Radio Interview with Chris Langan

Mind, Reality and Open Lines – 28 December 2012.

An hour long radio interview with Chris Langan on Coast to Coast.

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Neurotechnology training, and the latest gadgets

I had the very good fortune a few days ago to meet Dave Siever of MindAlive in Canada, and to attend one of his workshops.

The workshop was entitled Introduction to Audio-Visual Entrainment: Arousal, AVE Technology and Cranio-Electro Stimulation (CES) and Transcranial DC Stimulation (tDCS). Sounds scary? Not really. This technology has been thoroughly tested in research trials and I believe is the most exciting developing field in the area of neuroscience.

You can see the outline of the course here.

I have been using light and sound entrainment, as well as CES equipment, on and off for some time now, and it is wonderfully relaxing. In fact, I haven’t explored a fraction of what these gadgets can actually do yet, and when I do, I will probably write up my findings here or on my main site. As a person who is very excited about the field of cognitive enhancement,  I find the work that Dave and others have been doing particularly fascinating.

tDCS (transcranial direct current stimulation) units are not normally sold to the public, but are supplied to clinical professionals. I, however, have managed to order one. The manufacturer is satisfied I know what I am doing.

I found the information about quantitative EEG from the workshop filled in a few gaps in my knowledge of neurophysiology, and it is very possible I may be attending further workshops in the future on neurofeedback. Watch this space for further reports and articles.

I have been reading (well, actually re-reading) Dave’s book “The Rediscovery of Audio-Visual Entrainment”, which you can order as a hard copy from MindAlive Inc. but I found that you can actually download certain key chapters from their site.

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Mind Maps, Myths and Misconceptions

I probably haven’t had enough practice at this technique for it to be a really useful tool, although I know some people absolutely swear by them, and the really well-drawn ones I find aesthetically pleasing. This article has been reproduced from the Learning Technologies e-newsletter.

Mind Maps, Myths and Misconceptions

by Phil Chambers

As World Mind Mapping Champion, it saddens me when people have been exposed to poor training or inferior visual thinking tools that purport to be Mind Maps but in fact are not. As a result, they come to believe myths about the limitations of Mind Maps. Of course, Mind Maps are not applicable in every area of life or study but in this article I aim to tackle some of the unfair criticisms that occasionally arise.

1) Mind Maps can’t be used for technical subjects like maths.

Mind Maps are very structured and follow a strict set of rules. So it should be no surprise to learn that they can lend themselves to mathematics. One of the aspects of maths is the categorisation and breaking down of a problem. Mind Maps are ideal for this. Another aspect of maths is following a process. Once again, this can be represented directly on a Mind Map or you can always add a diagram, flow chart or graph on a branch where appropriate. Mind Maps don’t directly help you to perform a specific calculation but arithmetic is a very narrow aspect of the subject. I prefer to describe maths as the study of patterns and the beauty of nature.

2) Images and colours are childish and have no place in business.

The most successful businesses and entrepreneurs are those that continually innovate and think creatively. The use of images and colour on Mind Maps stimulate and promote creativity. They also massively aid memory. The old adage that a picture is worth a thousand words is true. A visually rich Mind Map, once memorised, allows you to have facts at your fingertips whenever required. A truly invaluable business asset.

3) Mind Maps, concept maps, process maps, fish bones, bubble and spider diagrams are the same.

If you type ‘Mind Map’ into Google you get 51 million results. Many of the apps and software packages that claim to be Mind Mapping tools break most of the true Mind Mapping Laws. The laws are there for a reason and are based on psychology so the more you break the less effective your thinking will become.  The iMindMap Software is the exception in that it follows all the Mind Map Laws and creates true Mind Maps.

In ‘The Mind Map Book’ Tony Buzan warns of the danger of Mind Maps that aren’t really Mind Maps, “At first glance, they look like Mind Maps and seem to obey the fundamental Mind Mapping principles. There are, however, a number of differences. As both figures develop, their structure becomes increasingly random and monotonous. Furthermore, all the ideas are reduced to the same level and each one becomes disassociated from the others. Because the laws of clarity, emphasis and association have been neglected, what appeared to be developing into order and structure has in fact resulted in confusion, monotony and chaos.”

4) Mind Maps don’t appeal to logical thinkers.

A Mind Map works as either a ‘top down’ or ‘bottom up’ process. For a holistic thinker you can start with a serious of main branches and dart about the Mind Map adding ideas as they come. In this case you start with a ‘big picture’ approach and refine it as the Mind Map develops. If, on the other hand, you prefer to think is a logical step by step approach you can draw the first main branch and fully develop the ideas from this before moving on to the second,
and so on. The resultant Mind Maps are much the same regardless of how they were created. One of the most powerful features of a Mind Map is that you can see the details, interconnections, relationships and overview on a single page.

Despite the fact that I have a scientific and computer programming background making me very analytical and methodical, I have learned the flexibility to switch between holistic and logical thought depending on the situation.

That’s it for this month. The next newsletter will be dropping into you inbox in early October.

Phil Chambers

You can download the basic iMindMap software for free here.

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Wise Up Journal

Every so often, I stumble across a website full of interesting content while Googling for something else.

Today, I came across this site, Wise Up Journal, which contains hundreds of articles on subjects as diverse as risks to public health, global warming, civil liberties, the European Union agenda and education.

The site claims:

Wise Up Journal documents specific pertinent news from credible sources around the world. Together these articles connects the big picture overview of the different problems and ongoing agendas effecting all of our lives. Wise Up Journal also produces it’s own content from news articles to documentaries. Some are considered controversial, however when truth is deemed controversial we’re living in a society entirely controlled by corruption. Understanding some articles might even save your or your children’s lives in one way or more.

I have at the time of writing this only read some of the most recent articles, but I like what I have seen so far, and felt this link was definitely worth sharing.

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World Intelligence Network “WIN ONE” magazine April edition is now available online

Here is the link:

http://winone.iqsociety.org/issues/06.pdf

Back issues may be found here:

http://www.iqsociety.org/?page_id=2

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Interesting self-development articles from PeakGenius.com

I got sent an email today advertising this company’s Christmas specials.

I like brain training games and brainwave entrainment. This website’s claims for their products can be extremely overblown. However, there is a wealth of articles with some interesting content here:

http://www.peakgenius.com/articles.html

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Free open-source book downloads

Today an email arrived in my inbox offering a free copy of Theron Q. Dumont’s book “The Power of Concentration”. Although it sounded like the type of thing I should like to read at some point, I did not wish to fill out a form with my email address and end up on everybody’s spam list.

Knowing that these freebies are open-source, I figured it could be found on the Web, and I found it on the Gutenberg publications download site. This site has a catalogue of free books on the mind, brain and spirit and so I thought I would link to the list of books in that category, since much of it looks quite relevant to the general theme of this blog:

http://www.gutenberg.org/browse/loccs/bf

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