Category Archives: Human Behavior

Human Behavior

The physics of swarm behaviour – OUPblog

The locusts have no king, and yet they all go forth in ranks, noted King Solomon some three thousand years ago. That a multitude of simple creatures could display coherent collective behavior without any leader caused his surprise and amazement, and it has continued to do so for much of our thinking over the following millennia. Caesars legions conquered Europe, Napoleons armies reached Moscow: We always think of a great commander telling the thoughtless multitudes what to do.

Statistical physics pioneered an opposite view. When a piece of iron is cooled down to a certain temperature (the Curie temperature), the majority of the atoms align their spins, thereby making it magnetic. No atomic general gives any commands; each atom communicates only with its neighbors, and yet there is an overall alignment. It shows us that local microscopic interactions as such can lead to dramatic global behavior, and this realization brought about a revolution in the understanding of swarm behavior.

Some hundred years ago, serious biologists still thought that the coordination of birds in a flock was reached by telepathy, and the synchronized light emission by fireflies in the Asiatic jungle was attributed to faulty observation by the observer. The introduction of physics concepts in biology has to a large extent resolved these puzzles. Flocks of birds are much more like the atoms in iron than they are like the armies of Napoleon, and the fireflies act much like a laser. Collective behavior in the world of living beings is after all not so different from that in the inanimate world.

The fusion of physics concepts and biological observations has proven fruitful for both sides, and the conceptual transfer worked in both directions. For centuries, physics concentrated on simple systems, since these were solvable by the available techniques. Scientists broke up a large system into many simple little ones, which could be handled. Putting them back together then described the large system. At the turn of the last century, Per Bak, a pioneer of the truly new physics of complexity, noted that the laws of physics are simple, but nature is complex. If the Big Bang initially produced an ideal gas of primordial particles, how could this eventually lead to the appearance of Per Bak? A living being is more than a set of molecules, and today we study systems in physics which refuse to be decomposed additively into little subsystems.

The understanding of collective behavior of animal societies can perhaps act as a first step in the search for an answer. Today we can simulate a flock of birds on a computer, allowing each bird to move freely, subject to only two social rules: Follow your neighbor, but dont crowd him. Putting a large number of such simplistic birds on the computer then produces the behavior observed for flocks of real birds. A primitive way to achieve collective behavior is provided by commands of Caesar or Napoleon; a more subtle and more natural way is to allow a many component system to move subject to the simple clear social rules.

A still more dramatic form of collective behavior appears in insect societies. The whole now no longer consists of identical components. Evolution has found it preferable to have different components designed specifically to carry out particular tasks. In an ant colony, we have workers, nannies, soldiers, drones, and a queen. Each individual carries out specific tasks; it is dependent on the others in order to exist, it cannot survive alone. And no matter how good a worker ant is, it will never have children to whom it can pass on its capabilities. All descendants are produced by the queen and the drones. Charles Darwins survival of the fittest now takes on a new and unexpected form. It no longer applies to individuals, but rather to the entire collective system. Insect societies thus in a way precede the pattern of modern industrial societies, in which large firms employ different species of workers to carry out dedicated tasks. In most human societies, the caste status is not (yet) inherited, and caste transitions are possible. Hopefully, evolution will consider this as dominant.

In any case, human societies have led to one collective feature not paralleled on a comparable level by any animals: we have language. Only the existence of language allows the abstract thinking of humans; we can imagine and talk about the past and the future, the here and the elsewhere. It is probably this more than anything that has allowed humans to take over the entire earth.

Image byJames Wainscoatvia Unsplash

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The physics of swarm behaviour - OUPblog

