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Tuesday, January 25, 2022

STOP drinking alcohol - period

 RATS

My wife is really going to be upset with me now. I have a string of videos from one of my heroes, Dr. Michael Greger, that pretty much proves that alcohol is a carcinogen and contributes to cardiac problems big time. I quit meat and dairy based on his research and many others - so now I am vegan, and about to become a complete teetotaler. There is no justice. 

Just in case anyone actually reads these - just posting it here will help me adhere to it.
Now what do I do with all of the alcohol I was gifted over the holidays! I've got some great NA beer - where is the NA wine and Scotch?  Any sources?

References

A Little Bit is Not Good.
This is the one that sold me: 
Video: https://nutritionfacts.org/video/is-it-better-to-drink-little-alcohol-than-none-at-all/
Text: https://nutritionfacts.org/2022/01/25/is-it-better-to-drink-a-little-alcohol-than-none-at-all/

There are lots of studies that seem to indicate that a few drinks - as many as one a day - actually may improve the odds for diseases. BUT  . . on closer examination, those studies all have one fatal flaw - they did NOT determine the length of time that the NON imbibers had been alcohol free. It turns out that people with serious alcohol problems do quit drinking at some point, but it is usually far too late. So they tilt the studies just a bit to indicate that some alcohol seems to prevent diseases. A lot of apparent teetotalers are actually reformed alcoholics, and they die from the thing eventually. The same thing was originally found in smoking studies. Lots of former smokers are among us - like me.
The video is short, and the transcript is right there, if you read better than listen.

Here are the others in the series.

  1. http://nutritionfacts.org/video/can-alcohol-cause-cancer
  2. http://nutritionfacts.org/video/The-Best-Source-of-Resveratrol
  3. http://nutritionfacts.org/video/Is-It-Better-to-Drink-Little-Alcohol-Than-None-at-All
  4. http://nutritionfacts.org/video/Do-Any-benefits-of-Alcohol-Outweigh-the-Risks
Sorry about this. Don't tell my wife, ok? We are barely getting to normal with me being vegan! Let's just keep this between us for now. Thanks. Stay Safe.   Later.

Here's the actual research study:

Friday, January 14, 2022

The Overstory by Richard Powers - A Book Recommendation

 I really loved reading this book,The Overstory by Richard Powers. I often tell my wife, "This is the best book I have ever read" - and I said it for this one.  After reading it, I decided I had to find and read everything this author wrote. If you look him up, Richard Powers, you will get some idea of the breadth of his work. I am always amazed at how broad a background of information an author puts into a really good story. We have biology, neuroscience, psychology, politics, medicine, computers, love and life.

But the main reason to read this book is that it will fill  you with a sense of AWE. Awe is as near to a religious experience as I am ever going to get, and this book gave it to me in almost every chapter. I had to stop and think a bit for every one. I thought I had a handle on life, the universe and meaning and purpose - but this opened up a whole new dimension for me. I used to marvel at the bird that could fly to my bird feeder. Now the tree it flits from is even more amazing. The world is alive!

The book is basically about trees - and the author presents a huge number of amazing things about trees, how they operate, talk, cooperte, and affect the whole planet. He tells the story through a small group of humans, and how they interact with trees, and with each other. It has life, and love, adventure, risk, tragedy, joy and sadness. The author understands humans as well as he does trees.

The planet is in terrible shape. We are destroying it rapidly, as compared to how it slowly grew to be the amazing assemblage of life that it once was. I do my best to have as minimal a negative impact as I can. You could do worse than reading the paper pages of this book, even if it cost a small tree. Or, better, get it from the library, or buy the Kindle edition. 

Trust me - read this - you will love it, and it will change how you think about trees, humans, love, life and the planet. And, one by one, we might be able to actually work this out. If not, the trees will eventually put it back, and move it forward after we are gone. 

Thursday, January 13, 2022

Political Identity and Personality

 Political Identity and Personality

This is definitely a work in progress, but I thought others might be interested in this developing idea. If you are paying attention at all, you might be puzzled by all of the seemingly irrational behavior around facemasks. It is another example of a simple scientific fact gone totally haywire when it is politicized. Here is some research which might  help us understand this craziness. 


One is a Podcast entry by one of my favorites - You Are Not So Smart.

https://youarenotsosmart.com/2020/07/31/yanss-185-why-the-reason-behind-why-some-people-refuse-to-wear-masks-during-a-pandemic-has-little-to-do-with-the-masks-themselves/

This is a discussion of recent psychological research into the way people identify with a sense of self and a political cause to the extent that they MUST protect that self identity at all costs. The podcast is long, but he gives an outline of the ideas in the first 10 minutes, which is excellent. Do listen to the introduction.


