A book for parents, teachers and other professionals by Stephen Gislason MD. The book is available in print form and as a PDF file for download. Click the links to the left to read topics from the book. Parents receive a lot of advice from many people. Popular magazines and books offer a continuous stream of conflicting advice. Professionals have a variety of opinions about child-rearing that range from helpful suggestions to misleading and even bizarre ideas. Child psychology is an eclectic assembly of ideas, miscellaneous observations, opinions, fears and irrational beliefs. Confusion prevails in education about what children should learn and how they should learn it. If psychologists, physicians, and educators are confused, what about parents? The best parents are pragmatic and not theorists. They stay involved with their children, follow some basic guidelines they learned and tend to do whatever works. Good parents improvise childcare with a combination of innate generosity, common sense, love and concessions to the demands of modern life. In this book, I develop a perspective based on understanding human nature. The deep lineage for every human is lies in the interaction of many layers of biological determinants. The culture of parents, schools and community impose a second lineage on a child that sets limits on the form and content of learning. A family is any combination of adults and children that creates a stable home. The essence of family is caring and nurturing. We are social creatures. Children are innately social, but need to learn what we are doing these days. The learning requirement is greater than ever before, because we now depend on complicated technologies and must learn to interact with a great number of other humans who will be different from us in many ways. To include more humans in the family of man as constructive peaceful contributors, each child must receive loving care, the right food, sophisticated education, opportunities for employment and the freedom to express his or her version of humanity. Thoughtful, well-educated and affluent parents have the opportunity to understand their responsibilities, to plan and allocate resources for an unborn child. A good parent faces a continuous series of challenges and problems that need solutions. Parenting is not an easy job. A realistic understanding of human nature will help parents to guide their children toward success.
Short Essays by Stephen Gislason Humans and Other Animals The human brain is a wonder of computational ability and the brain initiates and supervises its own training. The foundation of intelligence lies in the tuning ability of the brain. Tuning circuits appear in the first animals alive on earth. Animals must tune into what is going on around them in order navigate through a world-space to find required materials such as water and food. An animal is more intelligent if he or she tunes accurately into what is going on and finds what is needed without injury or death. Every educated person needs to know that the mind, spirit, soul, heart, personality, self, feelings, hopes, desires, values, preferences, personality all exist in the brain. We have old metaphors such as the “heart,” “spirit” or the “soul” that suggest otherwise, but the liberating truth is that it is all in the mind and the mind is all in the brain. All humans who survive are capable of tuning into the basic events that are occurring out-there. With a little help from friends, family and community, humans who survive and thrive have passed the intelligence test of life. The evolution of intelligence has been gradual and conservative. The earliest solutions to tuning into relevant information have been retained by the latest brains. Humans, despite their pretensions to be better than other animals, are intimately related to all other creatures on the planet and use similar strategies to survive. Humans are more complex and more destructive than other animals, but otherwise are in the same business of getting food and surviving in a challenging, ever changing world. Human intelligence and animal intelligence are made of the same stuff. There is every reason to believe that the conscious experiences of humans are continuous with and similar to, if not identical with the conscious experience of other animals. The best assumption is that the fundamental and pristine consciousness that lies at the core of humans experience is the same consciousness experienced by other animals. There is no method of deciding how far back in time consciousness extends, but there is no reason to limit consciousness to primates or mammals, when birds and many other animals appear to be conscious. The degree of mindfulness ascends the evolutionary scale with insects and worms at the low end and primates at the high end. If you imagine visiting the mind of another animal, you could ask how familiar would this mind be and how comfortable would I feel? There is little doubt that the mind of apes would be very similar to our own and you would be familiar with most of the experiences. Visiting a whale’s mind might be different, more like visiting an alien space ship in science fiction stories. You would recognize the same depth and complexity of consciousness and many of the same feelings but all the detailed information about the underwater world obtained by sonar and kinesthetic senses would not be familiar. Humans who live intimately with dogs will have little difficulty understanding that the dog’s mind has many common features with the human mind. Dogs adapt remarkably to human life and enjoy many of the same experiences the humans do. My first dog friend, Pablo, a German Sheppard of impeccable breeding, sat in the passenger seat of my 1968 car as we traveled across Canada looking for a new home on the west coast. He enjoyed every moment of traveling and invented a repertoire of amusements and responsibilities which included singing, snapping at passing trucks, watching for girl dogs and wind riding. Wind riding consisted of sticking your head out the passenger window and mostly looking ahead with your ears back. For thrills, you would move your head up, down and sideways to feel the different pressures of the wind on your head. For the rest of his life, Pablo would sit every day in that car, parked in the driveway waiting for the next ride. He would be inconsolable if I drove away without him. My latest canine companion, Sonny was a good friend. Like Pablo, Sonny was a big dog with a wolf body and mind. I admire his athletic prowess, his enthusiasm and his skills navigating on planet earth. We were both survivors, but he would do better than I would if the supermarkets disappeared. I enjoyed participating in his wolf ways more than I enjoyed teaching him how to become human.