Human Behavior

The revenge of nature? – UCAN

The new coronavirus threatens the health of millions of people around the world if it spreads uncontrollably. Every precaution must be taken to prevent its spread and that means practicing greater personal and public hygiene and avoiding contact with people traveling from an infected area. We must show concern and never discriminate against anyone. Besides strict containment, strict personal hygiene, the washing of hands and clean surroundings can hold its spread. Public health officials must be prepared for an outbreak. The flu-like disease does not have a high fatality rate: only two people in every hundred die from it. People can get very sick with severe respiratory problems and yet recover. Others can have the virus but have no symptoms. Everywhere, including the Philippines, doctors and medical personnel have been briefed and advised on the potential health problem and we are reminded that prevention is better than cure. So, there is no need to panic or raise alarm, but intelligent planning, preparation and prevention are what is needed. Besides, most people are recovering from it with good medical care. The big hope is that the virus cannot survive in high temperatures, so bring on a hot summer everywhere, and with global warming we can expect that. The highest temperatures ever recorded in Australia and parts of Europe in 2019 are stunning. That is because of man-made climate change. That might kill off this deadly virus and tropical countries like the Philippines might be spared. The good news is the World Health Organization has announced that the virus may have reached its peak in China as fewer daily infections have been recorded. The coronavirus is also the result of ill-advised and illegal human behavior. We have seen the outbreak of many deadly diseases and viruses in recent decades. More viruses that are affecting humans are crossing over from other mammals and birds. Remember the avian flu? The human immunodeficiency virus is said to have crossed over from monkeys when people ate them as bush meat. Likewise, Ebola likely came from eating monkeys, they say. Then, we had the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), said to have originated from bats, and today the 2019 coronavirus that possibly came from bats, too, although it is not yet proven. You might say these diseases are the revenge of nature. The natural world is striking back at the disastrous human exploitation of the rainforests, the oceans and all wildlife by driving them to extinction. There is destruction in almost every habitat in the developing world and in some parts of the developed world, too. Illegal trade and trafficking in many endangered animal species for huge profit could be the cause of coronavirus. China is a big market for endangered animals and thousands of animals are butchered each year, mostly in Africa, to provide elephant ivory for the China ornament trade, now banned but still thriving. In 2009, there was as many as 109,000 elephants in Tanzania but due to poaching and slaughter, there were only 43,000 left in 2014, a 60 percent loss according to government reports. There are even less today. In 1970, the number of rhino had decreased to 70,000 and as of today there are only 29,000 left on the planet. They are on the way to extinction like the white rhino by bandits killing them for their valuable horn for Chinese traditional medicine. Scientific research has shown the horn to have no more medicinal value than horses hooves. Hundreds of creatures are killed and collected to supply the demand for Chinese traditional medicine, most of which are ineffective, have no medical benefit and are unnecessary considering the huge advances in Chinese health care. The small ant-eating creature called the pangolin could be responsible for the jump of the 2019 coronavirus from animal to human. They are the most widely traded and trafficked creature stolen from the wild in Southeast Asia, India and Africa. They are now practically extinct in China because they killed them for food and their scales are used in traditional Chinese medicine. They have been found in the wild food market of Wuhan where the coronavirus first made the crossover leap from animal to humans. According to an investigative report by The Guardian, one shop was found to have for sale live animals such as "live wolf pups, golden cicadas, scorpions, bamboo rats, squirrels, foxes, civets, hedgehogs (probably porcupines), salamanders, turtles and crocodiles." All destined for the cooking pot, it seems. Bats are known carriers of many viruses and the forest dwelling pangolin could have picked up the virus from bats droppings on the forest floor, some speculate. This is a likely cross over for the virus. Or some human ate the bats. They are on sale in wildlife markets. Corrupt governments like that in Brazil allow traders and loggers to attack the last of the rai forests and destroy their natural beauty by cutting trees, driving out and killing their indigenous people and trafficking their wildlife. We can expect more health problems in the future. Nature will rebel just like the mighty storms and heatwaves caused by man-made climate change are coming back to hit us. Why cant we respect nature, preserve the forest, protect the environment and its wildlife? The answer is easy. It is because of human greed. It is an insatiable, unquenchable drive beyond control. To stop the greed and trafficking of wildlife and the crossover of animal-borne viruses to humans, the authorities worldwide must go after the traffickers and traders of wildlife. They must identify their bank accounts and confiscate their property, assets and money and jail the big-time traders. It is essential to ban all sale and trading in wildlife. Father Shay Cullen is an Irish missionary priest and founder of the Preda Foundation in the Philippines. He is a member of the Missionary Society of St. Columban. The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official editorial position of UCA News.

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The revenge of nature? - UCAN

Human Behavior

The Impact of the Coronavirus on Business – GC Capital Ideas

Pandemics top national risk-management frameworks in many countries. For example, pandemic influenza tops the natural hazards matrix of the UK National Risk Register, and emerging infectious diseases are tagged as of considerable concern. Seen as a medical problem, each outbreak of a potentially dangerous infection prompts authorities to ask a rational set of questions and dust off the menu of response options that can be implemented as needed in a phased manner, according to Richard Smith-Bingham, Executive Director of Insights at Marsh & McLennan Advantage, and Kavitha Hariharan, Director at Marsh & McLennan Insights.

Reality, however, is generally more disruptive, as national governments and supranational agencies balance health security and economic and social imperatives on the back of imperfect and evolving intelligence. Its a governance challenge that may result in long-term consequences for communities and businesses. On top of this, they also need to accommodate human behavior.

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The Impact of the Coronavirus on Business - GC Capital Ideas

Human Behavior

Airbnb Has Secret Trustworthy Scores and This Privacy Group Is Demanding to See Them – VICE

Algorithms now determine everything. Facebooks news and advertising algorithm determines your daily reality, bombarding you with skewed ads and sketchy news that only reinforces your worldview. Flawed test score algorithms determine your career prospects. YouTube algorithms consider whether youll be receptive to white supremecist drivel.

Every day across a litany of platforms, secretive algorithms are not only calculating what content youll see and what ads youll respond well to, but your overall trustworthiness as an obedient consumer. Such systems routinely lack any transparency whatsoever, yet can impact everything from your career trajectory to the quality of customer service youll receive.

Airbnb is no exception, and has been under fire recently for a secretive algorithm it uses to determine whether youre trustworthy. Privacy and digital activism groups are now crying foul, demanding the FTC do more to rein in the practice and protect consumers.

