Latest news with #BigThink
Geeky Gadgets
3 days ago
- Health
- Geeky Gadgets
How to Enter a State of Flow and Achieve Peak Performance Every Day
What if you could unlock a state of mind where time melts away, your focus sharpens to a razor's edge, and even the most challenging tasks feel almost effortless? This isn't some far-off dream or a rare gift reserved for elite athletes and artists—it's a scientifically studied phenomenon called flow, and it's accessible to anyone willing to learn its secrets. Steven Kotler, one of the world's leading researchers on human performance, has spent years decoding the neurobiology behind this extraordinary state. The result? A roadmap to achieving peak creativity, productivity, and even happiness. If you've ever wondered how to tap into your full potential without burning out, this quick-start guide will show you how. In this Big Think guide by Steven Kotler, you'll discover the science behind flow and how to intentionally cultivate it in your daily life. From understanding the brain's chemical cocktail for focus and creativity to using practical triggers like challenge-skill balance and distraction-free environments, this guide will equip you with actionable strategies to make flow a repeatable experience. Whether you're chasing professional success, personal growth, or simply a deeper sense of fulfillment, the insights shared by Big Think and Steven Kotler will help you unlock a state where effort feels effortless. What if the key to your best performance was already within you—just waiting to be activated? Mastering the Flow State Neurobiology of Flow Flow is driven by specific neurobiological processes that optimize your brain's performance. During this state, your brain releases a powerful mix of neurochemicals that enhance focus, creativity, and motivation. These include: Dopamine: Improves pattern recognition and problem-solving, making tasks feel more engaging. Improves pattern recognition and problem-solving, making tasks feel more engaging. Norepinephrine: Heightens focus and attention, allowing you to stay locked into the moment. Heightens focus and attention, allowing you to stay locked into the moment. Endorphins: Reduce pain and create a sense of euphoria, making effort feel effortless. Reduce pain and create a sense of euphoria, making effort feel effortless. Anandamide: Enhances lateral thinking, allowing innovative and creative solutions. Enhances lateral thinking, allowing innovative and creative solutions. Serotonin: Promotes feelings of calm and well-being, helping to sustain the flow state. This chemical cocktail not only boosts performance but also reduces stress and anxiety, creating a state of heightened awareness and seamless action. Understanding these neurobiological mechanisms can help you intentionally create the conditions for flow. Key Characteristics of Flow When you enter a flow state, your mind and body undergo distinct changes that enhance your performance and experience. These characteristics include: Intense Focus: Your attention becomes fully absorbed in the task, blocking out distractions. Your attention becomes fully absorbed in the task, blocking out distractions. Action-Awareness Merging: You feel a seamless connection between your thoughts and actions, as if they are one. You feel a seamless connection between your thoughts and actions, as if they are one. Time Distortion: Time may seem to speed up or slow down, depending on the activity. Time may seem to speed up or slow down, depending on the activity. Intrinsic Motivation: The activity itself becomes deeply rewarding, independent of external rewards. These features make flow a powerful tool for achieving peak performance and personal fulfillment. Recognizing these signs can help you identify when you are in flow and learn how to sustain it. The Science Behind Flow: Unlock Creativity and Productivity Effortlessly Watch this video on YouTube. Check out more relevant guides from our extensive collection on entering a flow state that you might find useful. Triggers for Flow Flow doesn't occur randomly—it can be intentionally cultivated by using specific triggers that prime your brain for this state. These triggers include: Challenge-Skills Balance: Engage in tasks that are slightly beyond your current skill level to maintain focus and avoid boredom or anxiety. Engage in tasks that are slightly beyond your current skill level to maintain focus and avoid boredom or anxiety. Novelty and Complexity: New and unpredictable experiences stimulate dopamine production, increasing engagement and curiosity. New and unpredictable experiences stimulate dopamine production, increasing engagement and curiosity. Clear Goals: Having a clear objective helps direct your focus and energy toward the task. Having a clear objective helps direct your focus and energy toward the task. Immediate Feedback: Real-time input allows you to adjust your actions and stay aligned with your goals. Real-time input allows you to adjust your actions and stay aligned with your goals. Distraction-Free Environment: Minimizing interruptions is essential for maintaining deep focus and immersion. By incorporating these triggers into your daily routine, you can create the conditions necessary for flow and make it a regular part of your life. Practical Strategies to Cultivate Flow To activate flow, you need to design your environment and habits to support deep focus and engagement. Here are some practical