Humans like to become intoxicated. Fermented, liquid foods that contain alcohol are used worldwide in parties, celebrations and rituals. It is common for fermented foods to be included in the daily diet. Small doses of fermented foods relax inhibitions and can feel pleasant in social situations. Larger doses are toxic to the brain and disable the drinker. The regular abuse of alcoholic beverages is called "alcoholism. The stigma attached to the term "alcoholism" remains an obstacle to understanding this common problem. There is a tendency to deny or to "normalize" excessive drinking. The use of alcoholic beverages is woven into the fabric of society and excessive use of alcohol is often considered "normal. Ingestion of alcoholic beverage in excess produces many disease patterns involving every part of the body. Even “moderate” alcohol abuse distorts the personality, emotions and intellect of the "social drinker." The cognitive impairments and personality distortion are a direct consequence of brain dysfunction cause by ethanol and other chemical pathogens in alcoholic beverages. Alcohol abuse is considered to be an addiction and some argue about calling alcoholism a “disease.” The term “addiction” refers both the compulsive aspect of drinking and also to the harm drinking causes. The drinker harms himself, his family and the community at large. A reasonable person will notice the harm he or she is causing and will seek to remedy the problem. An addict ignores the harm and remains devoted to ingesting alcoholic beverages no matter how much harm is caused.
This is a must read book by Stephen Gislason who simplifies complex issues and introduces new and sometimes surprising insights. Click the topics (left) to read from the book. From the introduction. "Humans resemble other animals in their ability to communicate. Communications involve chemical senses, sounds, body language, and visual signals. Communication is all about community, sharing information, sending warning signals and fulfilling the needs of the group. Human languages combine many different expressions of communication in a complex manner. Ideas about written language tend to dominate scholarly investigations, but sounds and gestures have been more important in the evolution of communication systems. Speaking is a spontaneous feature of the brain, and all normal children will speak if they hear a language spoken; any language will do. Older infants imitate words they hear spoken and if adults engage them in conversation, will expand their vocabularies and start to make meaningful statements; Words go with gestures Young children point with a pudgy index finger and say the name their pointer indicates. Pointing and naming remains an endearing characteristic for the rest of a human life. Babies follow the path of language evolution. Their progress is from the description of the immediate and concrete objects to making abstract statements about events; The first thing you do when you are learning a language is point and name. You invent nouns. Little tykes can get a lot accomplished with their pointing finger and a few nouns. Tourists in a foreign country revert to the two-year-old strategy of pointing, naming, using pantomime to replace the verbs they do not know;" One of the most important and least recognized features of the human mind is selftalk. In adults, selftalk is described as "thinking" or “reflection.” Aristotle declared that thinking was “inner speech” and he defined the rules of logic, the proper methods of constructing relationships among statements. Selftalk is a continuous narrative feature of the mind. Through selftalk, language becomes a dominant feature of cognition. Narrative dominance enables some of the best cognitive abilities that humans display, but narrative dominance can also be disabling; The recognition that selftalk is thought resolves tedious debates about the relationship of language to cognition. It is no longer necessary to argue that the structure and content of languages influence thinking. Language is thinking.
The Alpha Nutrition Program was designed to resolve common food related diseases. The book addresses a wide range of medical problems such as diabetes 2, arterial disease, high blood pressure, digestive disorders, skin disorders, fatigue, arthritis, weight-loss, and other common problems associated with food. People who feel "sick-all-over" or who suffer from chronic fatigue and chronic pain often improve on the program. Weight management is covered in a new and intelligent way. Common digestive problems are addressed. Several common health problems in children are resolved. The central feature of the Alpha Nutrition Program is diet revision. Dr. Stephen Gislason invented "diet revision therapy" in 1983. His method of diet revision has been tested by thousands of people. The program is designed as self-help and provides sufficiently detailed instructions that you can conduct your own diet revision therapy. The Alpha Nutrition Program is presented in three sections Section 1 provides you with an understanding of how the Alpha Nutrition Program works. You then consider where you come from - your attitudes, beliefs, lifestyle, and then you proceed to understand the stages of transformation as you pursue diet revision. The discussion of symptoms will help you to monitor yourself, your children and other family members. Single people, couples and entire families do the program. Usually one person acts as the "leader" and supplies the main energy and direction for change. The program works well for children; mother is more often the leader when one child in the family needs help, and mother may need to involve the entire family to help one child. A separate chapter describes guiding children through the program. The Alpha Program food choices are explained. Section 2 is the program food instructions. The program has three phases and each is explained in its own chapter. The food list and instructions for each phase are defined first. Predictions about changes are then described with problem-solving instructions. Three tracks through the program are described. The goals are clearly defined for each phase and you are given instructions about what foods you should eat, what to expect, how to problem solve, and how to use nutritional tools such as the nutrient formulas, Alpha ENF and Alpha DMX. Section 3 explains meal-planning and nutrition and provides additional information about topics of major concern. The Alpha Nutrition Book of Cooking is a companion volume to the Alpha Nutrition Program. This text provides practical knowledge, helpful in understanding how to prepare foods and create recipes that are suitable for recovery from a variety of health problems.
