Research shows that you can increase your own happiness.On average 50% of a person's general level of happiness is determined by genetics.40% is under your own control.The remaining 10% depends on circumstances.Describing yourself as a happy person in effect results in fewer health problems, lower risk of depression and longer living.What if you aren't naturally a happy and cheerful person? Is it possible to make oneself happy?

Happy-go-lucky ☺ 

Even if you don't consider yourself happy, there is a good chance you have some power to change it.

Ofcourse it's a challenge for even a happy-go-lucky person to remain upbeat. Like any aspect of wellness, happiness is a constant work in progress.No matter your current state of happiness, there are ways to boost your outlook and give your mental health a life. See below...

Work On Happiness

The Harvard study led by Dr Robert Waldinger, director of the longest running study on happiness, found a strong link between happiness and close relationships with family and friends.

Stay Connected 

Personal connection creates emotional stimulation, which is an automatic mood booster, while isolation is a mood buster.

If you want to feel a sense of purpose and improve your mood, consider volunteering projects.Take the initiative to be a good neighbour by keeping the streets tidy from litter.Research has shown that this positive effect was especially strong in adults.

Raise Your Hand

The planning and the deliberate intention to do good for others can have an important effect on one's wellbeing. Altruistic kindness refers to a selfless act of kindness which can stimulate the same pleasure centres of the brain activated when we eat comfort food, exercise or have sex. This offers an insight into how important cooperation has been to human survival.Altruism refers to helping someone with:<ul><li>No expectation of a reward</li><li>Helping someone despite personal costs or risks</li><li>Sharing resources even in the face of scarcity</li><li>Showing concern for anothers wellbeing</li></ul>

Perform Regular Acts Of Genuine Kindness

When you are older, you may have the chance to revisit activities that gave you joy as a child or young adult.What made you happy when you were younger? Pick up those hobbies, games, sports, or other interests from your youth.

Find Your Inner Child

Research studies have shown that no matter a person's income, spending money on time saving purchases, such as paying to delegate household chores, have a greater life satisfaction. You can support small businesses such as cleaning ladies to put food on the table for their kids to say the least.

Buy More Time

Money can buy happiness through life experiences. Opt for a dinner in an ethnic restaurant, or an art exhibition. The investment can have a lasting impact. Studies have shown that people who spend money on life experiences have longer term satisfaction, as they create happier memories. In comparison to this, buying material objects provides often only temporary happiness.

Invest In Experience

A study looked at urban green spaces and their effect on citizens in 90 cities worldwide.It found that people's happiness correlated with the areas amount of urban green space, regardless of the country's economic state.Creating your own green space can have a similar effect. Research has shown that gardening at home improves emotional wellbeing in the same way that activities such as cycling and walking do.Purchase plants and flowers to decorate your home. The benefits of this is a whole other topic.

See More Green

Having more variety in your daily routines can make one feel happier. Even small changes can have a big impact. Research results show that altering ones regular pattern, such as trying a new excercise program every few weeks, listening to podcasts on some days and music on other days, or just taking a different route to the grocery store, can add spice to your life.

Break Up Your Routines

Set time aside to write down the things you are grateful for in your life.It could be something you take for granted such as <ul><li>A roof over your head</li><li>A supportive family</li><li>Something simple like recieving a compliment</li><li>Enjoying a good book</li><li>Today's good weather</li><li>A great tasting meal</li></ul>

Count Your Blessings

Research has found that when people are given more options, they have more opportunities for regret and worry.To protect your happiness, limit the amount of time you give yourself to choose, or pick between fewer options.Don't allow yourself to second guess the decision once it's made. Try to avoid looking back once the decision has been made.

