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Doctors work to help Giffords' brain rewire itself

February 14, 2011 By MALCOLM RITTER , AP Science Writer
In this Jan. 5, 2011 file photo, Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., takes part in a reenactment of her swearing-in, on Capitol Hill in Washington. Experts say recovery for Giffords will be a long, tough journey. Patients can make remarkable progress. But experts caution that they shouldn't expect to return to exactly the way they were before, and it’s too early to know if Giffords might be able to return to Congress. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)

(AP) -- Compared to a sleek new laptop, that three-pound mass of fatty tissue called the brain may not look like much. But when it's injured, it adapts and rewires its circuits in new ways.

That's the kind of flexibility that doctors and rehabilitation specialists hope to encourage in , the brain-injured Arizona congresswoman.

Details about her recovery have been thin. But members of her staff say she recently began speaking for the first time since the Jan. 8 attack by a gunman in Tucson. patients who regain speech typically begin to do that about four to six weeks after the injury, experts say.

Still, recovery for the 40-year-old Giffords will be a long, tough journey, as it is for anyone with a significant brain injury. Patients can make remarkable progress. But experts caution that they shouldn't expect to return to exactly the way they were before.

Too little has been revealed and it's too early to say if Giffords might be able to return to her job in Congress. One expert questioned whether that would be the best thing for her to do.

Most people with such injuries have some level of impairment for the rest of their lives.

Scientists are still unraveling just how the brain works to recover from and how to help it repair as much as possible.

They're dealing with an organ about the consistency of cold porridge. It contains maybe 100 billion densely packed , each of which is connected to 1,000 or so other nerve cells, called neurons. Those connections form circuits that are the foundation of the brain's activity.

Brain injuries can disrupt that in several ways. A car accident can smash a head, stretching and tearing across a wide area. A penetrating injury like a bullet causes more localized damage, but the force of the impact can also damage neuron connections some distance away from the projectile's path.

Either way, brain injury produces an "utter quagmire" of specific disruptions in brain functioning that doctors have only blunt tools to fix, said Dr. Jonathan Fellus, director of the brain injury program at the Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation in West Orange, N.J.

What all this disruption means to the patient depends on what brain circuits have been affected. People might have trouble reasoning, finding words, remembering things, organizing priorities, recognizing faces, understanding what's said to them, or doing multiple things at once. Or they could have problems walking, reaching, getting dressed or feeding themselves.

So how can the brain get better?

In some cases, brain cells that were impaired or stunned but not killed by the initial injury get back on track. Another surprising factor is that the brain's wiring is not fixed. In response to an injury, neurons can alter their patterns of connections.

For example, if the damaged part of the brain is small enough, new connections might bring in neighboring neurons to stand in for dead ones. Or existing connections can be strengthened, allowing neurons to work together more efficiently than they had to before.

Rewiring can bring in a whole different brain circuit to compensate for a damaged one.

So a person who used to find his way to work just by instinct may come to rely on memorizing the route more formally. Or somebody who struggles to find words may emphasize facial expressions more than before. A patient who has trouble remembering what he sees may compensate by telling himself what he's looking at, bringing in his verbal memory circuitry.

Patients may develop compensation strategies on their own, though more typically they're guided by doctors and therapists, said Dr. Bruce Dobkin, director of the neurologic rehabilitation and research program at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Fellus compares brain rewiring after injury to taking back roads when an interstate highway is damaged. It's a less efficient way to get a job done, he said, and the added effort may help explain why brain injury patients often feel tired or simply fail to accomplish some tasks.

"They have to pace themselves, they have to do things in a more organized way," staying more focused on a task like memorizing a phone number than they had to before, he said.

That's certainly the case with Kim Towns, 47, of Chesapeake, Va., even 23 years after she was shot in the forehead.

"I can't really concentrate like I used to. I get tired really easily, I get depressed," she said. Rather than doing several things at once, "I have to really just sit down and concentrate on one particular subject."

In any case, brain rewiring - scientists call it plasticity - is driven by what a patient is learning and experiencing, said Jordan Grafman, director of the Traumatic Brain Injury Research Laboratory at the Kessler Foundation Research Center in West Orange.

That's why patients should get into rehabilitation as soon as possible, where "people are paid to stimulate you," providing skilled expertise as well as respite for exhausted caregivers, he said.

The time course of recovery can be long. It's most dramatic in the first year, with probably more than a third of patients who survive severe injuries showing improvement by the end of that time, said Dr. Alan Faden of the University of Maryland.

Grafman said progress often slows in the second six months of the first year, becoming perhaps not evident to those who see the patient every day, but noticeable to someone who drops by only every three months.

During the second year, gains are usually minimal but can sometimes be significant, said Grafman. After that, many people show no further improvement, but some do, he said.

The course of recovery depends on things like age - with patients from teens to 40 recovering better than those over 50 to 60 - and how motivated, young and healthy a patient is, the size and location of the injury and even a genetic predisposition to recovery.

But for the most part, brain injury patients will always have some degree of impairment, Grafman said.

That's not necessarily a recipe for misery; it just means people need to adjust, said Grafman, who has studied Vietnam veterans with brain injuries for 30 years.

"I'm always impressed ... at seeing how may of them have lived quite successful lives, having families and kids and working at jobs," he said. They "wind up living, in some sense, an ordinary life."

Giffords might have to make the same kind of adjustment.

Without knowing details of her progress it's impossible to say whether she could return to Congress, Grafman said. A supportive staff might make it possible, he said, but "would it be the best thing for her?"

Impairment can add stress for those who strive to return to a high-pressure job, Grafman said. And over a long period, that added stress could harm their mental abilities even more. Persistent stress kills , he said, and can interfere with memory and decision-making beyond the long-term effects of the brain injury itself.

As it stands now, "Giffords will have strengths that remain. That's what you want to play into," he said, even if it leads to a productive life outside the halls of Congress.

More information: Brain injury information:

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Changes in generic pill color and shape disrupt use

July 14, 2014, Brigham and Women's Hospital

Generic versions of the same prescription drug are clinically interchangeable but often look different depending on the manufacturer. The FDA does not require consistent pill appearance among interchangeable generic drugs, and the shape and color of patients' pills may vary based on the particular supply at the patient's pharmacy. Studying a national cohort of patients who recently suffered a heart attack, researchers from Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) have found that variation in appearance of generic drugs is associated with a greater risk of patients stopping their essential post-heart attack drugs. These findings are published on July 14, 2014 in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

"After have a first heart attack, guidelines mandate treatment with an array of long-term medications and stopping these medications may ultimately increase morbidity and mortality," explains Aaron S. Kesselheim, MD, JD, MPH, assistant professor of medicine in the Division of Pharmacoepidemiology and Pharmacoeconomics at BWH and senior investigator of this study. "Medications are essential to the treatment of cardiovascular disease and our study found that pill appearance plays an important role in ensuring patients are taking the that they need."

In a large national insurance database, the researchers collected records of over 10,000 patients discharged between 2006 and 2011 after hospitalizations for heart attacks who initiated treatment with generic beta-blockers, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, angiotensin-II-receptor blockers, or cholesterol-lowering statins. They then looked for breaks in medication refilling (non-adherence) and they determined whether the pill appearance had changed in the prior two prescriptions. They found that the odds that a patient would discontinue use or not refill their medication increased by 34 percent after a change in color and 66 percent after a change in pill shape.

"The association between changes in pill appearance and non-adherence to essential cardiovascular medications has important implications for public health," explained Kesselheim. "This study suggests the need for physicians and pharmacists to proactively warn patients about the potential for these changes, and reassure them that generic drugs are clinically interchangeable no matter how they look, especially in light of the prevalent use of and importance of promoting patient adherence to essential medications."

Explore further: Differences in generic pill characteristics may lead to interruptions in essential medication use

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what’s up with WhatsApp

It has been five months since Facebook bought WhatsApp for $19 billion, yet it still doesn’t seem to have caught on in the US. Every American I know that uses it (myself included) says they use it almost exclusively for people they’ve met abroad, or foreign friends they’ve made here Stateside. So why does the rest of the world use WhatsApp, yet Americans don’t?

