Natural and Unnatural Selection
For three and a half billion years on earth, the development of all living creatures, plant or animal, happened more or less randomly in response to environmental changes and mutation …
The Neurobiology of Willpower
There’s been a lot of research done in the past fifty years on willpower. Willpower is our ability to decide on a course of action and stick to it, and it’s associated with lots of positives like success, self-esteem, and high SAT scores.
But how does willpower play out in the brain? As it turns out, willpower involves a complicated arrangement between our left and right frontal lobes.
Amygdala: Our Brain’s Emotional Fireworks Center
Every time I review all this research, I’m reminded how important daily meditation practice–you know, the ten or twenty minutes you can’t seem to consistently find time for–can be for happiness and health.
Males Inherit More Intelligence from their Mothers [63]
A lot of fathers are going to hate this, but genetic research has found guys probably get a lot of their intelligence from their X gene, the feminine one. Of …
Hey! Good to see you! [62]
Often when I walk into a room, Becky smiles up and says, “Hey! Good to see you!” while I say, “Hey! good to see you!” Our voices are sincere but …
Emotions are ancestral memories guiding us to deal with what's next — Part 3 [59]
In this final installment, we look at the weird deal humans have– powers to consider past, present, and future, but also tendencies to worry about past, present, and future. The …
Emotions are ancestral memories guiding us to deal with what's next – Part 2 [58]
In Part 1 of this series we talked about emotions as ancestral voices guiding us in dealing with the unique world we’re each born into. These ancestral voices are central …
Emotions are ancestral memories guiding us to deal with what's next – Part 1 [56]
Famous affective neuroscientist Jaak Panksepp said in a 2010 lecture that emotions are ancestral memories, guiding mammals and birds to survive and thrive in a dangerous and delicious world. “Ancestral …
We Can Always See Farther Than We Can Be [45]
Becky and I live on a street that runs near the top of small ridge right behind the Santa Barbara Mission. Since we moved here we’ve probably walked to the …
We Absorb the Personalities of Our Family [44]
Steve and Karen—late thirties and married for nine years—are sitting, facing each other, during their sixth session. Steve says, “Karen never wants me to go surfing, but I love surfing. …
Secure Attachment in Adults [34]
In the last blog we looked mostly at attachment in children. We ended with the hopeful news that secure adults raise secure kids, and all humans are programmed for secure …
Secure Attachment—We’re All Wired For It [33]
World War II was a catastrophe not just for the soldiers killed and traumatized, but also for their families. Millions of children lost parents or were displaced for critical periods …
Our Sixth Brain, the Coolest Thing Ever – Our Shared Social Brain
I’ve written in previous blogs about our five brains (The Life Vessel, the Vagus Nerve, and Transcendent states). We actually have a sixth brain—our shared social brain—that harnesses and harmonizes …
The Life Vessel, the Vagus Nerve, and Transcendent States [22]
Becky and her friend Stephanie Badaci own Santa Barbara Life Vessel (www.lifevesselsantabarbara.com ), which—among other services like Soul Collage, the EVOX machine, Flower Essences, and Educational Kinesiology—offers sessions in a Life …
Remembering the Future Is Usually Pretty Sunny, but Cracks Can Show Up in Our Rose-Colored Glasses [20]
“You slept with your high school girlfriend and lied to me! How do I know you won’t cheat again?” Carrie, an attractive woman in her late thirties glares at her …