Aeon+Psyche
Stats + related links for Why we need an absence of noise to hear anything important

Our cities are filled by the hubbub of human-made noise. Where shall we find the quietness we need to nurture our spirit? Open at source
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Aeon+Psyche
Mindfulness is loaded with (troubling) metaphysical assumptionsAeon+Psyche
10 min read · From 2019 · Mindfulness promotes itself as value-neutral but it is loaded with (troubling) assumptions about the self and the cosmos
mindfulness
spirituality
Aeon+Psyche
For 97% of human history, equality was the norm. What happened?Aeon+Psyche
~14 min read · Jun 10th · For 97 per cent of human history, all people had about the same power and access to goods. How did inequality ratchet up?
society
history
equality
Most highlighted
Since the elites are massively outnumbered, the origins and stability of unequal divisions of the cake are puzzling, especially once we realise that this is a very recent aspect of our social existence.
Our particular species of humans has been around for about 300,000 years and, best as we can tell, for about 290,000 of those years we lived materially poorer but much more equal lives.
Our particular species of humans has been around for about 300,000 years and, best as we can tell, for about 290,000 of those years we lived materially poorer but much more equal lives. For most of our life as a species, most communities lived as mobile foragers, shifting camps when local resources became scarce, but probably sticking to a regular pattern over a defined territory.
Aeon+Psyche
On the dangers of seeing human minds as predictive machinesAeon+Psyche
~12 min read · Jan 25th · Cognitive scientists and corporations alike see human minds as predictive machines. Right or wrong, they will change how we think
psychology
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guesses about the future, assembled from ever-deeper forays into our lives and minds, and sold on to someone who wants to manipulate that future.
Thomas Hobbes, in his book Leviathan (1651), likened human bodies to ‘automata’, ‘[e]ngines that move themselves by springs and wheeles as doth a watch’.
It was the brainchild of Norbert Wiener, an MIT mathematician and scientist.
Psychology Today
The Danger With MindfulnessPsychology Today
6 min read · Jul 13th · The facts about mindfulness no one's talking about.
better living
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as the adage goes: if you only have a hammer, everything can look like a nail. The reality is that we need many tools in the "mental health toolbox" for a variety of stressful situations life will throw our way: what about the saw, screwdriver, or pliers? A contributing factor is that we live in a consumerist, capitalist country. It has been overly commodified, its origins partially distorted. Not enough people, especially health professionals are researchers, are talking about the risks, contraindications, or downsides of practice, or who specifically it's best suited for and when.
Practicing mindfulness when you're not mentally ready, or when you actually need a nap, to eat, a massage, to work, or an important conversation with a loved one can clearly create more difficulties than it's meant to mitigate.  References
There have even been some depictions of mindfulness as a panacea for suffering, despite the fact that mindfulness was not originally developed to treat suffering or disease
Aeon+Psyche
To be fully human, we must also be fully embodied animalAeon+Psyche
~13 min read · Apr 6th · Human exceptionalism is dead: for the sake of our own happiness and the planet we should embrace our true animal nature
psychology
The Guardian
Why lockdown silence was golden for scienceThe Guardian
8 min read · 2020-06-20 · From acoustic engineers in Britain to marine biologists in Canada, researchers made the most of the drastic drop in noise from human activity
science
Mindful
How To Meditate with Noise: A 3-Minute Practice for AnywhereMindful
1 min read · 2020-04-03 · Meditation can't always happen in blissful silence. By tuning in to the cacophony of everyday activity, we can find a space to rest and settle the mind.
mindfulness
Aeon+Psyche
Consciousness is neither a spooky mystery nor an illusory beliefAeon+Psyche
10 min read · 2019-12-16 · Consciousness is neither a spooky mystery nor an illusory belief. It’s a valid and causally efficacious biological reality
philosophy
mindfulness
consciousness
Aeon+Psyche
Hegel and the history of human natureAeon+Psyche
~14 min read · 2020-11-02 · For Hegel, human nature strives through history to unchain itself from tradition. But is such inner freedom worth the cost?
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