We think that inflammatory arthritis is sometimes caused by immune responses to food proteins and encourage everyone with arthritis to give diet revision a try. Several diet revision studies have shown benefit for patients with rheumatoid arthritis. These studies support the more common and persistent claims in the community that diet revision has benefits. Carinini and Brostoff reviewed the concepts of and evidence for food-induced arthritis. They stated: "Despite an increasing interest in food allergy and the conviction of innumerable patients with joint disease that certain foods exacerbate their symptoms, relatively little scientific attention has been paid to this relationship. Abnormalities of the gastrointestinal tract are commonly found in rheumatic disease...Support for an intestinal origin of antigens comes from studies of patients whose joint symptoms have improved on the avoidance of certain foods antigens, and become worse on consuming them." Many of our readers are arthritic sufferers or have loved ones who are suffering. Some are newly diagnosed and are beginning the search for information and guidance. Others have had arthritis for some time and are disappointed with treatments offered to them. Many have read both the orthodox literature and popular books or magazine articles with claims of arthritis cures.
The Good Person - Ethics and Morality Ethics is about the interface between selfish interests and actions and the common good. Both the good and the bad tendencies of mindbodybrain are innate properties that have useful functions, were not invented by modern society and are not going to change until the construction of brain changes. The dialogue between good and bad in human affairs is constant, predictable and universal. When a baby is born, the family and local community begin to teach the emerging being what is going on here and now. They provide the local language, costumes, customs beliefs and the local science and technology. All adult humans have a n ethical standard and a technology to teach. While the local culture has an obvious impact on the appearance and behavior of emerging adults, the constant innate features of the human mind are pervasive and persistent. The variance in mental abilities within a local group will often be greater than inter-group variance. Ethics are about standards and rules of conduct or, more precisely, modern ethicists attempt to decide what good and reasonable behavior is. All humans make decisions and evaluate the behavior of others. A scale of evaluations from right to wrong is typical of ethical judgments. Each group develops norms to guide actions and judgments about behavior. The presence of ethical standards requires individuals who can anticipate the consequences of actions; evaluate consequences in terms of selfish and of group interests; and who have the ability to choose between alternative courses of action In practice, professional ethicists are employed by governments, universities, hospitals and other organizations; they do best by examining specific situations and engaging the people involved in conversations about specific interactions. When behavior and/or decisions are questionable but laws have not been broken, Ethics committees substitute for judges or juries and deliver advice or judgments. The value of ethics decreases as issues become of more general importance or are issues of law. Professional ethics can be appreciated as an abstract exercise in description and reasoning that may fail to appreciate the deep determinants of human feelings, beliefs and conduct. This inquiry is about human nature, complete with descriptions of imbedded social regulation and morality. An understanding of all these discussions is required for meaningful ethical discourse.