Brief Summary  Here is a short hand explanation, also published in an older blog entry:
https://carlscheider.blogspot.com/2020/08/why-people-are-so-upset-about-wearing.html 

  1. Tribal psychology. Our identity is wrapped up in our tribal membership.

  2. There is NO minimal group paradigm. People belong to a group, period. It is automatic, it is instant, it is not a decision.

  3. Us vs Them. We favor our own group over the other, even to the damage of our own group. Any conflict over resources and humans puts us automatically into us versus them thinking, even if that is not the best strategy for our own group. We have to WIN, no matter the cost to ourselves.

  4. Anything can trigger Group Identity. In times of great conflict groups will hold positions based on anything. Beliefs and attitudes that have no political impact, will take on an US vs THEM power.
    A good example is the HPV (Human Papillomavirus) vs HBV vaccine (Hepatitis B). Both are vaccines against viruses. Both prevent serious illnesses and cancers. HBV was not politicized, and most people are now protected. HPV causes a wide variety of cancers, and it is probably present in 70% of the population. It is our most common STD. The manufacturer introduced it to Congress to get early approval and to make it mandatory. It became a political flashpoint.

  5. Contempt for the other generates even more anger. We need to treat each other with care and respect or we have no way out of this mess we are in.


Conclusions:

  1. We are unaware that we are doing this. We create reasons and rationalizations automatically because our trusted peers - our tribes - will agree with us.

  2. ANY fact based issue can become politicized - anything. Even masks.

  3. We had hoped that a shared threat would bring people together to confront it. BUT then Covid 19 happened - and it was politicized, so we are now fighting over that. Some of us think this is all a grand plot by the other side. Really.

  4. Do not antagonize them, do not treat them poorly. It is not helpful. 

  5. We MUST avoid politicizing the vaccine - we simply MUST! The downside is too great.


On the other end of the scientific spectrum is this one:

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/unconscious-branding/202008/our-brains-divulge-our-decisions-we-even-know-them

This explores fundamental neurological research using MRI scans that demonstrates that we “decide” things up to 11 seconds before we are even aware of them. 


Longer Explanation
I think best by writing - and it works better if I write a lot. Sorry about that.


Psychology - personal identity

On the psychology front, scientists say our sense of self, our self identity, normally has a number of different spheres or “tribes”. We are members or participants in different personal identities - we are a member of a  family, a religious group. political party, sports team fan, geographical location, etc. A part of our personal sense of self is identified with that group - we are basically tribal, and our sense of self depends on our membership in these various groups. When we have a diverse set of identities, they are sometimes at odds with each other, and we are pushed to choose one or the other. This gives us a sense of uncomfortable dissonance. Our sense of identity does not change easily. People do not leave a religion they were raised in without considerable effort over time. The same is true for political parties, or sports team fans - the latter is the most amazing one to my mind.


In the past few decades, for many of us, our sense of self has been narrowing and winnowing down the different groups.When we have a strong sense of identity with multiple groups, we have more options. We can almost choose among them for various beliefs. But when our group membership declines - when we have only a few strong tribal ties, they tend to all fall inl the same spectrum. Now when we are attacked, there is no option - we must respond to protect our identify in this group.


For one example, since the voting rights act of 1965, the Southern Democrats have been migrating to become Southern Republicans. It takes a generation or two, but the transformation is nearly complete. Our country now has a large group of people who are white, Republican, conservative, fundamentalist Christian. Their personal group experience and identity is made up of that experience. 


When something attacks our personal identity, our response is nearly automatic. One of the authors uses the example of a person in the jungle that hears a lion roar! If you are alone - you are likely to seek shelter, run, hide, etc. If you are with a large, armed group, you are likely to defend yourself, or even to attack. And that response will be nearly automatic. Imagine walking through the woods and coming upon a tiger in the path. Your brain will have your feet moving and your heart pumping before your brain actually recognizes the animal. 


Now imagine you are a member of a white, conservative, freedom loving, Republican, fundamentalist Christian group - and someone makes “mask wearing” an identity issue - for or against. Your brain will immediately adopt that view, just to maintain your sense of self, and your sense of membership in your protective group. No thinking required. If questioned, you will likely raise the specter of a large conspiracy to deprive all Americans of their fundamental liberties of some sort or other. 


The key insight for me is that these individuals are NOT stupid, they are not actually CHOOSING to act in this bizarre fashion. Their response to an attack on their solidified sense of personal identity is nearly automatic. It is a highly tuned behavioral response from millenia of evolution. The corollary of that is that no amount of argument or persuasion is going to dissuade them of this response. It would take a much stronger intervention. 


