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One goal of mindfulness and meditation is to reduce the amount of noise in our heads so that we can see things clearer. This allows us to take more _effective_

One goal of mindfulness and meditation is to reduce the amount of noise in our heads so that we can see things clearer. This allows us to take more _effective_ actions. The author seems to have a clear bias that radical == good, and this puts me off. Radical action can be good, and it can be bad. Mindfulness can help us see which case is which.

ptah 7y ago
Fully agree, mindfulness can help one come up with even more radical actions. It can be a tool for activists to cope with the pressures of activism. It doesn't sound like the author has done any mindfulness practice
- AstralStorm 7y ago
  Does it though? Do we have any kind of data about it? If it helps one activist and million corporate drones and people looking for status quo, the practice is not on the whole a friend of activism. So what are the numbers?
  - ptah 7y ago
    You are adding the goal of turning status quo warriors into activists. Mindfulness is not designed for that and has never claimed to do that
    - AstralStorm 7y ago
      No, more like not turning activists into content status quo followers. But it's problematic to discern the two. Perhaps a study on how many activists quit when using or not using mindfulness techniques. Though the confounder is huge, people trying this have some sort of a psychological problem most of the time...
      - ptah 7y ago
        it doesn't work like that. you should try it for yourself
- thesz 7y ago
  Author (and anyone else) don't really need that. Good walk for two-three hours would do better than mindfullness session. (hint: after about 25-40 minutes of intensive walking you start to burn fat primarily; this process has a side effect of endocannabinoids' release [1]; you get healthier and get high at same time; I am not including here release of brain-derived neurotrophic factor for you to discover it and effects of BDNF serum level increase on the mental state and thinking) [1] https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/38/5/536 https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/38/5/536
thendrill 7y ago
That is also the goal of religion. Tell your worries to god in silence and peace, then wait and be patient for God to fix it.
- adrianN 7y ago
  That is so simplified that it is more wrong than right. I don't know of any mainstream religion that encourages waiting for god to fix things.
  - tempguy9999 7y ago
    I picked up a religious leaflet that said (this from memory, approximately) that nuclear war would have to actually start, then god would step in to sort things out. Can't remember the sect, might have been jehova's witnesses.
    - Animats 7y ago
      That's probably "dispensationalism".[1] This is tied up with the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, involves Israel's role in "End Times", and is taken too seriously by parts of the US religious right. Searching for that term will lead you to some weird places. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dispensationalism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dispensationalism
  - gwd 7y ago
    > I don't know of any mainstream religion that encourages waiting for god to fix things. Individuals certainly use God as an excuse sometimes. I've seen some of my relatives say they didn't believe in anthropogenic global warming because God wouldn't allow people to change his world (or something to that effect). Sorry, I don't remember seeing that particular verse in the Bible; and in any case, God lets people do lots of pretty crazy things. Giving us the dignity to choose means giving us the possibility that we actually will royally mess things up. But I don't think that has anything to do with religion per se. You get atheistic libertarians saying that global warming can't be happening because it isn't priced into the market; or that if it does happen, market forces will intervene to fix things. People are just really good at finding reasons they shouldn't have to be inconvenienced.
riskneutral 7y ago
Agreed. The author is a profoundly unaware person. I get the sense that he tried meditation for a while, didn’t succeed (perhaps due to this angry “radical” mindset) and then decided to monetize the failure by writing a book critical of the practice. Well at least it injects some variety into the conversation. It’s not everyday that you find someone actively disparaging mindfulness.

ptah 7y ago

Fully agree, mindfulness can help one come up with even more radical actions. It can be a tool for activists to cope with the pressures of activism. It doesn't sound like the author has done any mindfulness practice

AstralStorm 7y ago
Does it though? Do we have any kind of data about it? If it helps one activist and million corporate drones and people looking for status quo, the practice is not on the whole a friend of activism. So what are the numbers?
- ptah 7y ago
  You are adding the goal of turning status quo warriors into activists. Mindfulness is not designed for that and has never claimed to do that
  - AstralStorm 7y ago
    No, more like not turning activists into content status quo followers. But it's problematic to discern the two. Perhaps a study on how many activists quit when using or not using mindfulness techniques. Though the confounder is huge, people trying this have some sort of a psychological problem most of the time...
    - ptah 7y ago
      it doesn't work like that. you should try it for yourself
thesz 7y ago
Author (and anyone else) don't really need that. Good walk for two-three hours would do better than mindfullness session. (hint: after about 25-40 minutes of intensive walking you start to burn fat primarily; this process has a side effect of endocannabinoids' release [1]; you get healthier and get high at same time; I am not including here release of brain-derived neurotrophic factor for you to discover it and effects of BDNF serum level increase on the mental state and thinking) [1] https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/38/5/536 https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/38/5/536

thendrill 7y ago

That is also the goal of religion. Tell your worries to god in silence and peace, then wait and be patient for God to fix it.

adrianN 7y ago
That is so simplified that it is more wrong than right. I don't know of any mainstream religion that encourages waiting for god to fix things.
- tempguy9999 7y ago
  I picked up a religious leaflet that said (this from memory, approximately) that nuclear war would have to actually start, then god would step in to sort things out. Can't remember the sect, might have been jehova's witnesses.
  - Animats 7y ago
    That's probably "dispensationalism".[1] This is tied up with the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, involves Israel's role in "End Times", and is taken too seriously by parts of the US religious right. Searching for that term will lead you to some weird places. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dispensationalism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dispensationalism
- gwd 7y ago
  > I don't know of any mainstream religion that encourages waiting for god to fix things. Individuals certainly use God as an excuse sometimes. I've seen some of my relatives say they didn't believe in anthropogenic global warming because God wouldn't allow people to change his world (or something to that effect). Sorry, I don't remember seeing that particular verse in the Bible; and in any case, God lets people do lots of pretty crazy things. Giving us the dignity to choose means giving us the possibility that we actually will royally mess things up. But I don't think that has anything to do with religion per se. You get atheistic libertarians saying that global warming can't be happening because it isn't priced into the market; or that if it does happen, market forces will intervene to fix things. People are just really good at finding reasons they shouldn't have to be inconvenienced.

riskneutral 7y ago

Agreed. The author is a profoundly unaware person. I get the sense that he tried meditation for a while, didn’t succeed (perhaps due to this angry “radical” mindset) and then decided to monetize the failure by writing a book critical of the practice. Well at least it injects some variety into the conversation. It’s not everyday that you find someone actively disparaging mindfulness.