Understanding the human brain is essential to become a well-informed, modern citizen. As always, nonsense proliferates around popular topics. The author of the human Brain is a physician-writer, an expert navigator who can steer you away from nonsense, and help you understand practical details about brain function and disease. This is a big book with big ideas, so be prepared to read, re-read and then keep the book as reference. Read topics from the book by clicking links to the left. Dr. Gislason's Preface "My goal in writing this book is to provide a guide to intervention in disorders of brain function. The brain is the organ of the mind. Therefore, molecular influences that alter the function of brain are manifest as mental influences. Brains are delicate devices that need special care to work well. When brains do not function well, disorders of sensing, deciding, acting and remembering occur. Food is the major source of molecular influences on the brain and, therefore, on mind states. Finding and consuming food is the main business of all animal brains and remains the priority in the organization of human behavior. An integrated view of body/mind does not draw artificial boundaries among different events. Psyche does not affect Soma or vice versa. Psyche and Soma are one interacting whole system. Behavioral adaptation to environment is intermeshed with molecular adaptation. This means that mind and body interact with environment as a single integrated unit. Molecular events determine mind/body events just as mental or behavioral events determine molecular events. There is little argument that diseased arteries that carry blood to the brain lead toward the most prevalent and often the most devastating loss of brain function. High blood pressure and plugged arteries work together to produce strokes. Other brain diseases are not so obvious. The role of the environment and dietary problems in creating emotionally and mentally disturbed people has been underestimated or ignored. Bad environments and problems in the food supply can disturb brain function in entire populations. Bad chemicals are more powerful than good intentions and good ideas unless the good idea is to remove the bad chemicals from the environment. When a fish in an aquarium displays psychotic behavior, you do not call a fish psychiatrist; you check the oxygen concentration, temperature, and pH of the water. You have to clean the tank and change the fish diet. I regret the increasing use of psychotropic drugs. The aggressive marketing of drugs that affect the brain has become a major determinant of what people believe and how people behave. I was once an advocate of drug therapy, but now I believe that we are on the wrong track and advise against taking drugs that affect the mind. My work in philosophy takes the broadest view of the human experience and also focuses on the details of how our mind works. As a physician, I advocate practical solutions to brain dysfunction that are often ignored in medical practice. These are solutions that emphasize removing the causes of disease by improving the environment and the food supply. Download eBook in PDF format
In this book, I have selected topics that are representative of neuroscience inquiry, retaining brief references to a larger context that includes the study of neurology, anthropology, paleontology, computer science and philosophy. There have been several attempts to develop a "theory" of brain function that incorporates a large collection of observations, experimental results and a growing understanding of the innate features of human nature. I doubt that a single theory is feasible and suggest that the goal is integration of knowledge from diverse disciplines into a comprehensive understanding of who we are and why we are the way we are.
The book helps you understand the atmosphere, climate change, air quality issues, normal breathing and the causes of breathing disorders. You will find detailed information about airborne infection, air quality and airborne hazards at home. Problems of the nose, ear and throat are discussed. Airborne allergy and food allergy causes are explained. The mechanisms of asthma are discussed and drug treatments reviewed. A chapter on respiratory infections describes viral and bacterial causes of upper respiratory disease and lung diseases. A special section on fungal diseases is included. Air pollution and airborne outdoor causes of lung disease are also discussed with advice about improving both indoor and outdoor air quality. Asthma is a prototype of airway disease, often associated with nose and throat symptoms. Asthma sometimes merges with chronic lung disease that involves both inflammatory changes in bronchi and inflammatory changes in alveoli that involve scarring and loss of gas exchange capacity. The large issues of air quality are survival issues for humans and all other living creatures on the planet. An up to date view of climate change and responsible action is included in this book. Download eBook in PDF format
This book provides a fresh perspective on world religions. I describe some of the more obvious religious traditions on the planet and note similarities and differences. I am writing brief descriptions as if I were a tour guide introducing a stranger to the history, real and imagined, of five of the more obvious religions. My wish is that even people who live in the cognitive box created by one group will take a vacation, fly outside of your container and enjoy an overview of humans – past, present, and future. If you can go beyond beliefs, faith, claims, arguments and the narcissism that afflicts all of us, then you ask: does membership in any religious group bring us closer to living in a peaceful, constructive, sustainable society? From the Preface Any discussion of religion invites misunderstanding and conflict. Humans have convened in small groups for thousands of years to celebrate, to appease evil spirits and to encourage good spirits to offer more privileges and benefits. Humans continue to dress up in costumes, beat drums, chant, sing, and dance and make offerings to innumerable gods. These celebrations help to maintain group unity and often induce euphoric feelings in the participants. While there has always been an archetypal form to these group activities, each local group develops its own version of myths, rituals and celebrations. The belief in spirits is the universal form. The names, number and idiosyncratic expressions of the spirits is the local content. If you consider “religious” expressions around the world and throughout, history, you would notice that there a number of basic themes with thousands of imaginative variations. You also notice that in every tribe, village or city, people believe they have special relationships with gods and spirits not enjoyed elsewhere. No discussion of religion will make sense until the importance of group identity is understood. Humans may sometimes look like individuals, but the truth is that all humans are members of local groups that determine what they know, how they communicate and how they treat other humans. Each local group develops stories, beliefs and rules. Collections of local groups with special beliefs into larger organizations are often described as “religion.” Members of local groups are described as “religious” if they recite group slogans, attend meetings and celebrations. Religions often claim special privileges for their members so that the term “religious” is used to claim advantages and superior moral authority where none actually exists. The tendency for selective, even exclusive, group membership is deeply embedded in the human mind and shows up everywhere and at all times. The key elements of group identity are recognizable appearance enhanced by costumes, common language, common beliefs and common behaviors, especially ritualistic behaviors. Download eBook in PDF format
Dr. Gislason investigates the for-me-ness of experiences, using neuroscience and philosophy. Everyone has some idea what emotions and feelings are but their exact nature is elusive. We can begin by noting that emotions and feelings are not the same. The first issues to be discussed are semantic, not trivial by any means. There are many words that refer to emotions and feelings. There is no standard use of terms. We recognize that brains bring information about the outside world together with information from inside the body. Images of the outside tend to be detailed and explicit in consciousness. Monitor images from inside the body tend to be vague and variable. Generally, humans are ignorant of internal processes and invent all manner of imaginary and irrelevant explanations to explain feelings. The term “emotion” is best used to point to animal and human behavior. There are a small number of primary emotions and variations that involve mixtures of emotional displays with other behaviors. Joy, anger, fear and pain are pure emotions. Other, more complex and derivative experiences act as interfaces to emotions. Love, jealousy and hate are not emotions. These are descriptions of complex interactions and evaluations that involve a range of feelings and interface to true emotions some of the time. For example, lovers experience a range of feelings and display different emotions at different times. Euphoria is the benefit of being in love. Sadness and anger are the cost of being in love. Jealousy, like love, is another complex of cognitions, feelings and emotions that exist to monitor and regulate close relationships. The absence of emotional display is highly valued in polite society. Humans have advanced toward civil and productive social environments that are emotionally neutral. Emotional neutrality is a requirement for acceptable behavior in school and work environments.