Neuroscience - decision making

Now to neuroscience. I am one hundred percent sure that I am in charge of what I am thinking. BUT  . . . if you really pay attention to what is going on in your brain at any point in time, there are hundreds of threads running around in there. You have a sense that you choose one of them to follow. But, in fact, your history, your experience, your emotions, choose that path for you. And if you are threatened, the decision happens even faster, and you have hardly any awareness of the choice. If you happen to be a lifelong practitioner of mindfulness, you might actually be able to filter some of the threads, and choose one over others. A friend of mine counsels ex-convicts on how to manage their “evil thoughts”. It’s a type of cognitive therapy. Her patients say, “But I have all of these ideas about bad things all the time”. She says, “We all do. But just don’t invite them in for coffee!.” Research has pretty well established that people with some skill at mindfulness can gain better control of this stream of consciousness. 


The research article cited above talks about MRI scans - biological empirical evidence - not a person’s conscious awareness, which would likely be clouded by their sense of identity that says that they are, in fact, in charge of their thinking. This research was done with completely arbitrary things - symbols - nothing that would threaten the subject’s sense of self. It confirms that our brain chooses things about 11 seconds before we are conscious of the decision. This is just empirical evidence that we are barely in charge of our thinking and decisions.


Personality Types

There is also some evidence that our brains are very different - and that diversity is the norm - not an aberration, not a personality disorder, not a disease. Our brains are structured differently from birth, and we can make them even more different. Because of the brain’s plasticity, it is changed by the way others care for us, how we are educated, what we teach ourselves. We can make physical, biological changes to our brain. For a very simple example - when I look at a clock - I can see the time, but my brain also has this image of all of the parts in there - be it digital or analog. I can “see” the gears, springs, etc. My wife just sees the time. And she also notes the color, the style, the type of text, etc. My brain rarely registers any of that. When I look at my TV and its connected gadgets, I SEE the cables, the controls, the HDMI interfaces, etc. When my wife looks at it - she sees some black gadgets which do her bidding if she can remember which one has which remote - period. She also notes their physical arrangement, color scheme, and if there is any dust on them. I tend to NOT see any of that.


I have a kind of technical, analytical brain or way of looking at things. She has a descriptive, external appearance, sense of order and pattern way of looking at things. Neither one of us is abnormal.One of our children has what I can only call, an “artistic” brain. He operates on a level I cannot even imagine. His brain runs through patterns and relationships, colors and shapes that are far beyond me.  It takes all kinds. What we are learning is that some of us are more exceptional than we realized in the past. Human diversity is much broader than our normal black and white categories. Most of us have a sense of our gender identity that falls into two norms - male and female. We have more recently discovered that a fairly large percentage of us fall outside of that norm. Some of us with male anatomy, identify as female, and vice versa. Some of us do not identify with either of the binary choices. It appears that these differences in our mental outlook, in our sense of self, are based primarily in our genetics, in our biology, with some plasticity from upbringing and training - but not much. If your physical height is 5 foot 10, odds are high that you are not going to be a professional basketball player, but with a lot of work and some great physical skills, you might play college varsity. If you are color blind, your path to a successful career as an artist or electrician will not be the normal one.


Normal Personality Diversity

Some of the personality types that we have characterized as illness or disorders in the past, are now seen as “normal”. They are a small subset of the majority of us, but they are real. In the same way “male” and “female” are the majority categories, while many varieties of transgender, and crossgender personalities are normal.


For example, we have discovered that psychopathy is not a disorder, or a disease, but rather one of many “types” of brains or personalities that “normal” people exhibit. The key insight into this came from Dr. James Fallon - the neuroscientist that discovered he was a psychopath. 

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/the-neuroscientist-who-discovered-he-was-a-psychopath-180947814/


Research indicates that about 1 to 2% of us are “normal” psychopaths. They tend to be very bright, persuasive, charismatic individuals, who do not have much empathy or feeling for how they may affect others. It also appears that extreme narcissism is another “normal” personality type. Both of these can be molded somewhat in their upbringing as young people, so that they are not a danger to society, but their basic tendencies are not “correctable.” They are perfectly normal for them. It is, however, very helpful for people around them to understand their tendencies. It is like trying to teach someone who is dyslexic. It makes little sense to try to teach them to read - you are better off finding another approach to help them learn. You do not appeal to the common good with a narcissist. They cannot think in terms beyond their own self interest. The key insight is that this is not a choice which they can alter - it is what it is. 

