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Wait. Wait wait wait. > Research shows that an ability to resist urges will improve your relationships, increase your dependability, and raise your performance

Wait. Wait wait wait. > Research shows that an ability to resist urges will improve your relationships, increase your dependability, and raise your performance... Great. Yes. Impulse control is key. Delayed gratification is part of how we define higher intelligence. Meditation has what do with this, exactly? > How [does meditation help]? By increasing your capacity to resist distracting urges. This entire article is predicated by this leap of faith, which as far as I can see has little to no justification besides, "Of course it does!" > Meditation teaches us to resist the urge of that counterproductive follow through. One cannot just say things over and over to make them true.

Dove 14y ago
I don't know, I thought he explained it pretty well: during meditation, you practice resisting urges. I'll admit that falls rather short of a doubleblindrandomlyassignedcontrolgrouplargesamplesizepeerreviewed study, but it does seem to be common sense that practicing something would make you better at it.
- KirinDave 14y ago
  "during meditation, you practice resisting urges." Saying this does not make it true thought. Is that actually what people do during meditation? The only experience I have with meditation is sitting in seiza position after 2 hours of Ki Aikido, slowly feeling my muscles cramp, listening to someone hit a drum periodically, and not feeling anything good at all. Eventually I just learned to devote that time to reviewing things I had learned that day. I found this self-reflective practice far more refreshing and pleasant than any search for metaphorical emptiness.
  - johnthedebs 14y ago
    I think when most people say 'meditation' what they mean is 'mindfulness meditation' (and that seems to be the case here). During mindfulness meditation, yes, resisting urges is part of what you're supposed to do. The basic process goes something like: 1) Sit down in a comfortable position that you can stay in without moving. 2) Take deep breaths through your nose and focus your attention on the sensation of air moving over your nasal passages and into/out of your lungs. 3) When other thoughts come into your head or you find yourself thinking about anything other than your breathing, gently direct your attention back to your breathing.
    - KirinDave 14y ago
      Why is "breathing" more effective than, say, "cats"?
      - dwiel 14y ago
        If you are "cats" you are also "breathing". If you are "breathing" you are only "breathing".
        KirinDave 14y ago
        > If you are "breathing" you are only "breathing". And sitting, and your heart is beating, and you're swallowing, and your eyes are moving reflexively, and you're probably digesting. And what about people with tinnitis? They're often "hearing" something. Sorry, I just don't understand why focusing on a specific topic to the exclusion of everything else is somehow inferior to focusing on breathing. Because your higher functioning mind can take over your breathing, but your reflexive breathing is plenty good at it nearly all the time. Woudln't the same distraction-free mindset be attainable by contemplating the central limit theorem, or Euler's formula, or focusing on doing more situps than your body is comfortable with?
        wpietri 14y ago
        This is something that I don't think you will be able to understand until you have tried it enough to see what others see in it. There are many activities like that. The point of focusing on breathing is not to do the breathing in place of your automatic breathing. It is to pay attention to that automatic breathing. Contemplating the central limit theorem is a complex activity. Where does contemplation of that truly end? It is easy to follow the mind's natural tendency to become distracted. You think about related math. You think about your math professor that first talked about it. You think about unrelated math. You think about practical applications. The breath is simple. You observe the breath going in and out. When your mind it on something else, you return it to the breath. Over and over. You don't have to consider anything: if you attend to something other than the sensation of the breath, you've wandered off.
  - nollidge 14y ago
    I think everyone's forgetting that there's a thousand different activities that people call "meditation". Vipassana meditation seems to be what the original article and most of the responses are referring to.
acgourley 14y ago
You're right he doesn't back up the claim, but that's just because it's so well accepted by people who study this he didn't even think he had to.
- KirinDave 14y ago
  I'd like to actually see some evidence that Meditation helps people sustain that state of mind. Because I hear people trot it out a lot but I've never seen it backed up by hard data. I think meditation may have benefits, but the idea that it helps you "build up willpower" has always been one I thought we could actually measure, and yet I've never seen a good study of it.
  - roqetman 14y ago
    I used to also wait for all the data before I tried things like this. Then due to "reasons" I actually started meditation, daily, for just 10 minutes. I've now been doing it for 3 years and I have no data to give you, but the effects on me are subtle yet profound. If you can spare 10 minutes a day you still won't have any data, but you'll have an answer.
    - KirinDave 14y ago
