Valerie00diamond - Untitled

Sit alone in silence and feel everything.

“ dopamine detox ,, and why you should delete all your social media right now

"just five more minutes" and then you end up scrolling on instagram or tiktok for hours. i know that feeling. even if you know rationally that focusing on the really important things ( such as studying, working, learning from books or whatever ) is much healthier for you and your future, you can't help it.

you know that start studying for the exam you have next week will benefit you much more in the long run, but you still prefer watching tiktoks and scrolling on instagram. you could say that is pretty obvious: one activity is easy, and doesn't require much effort, whereas the other one is difficult and implies that you are focused.

but it's actually like this? so then why some people manage to be consistent in studying, or working, or exercising? they simply just have more motivation than you? and how can you start having the same motivation as them?

to answer this question, we have to take a look to a very important molecule produced by our brain: dopamine.

dopamine is often considered a pleasure molecule, but it's a false belief. dopamine is actually the molecule that makes us desire things, and it's that desire that gives us the motivation to complete every kind of task. for example, your brain doesn't release dopamine while you're eating a cheesburger, it releases it while you're going to mcdonald's to buy it, because you anticipate that the food will make you feel good, even if it actually makes you feel worse.

to your brain, it doesn't matter if the high-dopamine-activity is damaging to you.

your brain organizes priorities based off how much dopamine is expecting to get:

if an activity releases too little dopamine, you won't have the motivation to accomplish it.

if an activity releases a lot of dopamine you'll be motivated to do it, and repeat it over and over

so, which activities releases dopamine? basically, any activity where you can get an immediate potential reward releases an high amount of dopamine. but if you know that there's not an immediate reward invoved ( such as in studying, where the reward is in the long run ) your brain will not expect to release much of it and you'll be less motivated to do that task.

nearly everything releases some amount of dopamine, even drinking water when you're thirsty, but the highest amount of it is released when you're getting a reward randomly, for example while playing on a slot machine. even if you loose money, you eventually expect to get a bigger reward.

therefore it is not so surprising that the most additive social networks ( tiktok, instagram, pinterest ) are designed as slot machines. you don't know what the next post or video will be, but you expect something great, so your brain releases a large amount of dopamine.

in today's society our brains are overloaded with stimuli that induce an unnatural production of dopamine ( scrolling on social media, playing video games, watching internet pornograhy, etc. ).

it's frightening that people don't know how harmful this lifestyle is: our bodies have a biological sistem called homeostasis, which means that our bodies keep the internal physical and chemical conditions at a balanced level, whenever an imbalance occurs, our bodies adapt to it, for example, when it's very hot our body temperature rises and we start sweating to cool down.

but homeostasis manifests through tolerance too. for example, someone who hardly ever drinks alchool will be tipsy after one beer, on the other hand, someone who drinks alchool on a regular basis will need two, three, four beers in order to get drunk, because their body has developed a tolerance to it. it's not much different with dopamine.

so if you get used to large amounts of dopamine, you won't be able to do the things that you did before, because they don't produce as much dopamine and it's more difficult to motivate yourself to do them. once your dopamine tolerance gets too high, you are no longer able to enjoy low dopamine activities.

as if you were a drug addict, there's only one way to get out of it: you have to perform a dopamine detox. you have to avoid all high dopamine activities in order to allow your body to adjust to a normal level of dopamine production and start finding motivation again in the things that improve your personal growth.

it's not easy, you will be nervous and frustrated, maybe you won't make it through a full day without social media, but day by day it will get better and better, and eventually you'll be able to appreciate small things again.

imagine that you're eating your favorite food - for example, chocolate cake - every single day. after a while, chocolate cake doesn't taste good as before, even if it's literally the same cake. on the other hand, if you eat it once a month, it will taste great, because it's not something you've gotten used to.

this is exactly what dopamine detox does. be safe guys, and start recovering now.

[ source: https://youtu.be/9QiE-M1LrZk ]

Endangered Species -- KnowBC - the leading source of BC information

"ENDANGERED SPECIES are species of plants, animals and plant communities considered to be in imminent danger of extinction or extirpation in BC."

"These include road building and other forms of access and disturbance; LOGGING, MINING, urban, recreational and HYDROELECTRIC developments; grazing and AGRICULTURE; the introduction of exotic or alien species that displace native species (see KNAPWEED, for example); poaching; human-caused fires; widespread air and water pollution; and CLIMATE change. Provincial wildlife authorities consider access and loss of habitat to be the 2 most important factors in the decline of wildlife populations."

be manipulative then genuine or vice vera?

June 16, 2024 - Hundreds of students, many wearing keffiyehs and waving Palestinian flags, walked out of Stanford University's graduation ceremony in protest of Stanford's ties with Israel and its genocide of the Palestinian people. [video]

I would like to feel the dirt wash from my hair, because I was courageous.

Five Timeless Techniques for Mastering Knowledge

1. Spaced Repetition

Steps:

Identify Key Information: Select the material you need to learn.

Create a Study Schedule: Space your study sessions over increasing intervals (e.g., 1 day, 3 days, 1 week, 2 weeks).

Review Regularly: Revisit the material at each scheduled session.

Scientific Basis: Spaced repetition leverages the spacing effect, a phenomenon where information is more easily recalled when study sessions are spaced out over time. Research shows this technique enhances long-term retention compared to cramming.

2. Cornell Method

Steps:

Prepare Your Paper: Divide your paper into three sections: a narrow left column for cues, a larger right column for notes, and a summary section at the bottom.

Take Notes: During lectures or readings, jot down key points in the right column.

Cue Column: After the session, fill in the left column with questions or keywords related to your notes.