I remember the first time I heard about WhatsApp. “That’s a stupid name for an app,” I thought. It was 2011, and I had just moved to Spain to teach English. My 30€/month plan from Orange España included unlimited data (increíble, I know) and 50 texts/month. After you went over 50, SMS (texts) were 9 cents each, which I figured was reasonable since the data plan was so cheap.

But then my friend Lorena told me about WhatsApp. It sounded trendy and kinda dumb, but I downloaded it. She was my only contact. I didn’t really see the point at first, but I liked that it was saving me some SMS messages. Slowly I gained one contact at a time as I met more Spanish people that used the app. Soon I was telling my friends and family back in the States to download it. It could be used across any of the major mobile platforms  (Android, iOs, Windows, Blackberry,) free of charge, anywhere in the world. I could “text” my loved ones back home FO’ FREE. It was a dream come true.

I became completely dependent on this app during my years in Spain, using it with my friends, family, students and coworkers alike. Since returning to the States, it has been totally weird having to readjust to some people using the antiquated SMS. My American friends and family who used it with me while I was abroad continue to use it with me (most of them with me as their only contact,) and they too scratch their heads as to why it still hasn’t caught on in the US.

So why is WhatsApp better than SMS, you ask? Let me count the ways:

1. Media sharing: It’s very easy and quick to share photos and videos on Whatsapp. The upload progress is shown right on the media, and all the media shared with a specific person or group can be easily accessed and scrolled through within the conversation, like your own personal little photo/video album. Also, there is a “voice recording” feature right next to the text input, so if you’re driving and want to just say your message or want to sing them a song or whatever, you don’t have to “attach” the audio. Just click and hold the mic icon, record your message, release, and it is sent.

2. Conversation-having: WhatsApp is this neat hybrid of texting and instant-messaging. You can see if someone is online,typing, or when they were last online. This is useful for a number of reasons. If they’re online (which means they currently have that app open on their phone,) you know they’ll see your message right away. If they’re typing, you know to stop typing until you see what they’re about to say. If they were last online at 4am on a Sunday, you know they probably had a long night and they probably won’t be up for an early brunch date. You send an SMS to someone? You have no idea if/when they will read it.

3. Platform: The design is simple, it runs seamlessly, and there are no ads. NO ADS. Enough said.

4: GROUP TEXTING!!!: I’m yelling this because it is the most important. I have an HTC One, and it could be some sort of glitch in the specific software for the phone, but group SMS is awful. Clumsy. Inefficient. I can’t see what someone has said in the preview, and when I click on the notification it usually brings me to my own private convo with that person rather than the group convo. So I have to back out of that and select the group convo myself. When I send a message, there’s a delay. WhatsApp group conversations are beautifully designed and run very smoothly. You can name the group something funny or cute (my most beloved group is with 3 girl friends: “almas gemelas”) or name the convo based on the topic/purpose (“birthday party plans”) and then you’ll see it among your individual and group message threads under that name. You can click on a group member to see when they were last online to see if they’ve read your message within the group.

The other day I was discussing these benefits with an American friend who sparingly uses WhatsApp, and he totally agreed but said, “I feel like it’s just an extra effort to go into it and use it. It feels like I’m opening an  app and then my messages rather than my inbox and then my messages. Which in essence isn’t any different…”

Exactly. Americans seem to have this weird mindset about SMS, like it’s a special kind of messaging that we need to hold onto. But if you have a smartphone, why continue to use it? Unless you’re texting someone who doesn’t have one? (In which case, there’s a simple workaround I used while abroad so that I could text anyone back home, smartphone or not, for free from my phone.)

It takes a little while to get used to using WhatsApp, like anything else. Like my friend said, you have to get used to “opening an app” versus opening your messages, but that requires no extra steps. And once you’re in, I promise the experience will be much better.

people are generally good

I’m currently working for an organization that places foreign students from around the world in US high schools. As their first representative in my region (and brought on board rather late in “placement season”) it has been both an adventure and a struggle to hurriedly find schools that still have open spots and families that are willing to host a student, and then to connect those two dots to a student still waiting to be placed.

Last night, I was set up to do something called “dialer calls,” which I was almost certain would not work. I was told that a few thousand numbers in specific zip code would be called in a matter of two hours. The people called would hear an automated message that I have pre-recorded, and if they pressed “1” to learn more about hosting a student, they’d automatically be connected with my cell phone to talk to me directly.

Who would actually answer a call like this? Especially in this day and age?

2,119 numbers were called last night with my automated message. Before the calls began, I estimated what I thought would be the results of these calls: about 1,000 would be unavailable (it would go to voicemail) another 1,000 or so would hang up on the automated message, and of the remaining 100, many would press 1 out of confusion, an equal amount out of anger, and two or three extra-kind-hearted folks would actually speak to me to inquire for more information (you know: “Midwest nice.”)

Boy, was I wrong. My phone rang off the hook for two hours straight with a majority of people who had genuine interest in hosting an international student during the upcoming school year. Other calls were beeping in on call waiting as I visited with prospective host families, and soon my voicemail box was full of messages. Everyone was so friendly and personable.

You could chalk this up to “Midwest nice,” but I have to say that I was expecting the also prevalent “Midwest closed-mindedness” to win out when hosting international students was the matter at hand. I am refreshed to have found out that was not the case.

Something I’ve been saying for awhile, ever since I started traveling a lot, is that there are some bad people everywhere, but people are generally good. I know that this isn’t an original thought, and that lots of people come to the same conclusion after doing some traveling, but I think that last night, I saw firsthand that this is definitely true of my home state: people ARE generally good. They’re even better than I thought, in fact.

But no matter where you go, there are a few bad apples. Of the 40-50 people I spoke with directly last night, only two were examples of this. Here are are the exchanges I had with them. All you can do is chuckle.

“Hi, this is Megan with ICES. How are you this evening?”

—“Well, I’m just trying to figure out what you’re phishing for.”

“Oh, nothing sir. I work for a non-pr–”

—“Can’t you people get a real job? Go to hell!!” *click*

“Hi, this is Megan with ICES. How are you this evening?”

—“Well I just saw that you called while I was on the other line and I am wondering if there is some kind of issue.”

“Nope, no issue, I’m just calling local families on behalf of the high school’s foreign exchange program to try to find potential host families for one of our international students. Is that something you would like more info on at all?”

—“NO. I am NOT interested in hosting an international student. I mean, who knows, they could be coming from one of those countries like El Salvador or Puerto Rico or whatever and I sure as hell don’t need that.”

“Ok, well I appreciate you taking the time to call m–”

—“Besides, I work at the social service office. If I wanted a damn foreign kid in my house I could just pick one up there.”

Well, then. :-/

Thanks for reading!

is the Spanish siesta under siege?

I recently read a New York Time’s article entitled, “Spain, Land of 10pm Dinners, Asks if it’s Time to Reset the Clock.” It outlines the ongoing debate about whether Spain should scrap its long-held tradition known as the siesta: a topic near and dear to my (former) Spanish expat heart. My immediate reaction to this question is a desperate “Nooooo!” as I long for the days I lived in Spain and enjoyed long lunches and “afternoons” that extended well into what we in the US consider evening, making days seem almost endless. But with Spain’s economy still suffering and unemployment at a whopping 26%, people are starting to question whether a move to a more 9-to-5-like schedule would be a good one.

The origin of the siesta

The word “siesta” comes from the Latin “sexta,” which referred to the sixth hour after sunrise, when the sun was at its highest peak. Historically, people in Spain and other hot European countries would take a break from their work at this hour, the hottest point of the day, and return re-energized to their work later in the afternoon. This tradition has persisted through the years, but this is slowly changing. In big Spanish cities, many businesses now stay open through siesta hours, and the idea that the siesta could be hurting Spain’s already broken economy is gaining strength.