      I am here to tell you the placebo effect is nearly impossible to spot from the inside out. Your brain is just not wired to pierce the veil of selection bias without a lot of effort. You are saying, "Doing X made me feel good." But I am saying that nearly anything in that X spot might do the same. It's just the way the human mind works. In testing out Piracetam on myself I've been especially aware of this, because even though I _know_ it can happen I still perceive effects that my testing strategy eliminates as just flights of fancy and imagination. If meditation really is an amazing wonder practice you claim it is then it should hold up to scrutiny no problem. You can keep doing it, and I might even try it. That doesn't mean we should just pretend all the things this article are saying are true.
      - acous 14y ago
adorton 14y ago
Meditation is the focused practice of resisting distraction. Have you ever tried sitting still for 15-30 minutes, doing nothing but breathing? Distractions come easily in this state. Sometimes it's your thoughts. Other times, it's very hard to resist the urge to get up and start moving. In order to successfully meditate, you need to deal with a wide variety of distractions and other obstacles.
- KirinDave 14y ago
  > Meditation is the focused practice of resisting distraction. Are we defining it this way? Because this does not jive with my experience of meditation, focusing, or resisting distraction. > Have you ever tried sitting still for 15-30 minutes, doing nothing but breathing? Yes. As a matter of fact, meditation was part of a martial arts practice I participated in for 2 years. In all that time I tried very hard to do this, but never found much value in it. Eventually I settled on quietly and methodically reflecting on the day, which is something that seemed to have a lot more value than chasing a vague notion of emptiness. And honestly I'm not convinced this is _any different_ from the "benefits" of meditation.
  - shock-value 14y ago
    Basically you are arguing that being able to resist distractions isn't a great value in and of itself, at least compared to some other values. Fine. I think a lot of people would disagree, but it's a legitimate viewpoint. But you also claim that taking a period of time in a day to train oneself to resist distractions does not lead to a more focused mindset throughout the day. I think most of us who have practiced meditation (and actually put real effort in, rather than reflecting on other thoughts during the practice) would disagree. At the moment I don't have any actual studies on hand to back that up (I'm on my phone) but I would be very surprised if they don't exist, and even more surprised if there were studies disproving positive effects of meditation.
    - KirinDave 14y ago
      > But you also claim that taking a period of time in a day to train oneself to resist distractions does not lead to a more focused mindset throughout the day. I think most of us who have practiced meditation (and actually put real effort in, rather than reflecting on other thoughts during the practice) would disagree. Not to put too fine a point on this, because I'm not trying t pick a fight here, but... Homeopaths would disagree when you say that Avagadros Limit rules out any possibility of their cures working save by pure magic. > At the moment I don't have any actual studies on hand to back that up (I'm on my phone) but I would be very surprised if they don't exist, and even more surprised if there were studies disproving positive effects of meditation. I'm not arguing that meditation has no positive effects. I'm arguing other things may have similar positive effects and meditation is not unique in this. For example, how is meditation any different from strenuous exercise in forcing your mind to focus? The article in question suggests that there is science behind the link between meditation and willpower. I don't see that. I also don't see unique properties of meditation in this. Meditation devotees spring up out of the woodwork in response saying, "If you did it you'd understand..." like that's somehow a response to this contention. By all means, continue to meditate. By all means, feel that it helps make you a better person. By all means, recommend it to your friends. But please do not suggest there is concrete evidence that there is a causal link unless you have _something_ to back that up.
bennesvig 14y ago
Willpower is a muscle. By wanting to do things, but focusing on meditation, you're building up your willpower muscle.
- dchest 14y ago
  This is an analogy, it may be true or false. Download speed is a muscle. By downloading more files you're building up your download speed.
  - bennesvig 14y ago
    That analogy doesn't work. Meditations influence is covered in depth in The Willpower Instinct, but here's a short summary. ""Meditation requires you to tap all the self-regulation systems in your brain as well as the self-monitoring mechanism," says Kelly McGonigal, PhD, a health psychologist at Stanford University and author of the forthcoming The Willpower Instinct. Every time you meditate, you use two important parts of your brain: the prefrontal cortex, which helps you make smart choices, and the anterior cingulate cortex, which helps you be aware of when you make such choices and when you don't. The more you activate these systems, the more powerful they become, so in the future it will feel easier to do the right thing. "Eventually you will start to notice whenever you are doing something that is inconsistent with your goals," McGonigal says."
    - KirinDave 14y ago
      Does the Willpower Instinct contain any sort of actual empirical analysis of the subject? Or is it just someone with a PhD saying something? Because medical professionals can believe in magic and bullshit just as easily as anyone else.
