DNA, Fiction and Society; How it Affects Thought
DNA, Fiction and Society; How it Affects Thought
A book called the Seven Daughters of Eve by Richard Sykes is worthy of a read and talks about what we have learned about the flow of human beings populations through DNA research. Thus it is safe to say that certain members of our species have developed differently and in different ways, meaning the brain also learns differently. As Scientists look at different human brains while doing various tasks and watch which areas light up with energy as it works through these different thoughts and tasks we are finding just how unique and different each mind really is.Yet as we learn more about the brain we indeed add more questions to our studies. Why does man need to think. Why does mankind feel the need to share these thoughts and concepts in their writings? It appears that the flow of thought may be the single most important part of life. The process of thought is probably the single most important part of human life. "I think therefore, I am" Are you, is that it? So what is it with this large complex body? Is it to serve the brain? Or is the brain to serve the body? With these questions and the philosophers of prior periods and the writers and thinkers of today we can all agree that thought is one of the most important parts of self and of human life, if not the only true important part of life.Then why do we allow thought to be controlled by religion, governments, other men? If we study the dialogues of Plato, Galelio, Copernicus, etc. we see that man has often muffled thought and that often fiction is the only way to allow for truth or thought. So we therefore live in a world with a history of imprisoning dissenting or disagreeing views. But for mankind to move forward we need to stop this and allow free thought. As we see modern day people of deep thought attempt to bring forth their discoveries and enlightenment, we see them doing so by way of fictional works. We see great thoughts in our movies, novels, stories; why should we have to hide truths in fairy tales. Why can't we know graduate to the next level without such forced barriers? Think about it?"Lance Winslow" - If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs
How To Entertain A Thought
How To Entertain A Thought
After studying scores of great thinkers like Leonardo Da Vinci, I think I've stumbled upon what really set them apart from the rest of the folks living (and thinking) at the same time.It's remarkably simple. They learned how to entertain a thought.Aristotle said, "It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it."Hmmm. To entertain a thought without accepting it.We need to do that. Everyone needs to learn how to be good host or hostess to new ideas. In fact, our goal should be to become the Martha Stewart of mental entertaining!What if you treated a new thought like a guest?It's easier to think about mental entertaining if we put together a to-do list, just like Martha. Here it is:#1 Make the first move.
First of all, you issue an invitation. Nothing fancy. You don't have to make any major investment or lifelong commitment. You're simply inviting this person in.It's the same with initiating the entertainment of an idea. You might see a quote on the side of a bus somewhere, and decide you'd like to explore that concept more deeply. Or, maybe you find yourself bumping into the same topic all the time, and so you make up your mind to learn more about it. Either way, you need to be ready to initiate the process. Don't hide--you won't meet new ideas if you scurry away whenever the doorbell rings.#2 Prepare.
Uh-oh. Your house is a mess. You'd better do some cleaning. You're not really trying to impress, but hey, you could certainly do some sprucing up and get the place looking neat and inviting.Prepare for a new thought in the same way. Make some space in your mind to think about something new. According to Deepak Chopra, the well-known author on health and longevity, the average human has 60,000 thoughts a day. Pretty impressive? Well, here's the kicker: 57,000 of those are the same ones you had YESTERDAY! Now that's some serious clutter! Get rid of a few of those dusty old thoughts and make room for new ones.#3 Offer a warm greeting.
When your new guest arrives, be warm and inviting. After all, you're hoping to start a friendship. Put your best foot forward.It's the same with an idea. If you face it with skepticism, fear or detachment, you won't be entertaining it for long. You'll be eyeing your watch, yawning, or looking for a way to end the discussion early. You've got to be open and full of anticipation to prepare an environment in which new ideas will be explored and integrated fully. Just as it's no fair making lame excuses or having your friend call to interrupt the visit, it's also cheating to cut out too soon when it comes to entertaining an idea.#4 Make introductions.
This is the big one. You would certainly introduce your guest to everyone at the party, with a special effort to connect them to those with whom they may have something in common.Any new idea you consider will be more likely to be welcomed if you actively and intentionally introduce it to your other ideas and interests. Look for unusual and inspired pairings. How does it fit? Where does it fit? DOES it fit? You won't know until you try.Picture Leonardo Da Vinci's mental entertaining. His new idea, Human Flight, arrives, and immediately Leo sets about introducing him to others. "Human, meet my good friend, Engineering, and his lovely wife, Fabric Design. Oh, and have you met Bird Anatomy? She lives just around the corner from you. Oh, Dr. Entomology has arrived! Listen, Dr. E is absolutely brilliant, but a bit hard of hearing. Ask her about her recent work on the wings of insects! Now, you all make yourselves comfy and I'll go get some more wine."What happened at that party? Leonardo threw these ideas together, and BAM! What emerged was the idea for a perfectly designed parachute as well as a remarkable helicopter--hundreds of years before the Wright brothers started building their flying machines! Talk about a soaring success! Don't you wish you'd been there?#5 Offer the best seat in the house.
You usually sit in that nice chair there by the fireplace, but when a special guest comes over, you graciously offer it.When you are entertaining a new thought, give it the consideration it deserves. Every time you think a new thought, your brain is actually creating a new neural pathway. It's like a jungle in there, full of nerve endings and ganglia and all kinds of connections. Help it along. Make it comfortable.Once you've considered an idea, that pathway is there. All you have to do to keep it "live" is to keep going down that path often enough to clear the trail, but not so often that it becomes a rut.#6 Listen, inquire, and show interest.
Ask questions. Dig a little deeper. Find the connections to other people, places, and activities. Learn as much as you can about your new idea.#7 Relinquish control.
