The Best Comments Of The Month: May 2011
Today is a reduced version of the best comments from May. Yesterday, being Memorial Day in the United States, means that some 65% of you were taking it easy, and likely returning to school or work today. We’ll all take it a bit easy today with some of the best of the best comments from this past month.
- I appreciate all of your comments on how I can improve foXnoMad, plus one by Federico of which exposed my greatest blogging handicap.
- The grass is always more dangerous on the other side, sort of…right Anjuli?
- Sharon has a great analogy for active passiveness, a state that might be preventing you from traveling.
- Amy turns irrationality into logic in this comment. Something to keep in mind if you’re scared of flying, it might help reduce your anxiety.
A short but sweet read this month, it took me even longer than usual to put this post together. It wasn’t easy to narrow down the comments even more, each of which I appreciate very much. Your comments are an essential part of this site, and without them things just wouldn’t be the same.
Those of you who were in the US yesterday and celebrated Memorial Day, I hope you had a good one. Feel free to share how you spent your Memorial Day in the comments below, for those who might not know so much about the holiday that began in 1865.
[photo by: josago (cat eating)]
You’re Invited: A Talk On Traveling In Iraq – June 10 In Vancouver, Canada
Those of you who happen to be in Vancouver, Canada on Friday, June 10th are welcome to join Wandering Earl and I give a talk about our recent trip to one of Earth’s least visited countries – Iraq. That’s right before the Travel Blog Exchange (TBEX) Conference in Vancouver – the same event last year in New York where Earl and I first came up with the notion of meeting up in Iraq.
From military checkpoints to Chinese restaurants that don’t serve food plus the Boston Celtics at hookah cafes, we’ll share with you what had to be one of our most bizarre travel experiences to date.
It was in one of Sulaymaniayh‘s hookah cafes, over many puffs of shisha, that we decided to help bring a glimpse of Iraq to you. Now, 6 months later, we’ll be at the Persian Teahouse at 4:30pm-6pm on June 10th to do just that. You’re invited to come hang out, swap travel stories, and ask questions about traveling in Iraq over a tea, shisha, or both.
Actually, the very few hookah places in Vancouver (like the Persian Teahouse) use a tobacco substitute, since smoking indoors is nearly completely banned. That’s not very Iraqi but we’ll have to make due. You can use the form below to let us know you’ll be attending, leave a comment, email me, or just show up.
- Those of you reading via email can click here to see the invite with address and more information.
We hope to see you there – for everyone else not in Vancouver or nearby, I’m planning on recording the talk and posting it later for you to view.
Until then, happy travels as always,
-Anil
Combating 2.5 Million Years Of Evolution – How To Prevent Your Paleolithic Brain From Scaring You Out Of Travel: Part 3
In Part 1 you learned to look past your eyes and in Part 2 of working around your Paleolithic mind, you found out your brain prefers efficiency, often at the expense of time-consuming logic. Today, in final post in this series, you’ll find out how to be wrong but still right; while at the same time turning your brain into a virtual casino of travel gains.
Dissing Cognitive Dissonance
You’re always right. At least, according to your own brain. Cognitive dissonance, a fancy term to describe that familiar state we find ourselves in when we hold two conflicting beliefs. Those conflicts can come about when we’re exposed to new information or challenges in life. Sitting around mulling why you made a mistake for days isn’t very useful when there are foods to scavenge and large animals that want to eat you.
For example, let’s say you really want to go to Morocco, but know it will take 3 months of saving to do so. Instead, you go out every weekend, blowing the money you were saving on one too many beers.
3 months later, you haven’t gone anywhere. To alleviate the guilt and perhaps embarrassment at the failure, your brain kicks into action.
Take a deep breath, you’ll be right at the end of this.
Cognitive dissonance is a complex state but shortly there are two major ways it’s resolved in the brain.
- Rationalizing: Well, I did have fun and not taking a trip this year isn’t so bad. I mean, I like that bar a lot and drinking is a good time so it was a decent trade off. Besides, Morocco is hot this time of year.
- Dismissing: Morocco is hot and it’s not like I wanted to go there that badly. It will always be there, besides I’ve heard it’s not that great.
Your brain is trying to alleviate all of the negative feelings you have about not accomplishing your goal. Yet, when you admit to yourself you’ve failed, that same mental defense can work in your favor by making you feel positive about a second attempt. The first time was a bust but you’ll get to Morocco, avoid the guilt by having a few quiet weekends, and save your party for Marrakesh. Being right all the time has it’s perks, you know.
Old Brain Over New Brain
The older systems in our brains tend to take priority over our (newer) higher functions located primarily in the frontal lobe right behind your forehead. That means your emotions can, literally, get the best of you despite all what the facts to tell you. The stronger you feel about something (positive or negative) the less emphasis your brain puts on raw data.