      - bennesvig 14y ago
        Yes. It mentions actual studies and evidence. http://psychcentral.com/news/2011/01/24/brain-structure-changes-after-meditation/22859.html http://psychcentral.com/news/2011/01/24/brain-structure-chan...
Fishkins 14y ago
There's definitely evidence that meditation alters your brain in positive ways [1]. The phrase "impulse control" isn't used in the list of benefits, but they list improvements in traits I'd associate with impulse control, e.g. increased self-awareness and reduced anxiety. [1] http://www.familyhealthguide.co.uk/mindfulness-meditation-leads-to-increases-in-brain-gray-matter-density-in-just-8-weeks.html http://www.familyhealthguide.co.uk/mindfulness-meditation-le...
- KirinDave 14y ago
  Sounds like similar benefits to exercising.
  - shock-value 14y ago
    I don't think anyone is arguing that physically exercising wouldn't provide some of the same mental benefits of meditation. I for one think that it would. (Especially the act of forcing oneself to go to the gym, rather than just having fun playing basketball with friends--even if the exercise content is the same). But in your original post you are doubting that meditation has these benefits at all. I think that is what most people are arguing against.
    - KirinDave 14y ago
      > But in your original post you are doubting that meditation has these benefits at all. I am arguing there is no basis for the claims of specific benefits. I never disputed that meditation clearly does something. It's just not clear that something is at all meaningful, or lines up with the article's motivations.
eof 14y ago
Article is not wrong about this. It is hard to measure what meditation is doing on a subjective level, which is very specific and easy to talk about amongst people who have spent even an hour meditating. The key here, which for you might be a leap of faith, is that when one tries to simply focus on their breath (or the dishes), completely without our permission thoughts continue to pop into our head. The 'natural' thing to do is follow these thoughts; and there is a will of resistance to go back to your breath again and again. It is hard to do, and get easier with practice. Anyone who has spent say, >3 hours of their life meditating will recognize it as a fact that meditation strengthens your will.
- KirinDave 14y ago
  > Anyone who has spent say, >3 hours of their life meditating will recognize it as a fact that meditation strengthens your will. Do you realize how unsupportable this line of thought is? Do I even need to go into this? How do you know meditation does not actually make this worse? If "willpower" is finite and predicated on physical endurance (as studies suggest), then perhaps sitting here trying to hold your mind "empty" is actually making you less capable of carrying on with the rest of your day! Why wouldn't 8 hours of sleep, famously known for its ability to inspire ideas, be even more effective?
- kstenerud 14y ago
  I've spent many hours of my life meditating. Looking back now, they were pretty much a waste of time. My strength of will comes from adversity, not passivity.
- hollerith 14y ago
  >Anyone who has spent say, >3 hours of their life meditating will recognize it as a fact that meditation strengthens your will. I've spent hundreds of hours meditating over the last 40 years, and it is far from apparent to me that it strengthened my will.
codegeek 14y ago
"Meditation has what do with this, exactly?" I think you are taking an extreme position on this issue. Meditation may not have everything to do with this but it does play a significant part. In my experience, meditation helps you analyze, hold and channel your thought process better. If your thought process is better, you have better control over your impulses.
- KirinDave 14y ago
  It's "extreme" to ask for evidence on something testable now. :(
  - dwiel 14y ago
    You didn't ask for evidence in any of this posts' ancestery. If all you had said was "A scientific study regarding the connection between meditation and the ability to resist urges would be interesting and helpful to the authors assertions" you would have gotten a wholly different response.
    - KirinDave 14y ago
      Please assume for future correspondences that what I'd like when it comes to medical advice is real information and not anecdotes.
  - pallinder 14y ago
    Im with you, this whole thread is quite odd.
wpietri 14y ago
It is dickish of you to suggest that the repetition is to cover up a falsehood. You can question without being hostile.
lobo_tuerto 14y ago
Maybe this can shed some light on your question: http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2011/meditation-0505.html http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2011/meditation-0505.html
zeroonetwothree 14y ago
Exactly. There are so many things where a large number of people have claimed that "if you try it, then it will work", while later research found it to be nothing but the placebo effect. This includes acupuncture, chiropractic, etc.
baddox 14y ago
Meditation is resisting your urges. So it's practice for resisting your urges, which makes you better at resisting your urges when it actually matters (like while working). Why not just practice resisting your urges while working and avoid the extra time required for dedicated meditation?
jdc 14y ago
Right, I'm pretty sold on meditation having benefits, but this "practice resisting" mechanism seems like a flippant guess. Then there's the "willpower is a finite resource" studies argue that the opposite effect is more likely for people merely restraining themselves.