The nap myth

In any discussion of the siesta, I feel the need to dispel this myth, as a service to my Spanish friends and “family.” Contrary to popular belief (and contrary even to what this current NYT article says), the afternoon “siesta” does NOT typically include an all-out nap.  I was asked by many of my students if we foreigners actually believe that they nap during siesta. When I told them that yes, most people do believe that, they were practically offended. They strongly reject the notion that the Spanish are lazy people who sleep the afternoon away. It’s not uncommon to see people taking a quick snooze on a hillside or park bench over the extended lunch hour, but almost no one is going home and crawling under the covers. The long break is to allow time to join with other family members and/or friends, have a nice, big meal (there, lunch is the biggest meal of the day) and have a little time to go for a walk or just relax after eating.

“Longer” work days

One point in favor of doing away with the siesta schedule is that it would give families more time together in the evenings. A standard Spanish work timetable is one of two options:

1. La “jornada continua/intensiva” (8:30ish-3:30ish, no lunch break) The people I knew with this schedule were teachers and a few dentists and specialist doctors. They do take a short mid-morning coffee break for a quick snack, but basically these people don’t sit down to a full meal until what we in the US would consider “late afternoon.” This is the less common of the two schedules, but the preferred one for most people. There is a slight pay cut, in most cases, for those who have this schedule, as they are working only  35 hrs/week.

2. La “jornada completa” (8:30ish-2ish, break for “siesta,” 4ish-7ish) The exact hours vary by business/profession, but the moral of the story is that most employed Spanish people don’t return home for the day until around 8pm, and most businesses (except for restaurants/cafes) have both mañana (morning) and tarde (afternoon/evening) hours, but are totally closed for business from 2pm until 4pm or 5pm.

Living on Spanish time

The Spanish timetable really is a striking feature of their culture, unlike any other in the world. A Spanish banker interviewed in the aforementioned article puts it this way: “It is the Spanish identity, to eat in another time, to sleep in another time.” This feature of Spanish identity and culture is something I was absolutely enchanted by living there as an expat. Obviously the midday break was fabulous, and another feature I really enjoyed about their shifted timetable is that they consider it to be “afternoon” until about 9pm. This makes each day seem so much longer, especially in summer. There is no hurry to get home and be in for the night. On the contrary: you’re encouraged to squeeze out every last drop of every day that you possibly can. That is a beautiful thing. On weekends and in summer, this almost endless day slides easily into an extended night, with late dinners that can stretch on past the bewitching hour.

Post-lunch relaxing under the siesta sun

Post-lunch relaxing under the siesta sun

Long lunches: excessive or essential?

Brazil recently released new food-based dietary guidelines, and 3 of the 10 guidelines (#s 4, 5 and 8) talk about the importance of taking your time eating, being with others and being present (i.e. not eating while working, driving, etc.) The siesta allows for this. This stands in stark contrast to the US, where most people race through their lunch break with just 30-minutes allotted, and many just eat at their desks or on the run while still working. All you have to do is compare the overall health of the population in countries where long, drawn-out family meals are the norms and compare it with that of countries where efficiency and convenience rules in all arenas (including dining) and you can see that this need for speed is really detrimental to the population. I would be sad to see Spain pushed over to that side.

The “night owl” culture

A common exercise with lower-level EFL students is to have them tell you their daily routine (I usually get up at ____, then I ____. After that I ___. I go to bed at about ____., etc.) so I became quite familiar with the “norm” of a daily routine for a typical Spaniard. My students were of a variety of professions, from engineers to dentists to teachers, and they almost all reported their “bedtime” as 11:00 or later on work nights. I also lived with two young Spanish professionals–a lawyer and a med student in residency, so I can confirm these norms first-hand. As the NYT article points out, the “prime time” hours for TV are 10pm-1am, and 12 million Spaniards are still watching TV at 1am. Families with young kids do tend to eat dinner earlier, around 8, and put the kids to bed by 9. But on weekends, it’s not unusual to see entire families (young kids and all) out to dinner past 10pm, and keeping kids up that late on weekends is certainly not looked down on like it is in the US.

So I guess my answer is this: they sleep about the same amount that we do, but seem to be much more resilient in flip-flopping their sleep schedule from week to weekend. During the week, they do go to bed later on average than Americans do, and maybe get up slightly later than the average American worker. On weekends, they stay up and out MUCH later than most Americans do, as the bar nightlife doesn’t even really get going until about midnight, and goes strong until as late (early?) as 6am. Those who go out do then, of course, sleep much later than the average American does on the weekend.

An uncertain fate

It’s hard to say whether the siesta will continue to be phased out as it already seems to be in the larger Spanish cities. I can’t even begin to hypothesize on potential solutions to fix Spain’s broken economy, but I’d like to think that getting rid of something so ingrained in Spanish culture isn’t the way to do it. It is these cultural differences that allow us to learn from each other, see things in new ways and reconsider our own way of doing things. Would the world really be a better place if everyone adapted to the model of the 9-5 grind? I think not.

¡Viva la siesta!

The Camino de Santiago: a candid practical guide

I recently wrote a post about my experience hiking a portion of the Camino de Santiago (“The Way of St. James”), but I wanted to write another post with some practical advice for those of you who might be considering doing it yourself. The amount of preparation recommended varies a lot: I’ve talked to people who have started preparing for the Camino a year or more in advance. I, on the other hand, maybe considered the idea of doing Camino for about that long, but did almost no practical planning of any kind until a few days before I left. It helped (a LOT!) that I had already been living in Spain for a few years when I set out. This made the logisitics of getting to my starting point very easy, and I already knew the language and culture rather intimately.

I suppose there’s probably a happy medium to be found: over-planning could take the magic out of it–it’s meant to be an adventure, and the best adventures don’t have carefully pre-meditated itineraries. But no planning could wind you up in a bad situation that could have easily been avoided. I am by no means a Camino expert, but I had a very positive, relatively incident-free experience on the Camino, so I thought I’d share with you some tid bits that might help you on The Way:

Things to know ahead of time

1. A few key words and phrases. English isn’t nearly as widely-spoken in Spain as it is in the other Western European countries, much to the suprise of many (American) tourists. That said, I was shocked by how much English there actually was on signs and menus in the tiny pueblos along the Camino. It seemed to be more prevalent than what you’ll find even in some of the larger Spanish cities: a sign of the Camino “boom” of these last few years. Still, a few English words on signs does not mean the locals are going to understand you when you rattle off a lunch order in English or ask them where you can buy some Band-Aids. You should learn some basic phrases and niceties to use along The Way.

And even if you’ve got a couple years of Spanish-speaking under your belt as I did, there’s still some Camino-specific vocabulary to know:

peregrino = pilgrim, i.e. you and everyone else on their way to Santiago

albergue = the special “pilgrim shelters”/hostels especially for pilgrims of the Camino

linterna = bunk bed (most commonly what you’ll be sleeping on in an albergue)

aldea = small town/village (I lived in Spain for almost 3 years and didn’t come across this word until my very last week there! I always used “pueblo,” but aldea is commonly used to describe the villages in the very rural parts of Spain)

etapa = one stage/phase of the Camino, typically a 15-35km stretch

2. The route and recommended etapas

You may already know that there is more than one route for the Camino de Santiago. The most common route, the Camino Francés, starts just over the border into France and goes down through north-central Spain and westward to Santiago. Another route I’d like to try someday is the Camino del Norte (a.k.a. the Northern Route or the Coastal Route) which goes all along the rugged northern coast of Spain, through the Basque Country, Cantabria and Asturias before dipping back inland to Santiago. This route is known for being beautiful, but wetter and more physically challenging due to the constant climbs and descents in the terrain. You can even begin the Camino in southern Portugal and walk north all the way up to Santiago. Obviously, the less traditional routes will have a lot less accommodations for pilgrims, but if you’re really looking to rough it then you can start wherever you’d like and just camp all the way.

As far as the recommended etapas for each day, there are lots of route guidebooks for the Camino that will break down each stage and give info about each town. The particular one I used was given to me as a gift and is in Spanish, but I can’t actually even find it online (I know, hard to believe!) so you’ll just have to check out some Amazon reviews and find one that looks good for you.

