Tag Archives: health

The Existential Necessity of Midlife Change

The Existential Necessity of Midlife Change

So you think 50 is getting up there? Ready for the decline? Not any more. Average life expectancy in the US now hovers near 80, and for many of us, these become their most productive years. At 50 you’ve discovered your strengths, are comfortable in your skin, have learned where to partner and where to soar alone. Now to figure out what to do with this expanded picture of fulfilling later years…check out this fantastic article from HBR’s Jan/Feb ‘08 issue. (Currently the entire article is accessible, but later on this link may lead to a summary.)

Easily bored?

Easily bored?

If you’re easily bored, it’s also likely that you’re more prone to depression. According to those who study boredom, its sources, types and treatments, boredom appears to be determined somewhat by personality but also by choices we make. In short, boredom researcher John Eastwood of York University in Toronto says, “To be bored is to be disengaged from the world.” Researchers Norman Sundberg (University of Oregon) and Richard Farmer (Oregon Research Institute) have even come up with an instrument to measure your propensity toward it: the Boredom Proneness Scale. You can test yourself against it at the link above, or read about the whole subject in more depth in Scientific American Mind’s December 2007 issue.

Pain Gets Largest Share of Attention

Pain Gets Largest Share of Attention

Do you know why it’s impossible to concentrate with a splitting headache, an aching back or the throb of carpal tunnel? There is a region of the brain responsible for processing both working memory and pain, and when you’re in pain, guess what gets priority. According to functional magnetic resonance imaging performed by Ulrike Bingel and other researchers at Germany’s Univeristy Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, applying pain to volunteer’s hands increased activity in areas involved in pain processing and decreased activity in the areas working on performing the assigned task. This study reflects the growing understanding that preventing worker injuries and accomodating worker’s needs for injury recovery pay off in multiple ways for employers. And for doctors weighing the cognitive side effects of prescribing strong painkillers such as opiates, it’s a reminder that the pain may be even more debilitating.

The Problem With Speed-Reading

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Do you tend to scan or speed-read through material to figure out what it’s all about? Go straight to the Executive Summary, then stop? You might be saving time, but you may be missing out on some of the most interesting content.

In the 2001 DNA-sequencing race between the the government and Craig Venter’s Celera Genomics, victory was declared when only one half of the genome was sequenced (a haploid). In other words, they only sequenced what was inherited in one half, not the other.

Now the J. Craig Venter Institute has decoded the other half of Venter’s DNA and discovered that 44% of known genes displayed variations (between the versions inheritied from each parent). Additionally, after the sequencing of the first genome (actually a composite from 5 individuals) scientists had estimated that about 99.9% of all human genomes are identical. Looking at the other half, however, yielded a 46% increase in these locations from 2.8 to 4.1 million, lowering the 99% identical estimate down to the 98% to 99% range.

Life Affects Performance, Even for CEOs

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My father would say, “I didn’t need a study to tell me that.” CEOs are human like the rest of us. Their performance suffers

  • about 21% for the two years following the death of a child
  • about 25% for the three years following the purchase of a mansion or an estate
  • a less predictable but definite decline in the afterglow of Superstar recognition from major awards or publications
  • from higher risk-taking and wild swingsin profitably for those who are narcissistic

As the WSJ’s(subscription may be required) Mark Maremont notes in his blog, the devastation of losing a child does not usually result in a rededication to doing our best at work. These studies remind us of our humanity, and help us to put our arms around how much impact it really has. My father was right; we did know that. What we didn’t know was how much it mattered.  

The thought from branes: Organizations ARE the people that are in them. Refusing to isolate the human from the task not only makes the workplace a more respectful place to be, it makes it a more successful place to be.