In a new complaint filed with the FTC, The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) argues that Airbnbs nontransparent algorithm is unfair and deceptive under the FTC Act and the Fair Credit Act. The group also complains that the companys technique violates the fairness and transparency principles and standards laid out by the international community.

Airbnbs website is notably ambiguous about how this risk assessment is calculated and how much data is stored and collected about its users.

Every Airbnb reservation is scored for risk before its confirmed, the company tells customers. We use predictive analytics and machine learning to instantly evaluate hundreds of signals that help us flag and investigate suspicious activity before it happens.

In its complaint, EPIC notes that Airbnbs secret ranking algorithm is based on an ocean of personal consumer data collected from your behavior all over the internet, ranging from the comments you make to Airbnb hosts on the platform, to any unrelated comments you may have made on social media platforms or even blog posts.

A recent New York Times report explored how these accumulated profiles can be over 400-pages in length, have the potential to impact every aspect of your daily life, yet arent transparent at all to the users or communities impacted by these automated calculations.

The complaint references a patent developed and issued to a company Airbnb acquired, which can track whether a customer created a false or misleading online profile, provided false or misleading information to the service provider, is involved with drugs or alcohol, is involved with hate websites or organizations, is involved in sex work, perpetrated a crime, is involved in civil litigation, is a known fraudster or scammer, is involved in pornography, has authored online content with negative language, or has interests that indicate negative personality or behavior traits.

The patent referenced in this complaint was developed by and issued to a company Airbnb acquired, before we acquired the company, and the methods listed in this patent are not, nor have they ever been, employed by Airbnb," Airbnb spokesperson Charlie Urbancic said. "Airbnb is committed to earning our communitys trust by striving to keep them safe offline and online - that includes protecting users personal information and using it responsibly.

From there, the algorithm attributes generalized categories to each consumer using terms and phrases such as badness, antisocial tendencies, goodness, conscientiousness, openness, extraversion, agreeableness, neuroticism, narcissism, Machiavellianism, or psychopathy.

In its complaint, EPIC argues that not only is there no transparency behind these life impacting determinations, they tend to oversimplify complex human behavior using inherently subjective criteria. The group also argued that such predictive efforts have historically been biased, resulting in harsher penalties for minority and disadvantaged communities.

Algorithms used by judges in sentencing to predict future criminal activity have been found to be unreliable and were twice as likely to mislabel black defendants as future criminals than white defendants, EPIC said. Policing data is the result of choices that undermine the credibility of the data.

EPIC recently filed a similar complaint with the FTC over the facial recognition and AI-driven scoring systems used by the screening firm HireVue to screen young potential athletes. The group has also petitioned the FTC to conduct a rulemaking tackling "the use of artificial intelligence in commerce."

The FTC taking any action here remains unlikely.

Industries like telecom routinely tapdance around the unfair and deceptive language in the FTC Act. Studies have also shown the agency is rife with revolving door conflicts of interest, and is also underfunded and understaffed; the FTC has just 8 percent of the staff dedicated to privacy as the UK, despite the UK having one-fifth as many consumers to protect.

Update: This post has been updated with comment from Airbnb.

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Airbnb Has Secret Trustworthy Scores and This Privacy Group Is Demanding to See Them - VICE

Human Behavior

Life in Emergistan: Surviving the ED, the Land of Moral… : Emergency Medicine News – LWW Journals

Figure. ED:

, stress

The rules are different in the ED. Anyone who has spent much time in our beloved land knows this is true. It's an alternate reality, where the normal laws of nature are interrupted.

We could, of course, discuss the actual physical anomalies. The way people who should have died managed to survive thanks to some healing alchemy of bullets, alcohol, and methamphetamine. We could ponder the way those with relatively minor injuries or illnesses can seem destined for paralysis or the morgue, surprising us with their apparent fragility.

There's the way pus can leave a patient and be found in another room entirely, having erupted down halls and around corners. The temporal mystery by which labs are always being released at the very moment we call. The biological phenomenon that ensures the consultant, paged hours ago, will only call when your bladder has reached 120 percent of normal capacity. These are conundrums, violations of what seem like reasonable principles of physics and physiology.

But few things are as bizarre as the way the rules of human interaction are transmogrified in the ED. People and institutions can get away with things they wouldn't in other locales. Remarkably toxic, manipulative, or just silly human behavior can be acceptable within the walls of the ED (and the hospital at large) while the same behavior outside would be considered unacceptable, unprofessional, perhaps impolite, and sometimes criminal.

Urinating in a trash can, for example, not because of incapacity or intoxication, but simply because the trash can was there and the patient needed to go. Where else can one enjoy such remarkable liberty?

Consider the routine threats against staff. I'll come back later and kill all of you is generally deemed a crime outside our hallowed walls, but here it is often dismissed with Well, he couldn't help it; he was drunk. That time-honored excuse will not fly in the administrator's office or any local judge's chambers.