3. Your options for accomodations: Again, this will depend largely on the route you take. On the heavily-traveled Camino Francés, you’ll have the most options for albergues, and the numbers will increase as you get closer to Santiago. Most towns have a albergue municipal, or public albergue for about 6€/night or a free will donation (called donativos.) I personally recommend checking out the many private albergues along the way, which offer beds for 10-12€/night and are much more comfortable than the public ones. You’ll probably only have 6 or 7 other people sleeping in the same room as you, versus 30-40 in a public albergue. They usually give you a blanket too 🙂 There seem to be new private albergues popping up everywhere as the number of peregrinos continues to increase, so check out the competiton. If you’re not too exhausted when you arrive to your stop, you can take some time to shop around a bit and pick the albergue with the better showers or more-equipped kitchen or cool Irish guys playing guitar on the patio.

The shoe room with a view at the public albergue in O'Cebreiro

The shoe room with a view at the public albergue in O’Cebreiro

How long to go

This is obviously dependent upon how much time you can afford to take. But even if you’re on an extended sabbatical and have all the time in the world, you should still consider two things:

1. Cost. The Camino is probably one of the cheapest adventures you’ll find on the face of the Earth, but it still costs money to eat and stay places. My budget on the Camino was pretty frugal: 15€/day for food and 15€/day for lodging and miscellaneous expenses (bandaids and athletic tape, mostly.) I was able to stick to this budget fairly easily. But even 30€/day gets to be a lot if you plan to do the entire journey, which takes most people at least 30 days. And I would imagine that keeping at it for that long, you would incur a few more incidental expenses than I did on my week-long hike.

2. Your level of physical fitness. This may seem like a no-brainer, but seriously take it from me: this journey is not for the faint of heart. I was a little cocky going into it, thinking it would be a piece of cake for me. I’ve worked as a fitness instructor for a number of years, run several half-marathons (including one, my PR, just a few months before doing the Camino) and am just overall pretty active, and I will tell you that I grossly underestimated the physical challenge that is the Camino. The only thing that saved my ass (quite literally, perhaps) was that I had spent the two years prior living in a big Spanish city with my main mode of transport being my own two feet; in my everyday work commute and errand-running, I put on an average of 3-5 miles walking. I’d say that this high mileage walking, more than any gym time or running, was my best preparation for the Camino. It wouldn’t be a bad idea to do some training hiking with a big pack on too, if that’s not something you’ve done in the past. The longest I had ever hiked with a pack on prior to the Camino was probably 6 or 7 HOURS…so it’s a small miracle that jumping straight into doing that much or more for 6 DAYS straight didn’t cause more problems for me.

What to bring

Perhaps it’s more useful to tell you what NOT to bring, as there are some items to omit that might surprise you.

You need NOT bring:

1. A map or a GPS device of any kind, especially on the Camino Francés route. The route is very, very well-marked with yellow arrows or shell symbols, and there is usually someone to follow or at least a local or passerby to ask in order to ensure you’re on The Way.

One of the many St. James statues, indicating where you're going and whence you came

One of the many St. James statues, indicating where you’re going and whence you came

2. A sleeping bag, especially in summer. They’re cumbersome and unnecessary. All albergues provide, at the bare minimum, a disposable fitted cover for the mattress and pillow. The nicer ones provide blankets. One of the nights, I used my microfiber towel to cover my legs and my jacket on top.

3. A lot of food. It’s good to be prepared, but food weighs a lot and it’s really not all that crucial to have food reserves, as may be the case in other long hiking trips. Because the Camino is such a traveled road, there are plenty of people making a business out of it and ready to provide you with just about anything you’d expect to find in a restaurant, grocery store or convenience store. That said, I found that curiously the last 10 or 15k of the journey was very replenishment-sparse, so if you decide to combine the final two etapas as I did (for a final day total of 40k), you’ll want to make sure you have reserves on that last day.

No, it's not a mirage!

No, it’s not a mirage!

You should, however, bring:

1. An iPod or other listening device. Sure, nature sounds are peaceful and your walking partners’ stories are fascinating, but sometimes your feet are bleeding and you don’t care about either and you just want to blast some angsty rap music to remind yourself of how badass you are.

2. The aforementioned microfiber towel. This has been my token travel towel for all my trips in the past year. They’re great if you swim regularly too: very quick-drying!

3. A journal. Even if you’re not much of a writer, I think you’ll find that you really want to jot down some of the thoughts and feelings you’re having. Even just documenting how each day goes is fun to look back on and useful when giving tips to future Camino-goers.

What to wear

You’ve heard a hundred times in a hundred scenarios to “dress in layers,” and this can’t be stressed enough for the Camino. Remember, you’re covering a lot of elevation, even if you only do the last part. I went in August, in the dog days of an especially hot summer, but I still needed a range of clothing. I started each day with pants, a tank top, long sleeved shirt, jacket and scarf. Even all of that wasn’t quite warm enough one mornings in chilly O’Cebreiro, a town atop a mountain on Galicia’s eastern border. But by 11am every day, I was stripped down to shorts and a tank top. And drenched in sweat by midday. So a clothing packing list should look something this (all items quick dry/moisture-wicking material): 1-2 prs pants, 1-2 prs shorts, 1-2 short sleeve or tank tops, 1 long sleeve top, jacket, scarf, hat, socks, underwear, shoes.

Shoes are another subject that could probably have it’s own post altogether. Athletic footwear has become a hotly debated issue since the dawn of the minimalist shoe movement. Full disclosure: I’m a total minimalist running convert, and that actually ended up significantly affecting my experience on the Camino, in both good and bad ways. I brought two pairs of shoes on the Camino: my heavy-ish duty Salomon hiking shoes and my New Balance Minimus running shoes. I planned to use the hiking shoes, which have a hard sole and toe cap, for the especially rocky parts of the route (which turned out to be, um, pretty much all of it) and use my minimalist shoes for the smoother parts as they’re MUCH lighter, but offer no “protection” from said rocky paths. The problem was that I really hadn’t hiked more than a half-day in the hiking shoes, and never in scalding heat or on such rugged terrain. I destroyed my feet with them in the first couple of days: really bad blisters and the start of inflamed heels–a condition that has stopped many a Camino-goer in their tracks. I had spent over a year getting used to using minimalist shoes, which teach you to step differently, and then went back and “blinded” my feet with a big clunky pair of hiking shoes. Bad life decision. After wearing the hiking shoes for just a few hours of the first two days, I abandoned them for the rest of the trip and pranced painfully along in my Minimuses. The good part was that training in minimalist shoes had already taught me to step more carefully and with better posture, so it probably saved me from other potential problems. But since I had already wrecked my feet with the hiking shoes, I was in a lot of pain, especially for the first few miles each day. And there were a lot of bandaids, needles and an entire roll of athletic tape involved.

Wearing my beloved NB Minimus shoes on rock in the middle of a stream

Wearing my beloved NB Minimus shoes on a rock in the middle of a stream

It should also be noted that we amazingly encountered almost no rain whatsoever on the entire trip. This is an absolute anomaly for northern Spain, and heavy rains making muddy paths may call for more heavy-duty hiking boots. In conclusion, footwear has to be “to each his own,” but I would urge you to use only hiking shoes you’re very used to and perhaps bring an extra lightweight pair. And flip flops for the showers/airing your feet out at the end of the day.

What to expect

Expect to find your limits, both physical and mental. Expect that they won’t be what you expected. I assumed my biggest physical limit would be my back, as I have a slipped disk from an old sports injury that gives me trouble when I overdo things. Instead, my back felt strong and was basically pain-free, but I never expected to be fighting back tears from the pain in my feet for the first mile or so every morning. You might actually find that your limits are much greater than you had thought–that you can go further and endure more pain than you previously realized. There might be mental struggles too, with so much time left alone to your own thoughts, but I think this is one of the main reasons why people do this sort of thing. To wrestle with hard questions.

Expect to meet a lot of amazing people from across the globe. Expect them to offer you things, like some of their wine or some Compeed. Offer things back. Listen to their story and tell them yours.

