By: Pam Lau on April 6, 2023
In 2020, researchers at Queen’s University in Canada used brain imaging to detect how many thoughts people have in one day. By comparing study participants’ brain patterns while watching a movie to those at other times of day, they were able to identify what they called “thought worms,” which were trains of thought that transitioned…
By: Adam Harris on April 6, 2023
My parents got divorced when I was young, so I never really knew my Father. That is until he came to stay with us for about a month when I was eleven. I was so happy to see him arrive and even happier to see him leave. He was not what I was expecting. He…
By: Esther Edwards on April 6, 2023
“Your Brain at Work” has been extremely beneficial and thought-provoking (no pun intended).[1] Dr. David Rock was able to make a complex topic more understandable for the average person through his well-written use of the stage metaphor. It meets a chronic need for me personally and most people I know who are living their lives…
By: Russell Chun on April 6, 2023
Bondye se plas dous mwen (Creole) or Dieu est mon “sweet spot”(French), God is my “sweet spot” My thoughts on God as my sweet spot. God in my audience and on stage – my director. My prayer. This week, two Haitian women appeared in both my weekly job training class AND my Intermediate Grammar class. …
By: Cathy Glei on April 5, 2023
Something to try (from Scene 3). . . Catch yourself trying to do two things at once and slow down instead. [1] Caught! Earlier today, I was in a ZOOM Session, doing a load of laundry, writing out a “to-do” list with my right hand while turning pages in a book with my left. Absolutely…
By: Jonita Fair-Payton on April 4, 2023
There are times when my brain is not working at all or in “time-out”. My recall is just not what it used to be. I am easily distracted, and I am forgetful. The embarrassing truth is that I probably spend more time looking for my cell phone than I do actually using it. I am…
By: Kim Sanford on April 3, 2023
David Rock wins the prize for “Most Immediately Applicable Book We’ve Read.” I read Your Brain at Work [1] last week and sat with it before tackling this blog post (thank you, spring break, for that extra time!). In those few days, I found myself applying Rock’s reflections in a surprising number of ways. 1. When…
By: Tim Clark on April 3, 2023
“Be still and know that I am God” Psalm 46:10 It’s an open secret among our church staff that if you’re in the car when I’m driving, you are taking your life into your own hands. My wife tells me it’s not because I’m a bad driver, but because I am a fast driver. My…
By: Jennifer Vernam on April 3, 2023
In week 11 of our blog posts, Kim shared with us a thought “God made the brain so we shouldn’t be surprised that neuroscience and theology can overlap.”[1] The reading from this week in Your Brain at Work[2] offered me another chapter in this area of discovery. David Rock develops an analogy of our minds…
By: John Fehlen on April 3, 2023
This is a recent day in the life of MY Brain… 0615 hours (that’s 6:15 am in military time, which makes this whole post sound way more legit): I woke up, without my alarm, having sensed the Lord’s voice to my heart saying, “Come and be with me.” So I got up, grabbed my Bible…
By: Kally Elliott on April 3, 2023
It’s after 2pm and I’m just sitting down to write this blog post. I know better than to try to write cohesively after 2pm. The afternoon is not a good time for me to try to think creatively or even to try to organize my simple thoughts into a readable blog post. By 2pm I’ve…
By: Todd E Henley on April 2, 2023
September 2022, I was not only excited about starting school, but I was pretty sure and excited about my NPO. Even though I knew I would be working on my NPO I was thankful it was pretty much set and had to be tweaked a little. After two months of school, I was getting some…
By: Russell Chun on March 27, 2023
Ready or not MAGA hats, t-shirts and banners will be resurfacing again in preparation for the U.S. Presidential Election. Whether you agree or not, the above slogan speaks to Duffy’s comment. “Our analysis of Donald Trump’s success in the United States showed how ‘nativism’ –the sense that your own people, those born in the country,…
By: Noel Liemam on March 26, 2023
“Why We’re Wrong About Nearly Everything: A Theory of Human Misunderstanding,” by Bobby Duffy, reminded us how much we needed to look to each other for guidance and at the same time to be vigilant about seeking what matter most. And not only that but the truth may never be the common knowledge or what…
By: Kally Elliott on March 25, 2023
“If you don’t like TikTok it’s because you haven’t spent enough time on it. Once they figure out which mental illness you have, your celebrity crushes, and which cute animal you like the most…it gets really good.” (random internet meme) This meme is not only humorous, it is true, and it’s talking about me. I…
By: Dinka Utomo on March 24, 2023
“There is a strong linear relationship between confidence and being wrong” -Bobby Duffy- One of the main things in this book that challenges my comfort zone in thinking is when Bobby Duffy also references the theory of the Dunning-Kruger effect, which identified that the illusory superiority bias—our tendency to think we’re better than others—has…
By: Jana Dluehosh on March 24, 2023
It is not lost on me that most of our books this semester has been about being wrong, or solving a problem or a “how to” book. Pursuing a doctorate (imposter syndrome not withstanding) takes a certain level of confidence and belief in ourselves that we have something the world needs. What if we are…
By: Adam Harris on March 23, 2023
I can still remember a few times as a kid when I believed I had been “left behind”. Meaning I thought Jesus had come, taken my family, and left me behind on earth. Just watch the movies. I grew up in a faith tradition that preached all kinds of ideas around the “end times”. These…
By: Esther Edwards on March 23, 2023
I must confess, just by reading the title, I did not envision this book to be on my desired “must read” list of books for the semester. Why? Because I don’t like to think I’m wrong about nearly everything. I went to the doctor this week and stepped on the scale. Shockingly, it showed that…
By: Pam Lau on March 23, 2023
My parents were first generation Christians who each experienced a radical life change when they accepted Christ. My mother converted from Judaism to Christianity through a neighbor who convinced her Jesus was the Son of God; while my father walked the aisles to “Just As I Am” at a Billy Graham Crusade. To say my…