strategies: Time Blocking: Dedicate 90-120 minutes of uninterrupted time to high-priority tasks that require focus. Dedicate 90-120 minutes of uninterrupted time to high-priority tasks that require focus. Work with Your Energy Levels: Schedule demanding tasks during periods of peak energy, often dictated by your circadian rhythm. Schedule demanding tasks during periods of peak energy, often dictated by your circadian rhythm. Eliminate Distractions: Turn off notifications, close unnecessary tabs, and communicate your need for focus to those around you. Turn off notifications, close unnecessary tabs, and communicate your need for focus to those around you. Engage in Flow-Friendly Activities: Pursue hobbies like sports, music, or creative projects to train your brain to enter flow more easily. These strategies help create the mental and physical conditions necessary for sustained focus, allowing you to achieve your goals with greater ease and enjoyment. Flow and Peak Performance Flow is a proven driver of peak performance across various domains. Research indicates that individuals in flow are up to 500% more productive and can learn new skills 240-500% faster. Beyond productivity, flow enhances creativity, problem-solving, and overall well-being. The intrinsic motivation and sense of accomplishment associated with flow contribute to long-term happiness, making it a valuable tool for both personal and professional growth. By consistently cultivating flow, you can unlock new levels of potential and achieve your goals more effectively. Applications of Flow The benefits of flow extend beyond individual performance to broader applications in mental health, education, and teamwork: Mental Health: Flow has been used to treat conditions like PTSD and addiction by replacing negative memories with positive, neurochemically rich experiences. Flow has been used to treat conditions like PTSD and addiction by replacing negative memories with positive, neurochemically rich experiences. Learning and Creativity: By enhancing neuroplasticity, flow accelerates skill acquisition and fosters innovative thinking. By enhancing neuroplasticity, flow accelerates skill acquisition and fosters innovative thinking. Team Collaboration: Group flow improves communication, empathy, and collective problem-solving, making it a valuable tool for organizations and teams. These applications demonstrate flow's potential to transform not only individual lives but also communities and industries, offering a pathway to greater innovation and well-being. Barriers to Flow Despite its benefits, achieving flow can be challenging due to common barriers such as: Distractions: Interruptions disrupt the deep focus required for flow. Interruptions disrupt the deep focus required for flow. Excessive Anxiety: High stress levels can activate the prefrontal cortex, pulling you out of the 'deep now.' High stress levels can activate the prefrontal cortex, pulling you out of the 'deep now.' Self-Consciousness: Overthinking and fear of failure hinder the immersive experience of flow. To overcome these obstacles, practice stress management techniques such as mindfulness, gratitude exercises, and regular physical activity. These practices can help you maintain the mental clarity and focus needed to enter flow. Building a Flow-Friendly Lifestyle To make flow a consistent part of your life, focus on creating habits that support mental clarity and energy. Key practices include: Sleep: Aim for 7-8 hours of quality sleep each night to support cognitive function and focus. Aim for 7-8 hours of quality sleep each night to support cognitive function and focus. Nutrition and Hydration: Maintain a balanced diet and stay hydrated to optimize brain performance. Maintain a balanced diet and stay hydrated to optimize brain performance. Mindfulness: Dedicate 11 minutes daily to meditation or other mindfulness practices to reduce stress and enhance focus. Dedicate 11 minutes daily to meditation or other mindfulness practices to reduce stress and enhance focus. Physical Activity: Engage in 20-40 minutes of moderate exercise to boost mood and energy levels. Engage in 20-40 minutes of moderate exercise to boost mood and energy levels. Intrinsic Motivation: Align your goals with your passions and sense of purpose to sustain long-term engagement. These lifestyle adjustments create a foundation for flow, allowing you to achieve your goals with greater ease and enjoyment. The Bannister Effect and Future Implications The Bannister Effect, inspired by Roger Bannister's historic sub-four-minute mile, illustrates the power of belief in breaking perceived limits. Flow plays a critical role in this process by helping you push past mental and physical barriers. As research into flow deepens, its applications are expected to expand further. For instance, action sports could be prescribed as therapeutic interventions for mental health conditions, using flow's neurochemical benefits. In education and professional development, flow science could transform how we approach motivation, learning, and performance enhancement. By embracing flow, you can challenge what you believe is possible and unlock new levels of potential. Media Credit: Big Think Filed Under: Guides Latest Geeky Gadgets Deals Disclosure: Some of our articles include affiliate links. If you buy something through one of these links, Geeky Gadgets may earn an affiliate commission. Learn about our Disclosure Policy.