Expect to see Spain in arguably the coolest way possible. Being conscious of (literally) every step of the journey is a fantastic way to gain an appreciation for a place. You’ll be completely alone in the middle of the Spanish countryside at times and bumping elbows with locals in tiny villages at other times. It’s incredible.

You never know who your walking companions might be

You never know who your walking companions might be

¡Buen Camino!

the Camino experience

A month ago yesterday, I arrived on foot in Santiago de Compostela, a city in the northwestern corner of Spain, after hiking the last 200km of the Camino de Santiago. The experience was, hands down, the most incredible of my life to date. Even a month later I’m finding it really difficult to put it into words. Part of that could be that I went immediately from the Camino to the whirlwhind of moving back to the US, but I think there’s more to it than that. I think I’ll be processing the experience for months, or maybe even years to come.

Maybe you’ve never heard of the Camino and don’t get what all the fuss is about. Maybe you’re curious about it or even considering taking the plunge yourself, and you’re hungry for advice, insight, inspiration. Or maybe you’re a fellow former peregrino (pilgrim) and you know just exactly how I’m feeling. Even though everyone has an entirely different experience on the Camino that is very uniquely their own, there is something that connects every peregrino del Camino.

No matter which category you fall into, I hope I can share a little Camino magic with you today.

So…what IS the Camino de Santiago?

The Camino is a famous pilgrimage of Christian origin that has been around since Medieval times. Legend has it that the remains of St. James were brought from Jerusalem to what is now Santiago de Compostela. For over 1200 years now, people have been making this journey on foot to pay homage to the Saint.  The pilgrimage was recently re-popularized by this 2010 film, which rather accurately portrays the fact that nowadays, the tens of thousands of people who set out to do the Camino each year have widely varying reasons for doing so: some religious and some not at all.

There are several routes one can take to reach Santiago. Traditionally, pilgrims set out for Santiago from their own homes, wherever they might be. There are still some people that do that today, but typically people choose a place to begin along one of several routes, based upon the amount of time they’re able to dedicate to the journey. The most famous route begins on the French-Spanish border in St. Jean Pied-de-Port, France and heads down through Pamplona, across north central Spain and up into the mountainous terrain of Galicia in the northwest of Spain for the last 200km stretch. From beginning to end, this route takes most pilgrims about a month. Pressed for time, my friend and I did only the last 200km which are, as many have said, “the most difficult, but the most beautiful.”

Who does the Camino de Santiago?

Anyone. Everyone. According to my guidebook, two-thirds are Spanish people, and among the third that are foreigners, the Germans and French dominate. But I met people from everywhere: Australia, South Africa, Japan, the US, Brazil… Most are in the 25-35-year-old range, but the next biggest group is probably the 50-80-year-olds.

Why do people do the Camino de Santiago?

As I said before, modern-day pilgrims’ reasons are quite varied. Some are religious, some are looking for an answer to some question they have in their life, some are doing it in honor or memory of a loved one, others are alt-tourists looking for a more adventurous way to spend their holiday. I personally wanted to do a portion of the Camino as a sort of capstone on my experience of living in Spain for over two years. It was a time for reflection and clarification. You can’t go into the Camino knowing exactly what you’ll get out of it, but I can just about guarantee the one thing you won’t feel at the end is regret for having done it.

In our room at an albergue in Palas de Rei: "In our room at an albergue: "Don't run, pilgrim. It doesn't matter how far you go, but rather who you are, how you feel and who you're with."

In our room at an albergue in Palas de Rei: “Don’t run, pilgrim. It doesn’t matter how far you go, but rather how you are, how you feel and who you’re with.”

What does the Camino de Santiago look like?

If you don’t already know, Spain is a land of incredibly varied landscapes. The main route take you from the rocky Pyrenees into the lush green Basque Country, my beloved former home. There’s a flat, dry stretch through the high plains of north-central Spain and the final third of the journey is once again very mountainous, and quite green.

Sometimes you’re walking on the shoulder of a highway, other times you’re walking along a shady, forested path. You’ll pass through big cities, small towns and tiny villages. You’ll see lots of farm animals and have to dodge a lot of manure.

There’s a video at the end of this post that might give you a better idea of what the Camino looks like.

What does the Camino de Santiago sound like?

Mornings are peaceful. Birds chirping. The crunching of your feet on the rugged paths. The other pilgrims you pass along the way wishing you a “buen camino.” You’ll probably be lost in thought, or maybe having an enlightening conversation with your Camino companion(s) or a random peregrino you’ve just met.

Afternoons are more challenging. You might be noticing the sound of your breath more and thinking you sound tired. Maybe you turn on your iPod to block that out for awhile.

Evenings are joyful and then peaceful once again. You’ll talk and laugh with the other pilgrims over dinner and vino, then face-plant into your pillow at the albergue.

What does the Camino de Santiago smell like?

Manure, mostly. Sometimes flowers.

What does the Camino de Santiago taste like?

Espresso and fresh fruit in the morning. More espresso and Spanish tortilla in later morning. Tuna empanadas or salami bocadillos for lunch. Cold beer pick-me-ups. Three home-cooked courses for dinner, washed down with fantastic Rioja wine.

before bedtime ritual: journaling and wine

before bedtime ritual: journaling and wine

What does the Camino de Santiago feel like?

The Camino feels like an analogy to life. There are peaks and valleys, easy stretches and treacherous ones. There are times when you feel like you can’t go on and a friend picks you up, and times when you’re the one offering a shoulder to lean on. There are times to be serious and times to laugh and realize life can’t be taken too seriously.

The Camino feels like freedom. Freedom from the modern-day construction of what life is “supposed” to be. A blast to the past, a much simpler time. No responsibilities except putting one foot in front of the other, all day, every day.

The Camino feels like unfettered emotion. The usual day-to-day emotional hindrances are gone, and you’re left to really feel your feelings. You might get really sad about the heart-breaking things of the world and then look up at the landscape around you and cry tears of joy at the beauty of it all.

In the mountains of gorgeous Galicia

In the mountains of gorgeous Galicia

I leave you with a video I compiled of my footage of the journey. Here you’ll get a sense of the sights and sounds of the Camino. Your sensory imagination will have to fill in the rest.

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aerial views

I’ve flown in and out of Bilbao more than a dozen times, but today the view from the plane window was unlike any I’ve seen before. As we took off at 6:45 this morning, the city was still lit up like night, but the sun was just starting to peek over the horizon, dimly lighting the coastline and mountains.

After all this time I’m able to easily identify each part of the city from the plane window based on the bends in the River Nervión. Now on the brink of sunrise, the bends can be seen as outlined by the evenly spaced lamps along the promenade, and I think of the hundreds of miles I’ve run there.

running around river bends in central Bilbao

running around river bends in central Bilbao

I see the blinking lights from the Iberdrola Tower, Bilbao’s lone skyscraper, and I think of the way it’s shiny exterior seems to reflect the sky in a different way every time I see it.

I identify the surrounding beach towns (Algorta, Sopelana, Gorliz…) based on their various unique curvatures of the coastline, and I think of the surf lessons, never-ending beach days with friends and the countless times I’ve sat and watched the sun sink into the water from one of the many perfect perches along the coast.

a fall sunset in Sopelana

an autumn sunset in Sopelana

I see the lights from the Puente Colgante transporter bridge, and I think of my days as a student here when I lived just down the street from the historical bridge, back when even just Getxo felt like a big place to me. I think of how fortunate I was this year to have had the chance to return to this neighborhood for my work.

Puente Colgante

Puente Colgante

I see the mountains that tuck Bilbao into its seaside nest, and I think of the many hiking excursions and the excitement I feel after hiking up a mountain to get a new perspective on the surrounding landscape.

taking a breather after climbing Vizcaya's steepest peak: Monte Anboto

taking a breather after climbing Vizcaya’s steepest peak: Monte Anboto

No matter how much I fly, it never ceases to amaze me how small the whole thing looks from the plane. This tiny-looking little world that once felt so big to me has become the perfect-sized place I’ve been so fortunate to call home for the better part of the last three years.