- Driving to the airport is far more dangerous than flying around the world – but who cares, falling 10,000 meters to a fiery death is much scarier. (At least in your head. Although you’re scared right now and probably won’t listen, 76.6% of people survive plane crashes.)
It goes along with your imagination, emotions heighten your ability to visualize leading to more vivid memories real or otherwise. Most of you probably don’t dream about numbers and spreadsheets at night or have an emotional response to them (aside from dread). Our brains don’t like risk – at least when there’s a perceived loss.
The Ultimate Cave-Brain Shortcut
That is perhaps our biggest Paleolithic shortcut, one that’s easy to manipulate, and the most fun to implement.
We don’t like risk but are willing to throw all the rules out the door for a potential gain. You won’t be able to trick, coerce, or coax yourself into traveling to all the places you want unless you see some value in it. People who try to convince you the world is scary, or traveling is frivolous, do so because they don’t see the gain of expense. Without the experiences themselves to visualize being in your traveling shoes.
Paleolithic brain isn’t all bad however, millions of years of evolution has made our species quite adept at recognizing patterns (like languages) quickly, honed our social instincts to avoid danger, and embedded nomadic tendencies in our DNA. Human beings are the only species to inhabit all 7 continents (except foxes) and can be found adapted to all of our planet’s land environments because someone – maybe your ancient cousin – decided to step out and see what was beyond the next hill.
Fortunately for you, their genes are still floating around in your cells. The rest, is up to you.
[photos by: Brent Danley (hominid skulls), hurleygurley (Jell-O brain)]
Combating 2.5 Million Years Of Evolution – How To Prevent Your Paleolithic Brain From Scaring You Out Of Travel: Part 2
In Part 1 of Preventing Your Paleolithic Brain From Scaring You Out Of Travel, you saw that visualizing is believing and that decision making is often a social affair. Ancient adaptations an also be useful in the modern world – if focused with a dose of logic. Stereotyping, 47 year old women, and confused deer can actually help you realize your travel dreams…once you understand the processes behind them.
Use The Right Stereotypes
Stereotyping and generalizing come in handy, especially after you see your pal caveman Bob drops dead after eating some red berries. After that, it makes sense to avoid that red berry, and perhaps red fruits all together. Again, it’s your brain playing it safe for your survival and we all stereotype for mental efficiency. Fighting your brain’s natural tendencies is an uphill battle so instead make your stereotypes more accurate and move from there.
This is the safest time in human history to be alive and travel. Nearly 2.2 billion flew last year and nearly a billion people took 1 international trip during that same time. The average traveler is a 47 year old woman. The 4th most visited country in the world is China and Antalya, Turkey is the 4th most visited city. More than 60% of travelers in the US, EU, and Turkey are over 30. Hostels can look like this, or this.
Most people who travel for leisure will tell you they found the experience to be enjoyable, enlightening, fun…without any regrets. You might not like everywhere you travel but chances are you won’t regret finding that out for yourself.
- Be sure to use your (real, virtual, and otherwise) social networks to get a wide perspective for your ancient brain. Otherwise, on your own you’ll tend to find information that only validates your beliefs. Called confirmation bias, it’s how your brain makes you not feel left out of the crowd.
Combating Active Passiveness And Why People Don’t Flee Burning Planes
Active passiveness, a phenomena similar to “deer in the headlights” syndrome, is like your computer locking up after you open too many programs at once. What keeps deer from jumping out the way of oncoming traffic, also keeps many people firmly planted in their seats after an air disaster and could – on a less extreme level – keep you from taking that trip you’ve always wanted.
Active passiveness occurs while our brains are searching for the “right moment” to proceed forward with a decision. In a survival situation those few seconds of decision can mean the difference between life and death; when it comes to a generous lifetime of contemplating, it can mean never realizing your travel dreams. The right time to travel isn’t a decision between life and death, so the right time is when you make it, overcoming the practical obstacles one by one.
Don’t be the deer in the headlights, you can see how well that ancient tactic works out for them under the lights of a modern automobile. Instead, the best way to avoid active passiveness, whether it’s a plane crash or a decision to travel is preparation in advance. Once you have a plan of action, the active passiveness process doesn’t occur, since your brain has what to do ‘preloaded’, rather than trying to think on the fly when stressed. On a burning plane, it could save your life, for everything else it could help you live.
In Part 3 you’ll find out how you’re always right, the reason statistics can’t prove anything to our ancient brains, and the ultimate Paleolithic brain hack. Old and new, by the end of next week you’ll have those neurons firing up in preparation for your next trip.
[photos by: "lapolab" (egg brain), tamara.craiu (people talking in cafe), T Hall (deer in headlights)]