Make Fewer Decisions

Useful tips on how to achieve happiness and joy in life 🙌

Happy people tend to have fewer health problems and longer lives. Research suggests that, on average, 50% of people&rsquo;s general level of happiness is determined by genetics, with the rest dependent on the individual&rsquo;s perception and specific circumstances.

productivity

Productivity

Understand yourself and those around you.

psychology

Psychology

personaldevelopment

Personal Development

health

Health

motivationandinspiration

Motivation & Inspiration

Health and happiness go hand in hand | Harvard Health

<ul><li>Synaesthesia is a perceptual phenomenon where stimulation of one sense triggers experiences in another sense.  For example, a synaesthete might see colors when music plays, or taste flavors when they speak different words.</li><li>Approximately 4% of people have some type of this, and it is thought that it is caused by extra connectivity between sensory regions of the brain, so stimulation of the one sense cross-activates the other.</li><li>The exact associations vary between people, but they remain consistent throughout life.</li></ul>

Synaesthesia

Approximately 4 per cent of people experience some type of synaesthesia.

scienceandnature

Science & Nature

What is synaesthesia? | BBC Science Focus Magazine

Not many of us get enough fibre in our diets, writes Bee but an added incentive to increase our intake comes from a study in Journals of Gerontology showing that it helps to slow ageing. All the dietary factors they examined in a cohort of adults aged 50 and older — including a person’s total carbohydrate intake, total fibre intake, glycaemic index of food, — it was the fibre they ate that made the biggest difference to what the scientists called “successful ageing’’. Those who had the highest intake were found to have an almost 80 per cent greater chance of living a long and healthy life.

Get 30g of fibre a day 🍏

In 2020 researchers from the University of Navarra in Pamplona, Spain, warned that eating ultra-processed foods such as ready meals, ice cream, crisps, cakes and processed meats is linked to the accelerated shortening of telomeres, structures located at the ends of our chromosomes that are markers of our biological age, and cell ageing.Of 886 participants over the age of 55, those eating two to two and a half servings of such foods a week were 29 per cent more likely to display signs of accelerated cell ageing, rising to 82 per cent of those consuming more than three servings a week.

Cut out ultra-processed foods 🍨

They are rich sources of lutein, an antioxidant carotenoid that Dr Kara Fitzgerald, a researcher in nutritional biochemistry at the Institute for Functional Medicine in Washington, found to have a profound effect on slowing biological ageing. Other researchers show that a good intake of lycopene, the antioxidant compound that gives tomatoes their red colour, helps to prevent skin ageing, meaning there’s more than one reason to add them to your salads.

Eat tomatoes and peppers🍅🫑

Middle-aged adults who take this sweet spot of walking steps every day are 70 per cent less likely to die at a younger than expected age than those who manage a lower daily total. In the study of 2,110 adults wearing trackers, researchers found that taking more than 10,000 steps a day did nothing to further delay ageing.

Take 7,000 steps a day 🚶

A single night of insufficient sleep can make an older adult’s cells age quicker, according to a study at UCLA presented to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. Not only that, but poor sleepers feel older and have a worse outlook on ageing, which ultimately affects their health, according to researchers at the University of Exeter who interviewed 4,482 people aged 50 and over about sleep quality and perceived levels of age-related issues such as poor memory, low energy and decreased motivation.

Get seven to nine hours’ sleep a night 😴

Lift weights to preserve muscles and prevent falls, but keep up your cardio for anti-ageing effects. When researchers from Leipzig University compared the effects of running and interval training with weight training on markers of ageing for a study in the European Heart Journal, they found it was the endurance activities that produced a greater increase in telomere length and activity.Professor Ulrich Laufs, said, “telomeres are important for cellular ageing, regenerative capacity and thus, healthy ageing” and “resistance training did not exert these effects”.

Go running or do interval training🏋🏻‍♂️

Staying active throughout life keeps your body young, according to researchers at the University of Birmingham and King’s College London. They found that amateur male and female cyclists aged 55 to 79 who had exercised for most of their lives not only had significantly less loss of muscle mass and strength for their age, but also had an immune system that had defied ageing compared with non-active control participants.

Don’t stop exercising as you get older 🚴🏻‍♂️

Dark berries are a rich source of anthocyanins, the antioxidants that give them their red and purple colour and which have been shown in studies to help to prevent age-related metabolic damage. And a 20-year Harvard study showed that women who ate blueberries at least once a week or strawberries at least twice a week delayed cognitive ageing by up to two and a half years.

