Cort Johnson at Simmaron Research writes about an upcoming study of how the immune system is compromised in ME patients. For thirty or forty years you might be able to easily slough off this bug or that pathogen, but at some point for some reason the stars aligned; you were depleted in just the right …
Category Archives: Thoughts
Selfish Genes
I’ve just come across a on-my-first-impression fascinating online magazine Aeon with quite a few articles worthy of comment. One that garnered its fair share of discussion was ‘Die, selfish gene, die‘ by David Dobbs arguing that Richard Dawkins’ concept of the selfish gene is no longer useful with the growing awareness of the importance of …
Mindfulness Once Again
Having expressed my ambivalence toward the practice of mindfulness the other day I felt I should report this post from the Scientific American blog by Tom Ireland. MRI scans show that after an eight-week course of mindfulness practice, the brain’s “fight or flight” center, the amygdala, appears to shrink. This primal region of the brain, …
Grieving
Up until last August I only knew of Erik Meyer as a CSS guru (that’s Cascading Style Sheets — web stuff) but then his daughter was diagnosed with a brain tumour and over the last year he has been writing about his family’s experience. It seems wrong to say so but he has written that …
Pope Francis on Capitalism and War
We are in a world economic system that is not good. A system that in order to survive must make war, as great empires have always done. But since you cannot have a Third World War, you have regional wars. And what does this mean? That arms are made and sold, and in this way …
Paddington Bear
As a confirmed consumer of marmalade sandwiches at breakfast-time I thought I ought to post this trailer for the film about a childhood icon with a similar predilection. I must say he doesn’t look a thing like the illustrations I remember so fondly. Maybe it’s the missing duffel coat.
‘The Phases of Venus and Heliocentricity: A Rough Guide’
Another excellent ‘Rough Guide‘ to the state of historical research into astronomy in the early modern period, this time asking what the observation of the phases of Venus proved or didn’t prove about rival models of the Solar System. Clear and nicely complicated! Thank you Renaissance Mathematicus.
Choosing Thoughts
Over at Big Think yesterday they had a quote from William James: “The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another.” If only it were that easy! If only our ability to choose were so straightforward! Since I have had ME I find that anxious and stressful thoughts — usually …
The Experimental Theology of Insults: Two Standards
Richard Beck of Experimental Theology reports the research findings on how we react to insults. Specifically, he and his co-workers ask if the propensity to notice and feel insulted is more an emotional issue (we get angry easily or we are easily slip into negative emotions) or an ego issue (we think we have more …
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Mindfulness? Contemplative Attitude?
I have an ambiguous relationship with mindfulness. It is recommended for so many purposes and I have myself taught Anthony De Mello’s version of mindfulness exercises but I have never got far with it as a personal practice. I didn’t when it was offered me as a way of preparing for prayer (I always found …