The book, Aching & Fatigue is about non specific illnesses and two common patterns of illness, the Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia. Some patients say " I feel sick all over". These are overlapping symptom complexes and are often part of a larger illness complex. The general classification is non-specific hypersensitivity disease. Dr. Gislason explains why diet revision as the first and most essential form of therapy. Long term management of food intake is required to sustain improvements. The book, Aching & Fatigue describes these common problems and their solution, providing case history examples. Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), Fibromyalgia and related disorders are not discrete diseases in the usual sense, but patterns of maladaptive responses to food and the environment. We believe that chronic fatigue syndrome and Fibromyalgia are symptom complexes and are often caused by delayed pattern food allergy. Both conditions tend to co-exist and both are part of a larger illness complex. The general classification is non-specific hypersensitivity disease. Chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia and should be treated with diet revision as the first and most essential form of therapy. Long-term and precise management of food intake is required to sustain improvements.
Preface Being a human is challenging. Human life is a journey thorough time and space with many obstacles: injury, disease, constant uncertainty, and relentlessly difficult interactions with other humans, Each human is the reincarnation of a long-lineage of ancestors. Species memory, perceptual skills, needs, drives, feelings, desires and behaviors are built in and begin operating in utero. Humans evolved from primate ancestors and retained features of mind and behavior that have been present in animals for hundreds of millions of years. Urges, desires, designs, feelings cry out from within and often surprise us, as if we were the hosts to wild animals and spirits within that refuse to be identified or tamed. Human behavior can be understood in relation to the whole spectrum of primate behaviors and social organizations. Humans appear to have an eclectic combination of primate tendencies with elaboration of features such as tool making, symbolic reasoning and spoken language. Linda Stone suggested that: “Primates are a natural grouping of mammals that includes prosimians, tree-dwelling animals such as lemurs and tarsiers, monkeys, apes, and humans. Some of the physical characteristics that distinguish primates from other mammals are binocular vision and the grasping hand with mobile digits and flat nails. Evolutionary trends characteristic of the Primate Order are most pronounced in humans and include prolongation of gestation of the fetus, prolongation of the period of infant care, and expansion and elaboration of the brain. An important feature in the social life of many nonhuman primates is dominance and the formation of "dominance hierarchies."… a dominant animal wins aggressive encounters with others and usually has greater access to resources such as food, water, or sexual partners.“ Rather than viewing society and culture as real things, an observer can recognize that humans live in groups that repeat and modify innate behaviors to produce prolific variations on a few underlying themes that are common to all societies. A smart observer will consider the grouping characteristics of humans and discern basic patterns and problems underlying the apparent complexity of modern civilization. The organization of society begins with small local clusters that link family groups into clans that are more or less cooperative units. Clans associate, forming bands that tend to affiliate with other bands forming tribes, looser affiliations that occupy larger geographic areas. The band-tribal structure emerges from ancient animal groupings. Patterns of organization, rules, and institutions that regulate human behavior are in flux and will continue to be unstable. As human populations expand and interactions become increasingly complex, innate abilities are stretched and distorted. The ability of individuals to relate to other humans remains limited and limits the effective management of enlarging groups. Managers and leaders do not become smarter as the organizations they lead become larger. It is axiomatic that organizations that exceed a threshold number become dysfunctional. It is matter of empirical study to recognize group size thresholds, and too little is known about the cognitive limitations of leaders.