I didn’t board the plane feeling ready to leave this place today. But I don’t know if I could ever feel that way. A place that becomes so deeply a part of you is a place you will never be able to say goodbye to forever. So although I don’t know when or in what context, I’ll be back, Bilbao.

Hasta la vista.

El Camino de Santiago

Tomorrow morning I am getting on a bus to a little village in the northwestern part of Spain called Villafranca del Bierzo. It is there that a dear friend of mine and I will begin a 200km (125 miles for my fellow Guiris) to Santiago de Compostela: the last stage of a famous pilgrimage known as The Camino de Santiago (The Way of St. James.) I’ve been throwing the idea around in my head for over a year now, and finally I decided I have to do it. I’ve heard so many great things about it from friends of mine who have done it. There was also a movie recently made about it that has made the pilgrimage much more famous. I highly recommend it; it’s called “The Way“, and it tells a story of one man who completed the Camino in it’s entirety in honor of his son. We’re only going for a week, but the original routes begin in France and can take more than a month to complete on foot.

I finally arrived at the decision to embark on this journey as a nice capstone to the two hugely impacting years of life I have spent in this wonderful country that now really feels like my home. Hiking for miles and miles day in and day out gives you lots of time to think, reflect, evaluate, reminisce and consider what lies ahead. I can’t think of a better way to make the transition from my life in my adopted home back to my life in my native home. I’ll be Stateside in just 11 days.

One thing that becoming an increasingly seasoned traveler has taught me (only took a few years :-p) is how to pack light (yes, ladies, it CAN be done.) I’ll be carrying nothing but this 18-liter pack:

This week is going to be challenging, sweaty, feet-blistering and exhausting. But more importantly, it’s going to be an incomparable adventure: a chance to meet people from all over the world and all walks of life while hiking through beautiful landscapes. A chance to get away from the normal hustle bustle and life to stop and think. A chance to see what you’re really made of.

To all my fellow peregrinos out there: ¡BUEN CAMINO!


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Revelation > Information

“There is a difference between information and revelation. No matter how much information you get, if it never turns into revelation it’s not going to do you a whole lot of good.”

Last night I sorted through and organized my notes from this season. Notes are not a bad thing – I personally love to take lots of notes in class for a few reasons – first, because it helps me focus, and second, because as I plan on helping with a School of Worship at my “home base” in New Zealand next year I want to have notes to look back on to inspire me as I help with the school.

So while notes in and of themselves are not bad, revelation is way more important than information. After all, information sitting on a page is simply information – not of much use sitting in a giant notebook full of words collecting dust in a box full of belonging that you rarely go through. It’s been reiterated this season, and something I’ve realized the last few years. Having been in YWAM for the last few years staffing a few schools I acquired a lot of notes, thinking they would be great to look back on, and later realized that those notebooks ended up sitting in a box in Canada untouched for years while I was in New Zealand. I have actually since then tossed some of those notebooks.

I love what one of our speakers said, “I’m not so concerned if you don’t get the information I’m giving you, I’m more concerned about whether or not you grasp what the Holy Spirit is trying to teach you.” And I trust that the Holy Spirit will bring back those things when you need them, whether you have your notes on hand or not.

I was especially inspired after one of our staff shared last week during reflection time, that during one YWAM school he did he picked 1 or 2 things that resonated with Him each week and put those in His personal journal instead of being overwhelmed by a mountain of notes, and so I followed suit – whilst I have kept all my notes, only a few gems have made it into my personal journal to be looked at regularly. Being long overdue for a blog post, I figured I should share some things that have stood out to me – perhaps some of these will resonate with you, at the very lease it allows you to glimpse into my life and the season I’m in. These are not necessarily related and are in no particular order:

  • there is only one way to improve at something – to do it
  • Words are powerful – God SPOKE life into existence
  • discipleship happens in the context of community
  • always use the Word
  • if I don’t walk in love, even if my words are accurate people will cease to listen
  • everyone is at a different place in their journey – just because someone doesn’t have his/her hands raised and eyes closed doesn’t mean he/she is not being touched by the Lord.

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All Downhill from Here

Get dazed by the skills of this loangboarder going down huge mountain roads. The scenery is absolutely amazing, probably every downhill rider’s dream. And, while you might get the urge to try longboarding for yourself, take a minute to rethink… For hair-raising action, make sure to watch the whole video! Oh, no worries- the kid will be fine, he’s wearing his safety pajamas!   via


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Memories Are Our Building Blocks

We must remain accountable for our actions and choices that lead us to the difficult and complicated lives we now live. Happier people make happier choices. Not by living in the absence of fear and stress, but taking those worries and looking beyond the surface. They are able to see beyond issues that arise in their lives. Taking life’s disappointments and then turning them into lessons. Only tiny pieces of our lives that rebuild faith and make us stronger. Life happens. People change for no reason and things happen completely beyond our control. We use struggles as building blocks for our foundation. How you interpret your thoughts and create your memories, they become the concrete to which you lay that foundation on.

Copyright 2013 Ta’Mesha Smith

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Free Speech and College

Incompatible concepts? I think not. High school and free speech, maybe. But you don’t think of colleges as a place where you’re not allowed to talk about legalizing marijuana or express your political opinions or put up awesome posters of television shows/movies.

Nevertheless, a police chief in the University of Wisconsin system decided that this Firefly poster constituted a threat (or something):

Ahhhh! Nathan Fillon is coming to get you! Run and hide!

First of all, Firefly is an awesome show and you should go watch it. This quote is clear proof of the sheer awesomeness of the main character. Secondly – what? A threat to whom?

The theater professor who posted this on his office door, James Miller, took his case to the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE). After having the Firefly poster removed and getting another e-mail from the police chief threatening disorderly conduct charges if he re-posted the poster that “can cause others to fear for their safety,” Miller decided to respond with a new poster:

The University of Wisconsin-Stout administrators were not amused and the poster was removed. The furor caused by FIRE’s campaign to get Chancellor Charles Sorenson to reverse the decision resulted in a denial:

This was not an act of censorship.  This was an act of sensitivity to and care for our shared community, and was intended to maintain a campus climate in which everyone can feel welcome, safe and secure.

Ha. Yeah, right. Taking down posters is totally not censorship. On the upside, if the professor was a student or teacher in high school he probably would’ve been expelled or fired. (Think of “Bong Hits 4 Jesus” incident and the Supreme Court case crushing students’ free speech rights.) Instead he just got threatened with a lawsuit.

FIRE has a nice rating system of the First Amendment friendliness of colleges, searchable by state or school name. Mizzou gets a red light because of one of the policies against sexual harassment:

Here are some examples of behaviors that may be sexually harassing:

* Leering or ogling
* Remarks of a sexual nature, such as comments about a person’s clothing, appearance, or sexual experience
* Suggestive or insulting sounds
* Off-color jokes or obscene gestures

When the harassment rises to the level that it interferes with employment or with education, then it becomes illegal and also violates the University’s policy. But even lesser levels of sexually harassing behaviors may be inconsistent with MU’s commitment to a safe and inclusive work and learning environment.

Well, you can see how this might become a problem. “Leering or ogling”? “Off-color jokes”? I mean, sure, I hate creepy guys just as much as the next girl, but I can also see how this could violate the creepy guys’ free speech rights. Of course, a strict policy against sexual harassment empowers people who feel victimized to speak out. And it’s amazing how human beings can communicate without using sexual language so much that everybody else in the room uncomfortable.

I can easily think of a few people I’ve encountered in college who make sexist, offensive comments just as a joke way more than I’m comfortable with. The great thing about a big school? I can avoid people I don’t like so easily.

It’s a different story if you’re forced to encounter people who make you uncomfortable with their words and/or actions – if you work with them or they stalk you creepily (it happens). Which is where this kind of policy would come in handy. It’s not like the MU Equity Office is trying to stop everyone from making jokes about women belonging in the kitchen or calling people names – they offer informal mediation between parties to (hopefully) stop the situation from escalating.

Firefly good, censorship for arbitrary reasons bad.

