First, let me be clear: I mean 'materialist' in the sense that the laws of physics are the ONLY ones. In other words, under this paradigm, there is no 'supernatural'. I can explain in more detail if y'all'd like, but that's not really what this thread is about.
The trouble with trying to be perfectly secular is that our brains are not tuned to be perfectly logical or rational. We've got a zillion 'cognitive biases' with obvious evolutionary advantages, and the only reason we're able to perform logic and mathematics at all is because of the advantages of clear, complete communication - via language. So one might wonder - is it possible to use this logic/rationality to circumvent our instincts where they aren't advantageous, or even exploit those mechanisms to enhance our well-being?
The answer, I believe, is yes. I have a few different examples.
The Secret, or Think and Grow Rich
What it is
Most of you won't be alien to 'the secret', also known as 'think and grow rich', which is about positive thinking to achieve nebulous goals. But there is more than one (scientific) reason why it works - and understanding these can help you be careful what you wish for as well as not waste your time wishing for something that's outside of the realm of possibility (like shooting fireballs out of your fingertips).
How it works
One of the phenomena in play is the Expectancy effects. There are a few, since they affect all of our social interactions as well as our own behaviour. Basically, if you expect a certain outcome, or you can sense that someone else expects a certain outcome, your behaviour will adjust slightly to nudge the probability in that direction.
Examples
Brain-state control mostly Meditation
What it is
One of the few things our conscious mind is capable of is focus. By focusing on different things, we can change our brain activity state. You might think this is more of a basic ability than something magical, but controlling your state of mind is important for taking advantage of many of these 'tricks', and can amplify the results of ones that already work.
How it works
The executive functions are one of the less-well-understood brain areas (yes, there are some areas which we understand very well). So I can't really give you the neurological reason for this. The classic way to 'train' this ability is to focus on literally nothing at all, such that you are in an intense state without actually thinking about anything in particular. This way, you don't limit yourself to one particular area - your general focus improves in all areas.
Examples
Psychosomatics
What it is
Sensory perception is a weird and complex beast. Our brain gets signals from throughout the body. But from there, the information gets refined, processed, and distributed all over the place - and mixed together, and amplified. This doesn't always happen in the most accurate of ways and the unconscious part of our brain (which is most of it - some say 97-98%) tends to take that information and work with it, no matter how inaccurate. Some estimate that 70% of most symptoms are psychosomatic severity - not caused by the pain/nausea/etc. itself but by how our brain reacts to it. The cool thing is, our conscious minds do have some control over how the information is processed, which means we can indirectly affect how our body reacts.
How it works
Similar to Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy, it basically involves consciously reinterpreting your sensations to mean something other than what your instinct is. Ideally, you reinterpret it as something that you yourself have control over, and that changes your biological response.
Examples
Imagination-empathy
What it is
Perhaps the most important aspect of the executive functions is the ability to come up with hypothetical situations in our mind's eye and 'test' them against the rest of our mind, and even against our bodies and the world (e.g. air guitar). The coolest thing (IMO) about it is, our mirror neurons don't know the difference. I'm sure most INFJs have experienced it at one point or another - reading a story, or hearing about someone they have never met, and feeling genuine empathy for them. We reconstruct the person in our imaginations, and it's so close to real that we can't help it.
How it works
When you need to feel a certain way, simply imagine someone feeling that way and attempt to empathize with them.
Examples
After proofreading this, I realize it's kind of vague and things are split up in ways that don't really make a lot of sense, but hopefully you can put two and two together to make five
Do you do any of these? If not, wanna try it? Do you have any other suggestions? Did I miss any important details?
This thread is for secular magic only. No metaphysics allowed!
The trouble with trying to be perfectly secular is that our brains are not tuned to be perfectly logical or rational. We've got a zillion 'cognitive biases' with obvious evolutionary advantages, and the only reason we're able to perform logic and mathematics at all is because of the advantages of clear, complete communication - via language. So one might wonder - is it possible to use this logic/rationality to circumvent our instincts where they aren't advantageous, or even exploit those mechanisms to enhance our well-being?
The answer, I believe, is yes. I have a few different examples.
The Secret, or Think and Grow Rich
What it is
Most of you won't be alien to 'the secret', also known as 'think and grow rich', which is about positive thinking to achieve nebulous goals. But there is more than one (scientific) reason why it works - and understanding these can help you be careful what you wish for as well as not waste your time wishing for something that's outside of the realm of possibility (like shooting fireballs out of your fingertips).
