5 ms·
Fascinating (and kind of depressing) that the "attention deconcentration" technique she used to become a world-class athlete was originally developed in Russia
by saeranv 5y ago
Fascinating (and kind of depressing) that the "attention deconcentration" technique she used to become a world-class athlete was originally developed in Russia for people who held very boring jobs.
> Molchanova’s technique for concentration was based on a procedure she called attention deconcentration. She said it came from ancient warriors and was used by samurai, and that in Russia it had been adapted and developed for people who held very boring jobs. It involved moving one’s attention to the periphery of one’s awareness, against the imperative of the eye, which is trained to focus. It was a form of meditation. As one advanced into it, the left cerebral hemisphere, which deals with words, grew quiet. This allowed parts of the mind and body more resistant to the frightening stresses of free diving to take over.
- rramadass 5y ago"Attention-Deconstruction" is actually from old "Awareness" meditation techniques from ancient Hinduism/Buddhism texts. One well-known text is the Vijnana Bhairava Tantra - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vij%C3%B1%C4%81na_Bhairava_Tantra https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vij%C3%B1%C4%81na_Bhairava_Tan...
- DennisP 5y agoIt sounds a lot like the "open focus" training developed by the Princeton Biofeedback Center: https://openfocus.com/ https://openfocus.com/ I've done a fair amount of this. Also I've taken courses in primitive wilderness survival that emphasized a similar use of attention, though without using the same techniques as Princeton.
- nefitty 5y agoWhat sorts of activities do you use this for? For example, most relevant to me, would it be conducive to programming or other technical work?
- rramadass 5y agohttp://deconcentration-of-attention.com/deconcentration-software.html http://deconcentration-of-attention.com/deconcentration-soft...
- nefitty 5y agoWoah. Thanks so much for sharing this!
- DennisP 5y agoI found it very helpful for programming. On the one hand, when I was doing boring stuff that didn't need much concentration, it was easier to deal with and just knock it out. On the other, when I really did need to concentrate, it was easier to do. The researcher says most of us walk around with a tight focus and exhaust that part of our brains, so if we give it a rest we can concentrate better when we need to. It works best if you practice it a couple times a day, so it becomes kind of a new normal. It had other benefits too. It was very physically relaxing, and I found myself noticing the beauty of my surroundings much more than usual.
- MrLeap 5y agoLooking up attention deconcentration sent me down a surprisingly short rabbit hole that in 2 steps ended at a wikipedia article for "psychonetics" -- which redirected to some guy whose name I've recognized from a few dubious things that have popped up on HN recently. Baadar-meinhof I guess!