IS PSYCHOTHERAPY THE LESS EXPENSIVE WAY TO WELL-BEING?

Psychotherapy may be an effective way to boost happiness. That's what Drs. Chris Boyce and Alex Wood found. Chris Boyce and Alex Wood of the Universities of Warwick and Manchester, respectively, compared large data sets where thousands of people had reported on their well-being.

"We have shown that psychological therapy could be much more cost effective than financial compensation (...) at alleviating psychological distress", said Boyce.


You may read the whole article at:
http://trak.in/news/psychotherapy-may-be-an-effective-way-to-boost-happiness/26162/

MORE BOOKS

http://publicliterature.org/

Still about books.  Not from this year of course, but some of them are great classics. You can download them for free. Some people can read on a PC I prefer an e-reader because it's lighter and you can enlarge the font, but the option is yours. Project Gutenberg also has lots of classics for free download.

NOTABLE BOOKS OF 2009

http://www.nytimes.com/gift-guide/holiday-2009/100-notable-books-of-2009-gift-guide/list.html

100 notable books of 2009 according to the New York Books Review.

FIRST WORLD WAR

(photo: © Bildarchiv Preußischer Kulturbesitz)

I have been recently to France, more  specifically to the Vallée de la Somme (north of Paris) where raging  battles took place. In Péronne there is an interesting museum, although not very complete.

Here is a  beautiful poem by Patrick MacGill, who had been in that war: 

BEFORE THE CHARGE


The night is still and the air is keen,
Tense with menace the time crawls by,
In front is the town and its homes are seen,
Blurred in outline against the sky.


The dead leaves float in the sighing air,
The darkness moves like a curtain drawn,
A veil which the morning sun will tear
From the face of death. - We charge at dawn.

WHAT AN AMAZING HUMAN BEING!

"...the extraordinary story of Tererai Trent, who grew up impoverished in northern Zimbabwe and was able — with the help of Heifer International and a number of other aid groups — to get an education. Next month she will receive her PhD from Western Michigan University"
by Nicholas Kristof (NYT)

This is the amazing story of a Zimbabwean woman, born in poverty. She had all "those" qualities: resilience, motivation, intelligence, interpersonal skills, etc etc. And generous on top of it all! (see the story of her first marriage). What an amazing human being.
To be read at:

http://kristof.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/14/dr-tererai-trent/

BANKERS TRY ACTING

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23771006-my-kingdom-for-a-bonus-city-jobless-take-up-acting.do

This news from the Standard may seem a bit bizarre but is quite interesting in the sense that makes you think what having a job means nowadays.
I don't think that in ten years there will be such a thing as a job. Young people maybe committed to "projects" and for their duration only - no strings attached as they say.
Rights that seemed acquired during the 20th century, like retirement when you're sixty something, salaries correspondent 14 months a year, subsidies, pensions, etc are in great danger.
We have to brace ourselves for a very tough future, specially the younger generations. Resilience is becoming  more important as a personal skill. These bankers seem, at least, to be capable of finding new ways in their lives.

IN REMEMBERANCE OF RUSSELL ACKOFF

A man of genius, the best professor I ever had. This video is about systemic thinking vs analytical thinking. Thinking as a whole for short.

MIDWAY ISLAND

This is a photo of Midway island seen from the space (photo credit: NASA)

The NASA site has usually amazing images. http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/science/hico_raids.html

ABOUT DREAMS

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/10/health/10mind.html?_r=1&ref=science

 (photo NYT)

With the help of new techniques like brain imagery neuroscience is making new discoveries about dreaming.

BIOLOGICAL CLOCK

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20427333.000-genes-show-when-a-womans-biological-clock-will-stop.html?page=1

A new tool to know your biological clock beforehand. These are great news for women who want to program their personal and professional lives. I didn't know about it when I wrote my last post, but I'm glad to know more tools are becoming available for women who want to be in control of their lives. The article also refers to the technique for freezing your own eggs.

WORK AND CAREER, THE OLD DILEMMA

Mika Brzezinski: Don't Forget To Have Kids

This article is a refreshing aproach to the question of career versus having kids, and when.
I won't say I fully agree with the author, but it's a good starting point for a discussion.
More and more, young women have to put themselves the question.
They study for much longer than before and getting the firts job is getting harder and harder. however, the biological clock does not stop. Science hasn't still found a way of prolonging the fertile period. In an age when some women in their sixties look as if they are in their forties, this seems a bit ironic. But it's the sad reality.
Due to the longer studies and the delayed entry into the job market, which is more and more difficult, here in Portugal its not infrequent to be in one's thirties and still live with one's parents.
On the other hand, syatistics say young girls have their first sexual experience earlier and earlier.
Dies this make any sense? Hardly.
The fact is I don't have an answer for the dilemma. I don't think though, that staying at home raising kids, even when financially that is possible, is a good decision. Not good for the mother (work is an important part of our accomplishment as humans), not a good example for the kids.
I hear some young women up to are choosing to keep their eggs before they are 35, which allows them another 5-7 years to get pregnant. it may be a good idea, not for anyone though.

ABOUT IGNORANCE AND KNOWLEDGE

When Falls the Coliseum » The sum of human knowledge is a small and fragile oasis

A very interesting article by Frank Wilson. What's knowledge? What's ignorance?
Quoting:
"A little knowledge, a pebble from the shingle,
A drop from the oceans: who would have dreamed this infinitely little too much?"

QUOTATION

"The specific problems we face cannot be solved using the same patterns of thought that were used to create them."
Albert Einstein

IT SEEMS WE ARE MADE FOR RUNNING

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/27/health/27well.html?_r=3&em

I'm not suggesting we all start running marathons but this is a quite interesting article on the human capacity to run long distances and how important it was in the primitive ages.

AESTHETICS

(photo: Garance Doré)

A few days ago I put a post about women's faces in painting across the centuries. A magnificent work in digital art, as you may remember.
This time, I'm bringing something quite different but that has to do also with aesthetics. I's about feet and weird ankle boots.
They say they are selling very well in france. Aesthetics has its own mysterious ways.