How it works
One of the phenomena in play is the Expectancy effects. There are a few, since they affect all of our social interactions as well as our own behaviour. Basically, if you expect a certain outcome, or you can sense that someone else expects a certain outcome, your behaviour will adjust slightly to nudge the probability in that direction.
Examples
- Consider the example of a hot stove - if you expect it to be hot, you'll be a lot quicker to withdraw your hand after touching it, and suffer less damage.
- What about a job interview? If you know you're going to get the job, unless the interviewer takes your expectancy as unwarranted arrogance, you're going to convince them a lot more easily.
- We have to be extremely careful of these effects in scientific studies - if the test subject or even the person doing the testing expects a certain result, that result is ridiculously more likely to occur.
- A more controversial example - Children with Down's syndrome who undergo surgery to fix their tongue and eyes so that they don't look or sound as unusual will grow up to have an IQ about 15 points higher than their more disadvantaged counterparts. (granted, they're still going to be well below average, but this is the difference between being clinically retarded and just being one of the slower kids in the class.) People have different expectations for someone they know is mentally retarded - and this has a profound effect on that person's development.
Brain-state control mostly Meditation
What it is
One of the few things our conscious mind is capable of is focus. By focusing on different things, we can change our brain activity state. You might think this is more of a basic ability than something magical, but controlling your state of mind is important for taking advantage of many of these 'tricks', and can amplify the results of ones that already work.
How it works
The executive functions are one of the less-well-understood brain areas (yes, there are some areas which we understand very well). So I can't really give you the neurological reason for this. The classic way to 'train' this ability is to focus on literally nothing at all, such that you are in an intense state without actually thinking about anything in particular. This way, you don't limit yourself to one particular area - your general focus improves in all areas.
Examples
- Falling asleep at will
- Meditation (obviously)
- Staying awake during a boring activity
Psychosomatics
What it is
Sensory perception is a weird and complex beast. Our brain gets signals from throughout the body. But from there, the information gets refined, processed, and distributed all over the place - and mixed together, and amplified. This doesn't always happen in the most accurate of ways and the unconscious part of our brain (which is most of it - some say 97-98%) tends to take that information and work with it, no matter how inaccurate. Some estimate that 70% of most symptoms are psychosomatic severity - not caused by the pain/nausea/etc. itself but by how our brain reacts to it. The cool thing is, our conscious minds do have some control over how the information is processed, which means we can indirectly affect how our body reacts.
How it works
Similar to Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy, it basically involves consciously reinterpreting your sensations to mean something other than what your instinct is. Ideally, you reinterpret it as something that you yourself have control over, and that changes your biological response.
Examples
- You hear scurrying - perhaps it is the furnace fan starting up, not a mouse as you originally thought. No action needed really since the furnace fan is part of the house.
- Your leg hurts - perhaps it is merely tired from the day's work, and not an indication of something more sinister. You massage it a little and the pain increases slightly but it's clearly a recovery ache - the 'good kind' of pain.
- You have a headache - suppose it is caffeine withdrawal rather than an infection. Drink a cup of coffee and it will largely go away, even if that wasn't the reason - it may still hurt, but it'll be a lot less world-shattering.
Imagination-empathy
What it is
Perhaps the most important aspect of the executive functions is the ability to come up with hypothetical situations in our mind's eye and 'test' them against the rest of our mind, and even against our bodies and the world (e.g. air guitar). The coolest thing (IMO) about it is, our mirror neurons don't know the difference. I'm sure most INFJs have experienced it at one point or another - reading a story, or hearing about someone they have never met, and feeling genuine empathy for them. We reconstruct the person in our imaginations, and it's so close to real that we can't help it.
How it works
When you need to feel a certain way, simply imagine someone feeling that way and attempt to empathize with them.
Examples
- Starving children in Africa (assuming you do care about them; I know some don't)
- Crying, fear, etc. at movies (not pure imagination but it's still a sub-reality)
- Picturing someone freezing in the arctic when you are hot in summer
After proofreading this, I realize it's kind of vague and things are split up in ways that don't really make a lot of sense, but hopefully you can put two and two together to make five
Do you do any of these? If not, wanna try it? Do you have any other suggestions? Did I miss any important details?
This thread is for secular magic only. No metaphysics allowed!