Dove 14y ago

I don't know, I thought he explained it pretty well: during meditation, you practice resisting urges. I'll admit that falls rather short of a doubleblindrandomlyassignedcontrolgrouplargesamplesizepeerreviewed study, but it does seem to be common sense that practicing something would make you better at it.

KirinDave 14y ago
"during meditation, you practice resisting urges." Saying this does not make it true thought. Is that actually what people do during meditation? The only experience I have with meditation is sitting in seiza position after 2 hours of Ki Aikido, slowly feeling my muscles cramp, listening to someone hit a drum periodically, and not feeling anything good at all. Eventually I just learned to devote that time to reviewing things I had learned that day. I found this self-reflective practice far more refreshing and pleasant than any search for metaphorical emptiness.
- johnthedebs 14y ago
  I think when most people say 'meditation' what they mean is 'mindfulness meditation' (and that seems to be the case here). During mindfulness meditation, yes, resisting urges is part of what you're supposed to do. The basic process goes something like: 1) Sit down in a comfortable position that you can stay in without moving. 2) Take deep breaths through your nose and focus your attention on the sensation of air moving over your nasal passages and into/out of your lungs. 3) When other thoughts come into your head or you find yourself thinking about anything other than your breathing, gently direct your attention back to your breathing.
  - KirinDave 14y ago
    Why is "breathing" more effective than, say, "cats"?
    - dwiel 14y ago
      If you are "cats" you are also "breathing". If you are "breathing" you are only "breathing".
      - KirinDave 14y ago
        > If you are "breathing" you are only "breathing". And sitting, and your heart is beating, and you're swallowing, and your eyes are moving reflexively, and you're probably digesting. And what about people with tinnitis? They're often "hearing" something. Sorry, I just don't understand why focusing on a specific topic to the exclusion of everything else is somehow inferior to focusing on breathing. Because your higher functioning mind can take over your breathing, but your reflexive breathing is plenty good at it nearly all the time. Woudln't the same distraction-free mindset be attainable by contemplating the central limit theorem, or Euler's formula, or focusing on doing more situps than your body is comfortable with?
        wpietri 14y ago
        This is something that I don't think you will be able to understand until you have tried it enough to see what others see in it. There are many activities like that. The point of focusing on breathing is not to do the breathing in place of your automatic breathing. It is to pay attention to that automatic breathing. Contemplating the central limit theorem is a complex activity. Where does contemplation of that truly end? It is easy to follow the mind's natural tendency to become distracted. You think about related math. You think about your math professor that first talked about it. You think about unrelated math. You think about practical applications. The breath is simple. You observe the breath going in and out. When your mind it on something else, you return it to the breath. Over and over. You don't have to consider anything: if you attend to something other than the sensation of the breath, you've wandered off.
- nollidge 14y ago
  I think everyone's forgetting that there's a thousand different activities that people call "meditation". Vipassana meditation seems to be what the original article and most of the responses are referring to.

acgourley 14y ago

You're right he doesn't back up the claim, but that's just because it's so well accepted by people who study this he didn't even think he had to.

KirinDave 14y ago
I'd like to actually see some evidence that Meditation helps people sustain that state of mind. Because I hear people trot it out a lot but I've never seen it backed up by hard data. I think meditation may have benefits, but the idea that it helps you "build up willpower" has always been one I thought we could actually measure, and yet I've never seen a good study of it.
- roqetman 14y ago
  I used to also wait for all the data before I tried things like this. Then due to "reasons" I actually started meditation, daily, for just 10 minutes. I've now been doing it for 3 years and I have no data to give you, but the effects on me are subtle yet profound. If you can spare 10 minutes a day you still won't have any data, but you'll have an answer.
  - KirinDave 14y ago
    I am here to tell you the placebo effect is nearly impossible to spot from the inside out. Your brain is just not wired to pierce the veil of selection bias without a lot of effort. You are saying, "Doing X made me feel good." But I am saying that nearly anything in that X spot might do the same. It's just the way the human mind works. In testing out Piracetam on myself I've been especially aware of this, because even though I _know_ it can happen I still perceive effects that my testing strategy eliminates as just flights of fancy and imagination. If meditation really is an amazing wonder practice you claim it is then it should hold up to scrutiny no problem. You can keep doing it, and I might even try it. That doesn't mean we should just pretend all the things this article are saying are true.
    - acous 14y ago

adorton 14y ago

Meditation is the focused practice of resisting distraction. Have you ever tried sitting still for 15-30 minutes, doing nothing but breathing? Distractions come easily in this state. Sometimes it's your thoughts. Other times, it's very hard to resist the urge to get up and start moving. In order to successfully meditate, you need to deal with a wide variety of distractions and other obstacles.