Consume a dish of berries every day 🫐🍓

Researchers reporting in the journal Food Chemistry hailed white button mushrooms as potent anti-ageing foods because of their unusually high content of two antioxidants — ergothioneine and glutathione — that have been shown to preserve cellular health. In her study Fitzgerald says all varieties, from shiitake and cordyceps to porcini and oyster mushrooms, “contain valuable nutrients when it comes to preventing biological ageing” and recommends eating them several times a week.

Eat mushrooms several times a week🍄

Research in 2017 by the University of California, San Diego, in the American Journal of Epidemiology, found that women who lived mainly sedentary lives, sitting down for ten hours a day, displayed DNA evidence indicating that they were physically eight years older than women who did at least 30 minutes of physical activity a day.

Aim for at least 30 minutes of physical activity a day 🤾

A diet rich in leafy greens, along with regular exercise and sleep, has been shown to help reverse ageing by two years in just eight weeks, by triggering changes to DNA methylation, a process that affects cell turnover. In Fitzgerald’s study, male participants ate 250g dark leafy greens, 250g cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli or cauliflower, 380g “colourful” vegetables and two beetroots a week. They were also given three servings of liver, up to ten eggs and a probiotic.

Eat more leafy greens, cauliflower and beetroot 🥬

Forget sugar, keep exercising as you get older and overload on ‘colourful’ vegetables and fibre

food

Food

How to stay looking young: 11 things to do

Not many of us get enough fibre in our diets, but an added incentive to increase our intake comes from a study in Journals of Gerontology showing that it helps to slow ageing.

1⃣ Get 30g of fibre a day 🥑🍏

In 2020, researchers from the University of Navarra, warned that eating ultra-processed foods is linked to the accelerated shortening of telomeres, structures located at the ends of our chromosomes that are markers of our biological age.

2⃣ Cut out ultra-processed foods 🍰🍨

They are rich sources of lutein, an antioxidant carotenoid that Dr Kara Fitzgerald, a researcher in nutritional biochemistry at the Institute for Functional Medicine in Washington, found to have a profound effect on slowing biological ageing.

3⃣ Eat tomatoes and peppers 🍅🫑

Middle-aged adults who take this sweet spot of walking steps every day are 70% less likely to die at a younger than expected age than those who manage a lower daily total.

4⃣ Take 7,000 steps a day 🥾🚶

A single night of insufficient sleep can make an older adult’s cells age quicker, according to a study at UCLA. Not only that, but poor sleepers feel older and have a worse outlook on ageing, which ultimately affects their health.

5⃣ Get seven to nine hours’ sleep a night 😴

Lift weights to preserve muscles and prevent falls, but keep up your cardio for anti-ageing effects.

6⃣ Go running or do interval training 🏋️‍♂️

Staying active throughout life keeps your body young, according to researchers. Exercise helps to prevent loss of muscle mass and keep your immune system young.

7⃣ Don’t stop exercising as you get older 🤸🏊‍♂️

Dark berries are a rich source of anthocyanins, the antioxidants that give them their red and purple colour and which have been shown in studies to help to prevent age-related metabolic damage

8⃣ Consume a dish of berries every day 🫐🍓

Researchers reporting in the journal Food Chemistry hailed white button mushrooms as potent anti-ageing foods because of their high content of two antioxidants — ergothioneine and glutathione — shown to preserve cellular health.

9⃣ Eat mushrooms several times a week 🍄

Research in 2017 by the University of California, San Diego, found that women who spent 10+ hours a day sitting displayed DNA evidence indicating that they were physically 8 years older than women who exercised.

🔟 Aim for at least 30mins of physical activity a day ⏲️

A diet rich in leafy greens, along with regular exercise and sleep, has been shown to help reverse ageing by two years in just eight weeks, by triggering changes to DNA methylation, a process that affects cell turnover.

1⃣1⃣ Eat more leafy greens, cauliflower and beetroot 🥬

Simple things you can do to stay and look healthy for a long, long time.

While it’s okay to be cautious about threats in your surroundings, it’s equally important to look at the rewards of proceding if you wish to protect your mental health.Being overly cautious will lead you to associate cues in your surroundings with potential sources of harm rather than pleasure, also known as “attention bias”.

Don’t let yourself be too consumed by anxiety.

If you experience high attention bias in your daily life, you’d look suspiciously at the faces and movements of people who approach you, rather than, for example, the cuddly stuffed animals on the rack in the gift shop.