Independent Singapore
06-05-2025
- Independent Singapore
Yes, it's theoretically possible to travel from Europe to Singapore by train, but you may not want to
Reddit screengrab/u/htGoSEVe SINGAPORE: In this day and age of uncomfortable flights, delays, lost luggage, and the other inconveniences of modern air travel, not to mention its cost to the environment, we can understand why someone would dream of a long and scenic train journey instead. Believe it or not, it's actually possible to travel from Lagos, a town in southern Portugal, to Singapore . The journey is 18,755 kilometers, crosses eight time zones and 13 countries, and takes around 14 days in all. It spans 13 countries in total, including Portugal, Spain, France, Germany, Poland, Russia, China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore, meaning travelers would experience multiple landscapes and cultures. Photo: Freepik/jcomp However, it is not a continuous train ride, mainly due to national borders. Of course, travellers would need to hop off and then hop on several train lines, as well as even walk or take a cab or three from one train station to another, to complete the journey, especially since there is a 15-km gap in the rail line in Laos. According to travellers would have to change trains a total of 20 times. Unfortunately, at the moment, the longest train ride in the world remains in the theoretical realm, in large part due to several concerns. First came the COVID-19 pandemic and all the shutdowns it entailed, and then came Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which made traveling by train between Russia and other parts of Europe impossible. This effectively shuts out the 7,622 km trip that takes travellers from Europe (Moscow) to Asia (Beijing). While train services are still running, although in a limited capacity, getting into Moscow to secure a seat is the challenge. However, assuming a traveller could do so, once in Beijing, they could board a train to Vientiane (Laos), then go on to Bangkok, then Kuala Lumpur, and then finally to Singapore. Photo: Freepik/pressfoto How much would such an epic tour cost? Experts have estimated that the whole journey will set a traveler back between €1000 and €1500 (S$1460 to S$2200). Meanwhile, a flight from Portugal to Singapore can be found for as low as S$1000. To sum it all up, with global tensions heightened as they are, maybe now really is not the best time for such a lengthy train journey, romantic as it sounds, but still, we can dream, can't we? /TISG Read also: Top 10 must-see travel destinations every Singaporean must-have on their bucket list
Telegraph
24-04-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
This viral critic of the Davos elite is both admirable and annoying
The Dutch historian Rutger Bregman is best known as a gadfly to the global elite. He went viral online in 2019 when, speaking on stage at Davos, he criticised attendees of the World Economic Forum for avoiding tax and taking private jets to Switzerland to listen to Sir David Attenborough talk about climate change. When Tucker Carlson then invited him on Fox News, Bregman pointed out that his host was 'a millionaire funded by billionaires'. Carlson insulted him and pulled the segment. Bregman's own recording of that exchange went viral too. Bregman's first book was Utopia for Realists (2017), which argued in favour of universal basic income and a 15-hour workweek, and was buoyed by a popular TED talk on poverty. Humankind: A Hopeful History, a feelgood book out in 2020 – when readers were desperate to feel good – argued that human beings are, at heart, A-OK. Moral Ambition: Stop Wasting Your Talent and Start Making a Difference, translated from Dutch by Erica Moore, offers something of a corrective to that optimism, or at least the brand of optimism that's laced with complacency. Bregman told Big Think magazine last year that he saw 'influencers reading Humankind [who] started posting: 'My faith in humanity is completely restored. I'm going to work less and just enjoy my life.'' It alarmed him: 'I felt I had created a monster.' The cold water he douses on readers of Moral Ambition, as its subtitle implies, is an injunction: don't just stand there, do something. Bregman faults his fellow progressives for armchair activism, citing the ineffectiveness of contemporary protest movements such as Occupy compared to the coordinated efforts, say, of the Montgomery bus boycott of 1955. He also urges activists to set aside differences if they want to reach bigger goals. Coalition-building requires compromise; otherwise, he warns, 'you end up with a movement that's 100 per cent pure, but zero per cent effective.' Bregman urges educated professionals to move away from what the anthropologist David Graeber dubbed 'bulls--t jobs', in fields such as consultancy, and instead to pursue socially meaningful work. 