KirinDave 14y ago
> Meditation is the focused practice of resisting distraction. Are we defining it this way? Because this does not jive with my experience of meditation, focusing, or resisting distraction. > Have you ever tried sitting still for 15-30 minutes, doing nothing but breathing? Yes. As a matter of fact, meditation was part of a martial arts practice I participated in for 2 years. In all that time I tried very hard to do this, but never found much value in it. Eventually I settled on quietly and methodically reflecting on the day, which is something that seemed to have a lot more value than chasing a vague notion of emptiness. And honestly I'm not convinced this is _any different_ from the "benefits" of meditation.
- shock-value 14y ago
  Basically you are arguing that being able to resist distractions isn't a great value in and of itself, at least compared to some other values. Fine. I think a lot of people would disagree, but it's a legitimate viewpoint. But you also claim that taking a period of time in a day to train oneself to resist distractions does not lead to a more focused mindset throughout the day. I think most of us who have practiced meditation (and actually put real effort in, rather than reflecting on other thoughts during the practice) would disagree. At the moment I don't have any actual studies on hand to back that up (I'm on my phone) but I would be very surprised if they don't exist, and even more surprised if there were studies disproving positive effects of meditation.
  - KirinDave 14y ago
    > But you also claim that taking a period of time in a day to train oneself to resist distractions does not lead to a more focused mindset throughout the day. I think most of us who have practiced meditation (and actually put real effort in, rather than reflecting on other thoughts during the practice) would disagree. Not to put too fine a point on this, because I'm not trying t pick a fight here, but... Homeopaths would disagree when you say that Avagadros Limit rules out any possibility of their cures working save by pure magic. > At the moment I don't have any actual studies on hand to back that up (I'm on my phone) but I would be very surprised if they don't exist, and even more surprised if there were studies disproving positive effects of meditation. I'm not arguing that meditation has no positive effects. I'm arguing other things may have similar positive effects and meditation is not unique in this. For example, how is meditation any different from strenuous exercise in forcing your mind to focus? The article in question suggests that there is science behind the link between meditation and willpower. I don't see that. I also don't see unique properties of meditation in this. Meditation devotees spring up out of the woodwork in response saying, "If you did it you'd understand..." like that's somehow a response to this contention. By all means, continue to meditate. By all means, feel that it helps make you a better person. By all means, recommend it to your friends. But please do not suggest there is concrete evidence that there is a causal link unless you have _something_ to back that up.

bennesvig 14y ago

Willpower is a muscle. By wanting to do things, but focusing on meditation, you're building up your willpower muscle.

dchest 14y ago
This is an analogy, it may be true or false. Download speed is a muscle. By downloading more files you're building up your download speed.
- bennesvig 14y ago
  That analogy doesn't work. Meditations influence is covered in depth in The Willpower Instinct, but here's a short summary. ""Meditation requires you to tap all the self-regulation systems in your brain as well as the self-monitoring mechanism," says Kelly McGonigal, PhD, a health psychologist at Stanford University and author of the forthcoming The Willpower Instinct. Every time you meditate, you use two important parts of your brain: the prefrontal cortex, which helps you make smart choices, and the anterior cingulate cortex, which helps you be aware of when you make such choices and when you don't. The more you activate these systems, the more powerful they become, so in the future it will feel easier to do the right thing. "Eventually you will start to notice whenever you are doing something that is inconsistent with your goals," McGonigal says."
  - KirinDave 14y ago
    Does the Willpower Instinct contain any sort of actual empirical analysis of the subject? Or is it just someone with a PhD saying something? Because medical professionals can believe in magic and bullshit just as easily as anyone else.
    - bennesvig 14y ago
      Yes. It mentions actual studies and evidence. http://psychcentral.com/news/2011/01/24/brain-structure-changes-after-meditation/22859.html http://psychcentral.com/news/2011/01/24/brain-structure-chan...