The Effects of Attention Bias

Having previous experiences in common environments which could cause distress is perfectly normal, and a valid reason to develop attention bias. At the same time, though, is it possible to let down your guard just a little in terms of your level of worry? If you try this in stages, you might be surprised at just how much better you feel.

Attention bias is normal.

New research shows how to tell whether you're just too suspicious.

mentalhealth

Mental Health

problemsolving

Problem Solving

9 Signs You May Be Too Tuned in to Threat

A slimmer physique, improved cardiovascular health, maybe even the ability to turn heads in that bathing suit you’ve been dying to get into?But have you thought about what exercise is doing for your brain?Numerous studies have proven that exercise, particularly the kind that gets your heart pumping, has a whole host of positive effects on the brain, even to the point of enhancing its structure. Here are just five of the ways exercise improves your already miraculous brain.

When you think of exercising more, what trade-offs come to mind?

Exercise stimulates a rich concoction of feel-good chemicals in the brain, including dopamine, serotonin, endocannabinoids, and norepinephrine, according to the American Psychological Association (apa.org), each of which has different roles in managing stress, enhancing feelings of wellbeing, and promoting an active interest in life. If that wasn’t enough, exercise increases the number of dopamine receptors in the brain, meaning not only is your brain producing more of these happy chemicals, but it’s also better at enjoying them.

Exercise Turns Your Brain into a Pleasure Powerhouse

According to the Greater Good Science Center (greatergood.berkeley.edu), exercise is so good at delivering pleasure to the brain that it’s successfully used to help patients suffering from the ravaging aftereffects of drug abuse. Additionally, it’s estimated that we all lose approximately 13 percent of our dopamine receptors each decade, says Greater Good, causing us to experience diminishing pleasure in everyday life as we age. Exercise can reverse this.

Harvard Health Publishing (health.harvard.edu) reports that exercise sparks neurogenesis, or the formation of new neurons, in the brain. We’re all born with approximately 100 billion neurons in the brain, which regenerate at a fast rate in our childhoods but slow as we mature. It was once thought that this eventually stopped completely, but it’s since been proven that neurogenesis can last a lifetime.

Exercise Stimulates Neurogenesis

In a study conducted at Massachusetts General Hospital (massgeneral.org), doctors experimented with lab rats to see if medicine could ignite neurogenesis. While it could, the neurons died before they had any potential. But when the rats were put through courses of exercises, not only did neurogenesis take place, the neurons were healthy and strong enough to last.

Speaking of neurogenesis, the hippocampus is one area of the brain that continues to create new neurons throughout our lifetimes, says the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (cdc.gov). The hippocampus is integral to learning and memory formation. Multiple studies have shown that adults who exercise perform better on memory, learning, and decision-making tasks than their counterparts who don’t exercise.

Exercise Improves Memory and Learning

Exercise is one of the leading forms of therapy for people suffering from age-related dementia and Alzheimer’s, says the APA, because of its documented boost to memory function. In fact, studies have shown that the hippocampus can increase in volume by 1 percent after a year of regular exercise.

The cerebral cortex is the outer covering of the largest part of the brain, the cerebrum. The cerebral cortex is associated with high-level, conscious thought patterns, including emotion, evaluation, reasoning, and language. And according to Johns Hopkins Medicine (hopkinsmedicine.org), exercise can thicken the cerebral cortex.

Exercise Increases the Thickness of the Cerebral Cortex

Researchers speculate that some of the reason for this is that exercise, particularly aerobic, involves continually making split-second decisions. If you’re running, you’re always managing your environment so you don’t twist your ankle or tangle with a car. If you’re at the gym, you’re keeping your balance and monitoring your levels of exhaustion and thirst. In other words, your mind is working just as hard as your body is and the result is a thicker, stronger cerebral cortex.

Neuroplasticity is a big word to describe how adaptable the brain is. From birth, the brain is malleable, says Scientific American (scientificamerican.com), able to change both physically and functionally in response to events like learning, new environments, injury, and disease. The greater its neuroplasticity, the better the brain can adjust to life events, from acquiring new job skills to relearning how to walk after an accident.

