making us believe

Tags

believing, cognitive fluency, Oscar Wilde, quote, truth, truth and lies

What is the truth? Something you can prove with fact! But what if there is no book knowledge or facts to support what you believe to be true? And how easily are we swayed to trust in something untruthful?

Studies have shown that advertisers, politicians and even journalist use repetition to make people believe them, and interestingly enough it works. The reason behind this is something called cognitive fluency, basically how easy is it for the brain to think about something. When something is familiar we need less effort to process the information, which means we are more likely to believe it to be true.

This obviously makes it harder for us to believe complex thoughts or ideas. If our brain has to go into overdrive to compute elaborate and manifold thoughts we become distrustful, our minds confusing new with wrong. The only way to bypass this default setting in our brains is to repeat the information, even just once helps, but three to five times is optimal.

However we don’t just blindly believe something we hear again and again if we concentrate, when we actively process the information presented we are less likely to fall into the “I’ve heard it before so it must be true”-trap. This means that advertisement benefits from the fact that we are normally too distracted to really compute what we hear, making it easier for us to just except it to be true, instead of using precious mind power to think about it.

Another trick advertisers use to make us believe that what they have to say is true is imagery.  When we hear words and see a picture of the topic at hand at the same time we are more likely to trust the statement. Somehow our brains associate pictures with proof, turning it into a fact and we believe it.

So maybe if we want that pay-rise or an extra day leave we should just keep telling or boss about it, hold up a picture of a pile of money or a beach while we do so and wait for moments in which  he/she is distracted. Maybe then he will believe it and give in to what you know to be true!

After all as the wonderful Oscar Wilde once said:

The pure and simple truth is rarely pure and never simple

of pigtails and schoolbags

Tags

Dublin, Ireland, leraning, Oscar Wilde, Oscar Wilde house, pigtails, quote, school, schoolbags

In good the old-fashion first-day-of-school tradition I decided to put my hair into pigtails yesterday morning. I do tend to do this anyway, but I couldn’t help and smile at how fitting it felt. And while I don’t have any first-day-of school photos of myself, as a cheeky four-year-old, I do know it was a very possible hairdo back then for my blond curls, so I enjoyed the idea of symmetry.

After a good hearty breakfast, strong tea and packing my school bag I set out for college – a symphony of emotions conducting my feet and thoughts.

The classroom is situated in the Oscar Wilde House overlooking Merrion Square and the famous lounging figure of Oscar Wilde himself can be seen form the windows. As the first-day-of-school-awkwardness ensued amongst myself and my fellow students introductions were made and first opinions formed – if correct is yet to be seen.

And so it began- my life as a MfA student. A long list of books to read, my first writing assignment and an empty flask of herbal tea later I was released back onto the sunny streets of Dublin, my schoolbag heavy on my shoulder, my mind whirling and my pigtails bouncing as I made my way back home.

With the promise of another great day ahead of me I pack my schoolbag again, no pigtails today, but a sense of where this year is heading and an idea of where I am going is forming in my mind!

The direction in which education starts a man will determine his future in life.

Plato

Oscar Wilde lounging on Merrion Square, Dublin

back to school

Tags

American College Dublin, college, Oscar Wilde, Oscar Wilde house, studying, writing

Today was the big day: I officially signed up to do my Masters. It’s been a while since I have been on the other side of the teachers desk and I have to admit that my emotions are very mixed.

As I ambled through the corridors of the American College Dublin following the rest of new students I couldn’t help but feel somewhat overwhelmed. Thoughts kept racing around in my head: “Do I know what I am getting myself in too?”, “How on earth am I going to get everything done?”, “Can’t wait for the first class!”,  “I need to get more organised”, ‘Wonder what the other students are like” etc, etc, etc. And at the same I was completely excited to be in Oscar Wilde’s house, knowing that I too would soon be writing in the hallowed halls that housed one of Ireland’s literary greats.

We where given a guided tour of the college, the Present greeted us over tea and biscuits, our photos where taken for our student cards (of course a big cold sore is currently decorating my nose) and we got to meet a few of our fellow students.

And since there is no turning back now I have decided to be excited with anticipation, after all on Tuesday is my first class. Until then I will sharpen my pencils and sort my pens and notepads.

I am so clever that sometimes I don’t understand a single word of what I am saying

Oscar Wilde

timetable, admin letter and a bag – my student life is about to begin again

 

tea with Oscar Wilde

Tags

Actors, afternoon tea, Art Nouveau, Cafe en Seine, Dublin, food, Lord Henry Wotton, Oscar Wilde, photography, photos, quotes, The Picture of Dorian Gray, theater, Wonderland Productions

Yesterday was one of those blustery windy days that just couldn’t quite make up its mind. One moment rays of warm spring sun bathed your face in gold and the next spits of rain forced you indoors. But this meant it was the perfect day for what I had planned: tea with Oscar Wilde.

There is a wonderful cafe/bar in Dublin, called Café en Seine, which is done up in the style of Paris in the 1920s: scantily clad demigods holding up arches, dancing Greek girls balancing lampshades, mirrors galore – faux Art Nouveau at it’s very finest.

It was only suiting that Wonderland Productions chose this Wilde-esque setting to host a very special event: afternoon tea and The Picture of Dorian Gray. As a friend and I were invited to take a seat at a beautifully set table for eight I quickly realised that I would be experiencing this wonderful play up very close and personal, as the actors table was right by my side.