book by Stephen Gislason emerged from his Music Notes collected over many years. The topics cover a wide range of interests from the history of instruments, music theory, composing to the most current technologies involved in music composition and sound recording. A special chapter on the Musical Brain explains current knowledge in the brain processing of sound as it applies to language and music decoding. A chapter on the Music Business reviews the dramatic changes in music marketed and discusses some of the dilemmas and controversies facing musicians. Preface This book emerged from notes I have kept for several decades. I have spent much time studying music theory, electronics applied to sound reproduction and to performance skills. I decided to assemble my music notes so that any person interested in music could benefit from simple, clear explanations. Music descriptions often are too complicated and the use of terms can be inconsistent and confusing. As with other subjects I have tackled, I assumed that with a little extra effort more precise descriptions would be welcomed by readers seeking a practical understanding of music. The book begins with a consideration of what sound is and how animals use sounds to communicate. Music is not a human invention, but we do elaborate sound communication more than other animals in our production of both speech and musical performances. The discussion continues with noise, an important topic that is poorly understood. A well informed musician will refrain from making noise and understand Ambrose Bierce when he stated: Of all noise, music is the less offensive." I include acoustic and electronic instruments in my discussions of music creation. In my world, electronics dominate every aspect of work and play and most music I create and listen to was created, stored and distributed electronically. The art and science of recording is an important study for all 21st century musicians. Increased sophistication about the nature of sound, the art of combining musical sounds, and the effect on the listener's brain are all required for music to advance beyond noise toward a more effective means of human communication. Stephen Gislason 2016
The Alpha Nutrition program has been designed with a careful approach to food selection and preparation. The needs of sick people determined the approach to cooking and recipes. Since health goals have priority, complex food mixtures and spicing are considered undesirable and many people have found that simple meals can look and taste delicious. A simple appreciation of basic foods can increase your pleasure in cooking and eating. Come with me on an adventure - let’s cook simple, delicious meals and get better.
A book for parents, teachers and other professionals by Stephen Gislason MD. The book is available in print form and as a PDF file for download. Click the links to the left to read topics from the book. Parents receive a lot of advice from many people. Popular magazines and books offer a continuous stream of conflicting advice. Professionals have a variety of opinions about child-rearing that range from helpful suggestions to misleading and even bizarre ideas. Child psychology is an eclectic assembly of ideas, miscellaneous observations, opinions, fears and irrational beliefs. Confusion prevails in education about what children should learn and how they should learn it. If psychologists, physicians, and educators are confused, what about parents? The best parents are pragmatic and not theorists. They stay involved with their children, follow some basic guidelines they learned and tend to do whatever works. Good parents improvise childcare with a combination of innate generosity, common sense, love and concessions to the demands of modern life. In this book, I develop a perspective based on understanding human nature. The deep lineage for every human is lies in the interaction of many layers of biological determinants. The culture of parents, schools and community impose a second lineage on a child that sets limits on the form and content of learning. A family is any combination of adults and children that creates a stable home. The essence of family is caring and nurturing. We are social creatures. Children are innately social, but need to learn what we are doing these days. The learning requirement is greater than ever before, because we now depend on complicated technologies and must learn to interact with a great number of other humans who will be different from us in many ways. To include more humans in the family of man as constructive peaceful contributors, each child must receive loving care, the right food, sophisticated education, opportunities for employment and the freedom to express his or her version of humanity. Thoughtful, well-educated and affluent parents have the opportunity to understand their responsibilities, to plan and allocate resources for an unborn child. A good parent faces a continuous series of challenges and problems that need solutions. Parenting is not an easy job. A realistic understanding of human nature will help parents to guide their children toward success.
