhiani’s Six Phase Meditation (bit.ly/2H8AFxJ), which includes a powerful forgiveness exercise. To hear more from Marisa Peer about being enough, watch her deeply inspiring talk, The Biggest Disease Affecting Humanity (bit.ly/20qMpn8).
 

ABOUT A-FEST BY MINDVALLEY: A-Fest is an invite-only transformational event that gathers an extraordinary community of change-makers and visionaries who are driven by epic ideas to impact the world -- entrepreneurs, employees, artists, leaders, innovators, visionaries and more. Take the first step to joining us in paradise by applying for an invite here: bit.ly/21jCNHK 

 

ABOUT MINDVALLEY: Mindvalley is developing an online university for all ages focused on transformational education. They organize real-world curated events and produce programs in every area of transformation including mind, body, and performance.

Sex, love, comedy: Stephen Hawking (video)

Pat Macpherson, Seth Auberon, Pfc. Sandoval, Wisdom Quarterly; Family Guy; UP UK

Happy Thanksgiving from the Griffins and Wisdom Quarterly! (fox.com/family-guy)

The memory of you will haunt me until I get caught in a sex club in California. Marry me!

("Family Guy"/Tram Bui) WARNING: Comical, possibly insensitive! Stephen Hawking appears in Clip #3, Min. 2:00. Reactions to "Family Guy" and treatment of disabilities. Pathologies to Power final: "Disability, Health, and Community" by Tram Bui, Robert Alleyne, and Jordan Saenz.

(Universal Pictures UK) Trailer "The Theory of Everything" playing now in select theaters.

(Last Week Tonight with John Oliver) Stephen Hawking proves he has a sense of humor beyond "The Simpsons," interview with John Oliver (HBO).

CARTOON: Hawking discusses, "They Saved Lisa [Simpsons]'s Brain."

More fun than hedonistic sex with call girls...oh, wait, Olympian McKayla disapproves.

Psychic Phenomena Today (abhinna)

Wisdom Quarterly

What the West has labelled psychokinesis, ESP, or paranormal activity has a long history in Buddhism and India. Hinduism calls these natural powers, dormant in the vast majority of people, siddhis. Buddhism refers to them as abhinna (abhijñā, abhiññā) or "higher knowledges." They are rooted in meditative absorptions ("right concentration" or samma samadhi) either developed in this life or in past lives. The karmic ability manifests as a natural inclination or ability, which leads us to conclude that "either you're born with it or you're not." No one is "born" with it, as such. Everyone develops it. But having developed it in the past, it may manifest spontaneously. Then it will be misconstrued as having no cause, that is, something someone is simply born with for no reason. Whereas there are many stories of such things in Buddhist texts, Katie presents a modern case of paranormal powers:

The Gold Leaf Lady

and Other Parapsychological Investigations

Prof. Stephen E. Braude, Univ. of Maryland

Katie, the Gold Leaf Lady

I was seated across a table from a woman, no more than three feet away. And while we were talking, a small piece of gold-colored foil appeared suddenly on her face. I knew that her hands were nowhere near her face when this happened. In fact, I was certain they were in full view on the table the entire time. I knew also that if her husband, seated next to her, had placed the material on her face, I would have seen it clearly. But nobody’s hands had been anywhere near her face. So I knew that the material hadn’t been placed there; it appeared there, evidently without normal assistance.

This was one of several similar incidents that occurred during my most fascinating paranormal investigation: the case of a woman much of whose body -- not just parts of her face -- would break out in what looked like gold leaf. But first, some background. We need to be clear about just how unusual and potentially important this case is.

Parapsychologists study several interesting phenomena, but they focus primarily on the evidence for extrasensory perception (ESP), psychokinesis (PK), and survival of bodily death. Of course, many consider all of these incredible and unworthy of serious attention. Others agree that they’re extraordinary, but believe they’re both possible and worth studying. And still others consider at least some of the phenomena to be natural and part of everyday life. In fact, many would say ESP is merely a form of intuition and leave the matter there. More

• "Weird or What?" (Discovery Channel)
• Immortal Remains: The Evidence For Life After Death
• RVConference.org (remote viewing)

Grateful? What if you had no limbs? (video)

Wisdom Quarterly featuring Nic Vujicic

No arms, no legs? No worries! (attitudeisaltitude.com)

Karma in Buddhism never means the result of past actions, even though we use it that way. Those results are called phala (fruit) and vipaka (resultant). Karma means willed or intentionally performed deeds of mind, speech, or body.

The idea that we are victims of our past is exactly the corrupted idea (taught by some ancient brahmin priests and other independent teachers in India) the Buddha was trying to root out.

Karma is what we do right now. Our responses to the fruition (phala) of our former actions is our karma, not our circumstances.

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Superman (Christopher Reeves) got thrown from a horse. That's what happened. What did he do? Did he sulk in bed getting drunk and taking it out on everyone? Did he cry in anger to an all-powerful God chanting "Why, why, why...?"? No. His deeds were inspirational. He was grateful for his "miserable" circumstances.

We have the choice to be happy -- even if we don't have the choice of our immediate circumstances. We have the choice of how we look at anything, regardless of how others tell us to look at or feel about it. The Buddhist teachings of karma, a very complex subject, are ultimately very uplifting: We can do it.

We can be free. We can be happy in an instant. We can help others and help ourselves and help everyone involved all at the same time. Because what happens to us RIGHT NOW depends on what we do, say, and think. We probably can't afford the luxury of a negative thought. What we will be depends on what we do. But what we are right now depends, in part, on RIGHT NOW. All we ever are is NOW. All that ever happens happens NOW.

Therefore, Eckhart Tolle realized that there's power in NOW. That's the only place we have power -- whether we are passive and receiving or active and giving -- we are always choosing now. To prove that karma teachings are uplifting, we should know that there are many kinds and classifications of karma. We don't need to know them or to know which ones are operating for us right now. It's enough to know that there are many, and this will fill us with hope.

• Wholesome karma, skillful karma, profitable karma, intervening karma, frustrating karma, redounding karma, rebirth-linking karma, exalted karma, karma rooted in generosity, compassion, wisdom, mindfulness, clarity... All of these forms benefit one for a long time. Their detailed names and functions with examples can be found in a dense tome called The Workings of Kamma.

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Words

Caroline Gall (BBC)


Children are to be offered lessons on how to speak English formally amid fears that many are suffering from "word poverty," it has been reported. But how many words do people tend to know and use?

Do people know more words than they actually use? And is having a large vocabulary something you learn or have a natural ability for?

• Brain dictionary: How many words does the average person know?

These are burning issues in the worlds of linguistics and education. On Monday [4/27/09] it was reported that children in England will have lessons in formal language amid fears that some are suffering from stunted vocabularies.

US company Global Language Monitor (GLM) believes that the one millionth word will be added to the English language in mid-June. More>>

• Global Language Monitor
• Professor David Crystal