Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Teaching self-control

This was an interesting NY Times article about learning self-control.  It's specifically directed at teaching children self-control, but I think it can apply equally (or maybe more so) to adults, including sociopathic adults.


Effective approaches for building self-control combine fun with progressively increasing challenges. Rather than force activities onto an unwilling child, take advantage of his or her individual tendencies. When children develop self-control through their own pursuit of happiness, no parental hovering is required. Find something that the child is crazy about but that requires active effort. Whether it’s compiling baseball statistics or making (but not passively watching) YouTube videos, passionate hobbies build mental staying power that can also be used for math homework.

Play allows children to practice skills that are useful in adult life. Young children build self-control through elaborate, imaginative games like pretending to be a doctor or a fireman. Preschool teachers can promote self-control with simple techniques — for example, handing a child a drawing of an ear to remind him that it’s his turn to listen. Frequent practice is crucial. Montessori preschool instruction, which has been shown to lead to strong academic achievement, incorporates self-control into daily activities.

Learning a second language strengthens mental flexibility, an aspect of self-control, because the languages interfere with each other and because children must determine which language the listener will understand. Bilingual children do well on tasks that require them to ignore conflicting cues, for example reporting that a word is printed in green ink even though it says “red.” Bilingual children are better at learning abstract rules and reversing previously learned rules, even before their first birthday. People who continue to speak both languages as adults show these benefits for a lifetime.

Aerobic exercise, which increases prefrontal cortex activity, is another way to build cognitive flexibility. Further benefits may come from Asian practices that require sustained attention and disciplined action, like martial arts, yoga and meditation. Though parents often worry that physical education takes time away from the classroom, an analysis of multiple studies instead found strong evidence that physical activity improved academic performance.


It was interesting reading that learning a second language (at least for children) can improve self-control.  I often credit my study of music for building my own self-control.  It helps my mind remain focused, allowing me to think linearly and remain on task rather than be distracted by every whim or impulse.  I also couldn't cheat or charm my way to musical proficiency -- I could only do it the hard way.

I think studying mathematics has also improved my self-control.  I agree that training your mind to learn different mechanisms of abstraction helps with directing one's concentration, which helps with self-control.

I swim regularly to keep my mind and body limber.  I also like the white noise.  It's calming, like I'm back in the womb.

Finally, I make everything I do into a game.  I really can't force myself to do anything.  If it weren't entertaining to me, I just would never do it.  But I can make things entertaining by incentivizing myself or trying to "win" at certain things.

With sociopaths (more than most people), what we actually end up doing is somewhat of a dice roll, but it's not something that is completely beyond our ability to influence.

63 comments:

  1. when i was 12 i did my only serious crime.After that i realised it was 2 eazy. And i tryed to reprogram myself dunno if i did but never got never got into serious trouble with the law.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCkQRxWlKG4&feature=related

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  2. I was almost fluent in a language and dropped it. I have a hard time achieving, as I have fear of success, badly. I see that, as I am getting more success. I am forcing myself to deal with the fear of it. I, often, get right at the point of success, in something, and give up. I was almost fluent in the language, which I taught myself, and gave up right as I was on the verge. I heard that people who keep learning, musically, such as professional musicians, don't get Alzheimers, as continued study of music does something to the brain.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Soy el medico. Tequita la ropas por favor.

      Delete
    2. That's a great idea anon, she needs to see a doctor.

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    3. There is something immaculate about executing exactly what you wanted to do. It takes great patience and practice to learn a craft. Putting it into practice for practical purposes requires another skill set.

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  3. Replies
    1. Great post monica, learn something new every day.

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    2. Cover your tracks-- just say John 3:16. You have no idea how many times someone's said that to me.

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    3. John 3:16? Are you a fucking bible thumper ?

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    4. Borderline Personality Disorder
      Type I Bipolar Disorder
      Attention Hyperactivity Deficit Disorder
      Anorexia Nervosa
      Self-harm (cutting)

      Nice list Charlotte. I love a sexy redhead.

      Delete
  4. I play Go, but i do so irregularly. At the times when I'm studying it and really into its abstract beauty and learning it's tactics, It seems to impove my reasoning abilities genrally and encourages self-control, especcialy to do with reading a situation before you react. I'm not a sociopath, but I try to keep myself as rational as possible.

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  5. The American Medical Association and American Psychological Society does not recognize any patient as a sociopath. A patient that would be called a sociopath in the vernacular most likely suffer from Antisocial Personality Disorder.


    Psychopaths/Sociopaths are the way they are because, from birth onward, the brain of a sociopath stores learning information in a random, chaotic way instead of in the usual designated places in the cerebral cortex.

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    Replies
    1. Yet another anon coming here to tell the socios what they are. No one cares what you think.

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  6. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  7. Yet another anon coming here to tell the other anons that no ones cares what they think.

    Sounds like you could use some of your own advice.. anon.

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    Replies
    1. Boxersinabunch is that you? Or just someone else with their knickers in a twist?

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    2. It's "knickers in a knot". Knickers in a knot, for fuck's fucking sake.

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  8. Well, it's pleasantly quiet, all of a sudden. Still devoid of meaningful chatter, but what's new?

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  9. What is your story Blud--Klot :)

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  10. It's become mercifully quiet. Still not much of value, but that's hardly news.

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  11. I'm glad someone else has taken up mathematics. What areas are you studying?