Exercise Improves Neuroplasticity

Even just one workout session can elevate your brain’s neuroplasticity, according to PsyPost (psypost.org). The reasons are currently believed to be because exercise encourages the growth of new neural connections in the brain, and that exercise has a suppressant effect on gamma-Aminobutyric acid, or GABA, which inhibits certain types of neurotransmitters.

The CDC recommends getting 150 minutes of moderate exercise per week, or 75 minutes of intense exercise, or a combination of both. This should be spread out evenly over the course of the week. Talk with your doctor first to eliminate any concerns and to help create a plan that works best for you.

Ready to jump into an exercise program

This would tell you the correlation of mental and physical well-being.

exerciseandfitness

Exercise & Fitness

5 Incredible Ways Exercise Improves Brain Function

Maladaptive daydreaming is when a person spends an excessive amount of time preoccupied with elaborate daydreams, and often prefers these fantasies to their real life. While not currently recognized as a mental health condition, research suggests that this problem does exist, and that it shares many of the same features as addictive, impulse control, and obsessive compulsive disorders.

Maladaptive Daydreaming

symptoms may include one or several of the following: - highly vivid and immersive daydreams- abnormally long daydreams that are hard to escape- an inability to carry out daily tasks- daydreams that are triggered by external events or stimuli, such as watching a movie or listening to music- sleep disruption and insomnia- repetitive and unconscious movements when daydreaming, such as rocking back and forth or twitching

Are You A Maladaptive Daydreamer?

Maladaptive daydreaming, for starters, is addictive. Everything is happening there and then, You hardly have any idea of reality. You make facial expressions i.e grin, laugh or even feel like crying , which will be noticed by the people around you , who will then rate you “crazy” or “weird” , leading you social isolation, which further pushes you into daydreaming.It is very elaborate , has plots equivalent to novels or movies ( mostly better) and once triggered , it is nearly impossible to stop. You can't just shake it off. Secondly, it can be triggered by a lot of things..

There is no fixed solution for Maladaptive daydreaming but a few steps which can help you :Identify and Reduce TriggersStart Treating the Underlying TraumaHave Direct Open Dialogues with YourselfSwitch Gears Into Analytic ActionCount in a Foreign Language or Recite a poemNarrate Your ActionsTrack Your TimeTalk to Your Doctor

Get Rid Of It.

Maladaptive daydreaming involves complex daydreams that interfere with daily life. They may occur with ADHD and other conditions. Learn more.

Maladaptive Daydreaming: A beautiful but unhealthy escape from reality. 

When you want your everyday life to improve, don't just simply search for new things to buy or new experiences to enjoy--work instead to cultivate gratitude.The benefits of gratitude are endlessand although becoming a happy, healthy human takes a lot of work, gratitude makes the journey to happiness a whole lot easier to endure.Here are some motivating reasons to be grateful and spread the gratitude to others.

Cultivate gratitude

1. Improved sleep. Gratitude reduces the time required to fall asleep, increases sleep duration, and improves sleep quality. 2. Increases your social capital . Gratitude makes us nicer and more trusting, which can help foster or deepen strong relationships. 3. Strengthens your immune system. Feelings of gratitude and appreciation have been shown to result in a significant increase in levels of immunoglobulin A, which serves as the body's first line of defense against viruses.

4. Lowers stress levels. Gratitude activates the parasympathetic nervous system, which reduces your stress levels.5. Makes you more likable. Being likable isn't all there is to life, but being grateful can certainly lead to happier and more pleasant relationships with friends, family, and partners.6. Makes you look better to others. Gratitude is a virtue in many cultures and can lead to an increase in respect from others.

7. Improves decision making. One study concluded that grateful physicians make better diagnoses: "Doctors who were given a piece of candy prior to this task, thereby inducing a feeling of gratitude, made the right diagnosis more often than doctors in the control group."8. Raises creativity. Positive emotions can broaden our minds, resulting in more ideas.9. Exercise more . Are you grateful for your health? If so, you'll want to protect it by exercising more.