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Understanding Intuition and How the Mind Works: The invisible gorilla and other ways our intuitions deceive us

Blog Post 5Steve Jobs, in his famous Stanford University Commencement Address (2005), advised students not to let the “noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice”, but rather “have the courage to follow your heart and intuition”. Few psychologists would deny that we possess a subtle mind that can be a great source of strength, joy, and creative insight. However, as psychological scientists, our task is to understand how the subtle, ‘intuitive’ mind works and thus avoid any simple-minded, romantic proclamations.

Perhaps by seeking to understand how our intuitions can deceive us we can learn to master our subtle, intuitive mind and cultivate greater strength, joy, and creative and reflective capacities.  In their fascinating book, The Invisible Gorilla and Other Ways That Our Intuition Deceives Us, Christoper Chabris and Daniel Simons provide readers with unique insights into the illusions of the mind and how to master them.  The book is wonderfully skeptical and scientifically well-informed, but also colored by anecdotes and wit in relation to the subtle ways in which our intuitive mind can deceive us.

Notably, it has become fashionable to argue that intuitive methods of thinking and deciding are superior to analytical methods. This is a seductive argument, given that intuition is often assumed to be faster and easier than rational deliberation.  Early humanistic accounts of human development also promoted the idea that intuition plays a central role in positive mental health.  According to Rogers, to become a fully functioning person required developing the ability to trust your instincts and cultivate intuitive, spontaneous modes of self-expression. Likewise, Jung characterized optimal mental health as including the ability to maintain an  “openness to messages from a deeper level of the unconscious” (Compton, 2005). But there are dangers in following intuitions based on the idea that they simply “feel right” – especially if we follow intuitions in the absence of understanding how the mind works.

The inspiration for The Invisible Gorilla came from one simple experiment carried out by its authors, involving a gorilla beating its chest on a basketball court. The authors asked participants to watch a video in which a group of basketball players dressed either in white or black passed a couple of basketballs around. Participants were asked to count the number of times the players in white passed the ball. During the video, a person dressed in a black gorilla suit walked into the middle of the group of players and beat their chest. Afterwards, students were asked if they had seen anything unusual (e.g. a gorilla). Amazingly, half of the participants did not report seeing a gorilla. The study quickly became one of the most famous experiments in psychology. This “Invisible Gorilla” concept, from which the title of the book originates, can be applied to many situations, including case studies where people ‘looking’ directly at a violent crime being carried out later report not ‘seeing’ it, and cases of unseen signs and symptoms by expert medical staff engaging in an ‘intuitive’ medical diagnosis. But further still, the Invisible Gorilla study sparked an inquiry into the many other ways that our intuition can deceive us. Chabris and Simons describe six everyday illusions that are critical in this context: the illusions of attention, memory, confidence, knowledge, cause, and potential.

Consider the illusion of confidence: in court room deliberations, a jury can easily fall victim to confusing a speaker’s confidence with his or her credibility, with more confident speakers deemed more credible. This, naturally, has consequences for the way jurors give weight to the evidence provided by different witnesses. However, if we can learn to cultivate and appreciate modesty and uncertainty, much like Socrates extolled, we may learn how to listen more carefully and wisely without falling victim to the illusion of confidence. It appears to make “intuitive” sense that you should trust your doctor more if they appear more confident when they are giving you medical advice.  We might intuitively lose confidence in doctors who have to consult with a reference book before advising us.  However, research has shown that confidence is not a good indicator of ability (e.g. Kruger & Dunning, 1999). Chabris and Simons suggest that it is reasonable for us to embrace tentativeness and modesty as noble characteristics, or strengths of character, much like positive psychology now recommends, and thus welcome back the uncertain phrase, “I’m not sure”.

Similarly, by becoming aware of the illusion of attention — the mistaken belief that we pay attention to more than is actually possible — we may avoid foolish, dangerous behavior such as “multitasking” whilst driving. The problem with the illusion of attention is that it feels like we’re paying enough attention, for example, when we are driving and simultaneously texting on the phone. However, when our attention is divided between two tasks, research finds that our performance on both tasks is poorer when compared to the situation where our attention is focused on one task alone. The problem is that we often don’t notice this performance deficit until the unexpected occurs and it is too late. As such, good judgment, grounded in knowledge of how the mind works, needs to replace our intuitive feeling that we are doing the right thing, making the right decision, in control of the situation, etc.

Other illusions, such as the mistaken belief that people have reservoirs of untapped mental ability that is just waiting to be effortlessly accessed, reinforces laziness and our tendency to select the many quick-and-easy fixes culture peddles our way. For example, the idea that listening to Mozart will make you or your child smarter, or that subliminal messaging can help you quit smoking, may sound appealing until you discover that there is no evidence that these things work. The problem is not the absence of potential, but the illusion that it is easy to unlock this potential. How many of us have been fooled into thinking that cognitive training products, such as Sudoku, can help overcome the general negative effects of aging on memory “with just a few minutes of training every day”? Who would even think of questioning such an idea — after all, surely there is some truth in the old adage “use it or lose it”, right? Chabris and Simons explain, however, that while you may get better at Sudoku, if you believe that Sudoku brain training will help you remember where you have put your keys or keep your mind sharper in general, then you are succumbing to the illusion of potential.  The problem is that the effects of Sudoku practice may not generalize to other cognitive skills, each of which may need to be cultivated in slightly different ways, but it feels like Sudoku training is a better form of brain training than something which may actually help our brains much more, but which may be harder work, such as regular aerobic exercise (see Kramer et al., 1999).

While the many illusions of intuition may have serious consequences at times, some of the consequences are humorous and this humorous appreciation of our foibles may even help us to transcend the illusions. Chabris and Simons tell the story of the “pope tart”, the comical situation where our overzealous pattern recognition leads us to see popes etched into pop tarts (Stollznow, 2000). Furthermore, the Simpsons are said to provide us with lessons on the illusion of causality: despite Lisa’s best efforts, Homer falls prone to believing that a rock has the ability to keep both tigers and bears away. Although we may laugh out loud while reading these stories, Chabris and Simons are quick to remind us that we ourselves may fall prone to similar illusions.

Chabris and Simons suggest that it is not the complete absence of intuitive decision-making that ensures higher levels of adaptive functioning. Rather, they suggest that “the key to successful decision making, is knowing when to trust your intuition and when to be wary of it and do the hard work of thinking things through” (p.235). Chabris and Simons ask us to slow down, relax, and examine our assumptions before jumping to conclusions, thus exercising modesty, prudence, self-regulation and perspective. They ask us to use our new understanding of how the mind works to understand why people act the way that they do, that is, often not because of stupidity, arrogance, or lack of focus, but because of the everyday illusions that affect us all. As such, they call upon us to exercise open-mindedness, kindness, forgiveness, and social intelligence. It is all too easy to harshly judge others, but when we truly respond to the call of Socrates to “know thyself” and when we truly come to understand our subtle, intuitive mind, we become more compassionate and understanding of others.

Interestingly, the jam study carried out by Wilson and Schooler (1991) represents one of the few attempts in the book to actually determine the type of situations in which “intuition” might actually be superior to deliberate analysis. While rational analysis may be absolutely necessary in some situations — hiring an employee based on his previous experience, rather than on a deceptive show of self “confidence” — when deciding between the taste of two jams or two lovers we might question how far rational analysis can be applied. Until determined otherwise by the “fully functioning person”, these may well be considered to be “matters of the heart” (to the extent that no single right answer can be determined using logic or the facts of science). Nonetheless, with its focus on the limitation of intuition, this book does inspire further inquiry into the other side of the debate and suggests the need for greater understanding of the situations in which intuition (or perhaps heuristics) may prove to be superior to rationality (cf. Gigerenzer, 2010).

Nevertheless, this wonderful book by Chabris and Simons helps us to move beyond mystical, emotional attachments to the ideal of intuition.  The book opens intuition to scientific enquiry in a most entertaining and engaging way.  And although Steve Jobs advised that we need to have courage to trust our intuition, this book teaches us that we also need to have the courage to slow down, relax and examine our assumptions. Then, and only then, do we give ourselves a real chance of spotting the “invisible gorillas” in our midst – something which might well require the development of new strengths of character.

