Organize Your Mind

An organized mind reduces stress, says Dr. Oz.

Techniques:

• Drawing
• Apps
• DeCluter
• Brain Dump
• Thoughts on Paper
• Video

Prediction

On Intelligence by Jeff Hawkins offers that the mind is a prediction machine.  We predict.  We predict more than you may think.  

Bayes' Theorem is Nate Silver's key to managing predictions.

Self Comes to Mind by Antonio Damasio talks about how homeostasis comes about and how predictions are essential.  The brain began to predict "good" by sensing the molecules like dopamine or oxytocin.  

Three very enlightening and enjoyable books

Twitter:
@numenta Jeff Hawkins of Numenta
Nate Silver @fivethirtyeight
Antonio Damasio

Man Vs Machine

"The machine does not isolate man from the great problems of nature but plunges him more deeply into them."
  -- Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

In the 1870's the legendary steel driver, John Henry, took on the machine in the form of a steam powered hammer.  He won, but at what cost.  Fast forward to the late 1990's where one Grand Master of Chess, Gary Kasparov takes on the culmination of hundreds of thousands of man hours in brain power are compressed into a single machine -- IBM's Deep Blue.

IBM's Deep Blue defeats Chess Champion Gary Kasparov.  Nate Silver has a wonderful discussion of the match in his book, The Signal and the Noise.  What do intelligent men do well, what do computers do well, where is one better than the other.

Brute force it what the computer does better than any man, yet is that enough to win at chess.  Yet, as pointed out in Moonwalking with Einstein by Joshua Foer, the Chess Master isn't better at memorizing the individual pieces on a board, the Chess Master is memorized a huge collection of patterns.  And he know the significance of each pattern.

Twitter: Joshua Foer @joshuafoer Nate Silver @fivethirtyeight

Subliminal

If the grace of God miraculously operates, it probably operates through the subliminal door.

-- Williams James

Subliminal: How Your Unconscious Mind Rules Your Behavior


@lmlodinow

Behavioral Finance

Ken Fisher's book "The Only Three Questions that Still Count" discusses the behavioral aspects to finance.  Just as a Navy Seal needs to master fear in the extreme, investors have their own fear triggers to tame.

The Brain's Limbic System is responsible for the processing of emotions like fear and greed.  The amygdala is part of the old brain and central to emotional control.  The Cortex is the new logical brain, however it receives fear signals twice as slowly as the amygdala.  Controlling the amygdala is key to controlling emotions.

The Navy Seals take this Limbic training to the limits.  The techniques for dealing with fear are considered by Lieutenant Commander Eric Potterat as the Big Four:

1. Goal Setting - small steps itemized in advance
2. Mental Rehearsal - repeat a physical drill in the mind
3. Self Talk - 300-1,000 WPM on average (positive)
4. Arousal Control - breathing techniques, relax, focus

Behavioral Finance can take a page from this book.  Step one is the reason traders like Douglas Busch @chartmaster write out their Complete Game Plan on a daily basis.  

Fear and Greed in Finance Markets: A Clinical Study of Day Traders takes a scientific approach to researching the reactions of day trading on the brain.  Whole organizations are dedicated to the neuroscience of market psychology, companies like Market Sych LLC and publications such as The Journal Of Behavioral Finance.  Even Freakonomics is looks at the topic in an interview with MIT professor Andrew Lo.  TIME magazine list Professor Lo in The World's 100 Most Influential People.

@fisherinvest @MITSloan @chartsmarter

Neurology of Memory

Dean Buonomano (Good Hand) discusses how the memory is structured -- Declarative and Procedural. The American Academy of Neurology hosts the podcast. The video covers his book, Brain Bugs.

MP3 of Podcast

Entire Neurology Podcast

American Academy of Neurology PSAs

Neuroplasticity

"Thought changes structure"
  --Norman Doidge

In with the new, out with the old.  The idea that the brain forms in childhood, then that is the brain you have for the rest of your life -- this idea is on the way out.  Your thoughts can change your brain is the new buzz.  

Start your journey by following the Big Ideas link to Dr Norman Doidge on Brain Neuroplasticity.  The Brain Science Podcast, with host Dr. Ginger Campbell, has some wonderful interviews on the subject.

It could be claimed that the thought of brain plasticity goes back to William James in "Principles of Psychology".  However, until recent technological advances in neuroimaging, the science of Neuroplasticity was difficult to measure.  

The proof is in the pudding.  Read how Barbara Arrowsmith-Young Rebuilt Her Brain. 

Researchers in the field:

• Eric Kandel
• Dr Norman Doidge
• Barbara Arrowsmith-Young

Discovery Channel Medical Encyclopedia WhatIsNeuroPlasticity

Twitter:  @eatonarrowsmith 

Octopus Thinking

Peter Godfrey-Smith discusses How Does An Octopus Think on the Philospher's Zone.

Memories

Moonwalking with Einstein is a book by Joshua Foer chronicling his serendipitous stumble into The World Memory Championship.

Cognitive Neuroscience

• Video Intro
• Richard Ivry of Berkley