'Of all things wasted in our throwaway times,' Bregman writes, 'the greatest is wasted talent.' He highlights the paths of altruists such as the abolitionist Thomas Clarkson, the civil-rights activist Rosa Parks, and Rob Mather, founder of a malaria-fighting charity. Some of the case studies are instructive at the everyday scale: people, we learn, are more likely to help when they're directly asked. Bregman's ambitions are admirable. If even a small percentage of those who pick up this book are spurred to action, whether that's a charity run or a complete change in career, it's hard to disagree that it will have been worth his effort. (The idea resonated personally: I left what he would consider a bulls--t job in investment banking to write a book about the future of seduction that I hoped readers would find helpful.) The delivery of the message, however, is irksome. Bregman, the son of a pastor, is too susceptible to sermonising, and like most pop philosophy-history-psychology writers in the Malcolm Gladwell mould, he's prone to hyperbole and gross oversimplification. Twenty-five years after Gladwell's The Tipping Point, the Big Ideas genre continues to sell healthily – especially to a type the writer Gavin Jacobson has dubbed 'Waterstones Dad' – but its formula of anecdotes and simplistic diagrams isn't ageing well. Bregman opens his book by making the curious choice to upbraid a Buddhist monk, Matthieu Ricard, whose brain activity in an MRI scan saw him branded 'the happiest man in the world'. Bregman's beef with Ricard, formerly a molecular geneticist who researched colonic bacteria, is that he had ditched the Institut Pasteur in Paris for a monastic life in Tibet, thereby depriving the world of his potential contribution to science. (He somewhat redeems himself in Bregman's eyes by later setting up a nonprofit.) Yet Ricard is also a bestselling author, having written books on altruism, happiness, meditation and animal rights, and translated numerous Buddhist texts. When you consider that Bregman is telling us all this in a book of his own, and the ripple effects of books are not quantifiable anyway, you wonder: who's to say whether Bregman or Ricard has the greater moral ambition?
Yahoo
04-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Huge orange star above Earth could explode at any moment
Humanity may be about to experience the first supernova visible to the naked eye in over 400 years, as a supergiant star appears to be close to exploding. Not one to be overshadowed by 'trade wars', actual wars and asteroids which were but now aren't a threat to Earth; it would appear one of the stars in the night sky may now be gearing up for a colossal cosmic event. According to astronomers, the Betelgeuse red supergiant star, appears to be on its last legs due to its increasingly volatile behaviour in the past couple of years. Situated in the Orion constellation, Betelgeuse is noticeable in the night sky thanks to its orange glow. However this may not be the case for much longer. Back in 2019, NASA noted that Betelgeuse's brightness dimmed by about 60%, leading some scientists to wonder if it was entering a 'pre-supernova' phase, an event later explained as a a surface mass ejection. Fast forward four years and the star would begin acting up once again, with The Guardian explaining that Betelgeuse was glowing and dimming at 'twice as fast as usual', and in 2024 the American Association of Variable Star Observers revealed how the star had dimmed by 0.5 in the opening months of the year. So, what's going on? Well it's a bit of a good news/bad news situation on that front. It's impossible to predict exactly when the star will explode, however, scientists predict Betelgeuse will enter into a supernova anywhere within the next 10,000 to 100,000 years. Which means you could very well look out your window tomorrow and witness a supernova — or this could happen on any of the other 99,999 years. "We conclude that Betelgeuse is... a good candidate for the next galactic supernova," wrote the authors of one study, which predicted it could be in as little as 'tens of years'. EarthSky adds that Betelgeuse is also between 430 light-years and 643 light-years away from Earth, so we wouldn't see it immediately. For those who can vaguely recall their school science lessons, the death of a star is marked by an explosion, which ejects gas and various matter into the galaxy, before it collapses into a black hole. Which would be very bad news — if the star was close enough to impact Earth. Fortunately, this isn't the case with Betelgeuse. Given that we're at a safe enough distance, astronomers are excited by the prospect of witnessing the Betelgeuse supernova. According to Big Think, the exploding star would 'shine approximately as brightly as the full Moon' and reach maximum brightness after around '10 days.'