10. Makes you more humble. Expressing gratitude can induce humility, which also ends up increasing your capacity for conveying gratitude.11. Increases productivity. Gratitude can boost your confidence, meaning less of your mental resources are used on worries or insecurities. This in turn improves your focus towards your work.12. Gratitude helps you make new friends. Expressing gratitude for something is a great conversation starter.

10-12

13. Makes you more helpful. Grateful and humble people are more inclined to lend a helping hand.14. Helps you accomplish more goals. In one study it was revealed that study participants who kept gratitude journals reported more progress on their goals than the people in the control group.15. Improves psychological health. Gratitude increases happiness and reduces depression according to leading research.

13-15

16. Helps you tap into your compassion. Writer Robert Emmons in his book Thanks! said, "...people who kept gratitude journals reported feeling closer and more connected to others, were more likely to help others, and were actually seen as more helpful by significant others in their social networks."17. Lowers your blood pressure. Negative emotions put a strain on your heart and other organs. Gratitude injects more positivity and health into your life as a result.18. Fewer aches and pains. Grateful people can have greater pain tolerance, since gratitude has analgesic effects.

19. Extends your lifespan. Live your life with positive emotions and you have a great shot at getting an extended lifespan.20. Helps you become a more effective leader. When you become better at practicing gratitude, you become better at giving praise and driving enhanced performance.21. Motivates others. A strong sense of gratitude also affects how well you can boost others.

19-21

22. Heals and relaxes. The parasympathetic, rest-and-digest, relaxing part of the nervous system is activated by gratitude.23. Reduces aggression. According to a 2012 study by the University of Kentucky, those who rank higher on gratitude scales are less likely to retaliate against others when given negative feedback.24. Makes you more resilient. Research has shown gratitude can also play a major role in overcoming trauma.25. Helps you feel better about yourself. Gratitude can increase your self-esteem, and, in other cases, can also reduce social comparisons.

22-25

Gratitude is the gift that keeps on giving--and giving and giving.

communication

Communication

25 Top Benefits of Gratitude You Need to Know

Every day, a new video goes “viral”, and an “infectious” idea starts spreading. Mental immunity is a psychological theory that is also known as cognitive immunology. With origins dating back 70 years, this field of research is based on the premise that not only is there an immune system for the body, but an immune system for the mind as well.People with a healthy mental immune system are more likely to detect misinformation. A strong cognitive immune system can also help spot bad ideas at an earlier stage, so you may avoid wasting time, energy or money.

 Protect Ourselves from Bad Ideas

Let’s explore the concept of cognitive immunology, together with a list of strategies you can employ to help strengthen your mental immune system.The concept of mental immunity was formulated by Professor Andy Norman, director of the Humanism Initiative at Carnegie Mellon University. Despite the field of cognitive immunology being in its infancy, mental immunity research has deep roots dating back to the 1950s. The mental immune system is believed to function in a similar way to the body’s physical immune system.

Cognitive Immunology

The purpose of the physical system of immune cells is to detect pathogens including bacteria and viruses, so that they can be eradicated from our blood stream and organ systems before they have a chance to cause damage. Similarly, a healthy mental immune system will detect harmful or incorrect information that enters our mind, so that it can be recognised as such and then promptly rejected.

The Process

In a paper about immunology’s theories of cognition, philosopher Alfred Tauber explained that developing an “immune self” requires us to actively distinguish between the self and the foreign, so that foreign information can be interrogated and potentially defended against.This way, the mental immune system sifts through ideas, information and other forms of external stimuli to identify, and therefore protect us from, the adverse outcomes associated with misinformation.

Developing an "Immune Self"

Both factual information and misinformation have the potential to spread through the population far faster than ever before. We have access to constant, real-time updates from online news platforms, as well as information shared via online magazines, social media, and unregulated websites. While factual information is a great asset, unreliable information and the inability to spot bad ideas may lead to poor decision making.

Information and Misinformation

Professor Sander van der Linden from the Department of Psychology at the University of Cambridge published a study which showed that the public could be inoculated against misinformation regarding climate change. In the study, the publics’ cognitive immunity to misinformation was reinforced when they were given a pre-emptive warning about politically motivated attempts to spread misinformation on the human causes of global warming. The results showed that this was an effective way to strengthen their immunity to false information.

