• BILLIONS OF PEOPLE AROUND THE WORLD SPEND AN ESTIMATED AVERAGE OF 145 MINUTES DAILY ON SOCIAL MEDIA (an absurd 5.7 years across average life span). For many, this not only usurps time for other pursuits but, according to psychologists, affects wellbeing, increased anxiety, depression, even symptoms of addiction. It’s unrealistic for people to stop using social media entirely, but behavior can be modified – e.g. ‘doomscrolling’ – excessively looking over negative content such as distressing news which can interfere with concentration and falling asleep. Psychologists suggest simple techniques like: (1) Setting defined times during the day, with other times tech-free from interference (especially meal times); (2) Designating certain spaces tech-free – like bedrooms, which also by reducing exposure to blue light which supports production of melatonin, allows better sleep; (3) Avoiding unreflective & aimless scrolling through feeds, instead focusing on chatting with friends to stay committed; (4) Simply switching off or silencing Notifications which unnecessarily clog your feed and disrupt time (Airplane mode is easiest).  [PSYCHE – 9/12/24]
  • CHOKING UNDER PRESSURE, like completely bombing in a high-stakes situation, is linked to a drop in neural activity that prepares the brain for movement. According to latest study (of monkeys) by Carnegie-Mellon neuroscientists, “reward-outcome-mediated behavior is not linear. Rather, the activity of neurons associated with motor preparation increases to a point of peak preparedness, but then begins to wane in high-stakes scenarios to push the brain out of its ‘sweet spot’ for performance. In other words, to a certain extent, we just do not perform better as the reward increases.”  [NATURE.COM – 9/12/24]
  • THE CALIFORNIA HOMESTEAD EXEMPTION protects a portion of home equity – value less mortgages – in cases of bankruptcy. The Exemption is automatically applied by default to a primary residence, providing a level of financial security when homeowners might be at risk of losing their residence to satisfy debts in a forced sale by creditors; a ‘Declared’ exemption can provide additional protection for six months after sale when moving to a new primary residence. The 2024 inflation-adjusted amount is based on which county the residence is located, presently: $700K in Los Angeles, Orange & Santa Barbara counties, $612K in Riverside, and $475K in San Bernadino.
  • “AN INCREASINGLY POPULIST VIEW IS THAT OBJECTIVE TRUTH DOES NOT EXIST, and that most Information ‘has no essential link to the Truth. Rather, Information’s defining feature is ‘connection’ – a way of linking & organizing ideas and, crucially, people. So, newspapers, radio & social media are simply ways of orchestrating social order.  Stories do not have to be entirely accurate, and fiction has the advantage that it can be simplified and can ignore inconvenient or painful truths… So Democracy is a type of information network which (with 70 nations accounting for half the world’s population heading to the polls this year) pits questions of Truth and Disinformation at top of mind for rational voters… Moreover, existing computer perils such as algorithmic bias, online radicalization, cyber-attacks and ubiquitous surveillance will all be made even worse by A.I. which could create dangerous new myths, cults and political movements.”  Fun times ahead.   [YUVAL HARARI – ECONOMIST – 9/14/24]

THOUGHTS FOR THE WEEK:

  •  ” Instead of a sign that says ‘Do Not Disturb,” most need one that says “Already disturbed; Proceed with caution!”

 Medicare Advantage, a $450 billion yearly system in which private sector insurance companies ‘oversee’ Medicare benefits to over 33 million Seniors & Disabled, has paid over $50 billion in extra payments to ‘sicker’ patients for whom those companies added categories which “no doctor treated” like Diabetic Cataract/ Morbid Obesity/ Artery  Blockage/ Hepatitis C/ and HIV – all diagnosed categories with cure rate evidence of up to 99%, including some “anatomically impossible,” according to in-depth analysis.  [WALL ST. JOURNAL – 7/7/24]

 This summer’s bipartisan National Defense Strategy Commission report warns that “threats the U.S. faces are the most serious and most challenging the nation has encountered since 1945 and include the potential for near-term major war.” The fact is that “indecision and lack of grand strategy by policy makers over the past several decades have enabled this increasingly complex and dangerous international security environment that awaits the next administration in 2025.” Best to bear that in mind in your voting decisions.     https://www.realclearworld.com/articles/2024/09/11/the_diminished_worldwide_respect_and_fear_of_america_1057615.html