The book helps you understand the atmosphere, climate change, air quality issues, normal breathing and the causes of breathing disorders. You will find detailed information about airborne infection, air quality and airborne hazards at home. Problems of the nose, ear and throat are discussed. Airborne allergy and food allergy causes are explained. The mechanisms of asthma are discussed and drug treatments reviewed. A chapter on respiratory infections describes viral and bacterial causes of upper respiratory disease and lung diseases. A special section on fungal diseases is included. Air pollution and airborne outdoor causes of lung disease are also discussed with advice about improving both indoor and outdoor air quality. Asthma is a prototype of airway disease, often associated with nose and throat symptoms. Asthma sometimes merges with chronic lung disease that involves both inflammatory changes in bronchi and inflammatory changes in alveoli that involve scarring and loss of gas exchange capacity. The large issues of air quality are survival issues for humans and all other living creatures on the planet. An up to date view of climate change and responsible action is included in this book. Download eBook in PDF format
book by Stephen Gislason emerged from his Music Notes collected over many years. The topics cover a wide range of interests from the history of instruments, music theory, composing to the most current technologies involved in music composition and sound recording. A special chapter on the Musical Brain explains current knowledge in the brain processing of sound as it applies to language and music decoding. A chapter on the Music Business reviews the dramatic changes in music marketed and discusses some of the dilemmas and controversies facing musicians. Preface This book emerged from notes I have kept for several decades. I have spent much time studying music theory, electronics applied to sound reproduction and to performance skills. I decided to assemble my music notes so that any person interested in music could benefit from simple, clear explanations. Music descriptions often are too complicated and the use of terms can be inconsistent and confusing. As with other subjects I have tackled, I assumed that with a little extra effort more precise descriptions would be welcomed by readers seeking a practical understanding of music. The book begins with a consideration of what sound is and how animals use sounds to communicate. Music is not a human invention, but we do elaborate sound communication more than other animals in our production of both speech and musical performances. The discussion continues with noise, an important topic that is poorly understood. A well informed musician will refrain from making noise and understand Ambrose Bierce when he stated: Of all noise, music is the less offensive." I include acoustic and electronic instruments in my discussions of music creation. In my world, electronics dominate every aspect of work and play and most music I create and listen to was created, stored and distributed electronically. The art and science of recording is an important study for all 21st century musicians. Increased sophistication about the nature of sound, the art of combining musical sounds, and the effect on the listener's brain are all required for music to advance beyond noise toward a more effective means of human communication. Stephen Gislason 2016
Preface Being a human is challenging. Human life is a journey thorough time and space with many obstacles: injury, disease, constant uncertainty, and relentlessly difficult interactions with other humans, Each human is the reincarnation of a long-lineage of ancestors. Species memory, perceptual skills, needs, drives, feelings, desires and behaviors are built in and begin operating in utero. Humans evolved from primate ancestors and retained features of mind and behavior that have been present in animals for hundreds of millions of years. Urges, desires, designs, feelings cry out from within and often surprise us, as if we were the hosts to wild animals and spirits within that refuse to be identified or tamed. Human behavior can be understood in relation to the whole spectrum of primate behaviors and social organizations. Humans appear to have an eclectic combination of primate tendencies with elaboration of features such as tool making, symbolic reasoning and spoken language. Linda Stone suggested that: “Primates are a natural grouping of mammals that includes prosimians, tree-dwelling animals such as lemurs and tarsiers, monkeys, apes, and humans. Some of the physical characteristics that distinguish primates from other mammals are binocular vision and the grasping hand with mobile digits and flat nails. Evolutionary trends characteristic of the Primate Order are most pronounced in humans and include prolongation of gestation of the fetus, prolongation of the period of infant care, and expansion and elaboration of the brain. An important feature in the social life of many nonhuman primates is dominance and the formation of "dominance hierarchies."… a dominant animal wins aggressive encounters with others and usually has greater access to resources such as food, water, or sexual partners.“ Rather than viewing society and culture as real things, an observer can recognize that humans live in groups that repeat and modify innate behaviors to produce prolific variations on a few underlying themes that are common to all societies. A smart observer will consider the grouping characteristics of humans and discern basic patterns and problems underlying the apparent complexity of modern civilization. The organization of society begins with small local clusters that link family groups into clans that are more or less cooperative units. Clans associate, forming bands that tend to affiliate with other bands forming tribes, looser affiliations that occupy larger geographic areas. The band-tribal structure emerges from ancient animal groupings. Patterns of organization, rules, and institutions that regulate human behavior are in flux and will continue to be unstable. As human populations expand and interactions become increasingly complex, innate abilities are stretched and distorted. The ability of individuals to relate to other humans remains limited and limits the effective management of enlarging groups. Managers and leaders do not become smarter as the organizations they lead become larger. It is axiomatic that organizations that exceed a threshold number become dysfunctional. It is matter of empirical study to recognize group size thresholds, and too little is known about the cognitive limitations of leaders.