Summarize: At the end of your notes, write a brief summary of the main points in the bottom section.

Review: Use the cues to test your recall and understanding.

Scientific Basis: The Cornell Method promotes active engagement with the material and encourages self-testing, which are both linked to improved memory and understanding through the retrieval practice effect.

3. SQ3R Method

Steps:

Survey: Quickly scan the material to get an overview.

Question: Formulate questions based on headings and subheadings.

Read: Read the material carefully to find answers to your questions.

Recite: Summarize the information in your own words.

Review: Go over the material again to reinforce learning.

Scientific Basis: SQ3R is based on principles of active reading and metacognition. By engaging with the material in multiple ways, learners can deepen their understanding and retention.

4. Priming

Steps:

Preview Material: Briefly look over the material before diving into a detailed study session.

Set Goals: Define what you want to achieve with your study session.

Contextual Exposure: Expose yourself to related concepts and ideas in everyday life.

Scientific Basis: Priming relies on the brain's ability to make connections between related pieces of information. It can enhance learning and recall by creating a mental framework that makes new information easier to integrate.

5. Metacognition

Steps:

Plan: Before starting, plan your approach to the study session.

Monitor: Keep track of your understanding and progress during study.

Evaluate: After the session, assess what you've learned and how well you understood it.

Scientific Basis: Metacognition involves thinking about one's own thinking processes. It encourages self-regulation and reflective practices, which research shows can significantly enhance learning outcomes by promoting deeper understanding and strategic use of cognitive resources.

(Don't eat them raw ever even after being dried)

If you see this post please get your own information.Don't want anyone getting sick! or worse!

Black moral

Find:especially under white ash,also under tulip poplars, oak, and hickory.

Time:springtime

Description:Honeycombed cap with black to brownish black ridges and yellowish brown pits; completely hollow. April and early May. Cap elongate and conical, with vertically elongated ridges and pits; ridges are black to brownish black, pits are yellowish brown; texture deeply pitted; hollow; bottom of cap is fused to the stalk. Stalk sometimes enlarged at the base; whitish; texture granular; hollow. Spore print white to cream. Spores magnified are elliptical, smooth. Spores are located inside the pits.

Size:Cap width ½–1½ inches; cap height: ½–2 inches; stalk length: 2–4 inches; stalk width: ½–1½ inches.

Look alikes: The poisonous false morels are reddish and have wrinkled, lobed, or brain-shaped caps and dense (not hollow) stalks. The bottom half of the cap of the half-free morel hangs free from the stalk.

Bear's Head Tooth

Find:grow on dead or dying wood and shaded areas of deciduous and alpine forests.

Time:late summer and autumn months

Description:Edible when young – be sure it is white.Is white when fresh and yellows with age. It has long spines and a branched fruiting body. The fungus is 15-30cm (6-12”) across. It is a tightly branched structure which develops from a rooted base. When young, before the branches have developed.

Look alikes:edible mushroom lion’s mane(on L) does not branch even in maturity.May slow blood clotting.Its spines are long, though not quite as long as those of bear’s head.those who are pregnant or breast feeding should not take Lion's Mane.edible mushroom comb tooth or coral tooth(on R) has a very similar branching structure, but its spines remain very short. It does indeed resemble a branched hard coral, or possibly a small tree branch feathered with hoarfrost.

Golden Chanterelle

Find:They require established woodland to grow.They’re most commonly found around maple, beech, poplar, birch and oak trees.  In some areas, they’re associated with pine and fir trees, so it doesn’t have to be hardwood.require moist habitat, and they’re most abundant in wet summers with consistent rain.

Description:Chanterelles have forked ridges on their underside, and the forking is a characteristic of true chanterelle mushrooms.They’re not exactly true gills, and they have blunt edges.The ridges run down the stem of the mushroom, which is another identifier.Yellow to orange in color on outside.Growing as individual mushrooms(not groups) most of the time.Chanterelles always grow on the forest floor, never on wood.Thick, blunt ridges instead of true gills.Forked ridges rather than straight,The flesh inside is a pale creamy white, not orange like the surface.Smells sweet like fruit, like apricots.The cap edge is wavy, thin and irregular.

Look alikes:poisonous look alike Jack-O-Lantern (on L)mushroom is, in fact, an orange mushroom, that’s about where the similarity ends.  Jack-O-Lantern mushrooms have true gills, that are not blunt like chanterelle gills.  They also don’t fork or run down the stem of the mushroom.Lastly, Jack-O-Lantern mushrooms always grow on wood, often in groups rather than singly.This can be tricky though since the wood they’re growing on may be buried so that it looks like they’re coming out of the forest floor.Apparently, Jack-O-Lantern mushrooms taste quite good, but you still don’t want to eat them.They’re not deadly,but they’ll cause quite a bit of uncomfortable gastric distress.False chanterelles (on R)Deep, thin gills rather than the blunt gills of a chanterelle.Forked gills (like chanterelles)Cap edge is downturned and round.Center of the cap is darker colored, edge is lighter.Smell like a mushroom, not like apricots.

I feel as though I poisoned the act of doing the right thing.

33% download of the Mass Effect: Andromeda Deluxe Edition. This will be my first time playing this game, and I am excited to play it! Especially, after I completed the ME trilogy in a week and a half. I really enjoyed the romance, and I worked really hard to make sure my characters thrived. I can no longer say the same for myself, but I can say I feel better.

I almost have the courage to be accountable for my actions take action for a good cause. Like Shepard and her friends, I want to choose the paragon life and lead a way of being that is enriching and woke. Compared to my comfort as a closeted wreck in a conservative family of sexism and neglect.

I need to take steps towards a just future, and enjoying a hobby like video games can be okay if I balance work and play.