Assaults also seem to violate normal mores when they occur in the ED. A nurse or physician may be struck, bitten, kicked, or cut, only to be told that it would be great if he wouldn't press charges.

What of food and drink? Doesn't everyone shopping in a clothing store insist that the manager get him a sandwich and a cup of water because he didn't eat before he came to the store? Not because of diabetes and hypoglycemia, homelessness, or crushing poverty but because of mild hunger and the ineffable delight of being waited on by those who have almost no power to say no. When the customer is always right, he gets a sandwich and a drink.

Employees in the real world have a meal break. That's laughable in the ED where food and drink are routinely denied to staff. Intermittent fasting? Not by choice.

Where else can one demand to be taken after being arrested? Before I get booked, I'd like to shop for some new shoes please. My feet really hurt! That's a nonstarter. But a suspect can always come up with sudden chest pain or tendency toward seizure and be brought for evaluation and, of course, food and drink.

Annoyance with wait times is common and unpleasant, and it is easy to understand the frustration. But where besides the ED would a child of 8 look up from her iPad and say, Well, it's about time! when a professional adult walks into the room to provide a service?

Behavioral oddities, however, are certainly not limited to patients. Fellow physicians will say things to the ED staff that are sarcastic or profane simply because it has become acceptable to do so (and because we have become accustomed to this sort of abuse as endless interns).

But some of those who talk so unkindly would be scandalized to hear their fellow parishioners do the same in church and flabbergasted if the EP called their office and spoke like that. These sorts of things flow one way according to the strange rules that govern the discourtesy in medicine.

In most other businesses, customers have a general idea what they will be charged. Not so much in our vast hospital systems, where corporate America is careful to keep a tight lid on charges so that neither patients nor employed physicians have a true idea. Despite the mystery of billing, hospitals bill as aggressively as possible; the bill is transparent when it appears.

One would correctly assume in a restaurant that the bill was for the food and service. Imagine, however, if additional charges were levied, separately and significantly, for the use of the table, chair, napkin, silverware, every piece of ice, each visit by the waiter, each trip to the restroom, and the container in which the food was taken home! Yet that's the lay of the land in the hospital.

It's a strange place, the ED. But as the pressures mount and the rules diverge more and more from those of society, it will become an even harder place to do an already hard job. That's a pity because the staff and patients deserve much better.

Dr. Leappractices emergency medicine in rural South Carolina, is a member of the board of directors for the South Carolina College of Emergency Physicians and an op-ed columnist for the Greenville News. He is also the author of four books, Life in Emergistan, available atwww.nursingcenter.com, and Working Knights, Cats Don't Hike, and The Practice Test, all available atwww.booklocker.com, and of a blog,http://edwinleap.com/. Follow him on Twitter @edwinleap, and read his past columns athttp://bit.ly/EMN-Emergistan.

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Life in Emergistan: Surviving the ED, the Land of Moral... : Emergency Medicine News - LWW Journals

Human Behavior

AI is the Light that Leads from the Past to the Future – ReadWrite

Artificial intelligence (AI) has been around since the nineteenth century. But what exactly is artificial intelligence, today? Can we call artificial intelligence technology, or is it something else? Here are three phases of life Past (evolution), present (processing/implementation), and finally, the future (saturation/extending) of AI because AI is the light that leads from the past to the future.

First of all, Artificial intelligence emphasizes on developing or creating machines with high intelligence. AI works like a human brain but with a high Intelligent Quotient (IQ). Its more an effort to build machines that have the intelligence of human beings, which is very hard!

Replacing humans with machines is that a good option? Wont these machines outrank us one day and turn down our jobs? AI helps human beings or other living beings but not to replace us. Robots are one of such results of AI efforts, and it meant to help us.

Not just robots, the most familiar voice recognition systems are specific results of AI. Siri, Alexa, Google Assistant, etc. are few among them. So, now that you know what AI is, its time to address one important thing Artificial Intelligence is not a technology!

Its always good to learn the past to understand the present and progress to the future. Lets have a glance at the evolution of AI.

Turing tests, considered as the first step to AI, helps humans to scale the intelligence of a machine.

Alan Turing known as the father of AI and the evolution, begins from his efforts. His classical test includes three terminals, which include one machine and two humans. One human is the examiner and the other one, the test subject. The tester isolates from the two test subjects: a human and a machine.

The examiner interrogates the subjects many times using certain subjects, and needs to determine which one is the machine and which one is human. If the examiner can decide on at least half the time, then the machine/computer possesses human intelligence.

This is the famous Turing test followed by,

These milestones, alongside many others, compile the evolution cycle of AI.

Suppose you launched the browser from the desktop. Then you started typing something on the google search bar. You might have seen the suggestions or related queries.

AI generates all these suggestions, and it aims to ease our browsing experience.

AI has made computers/machines intelligent.Machine learning is a part of AI, and it synthesizes data to create a pattern. The machine makes predictions based on the input data, and it needs to be precise.

Psychology is the field of study to analyze human behavior. It helps to find the behavior patterns easily. There are four goals associated with psychology -Description, explanation, prediction, and control of behavior.