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/fulfillment-any-age/202008/new-understanding-psychopathys-core


Dark Empathy

Here is a bit more research along the lines of what is the new “normal” for these extreme personality types. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/experimentations/202008/introducing-the-dark-empath-0

This article explores the research, and also theorizes about the role these personality types play in society. Evolution has created these varieties - and they are self-sustaining. So they must be contributing something to our survival as a species. Our psychology researchers have come up with a lot more types than I could have imagined:

Dark Traits: The Dark Triad of Personality Scale, to measure Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy, along with the Narcissistic Personality.

Empathic - Cognitive and affective.

Big Five Personality: The Five Factor Personality Model, measured with the International Personality Item Pool, to estimate Openness to New Experience, Conscientiousness, Extroversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism (OCEAN).

Relational Aggression: Using the Indirect Aggression Scale, participants indicated where they landed on three scales for tendency to socially-exclude others (Social Exclusion), the use of mean-spirited humor (Malicious Humor) and how much they try to make others guilt (Guilt Induction).

Depression, Anxiety, Stress: Using the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale to look at emotional well-being.

Ability to enjoy life: Measuring anhedonia using the Motivation and Pleasure Scale, assessing social, professional and recreational pleasure, drive for closeness, and motivation to engage in activities.

Self-criticism: Measured with subscales of the Self-Compassion Scale to look at self-judgment and overidentification with negative self-evaluations.


Other Types

Based purely on personal observation and NO empirical evidence to speak of, I think there are other personality types we clearly need to define and figure out how to manage.

Rational - people who are more persuaded by objective evidence than their group identity or tradition and the like. Rare types indeed.

Persuadable - people who are easily persuaded by their group identity and values to the point that they cannot rationally evaluate new information. 


What To Do About all this

The key to me would be to somehow identify the genetic markers and / or brain scan that would help us identify ourselves and others apart from our conscious awareness. For example, I think I am fairly bright, and my IQ score confirms that. That IQ measure is fairly helpful, but it measures a very narrow set of skills - how to take verbal tests successfully. I don’t do as well on the mathematical ones!  I know my empathic awareness is way down the scale from the “normal” or majority ability. I can compensate for that somewhat, but at a certain point, there is no way I can improve that.  My regard for tradition and authority is meager at best, which makes me a “progressive” and therefore a dangerous person in the context of religion and culture. I don’t think that is amenable to education and training - and Jonathan Haidt’s research seems to agree with that. 


How To Ameliorate?

So, we have a problem here. How do we move forward, now that we understand some of this? There is not a great amount of research on how to “FIX” things. There are some indications that the following might be able to help.


  • Mindfulness - a good grounding in this discipline seems to enable people to be more empathic, to be more aware of the impact of their emotional and value based identities, so that they can be somewhat more in charge of their choices and responses. 

  • Service - when people are engaged with other people in a service role, and the people they serve are of a different group, be it culture, personality, mindset, history - it seems to open them a bit to the true diversity among us, Then they tend to value those others as people, even if not at the same level as they see themselves. 

  • Social Norm Persuasion or Nudge - We now have at our command a vast network of social communications which could be used for the greater good - or abused. The best example of a positive use is the Designated Driver/ This enormously successful social experiment started in 1988. A quote:

    • The three major television networks and the Hollywood studios that produce most of their programming are joining in a coordinated attack against drinking and driving that will include dialogue in popular entertainment shows as well as public-service advertising…The Harvard Alcohol Project, as the cooperative effort is called, is intended “to model a new social norm.” While there have been informal attempts in the past to coordinate advertising and entertainment programming, “there has never been anything this organized,” said Grant Tinker, former chairman of NBC.

An analysis of how this worked has 10 key attributes. Read the article cited above to understand them.The key ones are: narrow focus; only a modest behavioral change; a positive, empowering message - not negative; broad support in the society and the entertainment industry. Most people did not even realize that this was a coordinated effort to alter social behavior - and it worked. There have been similar experiments with savings rates in South Africa, and some formal studies.
Entertainment-Education Media Strategies for Social Change


Bottom Line

Human beings are immensely complicated, and we have only begun to discover how interesting and varied we really are. As we continue to learn about ourselves, it raises the hope that we can create some infrastructure in our social mores which will allow for more diversity, and restrain those types that are considered destructive of social order. Typically, we use laws and courts to do that. We support those with education and advertising - yes advertising. As noted above, a positive, concerted use of media and entertainment, coordinated with advertising CAN alter social mores. 


For a lot more on all of this, see this post from some time ago with its bibliography of sources:

https://carlscheider.blogspot.com/2021/02/reflective-cognition-metacognition-and.html

For details on the brain, neuroscience, etc., look at this one:

https://carlscheider.blogspot.com/2021/04/finally-i-understand-what-is-wrong-with.html


Thanks. Stay Safe.