Climate Change & Misinformation

In his 2021 book Mental Immunity, Professor Andy Norman explains that the immune systems of our minds can be strengthened against ideological corruption and mind parasites, which increases our capacity for critical thinking. This in turn helps us to spot and remove bad ideas before they can cause harm.Furthermore, developing greater cognitive flexibility allows us to change our minds faster when new, better-evidenced information is presented to us. In short, moving away from rigid thinking patterns improves our relationship with information and our resultant actions.

The Book "Mental Immunity"

You can increase your mental immunity by making your mind more resistant to misinformation, which will lead to better cognitive flexibility and decision making.To keep on using the same analogy, these strategies work in a similar way to vaccination: they support your mind in recognising the threat of bad ideas.1. Build awareness of misinformation. Misinformation is spread for a variety of reasons. It can be passed on innocently, especially when shared from person to person in a general conversation.

Strategies

However, research suggests that the spread of false content can also occur more deviously for political gain or polarisation, to generate income for media outlets, as a personal or industrial form of propaganda, or as a result of social media algorithms.Remember that misinformation is common, that fake news is designed to appear genuine, and train yourself to immediately interrogate the information or data you are presented with. This will help make your mind more resistant to bad ideas.

An Industrial Form of Propaganda

2. Develop healthy meta-beliefs. A meta-belief is a belief that one holds following a thorough reasoning process or cognitive interrogation to check the validity of the belief. In their 2020 paper, Gordon Pennycook and colleagues explained that “theories of belief should take into account what people believe about when and how beliefs and opinions should change — that is, meta-beliefs.”The team found that people who were politically liberal were more likely to believe that opinions and beliefs should change according to evidence.

Meta-Beliefs

Those who were religious, or held paranormal or conspiratorial beliefs, were less likely to agree that beliefs should change.Developing meta-beliefs strongly correlates with mental immunity. To strengthen your mental immune system, be prepared to assess and re-adjust previously held beliefs if new evidence comes to light. This way, your opinions are continuously being amended based on the latest evidence.

Meta-Beliefs & Mental Immunity

3. Practise self-reflection. When practising self-reflection, you should start to pay attention to your patterns of consumption. If this process of reflection indicates that you are drawn to the same news sources, or solely rely on influencers or social media platforms for your updates, your information diet may not be varied enough.For greater mental nourishment, diversify your information sources and dig deeper into the underlying research to fully understand whether you are unconsciously being sold misinformation.

Self-Reflection

It can also be helpful to develop a note-making practice so you can capture your thoughts and consciously reflect on the content you consume.Mental immunity is an emerging theory and more research is needed. However, the initial investigations have shown that a strong mental immune system helps filter external information to avoid falling prey to false data or flawed ideas.This cognitive system can be strengthened by building your awareness of the rampant nature of misinformation, developing healthy meta-beliefs, and reflecting on your patterns of information consumption.

An Emerging Theory

Once reinforced, stronger mental immunity will allow you to promptly detect misinformation, reject plans that are unlikely to succeed, and increase your cognitive flexibility to quickly adapt when presented with new evidence. Definitely a concept worth experimenting with!

 Cognitive Flexibility

Every day, a new video goes “viral”, and an “infectious” idea starts spreading. Mental immunity is a psychological theory that is also known as cognitive immunology.

How developing mental immunity can protect us from bad ideas

Even if we want to hear music all day, it is important to know the effects that has.

How to protect your ears with an Iphone?

No more than 5 hours each day at 80 dB.No more than 2 hours per day at 85 dB.No more than 30 minutes per day at 90 dB.No more than 15 minutes per day at 95 dB.No more than 3-5 minutes each day at 100 dB.

Required rates

There's also an additional 'Reduce Loud Sounds' feature under the 'Headphone Safety' menu that iPhone users can enable. Once the toggle is switched on, they can drag the slider and filter out any sound that is over their chosen decibel level threshold.

Solution propsed by the article 

I read this article about protecting ears with a new update from IOs system.Hope it can help you.

Loud audio levels can cause hearing damage and iPhone's 'Headphone Notifications' reminds users to turn down the volume when appropriate.

music

Music

Protect Your Hearing By Enabling Headphone Notifications On iPhone

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