By satisfying these goals, one can analyze the behavior and control their emotions up to a limit. Dont forget the goals are set by humans to study the same species. Similarly, machines learn human behavior and patterns based on the data. Business patterns are a byproduct of historical analysis and achieved using specific algorithms.

AI is broad, and so is its applicability. Many industries across the globe are now into AI, and even a step ahead in neuroscience. The industries include the following,

The list goes on and on. Software companies use AI, as it is closely associated. Business intelligence (epixel.com) is the right tool used for such a purpose. The raw data is the input used for analysis. The system then analyzes patterns using data analytics. Finally, transforms data into useful insights. These insights are then implemented using different strategies and support decision making.

These input data include all types of content like normal words, signs, images, videos, etc.

Recently, AI got used to create a digital doppelganger of a famous American rapper. AI has also created wonders in Georgia tech who managed to create static arms for a drummer who lost his hands.

He managed to play again even with more versatility. Such interesting things are there in The Age of A.I. Its a brand new Youtube Originals series hosted by Robert Downey Jr.

According to Andrew Ng, a computer scientist, AI is the new electricity. There are still untouched areas in AI which dont match human intelligence. Well, AI is here to help us but not to replace it!

Weve to make sure it wont happen in the future. Just think how horrible it will be if the world is more like the Matrix movies or terminator salvation?

What state will we reach when our mom cant identify us with our digital doppelganger who looks and sounds like us? But, it can help us in many ways, as the chatbots do right now. It can help customer support from mundane tasks.

Yet, AI requires human efforts to capitalize on the opportunities. This includes client follow-ups, connecting with leads, lively chats, emotion-driven contexts, etc.

The levels of AI will improve in time. The limitations of primary tests in AI also will get replaced with new innovations. Research and constant testing can ensure it. What if something goes wrong? What if your google assistance recognizes others voices if they have matching resemblances? There are many such areas of concern and this creates loopholes and a solution a must!

There is still bias in decision making made by AI systems. Hence, human assistance and interrogations are vital!

We know that AI needs data, in fact, a lot! Where does this data come from? If we dont want to share our personal data, then how the concerned authorities get access to our data?

Many concerns arise in AI like I mentioned above, replacing humans is not what AI is for! Before developing an AI model for your business, understand its need! Scary thoughts can evoke deep thoughts or even something worse. Always consider these negative thoughts because they drive us to resolve the limitations.

Check all the concerns, if it satisfies the concerns, go ahead, and try it out! AI is the light but not the source. We, humans, are the right source or the torch to lead the light. Use the light in the dark to make a vision! In some cases, if the daylight is enough, then why one switch on their source of light?

Sajin Rajan, CMO at Epixel MLM Software is an enthusiastic business professional with 10+ years of experience in software development and business management. He has undertaken leadership to successfully develop and deliver customizable software for network marketing businesses. He always takes a good interest in upgrading his technical skills and updates more in Blockchain, IoT, AI, and related technologies. He is highly skilled in dealing with new business prospects and sharing the most advanced solutions.

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AI is the Light that Leads from the Past to the Future - ReadWrite

Human Behavior

The non-linearity of modern spirituality/the changing language of self-help: a conversation with Gabi Abro – The Stony Brook Press

How spirituality exists in America today

Over time, religious thinking in the United States dissolved and sequestered itself to places of worship, cults and personalized practice. A swelling irreligious attitude has manifested itself since the 1990s, with 18% of the population identifying as not religious or spiritual, 27% not religious but spiritual and 26% completely irreligious.

Today, discussions of spirituality and the immaterial aspects of the mind exist exclusively in academic disciplines, most notably motivational and cognitive-behavioral psychology and philosophy. Weve dug ourselves into an array of assumptions about human behavior, falsely introduced by pop psychology. These assumptions come in the form of self-help books, myths like the learning styles, generalizing personality tests and that smiling in the mirror makes you happier. Pop psychology comes from the replication crisis, where a lot of replicated experiments get different results. Shoddy research methods are pretty common as well the barrier to entry for psychology research is low in comparison to something like medicine.

This research colonized public conjecture surrounding mental wellness, childhood/adolescent psychology, and pedagogy. It also created an ideological disjunct between us and our unlabeled selves a dislocation between knowledge and mysticism.

The language of this kind of thinking uses terms like trauma, manifestation, emotional intelligence, toxicity and mindfulness, and revolves around the notion of an inner child and a higher self. In the U.S., meditation apps and and classes are on the rise, boasting these perspectives on psychology and creating a Western gaze upon Eastern expressions of spirituality.

Psychology has always been on our minds, but it took a while to become the kind of academically rigorous, medicalized, diagnosis-adherent supplement to Western medicine it is today. Weve always questioned our inner labyrinths through literature, poetry, music, theology, philosophy and a range of other disciplines. At the core of all human creation, thinking and organization, there are always invisible motivations.