Originally published Sep 14, 2012 in ‘In One Lifespan’ @ PsychologyToday

Some links contained within this post are external

Chabris, C. & Simon, D. (2010) The Invisible Gorilla and Other Ways Our Intuition Deceives us. London, HarperCollins.

Compton, W.C. (2005). An Introduction to Positive Psychology. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning

Jobs, S. (2005). Stanford University Commencement Address. Stanford report. Retrieved from http://news.stanford.edu/news/2005/june15/jobs-061505.html

Kramer, A.F., Hahn, S., Cohen, N.J., Banich, M.T., McAuley, E., Harrison, C. R., Chason, J., Vakil, E., Bardell, L., Boileau, R.A. & Colcombe, A. (1999) Ageing, fitness and neurocognitive function. Nature, 400, 418-419. Retrieved from http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v400/n6743/abs/400418a0.html

Kruger, J. & Dunning, D. (1999). Unskilled and Unaware of it: How Difficulties in Recognizing One’s Own Incompetence Lead to Inflated Self-Assessments. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 77, 1121-1134.

Stollznow, K. (2000). Merchandising God: The pope tart. The Skeptic, 28-34.

Wilson, T.D & Schooler, J. W. (1991). Thinking too much: Introspection can reduce the quality of preferences and decisions. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 60, 181-192

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Blog, News and Articles by Midlands Physical Medicine

Blog 2017-06-07T14:58:46+00:00

Causes of Common Back Injuries

Causes of Common Back Injuries The most common symptom of back problems is pain. If you have back pain and it isn’t going away, most likely it is an issue that needs to be addressed. [...]

Regenerative Medicine

Regenerative Medicine Regenerative medicine covers a broad field of research. It includes tissue engineering along with various forms of self-healing methods in which the body uses its own systems to repair itself. The ultimate goal [...]

Diabetes : Finding a Cure

Diabetes : Finding a Cure With approximately 9.5% of the world’s population dealing with diabetes, it is no wonder that so much research is being put into searching for a cure. As far as a [...]

Tips for Regulating Diabetes

Tips for Regulating Diabetes Insulin is far from the only way to regulate diabetes. There are various steps you can take that do not require medication, which may help your diabetes. Keep in mind that [...]

Knee Surgery Alternatives

Knee Surgery Alternatives If you’re considering knee surgery or replacement, have you looked into any knee surgery alternatives? While some people may require knee surgery to alleviate pain caused by an injury or arthritis, many [...]

Treating Herniated Discs without Surgery

Treating Herniated Discs without Surgery By Dr. Ben Barton How much do you know about treating herniated discs? If you’re suffering from symptoms like back pain, sciatica, or weakness in your lower extremities, you may [...]


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Welcome to MidSun, the Midwest SunGard User Group!

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eCommerce, School Specialty
School Specialty is here to promote eCommerce Ordering Through Sungard with School Specialty. Please stop by our booth or breakout session to discuss the ease and efficiency of eCommerce ordering through Business Plus, eFinance Plus, or directly with School Specialty.

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Thanks for visiting

This concludes the live blog of the launch of NASA’s Ares I-X. Thanks for visiting, and congratulations to the many talented folks in North Alabama who made the launch a success. Check The Daily on Thursday for complete details on the launch, plus any NASA feedback. Check my Sunday column, Capital Considerations, for a broad look at U.S. manned space exploration. It is at a crossroads, and one expert I interviewed believes it is doomed. I hope he is wrong.

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Shellshock – Aesthetic Invention

Aesthetic Invention is the personal portfolio of entrepreneur/inventor Glen Liberman, founder of Kinekt Design. A video of Kinekt Design’s iconic gear ring has generated over 10 million (and counting) YouTube views – a genuine small business viral sensation.

After his smash success with the Kinekt gear ring, entrepreneur/inventor Glen approached Shellshock to design a portfolio site to showcase the full breadth of his work. This body of work was called Aesthetic Invention.

Over the course of a year, Shellshock worked closely with Glen to conceive a visual identity that expressed his skillset and personality. Shellshock designed an identity that played on the concepts of construction and creation within the name, Aesthetic Invention.

In phase one of the website design, Shellshock focused on highlighting the individual behind the inventions. In phase two, Shellshock enhanced this approach by making the inventions themselves the core focus of the site.

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How To Fire An Employee

Here are ten quick tips for how to fire an employee:

  1. Pay the employee his or her final wages within the time period required by Minnesota law.
  2. Determine whether the employee needs to be paid for unused vacation or PTO under Minnesota law.
  3. Be prepared to provide notice of the reason for the termination or a copy of the employee’s personnel file if timely requested by the employee.
  4. If the employee is a member of a union, make sure there is just cause for the termination.
  5. If the employee is terminated for misconduct, follow these four tips for explaining the decision to the employee and documenting the termination.
  6. Avoid making inconsistent statements when explaining the reason for the termination.
  7. Follow these six tips if you need to ask the employee to leave the workplace immediately.
  8. If you’re terminating an employee for testing positive on a drug test, make sure to follow the requirements of the Minnesota Drug and Alcohol Testing statute.
  9. Understand whether the employee will be ineligible for unemployment benefits due to employment misconduct and, if not, how that will impact your unemployment taxes.
  10. If you ask the employee to sign a release in exchange for a severance payment, include the 15-day rescission period required by the Minnesota Human Rights Act.

About Michael Miller

Michael is a Chambers-rated attorney in Briggs and Morgan's Employment, Benefits, and Labor group and is head of the firm’s Employment Law Counseling and Compliance practice group. He has 25 years experience counseling employers to prevent unwanted litigation and advises companies of ongoing changes in federal, state and local employment law. Michael advises employers in all areas of employment law including discipline and discharge, leaves of absence, wage and hour compliance, non-compete and confidentiality agreements, affirmative action plans, background checking, and drug/alcohol testing. For Michael's full bio, click here.

Posted on September 9, 2014, in Terminations and tagged . Bookmark the permalink. Leave a comment.

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Monday Morning Mind Dump… [Afternoon Edition]

  • Getting this up a little later than normal on Monday’s, but that should be okay
  • Yesterday was a great day at Revolution
  • I preached on the doctrine of Jesus being God and being God in human flesh while on earth
  • Essentially a theology class on a Sunday morning
  • It was awesome
  • If you missed it, you can listen to it here
  • I am loving the feeling of the gospel of John right now
  • Definitely a great change up after going through Ecclesiastes as a church
  • This past weekend was a special weekend for me personally as Katie and I celebrated our 11th Anniversary
  • We are celebrating it twice
  • We’re going to see Sigur Ros this week
  • I can’t wait to see them
  • Last week we went out to see Wicked, which was incredible
  • We were able to get $120 tickets for $40
  • I haven’t posted a music monday in awhile, but did one today you can check out if you missed it
  • Really excited for Revolution this week as we look at how to prepare the way for Jesus in our lives and the lives of others
  • If you want to live on mission and see the world changed, you have to prep it for that change
  • Love how John lays that out in his gospel
  • Finishing up a really funny book on raising daughters called Big Daddy’s Rules
  • Yes it is written by a non-Christian actor
  • Yes it has some swearing in it
  • Yes, it is awesome and has tons of insights for fathers
  • I have never laughed this much while reading a book, which is a good thing for me right now and slightly annoying for Katie when we read at night
  • Ready for March Madness to end tonight, because that means we are one day closer to the NFL starting
  • I got Louisville winning

Music Monday || The National & More

So excited for the new album by The National to come out. Easily one of my favorite bands. Here’s the first single: “Demons”

Albums I’m Streaming this Week:

Music Monday 8.27.12

Here are some new albums I’m streaming right now:

Free on Noisetrade:

What are you listening to this week?

Some Great Free Music

Normally I post about music on Monday, but I came across some great ones that are free and this will help make the weekend better:

Download them, relax to them this weekend. You’ll thank me.