First things first: I beg your pardon for my crappy English, this is not my first language.
I’m from Barcelona (no LW community, here, I’m afraid) and I studied telecom engineery, but I work as a teacher and I draw cartoons (you can check http://listocomics.com but they are in Spanish). I’m also a rationalist wanabe. I mean I haven’t even read the whole of your major sequences but I have always tried to move myself the rational way. I love Dawkins books and I was amazed the first time I read about logical fallacies at the Wikipedia. I have always been quite interested in phsicology, too, but most of the popular psychology books I’ve read set my bullshit alarm on, cause most of their content seemed to come from the mind of the author after thinking about it strong while sitting in the sofa, without further research. I’m glad of having found a site that talks aboute the human mind and human behavour in an easy to understand way and with references. It seems like a good place to learn stuff.
Actually, I’m curious about what you, as rationalists, may think about NLP.
Is it the right place to ask? NLP: Bullshit or not?
And I would also love to hear some rationalist opinions about yoga. I’ve been trying it for a couple of months and I’m still confused. The stretching part is good for the muscles, that’s quite sure, but there also seem to be a lot of new age paraphernalia. Do you think there are serious researches proving that yoga is better than just stretching?
And, more in general, de rationalists recomend any specifical sport? Some way to get the maximum health with the minimum effort and time?
(I’m not sure if this was the right place to ask about those things, just tell me if I should post somewhere els or if those subjects are already discussed in some other thread)
Thanks for everything, and congrats for the page, I’m already recommending it to friends!
I love your comics. I’m going to use them so that I don’t forget my spanish.
I’m currently doing a little research (for myself) on NLP-type stuff. If you want a comprehensive source, then this is what I’m going to be purchasing shortly.
I’m not expert on yoga (but I’ve done a bit). I find that pure meditation is better for the mind than yoga (there is a lot of secular research that shows that meditation is good in a lot of ways for the mind). And I find that pure exercise is better for the body than yoga. some people like to mix the two. I don’t.
Most people have a misconception about meditation where they think you have to be sitting with really straight posture in order to meditate. This just isn’t true. I run and meditate all the time. Running is very good for exercise and is very conducive for meditation (especially if you just go in a straight line or on a treadmill).
I know that there is quite a bit of research on exercise and the mind. But most of it has to do with cardiovascular and not with weight training. I do both, I personally think running is better for the mind (and doesn’t require a lot of technical detail on proper form).
Dawkins’s “Selfish Gene” was one of my first “rationalist” books.
Hello Less Wrong!
First things first: I beg your pardon for my crappy English, this is not my first language.
I’m from Barcelona (no LW community, here, I’m afraid) and I studied telecom engineery, but I work as a teacher and I draw cartoons (you can check http://listocomics.com but they are in Spanish). I’m also a rationalist wanabe. I mean I haven’t even read the whole of your major sequences but I have always tried to move myself the rational way. I love Dawkins books and I was amazed the first time I read about logical fallacies at the Wikipedia. I have always been quite interested in phsicology, too, but most of the popular psychology books I’ve read set my bullshit alarm on, cause most of their content seemed to come from the mind of the author after thinking about it strong while sitting in the sofa, without further research. I’m glad of having found a site that talks aboute the human mind and human behavour in an easy to understand way and with references. It seems like a good place to learn stuff.
Actually, I’m curious about what you, as rationalists, may think about NLP. Is it the right place to ask? NLP: Bullshit or not?
And I would also love to hear some rationalist opinions about yoga. I’ve been trying it for a couple of months and I’m still confused. The stretching part is good for the muscles, that’s quite sure, but there also seem to be a lot of new age paraphernalia. Do you think there are serious researches proving that yoga is better than just stretching?
And, more in general, de rationalists recomend any specifical sport? Some way to get the maximum health with the minimum effort and time?
(I’m not sure if this was the right place to ask about those things, just tell me if I should post somewhere els or if those subjects are already discussed in some other thread)
Thanks for everything, and congrats for the page, I’m already recommending it to friends!
Welcome to LW!
I love your comics. I’m going to use them so that I don’t forget my spanish. I’m currently doing a little research (for myself) on NLP-type stuff. If you want a comprehensive source, then this is what I’m going to be purchasing shortly.
http://www.amazon.com/Oxford-Handbook-Hypnosis-Handbooks/dp/0198570090/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1320721250&sr=8-1
I’m not expert on yoga (but I’ve done a bit). I find that pure meditation is better for the mind than yoga (there is a lot of secular research that shows that meditation is good in a lot of ways for the mind). And I find that pure exercise is better for the body than yoga. some people like to mix the two. I don’t.
Most people have a misconception about meditation where they think you have to be sitting with really straight posture in order to meditate. This just isn’t true. I run and meditate all the time. Running is very good for exercise and is very conducive for meditation (especially if you just go in a straight line or on a treadmill).
I know that there is quite a bit of research on exercise and the mind. But most of it has to do with cardiovascular and not with weight training. I do both, I personally think running is better for the mind (and doesn’t require a lot of technical detail on proper form).
Dawkins’s “Selfish Gene” was one of my first “rationalist” books.