Every human culture developed alongside the notion of the supernatural and the invisible. While it is difficult to define the development and trajectory of human spiritual practice, its easy to see that spirituality is a cornerstone of human life. But spirituality is simple. Its the notion of immateriality, of a mind separate from body and a lot of people in the postmodern world seem to be missing it.

After the rationalism-high of the European Enlightenment, and the scientific method finished sowing radical skepticism about the Churchs canon, philosophers boasted that God is dead, and made other damning premonitions about the future of human life after dogmatic religion crumbled. During the psychoanalysis boom at the turn of the 20th century, the influence of traditional religion further degraded and the psychiatrist Carl Jung identified a spiritual problem of the Modern Individual widespread feelings of inadequacy and aimlessness that are a product of the spiritual void religion left behind. The death of God was a warning against profound uncertainty.

In this irreligious, anti-spiritual, scientific method-adherent society, were experiencing a resurgence in spiritual thought, one that sometimes feels like a desperate yearning for new spiritualities. Were in a heyday for astrology, reformed religion and personalized spirituality. Through desperation, weve developed a new, customized melting-pot spirituality. Organized religion and personalized spirituality differ in their accountability, sense of community and dogmatic rigor. Gabi Abro, a digital artist and spiritualist, embodies this kind of neo-religion, and how it intersects with meme culture.

Personalized spirituality? Why?

The structure and accountability in organized religion can do wonders for some, yet be restrictive and limiting for others, Gabi said. Organized religion also boasts a shared, definite experience, which can limit the potential for ones abilities and exploration. Personalized spirituality can become too free-form, even lazy for some, yet liberating and ideal for others. I believe in personalized spirituality with structure.

For Gabi, this means borrowing structure from existing, established religions and modifying it to ones circumstances. That is where I believe balance is found, she said. Exploration is key. I think you only find out what you need by trying different forms of spiritual practice out.

New age spirituality can feel pretentious, even mocking of older spiritual traditions. But theres a pleasant rhythm to it it can manifest itself in monthly challenges that easily mobilize people into a single, ritual task. Specifically the No Fap November, challenge, or no- masturbation- November challenge. The challenge is geared towards men and grounded in the incorrect belief that retaining your sperm repurposes its life force back into your spirit. The truth is, sperm doesnt carry life force, and abstinence doesnt send it anywhere else. Examples like these prove that were hard-wired for ritual and yearn towards our former allegiance to self-improvement grounded in faithfulness.

The fact that @sighswoon has 100 thousand followers and 428 subscribers to her paywalled content proves the same. It shows us that spiritual language is compelling and profitable.

My current expression of spirituality is playful, explorative, and aspirational, Gabi said. I believe that following globalization and the internet, we have more knowledge and awareness of spiritual practices from all around the world. There are truths and flaws in every single one. Passed down research.

Gabis Instagram page, @sighswoon, is an expedition into this kind of neo-spirituality, and representative of our creative habit of collaging information from the past to create something new. Gabi believes in the hunt for a new spirituality. A spirituality that compliments the digital the new modes of communication and massive media upheavals. This new spirituality will use all the leftover information from spiritual leaders to create a new model, something possibly not as rigorous or rigid. Something that caters to our current society, in her words.

@sighswoons Instagram acts as a self-help forum, where she creates a positive language with the invisible, and independently monetizes her content through Patreon. She offers advice, her takes on astrology and insight into other spiritual trends. Her spirituality is an eclectic mix, borrowing dictums from East Asian philosophies, Western mysticism and cognitive, maybe even pop psychology.

Exploring Gabi Abrao, @sighswoon and the language of memes

People discover their spirituality in many ways some people use psychedelic drugs, some abide by religious dogma and some just want to achieve ritual stillness, a reprieve from the chaos of the workweek. For Gabi, her spirituality came from a sense of in-betweenness from her Austro-Brazilian heritage and mobility.

I believe being born in Los Angeles to immigrant parents informs many of the themes in my work first, a sense of in-betweenness one feels when she does not fully belong to one culture or country, to have three languages in the house, she said. I believe this informs my interest in all that is shapeshifting, ever-changing, in-between, unknown. Also, my father is a very spiritual man who centers mysticism and spirituality over all else. This informs my desire for the mystical, the invisible my fascination with it.

Creating a language with the invisible is a deeply powerful goal, and her obsession with it manifests itself in various visual and textual projects. In a recent art project called Relationships With The Ether, individuals sent Gabi images of themselves with an ex-lover, the ex cut out and replaced with an image of clouds in the sky. The project emphasizes that the feelings our exes give us are so nuanced and ever-changing, and that their presence turns into this open space up for interpretation, she said. The point is to emphasize invisibility, or all immaterial aspects of relationships and mind.

Her expression of self-help through humorous memes demonstrates her philosophy on comedy itself, and an appreciation for quickness, accessibility and stealthy penetration. Humor is very important to her. Its a great release to me, and so necessary to grow and navigate this wild life, she said. There are so many paradoxes, so many surprises, so many ways we play tricks on ourselves and others. There is a lot of nonsense and confusion to living, I think laughter is one of the main ways to release it.

