Fresh of the press! the 2012 BrainArt Awards posters and post cards. See if you can spot them in Sydney and Melbourne!
Artwork by Flutter Lyon | Design by moi and Robin Wigsten
sarahj2810 has some awesome stuff!
“Forgiveness is a funny thing, it warms the heart & cools the sting.” William Arthur Ward
What turned you on today?
For those familiar with brain principles, neuroscientists have identified that our brains know how to do one of these two things very well: avoid pain or seek pleasure. As humans, we have always pursued pleasure as an essential part of our survival, devoting time and resources to get what we want. And it is important we understand it so we can make the right choices.
What turns us on varies from person to person and most societal systems have tried to moderate “certain pleasures” with laws and systems. In many cases, it has not worked.
Why? One very good reason is the fact that pleasure is hard-wired in all of us. Latest findings reveal that a small group of regions inside the brain called the pleasure circuit is where pleasure “lives”.
Author David Linden, a professor of Neuroscience from John Hopkins University in America has studied how the anatomy of pleasure works and how easily addictions can develop if we allow our cells, molecules and chemicals to go wild.
Well-known motivation speaker, Anthony Robbins once said:
The secret of living a successful life is learning how to use pain and pleasure instead of having pain and pleasure use you. If you do that, you’re in control of your life. If you don’t, life controls you.
So what are some of the things that we can learn from the science of pleasure?
Humans perform basic activities that are rewarding to our brains such as eating, drinking and mating. Thanks to this, we are able to survive and procreate.
The brain’s circuits of pleasure become activated in the same way by both virtue and vice (ranging from orgasm, sweets, fatty acids, exercise, prayer, social approval, drugs or donating to charity). It is up to us what we choose.
What makes pleasure compelling is that these circuits are interconnected with other brain regions creating memories, associations, emotions and social meaning to the things we find rewarding.
One of the freshest initiatives I started to work with on February 2012, is a social experiment with 5 talented developers and emerging interaction designers to create our first game for my company About my Brain. We are collaborating with 20 odd students and soon to be graduates from Billy Blue College of Design in Sydney, to create an amazing and fun gaming experience, that aims to educate people were they spend most of their awaken time - on their smart-phones. We will launch the game at the 2012 BrainArt Exhibition on October 19th at Verge Gallery, Sydney. Stay tuned!
The story of the busy business man and the sage. And the value of self-knowledge.
What would you do differently if you knew yourself better? The sage asked the busy businessman
I would not take my reactions so seriously. That is why I have asked you to come, so you can teach me how to do it, the business man replied impatiently
And how do your reactions affect you on a daily basis? The sage continued unruffled.
Well, sometimes the people who work for me do not tell me what they think and the environment becomes difficult and tense. I end up not knowing what to do and I doubt if my decisions are the right ones, the business man replied slowly.
And have you asked yourself how they feel when the atmosphere becomes tense the sage insisted.
The business man stopped to reflect for a few minutes looking at the sage perplexedly and said: How am I supposed to know what they feel? I hardly have time to think about what I need to do.
Is it possible that you have never had the chance to ask them how they feel? – asked the sage in an inquisitive manner, looking at him strongly.
In reality, it is not that there are not enough occasions to speak about these types of things. I simply prefer to avoid these moments, as I would not know what to say.
At the end of the day, they only work for me. It is enough that they do what I ask them to do, the business man said trying to justify himself.
And how do you think they feel when the atmosphere is difficult and tense? Again, asked the sage.
Man!!! I have already told you that I do not know, said the business man in an upsetting tone. Why don’t you give me three ideas so my people increase their productivity and we finish with this?
If I gave you three ideas, what would you do with them quietly asked the sage?
I would give them to my managers so they could put them on posters to put all over the place, said the business man with determination.
And what would you do next? – asked the sage.
I would then return to what I do every day. Lead my company. This is what I know and this is what I do best – the business man replied proudly.
And how about spending some time learning about yourself asked the sage?
And why would I want to do that? With the three ideas you will give me it will be enough. Everyone in the company will know what they need to do without me having to repeat it continually.
And how about spending some time learning about yourself asked the sage a second time.
There were a few minutes of absolute silence.
Perhaps I would be afraid to discover what’s inside, the business man replied in a very gentle voice. This was said without getting uptight and with a deep sincerity in his eyes.
“The experience wasn’t simply about the easy pleasure of undeserved expertise. For me, it was a near-spiritual experience. When a nice neuroscientist named Michael Weisend put the electrodes on me, what defined the experience was not feeling smarter or learning faster: The thing that made the earth drop out from under my feet was that for the first time in my life, everything in my head finally shut up.”
Sally Adee volunteered for electrical brain stimulation. Here’s what happened
(via flutterlyon)
2012 BrainArt Awards Poster
This is competition were everyone can nurture their imagination, creativity and talents. It is about exploring new territories in order to deepen the understanding of the brain’s potential and its relationship with the arts!
Two weeks ago we filmed a series of short clips for the 2012 BrainArt Awards! Thank you to Francly Speaking Studios for donating the space & equipment. Kudos to the About my Brain Team and the 2012 BrainArt Exhibition Ambassadors for your time, effort and support!
Stay tuned as we will be launching the BrainArt Awards/Exhibit websites soon!
Congratulations to Billy Blue’s graduating class of 2011! More Volume in now on Film. I was invited to participate in the documentary, you can check out my interview in this vid! A special mention to Johnny Welch who directed the project and to all the wonderful students who where involved in creating/producing it. Well done and good luck in your careers!
Rugby world cup celebrations
Darling harbour fireworks rugby world cup
Sunday afternoon at Bronte beach
