Metaphorical Thinking – Introduction

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Metaphorical Thinking – Introduction Metaphorical Thinking – the Cloud Metaphors Metaphorical Thinking – the Guest Metaphor Metaphorical Thinking – the Web Metaphors The Greek word of μεταπερειν translates in English as metapherein, the root word for metaphor. Metapherein is composed of meta (over, across, higher, beyond) and pherein (to bear or carry). A metaphor carries meaning from one word, expression, or image to another, connecting the two concepts. Hence, the word metaphor is itself a metaphor.  The metaphorical language consists of metaphors, similes, analogies, …

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When Buddhism’s Nonattachment Overlaps Stoicism’s Dichotomy of Control

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As Ryan Holiday remarks in his Daily Stoic book, we have a mental image of the Zen philosopher as the calm, serene monk. In contrast, the Stoic is the man in the marketplace, the senator in the Forum, etc. Nevertheless, both people are equally at peace.   Although for every philosophy, there are different goals, eudaimonia or a life worth living for Stoics and enlightenment for Buddhists, there are strikingly similar concepts from Buddhism and Stoicism. An example is the Buddhist nonattachment concept and the Stoic dichotomy of …

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Reading Insights (2021)

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Finishing a Book is Optional There is a cognitive bias called the sunk cost fallacy. We hesitate to abandon a strategy or a plan because we already have invested time, money, energy in it, even if dropping that specific action would be more helpful for us. With the sunk cost fallacy in mind, we would gain more if we do not finish a book we do not enjoy. Time is non-regenerable and is not worth spending our time on boring or bad books. Usually, after …

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Practical Steps to Create a Daily Meditation Habit

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Why do you want to meditate?  Numerous studies show links between meditation and neuroplasticity.   Researchers from the University of Montreal found that the grey matter thickness of Zen meditators was significantly thicker than non-meditators. Another study found that meditation helps increase focus. A UCLA study shows that meditators might process information more quickly. Long-term meditators have more significant amounts of gyrification than people who do not meditate. The gyrification (“folding” of the cortex) might allow us to process information more quickly.   Then, in his book 10% happier, Dan Harris says that …

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A Comprehensive Guide on Time Blocking

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Time blocking is a productivity method where we split each day into time blocks of variable length, from 20 – 30 minutes to 1 hour. In each block of time, we single-task and focus only on that specific task associated with the current time block, with no context-switching. Instead of managing to-do list items, we control the time when we can implement those specific items.  Benjamin Franklin, one of the early adopters of time blocking, used this technique to distribute hours for deep work, …

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How Parents Can Use the Deferred Imitation Skill

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Deferred imitation is an astonishing skill that develops rapidly. A 13-month-old child can remember an event a week after a single exposure. By the time she is almost a year and a half, she can imitate an event four months after a single exposure. John Medina – Brain Rules for Baby Deferred imitation can shed light on how we construct our mental models and long-term memory, by studying how information is perceived, encoded, stored, recalled or retrieved. Through deferred imitation (repeat and practice the actions of others, either immediately or …

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Metaphorical Thinking – The Guest Metaphor

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Metaphorical Thinking – Introduction Metaphorical Thinking – the Cloud Metaphors Metaphorical Thinking – the Guest Metaphor Metaphorical Thinking – the Web Metaphors There are two instances that the metaphor of guest can explain or enhance: treat our children as guests in our life, and how our body is a guesthouse for our emotions. The first meaning is an idea coined by Haim Ginott, a mentor to John Gottman (Raising an Emotionally Intelligent Child), Adele Faber (How to Talk so Kids will Listen…) or Laura …

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The National Bank of Parents: a Simple Financial Education Strategy for Children

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I talked in Letters to my daughter: Build your “f*ck off” fund article about the importance of financial education from an early age.   In this article, I will present our strategy to teach our four and a half-year-old daughter how to manage her money responsibly. Most of this strategy is based on The First National Bank of Dad: The Best Way to Teach Kids About Money book written by David Owen. He introduced this strategy to his children, aged six and ten at the time. Once a child can …

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