Fishkins 14y ago

There's definitely evidence that meditation alters your brain in positive ways [1]. The phrase "impulse control" isn't used in the list of benefits, but they list improvements in traits I'd associate with impulse control, e.g. increased self-awareness and reduced anxiety. [1] http://www.familyhealthguide.co.uk/mindfulness-meditation-leads-to-increases-in-brain-gray-matter-density-in-just-8-weeks.html http://www.familyhealthguide.co.uk/mindfulness-meditation-le...

KirinDave 14y ago
Sounds like similar benefits to exercising.
- shock-value 14y ago
  I don't think anyone is arguing that physically exercising wouldn't provide some of the same mental benefits of meditation. I for one think that it would. (Especially the act of forcing oneself to go to the gym, rather than just having fun playing basketball with friends--even if the exercise content is the same). But in your original post you are doubting that meditation has these benefits at all. I think that is what most people are arguing against.
  - KirinDave 14y ago
    > But in your original post you are doubting that meditation has these benefits at all. I am arguing there is no basis for the claims of specific benefits. I never disputed that meditation clearly does something. It's just not clear that something is at all meaningful, or lines up with the article's motivations.

eof 14y ago

Article is not wrong about this. It is hard to measure what meditation is doing on a subjective level, which is very specific and easy to talk about amongst people who have spent even an hour meditating. The key here, which for you might be a leap of faith, is that when one tries to simply focus on their breath (or the dishes), completely without our permission thoughts continue to pop into our head. The 'natural' thing to do is follow these thoughts; and there is a will of resistance to go back to your breath again and again. It is hard to do, and get easier with practice. Anyone who has spent say, >3 hours of their life meditating will recognize it as a fact that meditation strengthens your will.

KirinDave 14y ago
> Anyone who has spent say, >3 hours of their life meditating will recognize it as a fact that meditation strengthens your will. Do you realize how unsupportable this line of thought is? Do I even need to go into this? How do you know meditation does not actually make this worse? If "willpower" is finite and predicated on physical endurance (as studies suggest), then perhaps sitting here trying to hold your mind "empty" is actually making you less capable of carrying on with the rest of your day! Why wouldn't 8 hours of sleep, famously known for its ability to inspire ideas, be even more effective?
kstenerud 14y ago
I've spent many hours of my life meditating. Looking back now, they were pretty much a waste of time. My strength of will comes from adversity, not passivity.
hollerith 14y ago
>Anyone who has spent say, >3 hours of their life meditating will recognize it as a fact that meditation strengthens your will. I've spent hundreds of hours meditating over the last 40 years, and it is far from apparent to me that it strengthened my will.

codegeek 14y ago

"Meditation has what do with this, exactly?" I think you are taking an extreme position on this issue. Meditation may not have everything to do with this but it does play a significant part. In my experience, meditation helps you analyze, hold and channel your thought process better. If your thought process is better, you have better control over your impulses.

KirinDave 14y ago
It's "extreme" to ask for evidence on something testable now. :(
- dwiel 14y ago
  You didn't ask for evidence in any of this posts' ancestery. If all you had said was "A scientific study regarding the connection between meditation and the ability to resist urges would be interesting and helpful to the authors assertions" you would have gotten a wholly different response.
  - KirinDave 14y ago
    Please assume for future correspondences that what I'd like when it comes to medical advice is real information and not anecdotes.
- pallinder 14y ago
  Im with you, this whole thread is quite odd.

wpietri 14y ago

It is dickish of you to suggest that the repetition is to cover up a falsehood. You can question without being hostile.

lobo_tuerto 14y ago

Maybe this can shed some light on your question: http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2011/meditation-0505.html http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2011/meditation-0505.html

zeroonetwothree 14y ago

Exactly. There are so many things where a large number of people have claimed that "if you try it, then it will work", while later research found it to be nothing but the placebo effect. This includes acupuncture, chiropractic, etc.

baddox 14y ago

Meditation is resisting your urges. So it's practice for resisting your urges, which makes you better at resisting your urges when it actually matters (like while working). Why not just practice resisting your urges while working and avoid the extra time required for dedicated meditation?

jdc 14y ago

Right, I'm pretty sold on meditation having benefits, but this "practice resisting" mechanism seems like a flippant guess. Then there's the "willpower is a finite resource" studies argue that the opposite effect is more likely for people merely restraining themselves.