Category Archives: Comforting Thought

Comforting thought: Liking something is all about anticipation and memory

It turns out we like things when we have the opportunity to pine for them in anticipation and also to think about them fondly as a memory. ‘Liking’ something happens on a continuum of past, present and future according to the fascinating book about tastes, You May Also Like by Tom Vanderbilt. Even as youContinue reading “Comforting thought: Liking something is all about anticipation and memory”

Comforting Thought: Humans are hardwired to be attracted to imperfection

Humans instinctively understand the organic imperfections of the human face, however we experience a ‘visual shock’ when we see severe disfigurement. Taken from the fascinating book ‘You May Also Like’ by Tom Vanderbilt. There is one brain response that never falters – severe disfigurement. And so Bacon’s ‘Visual Shock’ as he calls it seems toContinue reading “Comforting Thought: Humans are hardwired to be attracted to imperfection”

Comforting thought: Museums are ways of seeing

According to the fascinating book about preferences and tastes, ‘You May Also Like’ by Tom Vanderbilt, museums help us see the odd and remarkable in everyday objects. They also give us cues about the boundaries of art. “The fact that art is not something we see everyday is what makes it extraordinary. This is whyContinue reading “Comforting thought: Museums are ways of seeing”

Interesting Thought: We like things according to a U-shaped curve

One leading theory by Daniel Berlyne is that our liking of things such as music follows an inverted U shaped graph, based on the factor of complexity. We prefer and like things less the more simple or complex they are. The sweet spot for most people is somewhere in the middle. You May Also LikeContinue reading “Interesting Thought: We like things according to a U-shaped curve”

Comforting Thought: We remember what we like/we like what we remember

Memory functions in curious and fascinating ways according to the fascinating guide to why we like things called ‘You May Also Like’ by Tom Vanderbilt. One of the simplest and most innocent forms of bias is memory itself. In various types of competitions, people who performed later seemed to do better. You might think, asContinue reading “Comforting Thought: We remember what we like/we like what we remember”

Comforting Thought: We all have four limbs and a shared history

“Just as all humans are the same and each human differs. All species are the same and each species differs, and within that, each creature too, is an individual. It is a matter of mystery and delight compounded that so many species can bring that buondary between us, so that the hawk looks for theContinue reading “Comforting Thought: We all have four limbs and a shared history”

Comforting Thought: The dancers are free

When you love someone, you do not love them all the time, in exactly the same way, from moment to moment. It is an impossibility. It is even a lie to pretend to. And yet this is exactly what each of us demand. We have so little faith in the ebb and flow of life,Continue reading “Comforting Thought: The dancers are free”

Comforting Thought: Anxiety is a doorway

Carl Jung said that if you find the psychic wound in an individual or a people, there you also find their path to consciousness. For it is in the healing of our psychic wounds that we come to know ourselves…In the evolution of consciousness, our greatest problem is always our richest opportunity. ~ Robert Johnson

Comforting Thought: The seat at the head of your table

Self-actualisation is not a sudden happening, or even a permanent result of long-effort. The eleventh-century Tibetan Buddhist poet-saint Milarepa suggested: “Do not expect full realisation, simply practice every day of your life”. A healthy person is not perfect but perfectible, not a done deal but a work in progress. Staying healthy requires discipline, work, andContinue reading “Comforting Thought: The seat at the head of your table”