Beyond the humorous substance of memes, she maintains deep appreciation for their form as well. Theyre accessible, quick, funny, she said. They sneak into your feed and your consciousness effortlessly! They always feel like they are from a friend because they are the inside jokes of the internet. You feel like youre in on something when you understand a meme or enjoy it, like a club. Its nice. Memes push you to simplify an idea with help from a comical, visual aid.

She professed this equation for further understanding: simple text + visual aid = accessible.

The language of self- help and wellness can be airy and presumptuous, but Gabis work democratizes it through the literal accessibility of Instagrams content, and conceptual accessibility of memes and Instagram.

Instagram and memes often get dismissed as cultural tokens. Like film in the 60s, Instagrams newness (and the volume of content it holds) sometimes tricks us into overlooking its cultural value, tTo quote an article in The Outline. But @sighswoon is a performance, a statement towards the dismissal of past spiritual authorities through memes. Self-help through this new format helps simplify difficult thoughts into one-liners, and reassures through brevity. Its almost like the power of journaling negative thoughts. It simplifies nebulous feelings and creates intense relatability between Gabi and her audience.

Like most artists, her process involves obsession and attachment to a simple idea. But unlike most artists, her work manifests itself just as simply as the original idea existed.

After studying conceptual art at Santa Monica University, Gabi is now 25, living in L.A. and learning Portugese to ground her ethereal linguistic toolbox in reality. Shes trying to see where this reconnection to her Brazilian citizenship will take her. Its all been very inspiring and riveting for her.

Advice and recommendations from Gabi

Well close off with art and aphorisms, to extend some self-help and to paint a clearer picture of some of the books and musicians that help lead her creative thinking to fruition.

Gabi defines our relationship with technology with the notion of a cyborg. This is by no means a condemnation she recommends we accept and appreciate our technology. An example she gave is using our GPS to get somewhere and then hugging the loved ones at our destination. The use of navigation services represents our reliance on our technological side, and the emotions we feel once weve expended the technology and gotten there represents our humanity. To reconcile this sort of neophobia against cyborgitude, she said we should understand that all technology, including the internet, was invented by humans and is maintained by humans, she said. It is an extension of humanity, a tool. An alien species didnt arrive on earth and force any of this on us, we created it, collectively, little by little. And thats beautiful. It is human to evolve, to create, to push boundaries. And we are experiencing this every day, in real time.

But we should also be careful of the pitfalls to digital life. The digital age makes things move very quickly trends, attention, influences, calls to action it can be a very emotional and stressful experience, this overload of info, she said. I think it is more important than ever to ground yourself in what and who you love, what you trust, because our generation will give you new things to obsess over every single day if we arent careful. With grounding, with a strong sense of self, all this information can be channeled into wonderful personal projects and opportunities for growth and entertainment.

If you want to know Gabi better an album and two books to check out, in her words:

The Jungle is The Only Way Out by Mereba is an incredible album that came out in 2019 and was an absolute gift to my life. I find this album to access emotions to everything I find interesting about being alive now spirituality, romantic confusion, self-empowerment, a new momentum, the need for freedom in all of it. Even the sound feels digital-meet-earth. I highly recommend the whole album.Plus, The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success by Deepak Chopra is my #1 book for lifestyle and mindset.And lastly, Sculptures for the Blind by Lenka Clayton is a wonderful book that discusses pretty much everything I am interested in through the medium of an art sculpture it discusses perceived value, varying perceptions, the invisible stories that exist in objects and transactions.

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The non-linearity of modern spirituality/the changing language of self-help: a conversation with Gabi Abro - The Stony Brook Press

Human Behavior

Use This Pyramid To Increase Customer Loyalty and Grow Your Revenue – Thrive Global

Youve probably heard or are familiar with Maslow Hierarchy of Needs, a popular theory in psychology that divides human needs into five different tiers.

From the most basic needs (think: air, food, shelter) to self-actualization (think: the desire to become everything one is capable of becoming), Maslows model gives light to how specific needs can motivate human behavior.

So, how does it relate to your business, customers and sustained revenue model?

When customers evaluate any product or service they typically weigh the perceived value against their need and then, your asking price.

The more valuable your product or service is, the greater your customer loyalty and the amount they are willing to spend will be.Take a look at The Elements of Value Pyramid, below. Similar to Maslows model, this pyramid addresses four kinds of needs: functional, emotional life changing, and social impact.

To put it simply, the higher your product or service is on the pyramid, the more valuable your business is perceived to be.

According to The Elements of Value, to be able to deliver on the higher-order elements, a company must provide at least some of the functional elements required by a particular product category.

Use this model to understand where your business or service is located on the pyramid. Then, develop a strategy that can incorporate more elements to achieve revenue growth and increased customer loyalty.

