|
Welcome
Search
Customer
Testimonials
Newsletter
Subscribe
today
Free Books Online
News
Briefs
and Articles
Technology
Progressive
Awareness
Process
of Change
The
InnerTalk® Difference
Science
Brief
Product Listing
Shop Our Secure Store
FREE
Catalog
FAQ
on InnerTalk®
FAQ on Our Website
Satisfaction
Guaranteed/
Return Policy
Join Our
Affiliate Program
Become an
InnerTalk Distributor
Foreign
Distribution
Mission
Statement
About
the Author
Links
| Contact Us
Celebrating Our People
Acknowledgements
Home
Privacy
Policy
|
InnerTalk® -InTouchTM
Newsletter
News Briefs /Further Explorations Into the
Mind
by Eldon Taylor
News Briefs
Living with an attitude
The headline read, "Staying Alive with Attitude" and the article detailed the findings of Yale University psychologist, Becca R. Levy. There should be no surprise here to most of you. The scientific data showed what? It demonstrated the powerful influence of attitude on life expectancy. Subjects with a positive attitude and outlook about aging outlived those with a dim view on life as a senior by 7 1/2 years. According to Levy, "These individuals positive self-perception prolonged their lives." (Bower 2002)
Thinking plants
New research by plant ecologist Michael Hutchings at Sussex University tends to suggest that plants use a substantially similar electrochemical system to store memories, react to pain and carry out behavior as the animal world does. Indeed, according to Hutchings, "The computational capacity of a plant is probably as good as many animals." (Helen Phillips 2002)
It's easy to think of plants as non-thinking entities since they usually do not get up and walk around, motion with their leaves or wave their stems to get our attention. Still, if you look again at last month's newsletter, there is evidence that plants respond to human thoughts and action. So, what are we talking about here?
I recently read an article in Psychology Today about a rare stroke suffered eleven years ago by psychiatrist James Hall. The article appears in the October 2002 issue and is worth the read. The bottom line though in our context comes down to this. For all intent and purposes Dr. Hall was considered brain dead. Still, due to the persistence of a friend, science learned something rather startling. Dr. Hall not only was not "brain dead" but when asked through a truly clever eye selection process whether he wanted to remain alive or not, his answer was, "I demand to live!" We learned from Dr. Hall that "brain dead" might well be a relative term that does not address the consciousness of the person. Dr. Hall was and is very conscious. A mind trapped. Is it possible that there is some analogy here to plants?
Bibliography
Robert M. Pirsig
Bower, B. (2002). Staying Alive with Attitude. Science News. 162: 53. Helen Phillips (2002). Not just a pretty face. New Scientist: 41-43.
|
|