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  12. hello sw from frankfurt f

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  13. Hi SociopathWorld!! I have a very Christian desire to hug everyone in this room! I love God and Life!!! YAY :)

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  14. a sociopath will be a sociopath, wherever they go, internet or otherwise. although, the internet is perfect for them, as they can harass, threaten, stalk etc, without repercussions.

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  15. One mans harassment is another mans utter confusion and desperate attempts to get answers from someone who wont give them.

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    Replies
    1. Indeed. There is a weird masochism in that attitude

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    2. Yeah. Im pretty masochistic.

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  16. It is very quiet in here, for sure.

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  17. Christ, I kept thinking it deleted my comments, and now don't I look a fool?~

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    Replies
    1. Lol you don't look like a fool over that, Post, not with the rot that goes on around here.

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    2. You do look like an idiot postmodern, but then what's new?

      Delete
  18. Themes for SW RegularsFebruary 22, 2012 at 5:47 PM

    Does anyone want Themes do do his Top Ten "Blasts from the Past"?

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    Replies
    1. Themes for SW RegularsFebruary 22, 2012 at 6:24 PM

      He will do his Multiple Orgasm Picks----Top Ten of ALL time :) :)

      Delete
  19. Question for the socios: do you prefer head games or violence?

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  20. Head games, unlimited potential.

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  21. Head games personally, let them do the rest themselves you barely have to contribute if you know how to play the cards right.

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  22. Jablonski grew up with an alcoholic father who beat and sodomized Jablonski's mother and sisters.

    When he was 16, Jablonski attacked his 14-year-old sister by putting a rope around her neck and throwing her onto the bed. He had an erection and said, "I'm going to get some of that off of you." She thought he was going to rape her; however, he suddenly stopped and started to cry. When she told their parents, his father beat him.

    Jablonski met his first wife, Alice McGowan, in high school. He joined the military after high school and was sent overseas. They married in 1968 when he returned to the U.S. While living in Texas, Jablonski became sexually violent. During sex he put a pillow over McGowan's face and attempted to suffocate her. On several occasions, he strangled her until she was unconscious.

    Jablonski met Jane Sanders in November 1968, after McGowan left him. He raped Sanders on their first date, which she did not report. She became pregnant and they moved to California in July 1969, after Jablonski left the military. On one occasion, while having sex, Sanders wanted to stop. Jablonski pulled out a gun and threatened to shoot her if she did not continue. He hit her with the butt of the gun and she passed out. When she regained consciousness, he was having sex with her. She left him in 1972

    Jablonski was charged with the April 22, 1991 death of Fathyma Vann, 38, in Indio, California. Vann was a fellow student at the local community college that Jablonski attended to satisfy conditions of his parole. Fathyma, a recently widowed mother of two teenage girls, was found shot in the head and sexually assaulted, lying naked in a shallow ditch in the Indio desert with the words "I Love Jesus" carved in her back. Her body had been subjected to other mutilations including removal of her eyes and ears."

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  23. Low IQ is the problem with the world, not evil sadistic sociopaths. Personally i dont prefer to hunt weaker prey but stronger predators for the challenge, am i alone in this regard?

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    Replies
    1. Furthest thing from Dexter, Killing is Mercy i dont have a drop of mercy within me.

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  24. I'm so curious about my new friend. She has a dark secret only I am allowed to know. She trusts me with all her secrets because she knows I'm an honest Christian.
    All my friends trust me with their secrets. Animals always feel at ease in my presence. I hope my new friend will always feel she can trust me, because I think she is a sociopath, and I want to help her. :)

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  25. You mean she knows you are naive and you want to help her because you think there is a problem? Animals feel at ease in my presence also, and im a vault of human secrets doesnt mean you go awarding me trust because i want you to give it. Sociopaths arent trustworthy and the only dark secret a sociopath has is one hidden behind even more secrets that they share because as long as you think what they share is the secret you wont ever truly know what is they hide.

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  26. dexter would be 45968954657 more badass, if he were raping and slaughtering nine year old girls. who agrees?

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  27. I would agree with you if you would kindly swan dive a pavement for my enjoyment, not because what you said is disturbed but because you obviously have no drive to be better than what you are, the plight of the lower functioning human.

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    Replies
    1. being non-malicious and growing empathy would make me upstanding and noble? this isn't the place for those sorts of ideals. actually, starting tomorrow i'll empty my wallet into a beggars cup and mow the lawn of every neighbor. these gallant acts will correct the worlds problems.

      what would it matter if a few nine year old's got offed? my negro, have you seen the generation of teenagers we have today? a few worthless whores won't be missed.

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    2. Neither would a few billion people and a few hundred million sociopaths.

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    3. If i removed all of your limbs, appendages and senses leaving you nothing more than a living corpse you would truly know what evil and fear is. Sociopaths on here pretending to be fearless is merely an illusion built on a fragile ego of a child. I can break you like any victim you are not a special snowflake, you are a 4 in 100 a mutation never forget that, there are 300,000,000 like you what makes you any different or better than the pedophile rapist serial killers.

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    4. Some people are more intelligent, stronger, more gifted in general, than others. Therefore, their lives are worth more. If you believe in equality, then you have been viewing the world through a flawed, compassionate scope.

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  28. I can work with my most hated enemy to reach a common goal, compassion and sympathy are not required to have empathy nor understanding beyond yourself. All are equal, NONE are superior. IF the average person wasnt so greedy it would be this way. All life is of the same value, its what is done with that life that matters.

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    Replies
    1. trust me, your worldview is more typical than mine.

      Delete
  29. I trust you as much as i trust my blood relatives.

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