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Use This Pyramid To Increase Customer Loyalty and Grow Your Revenue - Thrive Global

Human Behavior

Behind the Boards – Coach Dennehy ahead of three-game weekend – WBNG-TV

BINGHAMTON (WBNG) -- The Binghamton Devils have three straight games this weekend, beginning tonight against the Hartford Wolf Pack. We caught up with Coach Mark Dennehy as he talks about the newest additions to the team, and the winning culture the team has developed.

On the acquisition of Janne Kuokkanen:

"Well we've seen a lot because we scouted him the week before, so pretty talented forward. He was someone that when we pre scouted him we recognized that he's got a lot of skill, can play fast, can create a shot for himself as well as his teammates and he's someone our organization coveted enough to trade a good player for."

On new goalie Zane McIntyre and splitting time between him and Gilles Senn:

"At the end of the day we want to make sure we have two goaltenders in there that can give us a chance to win. With Zane and Gilles I think that's what we have. How it gets sorted out will be determined, but I'm pretty confident that either guy that's in the net is going to give us a chance to play."

On the growing confidence among the team:

"I think it's just human behavior. When things are working out well for people there's a little more pep in their step, they're more excited about what they're doing. And if they're putting forth that same type of effort and not getting success they're going to start to question what's going on. So happy for them, happy for Binghamton, they deserve a winning team."

On the importance of developing a winning culture playing at the AHL level:

"Fitzy (Tom Fitzgerald) talked about the importance of that and that's why guys like Jesper Boqvist spent the entire first half of the season up, he's here. He's here to help create that culture and help them thrive. You know and I commend Tom for the trade deadline again it would be very easy to scoop up a bunch of players and bring them up and give them experience but he recognizes it's important for them to have success here."

Puck drop for tonight's game against the Hartford Wolf Pack is set for 7:05 p.m.

Saturday's game against the Toronto Marlies is at 4:05 p.m. The team travels to Bridgeport for a 5 p.m. puck drop against the Sound Tigers on Sunday.

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Behind the Boards - Coach Dennehy ahead of three-game weekend - WBNG-TV

Human Behavior

The intersection of politics and faith – By Sarah E. Reynolds – Courier-Gazette & Camden Herald

By Sarah E. Reynolds | Feb 28, 2020

I've been thinking a lot lately about faith-based political activism politics fueled by religious conviction.

I am given to seeing more than one side to an issue and like to think things over before forming an opinion. I'm leery of passionate conviction and instinctively recoil from people who are too sure they are right. It's not that I don't have any beliefs of my own; it's just that I know I often fall short of my ideals and that all human knowledge is partial and flawed.

So even if I mostly agree with you, I might argue with you if you sound too sure, self-righteous or judgmental of others who disagree.

People whose political activism is based on their religious beliefs can fall into intolerance of different views or be self-righteous about their convictions, as if no one who disagrees with them deserves credit for being sincere and concerned for the well-being of the country. Those at either end of the political and religious spectrum can be very sensitive to intolerance from the other end, and blind to their own intolerance. What is the truth? Probably we're all guilty more often than we'd like to think.

It is very good to be able to decide that differences in personal beliefs are not going to come between you and your friends or family members. But what happens when push comes to shove when a law is proposed to effectively ban abortion and your 16-year-old niece needs one, or someone wants to make it legal not to rent to someone because they're gay or lesbian or transgender and your gay friend is looking for a place to live. Do you side with your convictions, or with your friends and family?

This seems to me a very difficult problem to resolve if you're a person of strong convictions: Can you really tolerate unequal treatment or other harm to people you love in the name of a religious principle? I suppose it's somewhat like people whose loved ones get in trouble with the law. There's nothing they can do to save the one they love from the consequences of their actions, so they love them anyway, the best they can.

But in that case, you usually haven't pushed for passage of the law that your friend or relative broke; nor have you advocated for the punishment the law prescribes. I just don't think I could work for the passage of a law, or the election of a politician I believed would cause harm to someone I cared about. I would sooner change my beliefs than allow them to make me act against the well-being of someone I loved.

I suppose it comes down to how you define "well-being." I would not have a problem voting for a law that would increase taxes on a relative who was much better off financially than I am, or that would allow disadvantaged minority students certain advantages in applying to college over whites like my nieces and nephews.

To me, love is the highest principle there is, and it starts with wanting others to be treated as well as you want to be treated yourself. I don't believe that God sets a lot of criteria for human behavior beyond love; but that one is a doozy all by itself. (And by the way, all 10 of the Ten Commandments have love of neighbor or love of God as their basis.)

Our love isn't supposed to stop with our family or our friends or our friends' friends or even with all humankind. It is supposed to include the oceans and the trees and the birds and the bugs and the stars all of creation. God pronounced it all very good a long time ago, and assigned us to take care of it, to tend it all as our own garden.

That is a very tall order, which none of us is able to fulfill on our own but together, and when we invite the Creator of all that goodness into our efforts we can really surprise ourselves. We might even forget to fight with each other.

Longtime Courier Publications staff member and columnist Sarah Reynolds is the editor of The Republican Journal.

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The intersection of politics and faith - By Sarah E. Reynolds - Courier-Gazette & Camden Herald