Just like when you introduce guests to each other, you should not try to control the outcome. Some guests might hate each other on sight, while others click instantly. People might argue, or a married guest might sneak off to a back room with someone other than their partner. Anything can happen!That's not up to you. You're having this party to offer an opportunity for people to connect. Make introductions, insert a few comments, smile and acknowledge everyone, but for the most part, just let things happen. Don't direct the flow of ideas.#8 Leave room for future possibilities.
Even if you decide this guest of yours is insufferable, you don't want to burn any bridges. Be gracious, and be glad you were excellent enough to offer the invitation.You're not going to like every idea that comes your way. And you might not find any other interest or idea that connects with it initially. That's fine. You need to develop the ability to recognize useful concepts and distinguish valuable and valid ideas from those lacking a strong foundation. That's what critical thinking is all about.But you also need to file that idea away so that you can look it up if and when you DO meet a likely candidate for another gathering of thoughts.There is a great deal of room for different styles of mental entertaining. Maybe you're best at dealing with only two ideas at a time, or maybe you want to throw a huge bash and welcome all comers.Entertain in whatever style suits you. Tete-a-tete or bacchanal--it doesn't matter, as long as it's happening.Learn how to entertain a thought. With a little effort, you'll become a perfect host or hostess to new ideas that come your way. And guess what? You'll have no hangover, no cleaning up, and no regrets.Party on!Maya Talisman Frost is a mind masseuse in Portland, Oregon. Through her company, Real-World Mindfulness Training, she teaches fun and effective eyes-wide-open alternatives to meditation. To subscribe to her free weekly ezine, the Friday Mind Massage, please visit http://www.MassageYourMind.com.
Thought Leaders – Using Article Marketing To Entrench Yourself and Your Personal Brand – Writing-Articles
Thought Leaders - Using Article Marketing To Entrench Yourself and Your Personal Brand
A "Thought Leader" is someone recognized as an authority in their field of expertise...also known as a visionary. Few people set out to become a "thought leader" or "guru," but there is good reason to not only establish yourself as an expert, but as a higher-level expert or "thought leader" for your market.How can you become a "thought leader" for your niche or industry?Besides risk-taking, leading a company that leads an industry, being vocal in your own blog and posting comments on other blogs & top industry forums within your niche... the easy answer to saturate the market is via the use of syndicated articles!Here's a mini-course on how to get started to build your own "thought leadership" following via submissions of ezine articles:QUANTITY: You'll need more than 100 articles to really do this right, and as you approach the 500-1,000 article level, you'll be closer to reaching a saturation point that builds a buzz around your name, your ideas, your articles and your expert opinions.Could you influence a market with 1 or 2 articles? Nope. Can you do it with 10-50 articles? Perhaps 10 years ago you could. Today's market is very competitive and as such, you need to do more than 'what everyone else does' if you want to stand out and get to the top, especially if you're in a niche that is very popular already.QUALITY: You want to use your articles to communicate your single-minded focus as the expert of your niche. This means quality articles, very little babble, and 1 or 2 links in the resource box that must reinforce your expertise and personal brand. This is not the time to be an affiliate marketer.Example: If you want people to take your Digital Photography business seriously, you can't post a Geocities, Tripod, etc. junk URL in your article resource box...but rather, you must post a domain name that you own that further solidifies the unity of your message. Also, leave out domains that you own that have nothing to do with the purpose of the article you're writing.Note: Quality does not mean high word-count quantity. Best if you keep your word-count in the 250-500 words per article so that you can achieve a high article count. A 500-word article performs the same as a 5,000-word article, so why give the marketplace more than they can absorb in an easy reading? Today's reader "scans" rather than deliberately reading every word of your articles.CONTROVERSY: Unlike other article writing reasons, when you write to achieve market "thought leadership" status, you must stir up the market by taking some gray issues and make them black and white. This is a good opportunity to take current events and provide your expert analysis and support reasons why certain issues are good or bad for the market, economy, world, etc.CONSISTENCY: Using article marketing or putting your hundreds of articles into distribution is not a one-shot Charlie routine, but rather it's a drum you begin beating and every week for a few years you pound your article submission drums louder and louder.It pays to create a burst of submissions (50-250) when you initially start, and then taper off to 10-100 new submissions per month until you reach a market saturation point that you feel puts your voice, your brand, your articles at the front of the pack.PROMOTION: Once you put your articles into distribution via the various article directories, ezine publishers, and specialty web directories of your niche - the next step is to promote them further by using them to establish credibility as you participate in forums, blog comments, your own blog/online journal, and your email newsletter."Thought Leadership" via Syndicated Articles Conclusion:It is possible to take the net by storm to position yourself as a 'thought leader' via putting hundreds and thousands of your articles into distribution. Within 6-18 months, you can become known as a "thought leader" in your niche if you'll do what no one else is doing and in a volume/quality that no one else had done to date for your niche. There is time and you can do it. Go for it! 
About The Author:Christopher M. Knight invites you to submit your best articles for massive exposure to the high-traffic http://EzineArticles.com/ directory. When you submit your articles to EzineArticles.com, your articles will be picked up by ezine publishers who will reprint your articles with your content and links in tact giving you traffic surges to help you increase your sales. To submit your article, setup a membership account today: http://EzineArticles.com/submit/Copyright 2005 - Christopher M. Knight. All Rights Reserved Worldwide. Reprint Rights: You may reprint this article as long as you leave all of the links active, do not edit the article in any way, give author name credit where credit is due and follow all of the EzineArticles terms of service for Publishers.