The Good Person - Ethics and Morality Ethics is about the interface between selfish interests and actions and the common good. Both the good and the bad tendencies of mindbodybrain are innate properties that have useful functions, were not invented by modern society and are not going to change until the construction of brain changes. The dialogue between good and bad in human affairs is constant, predictable and universal. When a baby is born, the family and local community begin to teach the emerging being what is going on here and now. They provide the local language, costumes, customs beliefs and the local science and technology. All adult humans have a n ethical standard and a technology to teach. While the local culture has an obvious impact on the appearance and behavior of emerging adults, the constant innate features of the human mind are pervasive and persistent. The variance in mental abilities within a local group will often be greater than inter-group variance. Ethics are about standards and rules of conduct or, more precisely, modern ethicists attempt to decide what good and reasonable behavior is. All humans make decisions and evaluate the behavior of others. A scale of evaluations from right to wrong is typical of ethical judgments. Each group develops norms to guide actions and judgments about behavior. The presence of ethical standards requires individuals who can anticipate the consequences of actions; evaluate consequences in terms of selfish and of group interests; and who have the ability to choose between alternative courses of action In practice, professional ethicists are employed by governments, universities, hospitals and other organizations; they do best by examining specific situations and engaging the people involved in conversations about specific interactions. When behavior and/or decisions are questionable but laws have not been broken, Ethics committees substitute for judges or juries and deliver advice or judgments. The value of ethics decreases as issues become of more general importance or are issues of law. Professional ethics can be appreciated as an abstract exercise in description and reasoning that may fail to appreciate the deep determinants of human feelings, beliefs and conduct. This inquiry is about human nature, complete with descriptions of imbedded social regulation and morality. An understanding of all these discussions is required for meaningful ethical discourse.
In Heroic Sagas and Ballads, Stephen A. Mitchell examines the world of the medieval Icelandic legendary sagas and their legacy in Scandinavia. Central to his argument is the view that these heroic texts should be studied in the light of the later Icelandic Middle Ages rather than that of the Viking age, although the stories, the tellers, and the audiences are clearly concerned with exactly this period of Scandinavian history. Viewing these sagas as the products of highly diverse forms of inspiration and creation—some oral, some written—Mitchell explores their aesthetic and social dimensions, demonstrating their function both as entertainment and as a literature with a more serious purpose, one with deep roots in Nordic literary consciousness. The traditions that these sagas relate possessed an importance beyond the temporal and geographical confines of medieval Iceland, and Heroic Sagas and Ballads considers the process by which these heroic materials were subsequently recast as metrical romances in Iceland and as ballads throughout the rest of Scandinavia. It is ultimately concerned with much more than just those stories that inspired such modern writers as Richard Wagner and H. Rider Haggard; its anthropological and folkloric approach to the legendary sagas shows how the extraliterary dimensions of medieval texts can be explored. Heroic Sagas and Ballads addresses issues of central importance to medievalists, folklorists, comparatists, Scandinavianists, and students of the ballad.
Stephen A. Mitchell here offers the fullest examination available of witchcraft in late medieval Scandinavia. He focuses on those people believed to be able—and who in some instances thought themselves able—to manipulate the world around them through magical practices, and on the responses to these beliefs in the legal, literary, and popular cultures of the Nordic Middle Ages. His sources range from the Icelandic sagas to cultural monuments much less familiar to the nonspecialist, including legal cases, church art, law codes, ecclesiastical records, and runic spells. Mitchell's starting point is the year 1100, by which time Christianity was well established in elite circles throughout Scandinavia, even as some pre-Christian practices and beliefs persisted in various forms. The book's endpoint coincides with the coming of the Reformation and the onset of the early modern Scandinavian witch hunts. The terrain covered is complex, home to the Germanic Scandinavians as well as their non-Indo-European neighbors, the Sámi and Finns, and it encompasses such diverse areas as the important trade cities of Copenhagen, Bergen, and Stockholm, with their large foreign populations; the rural hinterlands; and the insular outposts of Iceland and Greenland. By examining witches, wizards, and seeresses in literature, lore, and law, as well as surviving charm magic directed toward love, prophecy, health, and weather, Mitchell provides a portrait of both the practitioners of medieval Nordic magic and its performance. With an understanding of mythology as a living system of cultural signs (not just ancient sacred narratives), this study also focuses on such powerful evolving myths as those of "the milk-stealing witch," the diabolical pact, and the witches' journey to Blåkulla. Court cases involving witchcraft, charm magic, and apostasy demonstrate that witchcraft ideologies played a key role in conceptualizing gender and were themselves an important means of exercising social control.
Negative Emissions Technologies for Climate Change Mitigation provides a comprehensive introduction to the full range of technologies that are being researched, developed and deployed in order to transition from our current energy system, dominated by fossil fuels, to a negative-carbon emissions system. After an introduction to the challenge of climate change, the technical fundamentals of natural and engineered carbon dioxide removal and storage processes and technologies are described. Each NET is then discussed in detail, including the key elements of the technology, enablers and constraints, governance issues, and global potential and cost estimates. This book offers a complete overview of the field, thus enabling the community to gain a full appreciation of NETs without the need to seek out and refer to a multitude of sources. Covers the full spectrum of technologies to underpin the transition to a negative emissions energy system, from technical fundamentals to the current state of deployment and R&D Critically evaluates each technology, highlighting advantages, limitations, and the potential for large scale environmental applications Combines natural science and environmental science perspectives with the practical use of state-of-the-art technologies for sustainability
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