Tea-pot guy brought me pots of my favourite brew, a cup of coffee for my not very Irish  friend and plates laden down with delicious hand-cut sandwiches and petite fours filled our bellies as Wilde’s words fulled our imagination.

As the actors walked about the room engaging in witty banter they created a magical world of mystery, one that all attending where a part of. At times Lord Wotton or Dorian Gray would sit next to me and engage in nonverbal banter – a bat of an eyelid, a small smirk, a flirty raise of the eyebrow or a quizzical gaze.

Plates and cups slowly emptied as the story unfolded, a captive, entranced audience turning in their seats to follow the action throughout the room and when the dead body of Dorian Gray finally stood up for his applause, it was clear we had experienced something unique and very special.

“Some things are more precious because they don’t last long.”

Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray

Liam Hourican as Lord Henry Wotton, Fionn Foley as Dotrian Gray and Jim Roche as Basil Hallward in the Wonderland Production of The Picture of Dorian Gray

deep dreams

Tags

Calvin S. Hall, dreaming, dreams, Oscar Wilde, psychology, psychology of dreams, quote, REM atonia, REM sleep, sleep, sleep paralysis

I didn’t want to wake up this morning. I was so comfy in my bed and a wonderfully vivid dream captured my attention, luring me away from the day, holding me  captive to the night.

It wasn’t any special kind of dream, but it felt like being inside a novel, a story I would enjoy to read. I could feel my feet as they ran barefoot over grass, I even believe I could smell the sun on the flowers.

As I curled up in my bed, my eyes tightly shut my thoughts thoroughly occupied, sounds from outside drifted in through my window, pulling me away from my imagination, into reality. And as I slowly let go of my dream and turned towards the day I felt a little sad, knowing that world I was just in would be lost forever.

Dreams are wonderful things and we all have them, even those who claim not too. But they are funny things as we don’t really know all to much about them.

An average dream can be anywhere between 5-20 minutes long which means we spend about six years of our lives dreaming. So why can’t we seem to hold on to them, remember them? Well, for one thing brain scans taken while people were asleep show that the frontal lobes, the area that plays a key role in memory formation, are inactive during our REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep, our deep sleep.

Another interesting fact about REM sleep is that we are sort of paralyzed while we dream. This phenomenon is knows as REM atonia and prevents us from acting out our dreams, this just really means that our motor neurons aren’t stimulated, ensuring our body doesn’t move, protecting us.

The freaky thing is that this paralyzes can carry over into our waking state. For as  long as ten minutes someone who has awakened from a dream can feel unable to move, this condition is know as sleep paralysis, and can be frightening but should soon pass.

An American psychologist called Calvin S. Hall did research over a period of more than forty years and collected over 50,000 dream accounts from students. The surprising result of these dream accounts is that people tend to experience more negative emotions than positive ones. Why this is, is a little unclear but many researchers believe that this helps us tackle stress.

But the most interesting dreams are the lucid ones, dreams that we can influence and that we are aware of. These are dreams we direct and often remember, but only half of all people can recall at least one instants where they were able to control their dream and only few experience them quite frequently. I seem to be one of these lucky ones.

But for now I am awake and will make the best of the day, maybe wander down to an antiques fair in a little while, or take a stroll on the beach, happy in the knowledge that dreams don’t seem to run out and await us all when we close our eyes at night.

A dreamer is one who can only find his way by moonlight, and his punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world.

Oscar Wilde

 

truthful thoughts

Tags

cognitive fluency, miscellaneous, Oscar Wilde, psychologi, quote, random, thoughts, truth, truthful

What is the truth? Something you can prove with fact! But what if there is no book knowledge or facts to support what you believe to be true? And how easily are we swayed to trust in something untruthful?

Studies have shown that advertisers, politicians and even journalist use repetition to make people believe them, and interestingly enough it works. The reason behind this is something called cognitive fluency, basically how easy is it for the brain to think about something. When something is familiar we need less effort to process the information, which means we are more likely to believe it to be true.

This obviously makes it harder for us to believe complex thoughts or ideas. If our brain has to go into overdrive to compute elaborate and manifold thoughts we become distrustful, our minds confusing new with wrong. The only way to bypass this default setting in our brains is to repeat the information, even just once helps, but three to five times is optimal.

However we don’t just blindly believe something we hear again and again if we concentrate, when we actively process the information presented we are less likely to fall into the “I’ve heard it before so it must be true”-trap. This means that advertisement benefits from the fact that we are normally too distracted to really compute what we hear, making it easier for us to just except it to be true, instead of using precious mind power to think about it.

Another trick advertisers use to make us believe that what they have to say is true, is to use imagery.  When we hear words and see a picture of the topic at hand at the same time, we are more likely to trust the statement. Somehow our brains associate pictures with proof, turning it into a fact and we believe it.

So maybe if we want that pay-rise or an extra day leave we should just keep telling or boss about it, hold up a picture of a pile of money or a beach while we do so and wait for moments in which  he/she is distracted. Maybe then he will believe it and give in to what you know to be true!

After all as the wonderful Oscar Wilde once said:

The pure and simple truth is rarely pure and never simple