Educational Pieces

Written by two brothers, Ari and Rom Brafman, the book Sway: The Irresistible Pull of Irrational Behavior give many real-life historical examples of how people had made irrational decisions -- sometimes leading to terrible consequences.

One striking example is that of an experienced pilot who took the plane off without clearance at Tenerife causing one of the worst airline accident. Another is how doctors failed to perform the necessary tests causing the death of a child. How can experienced professional who normally would know better had made this mistakes? This book examines that situational and psychological forces are at play (some of which are quite strong) that causes people to sometimes make irrational mistakes.

See more books on behavioral psychology »

Synchronicity are coincidences of unrelated events that tends to produce an positive meaningful outcome. It is almost as if the universe is acting on your behalf to give you the positive outcome that would benefit you. Wikipedia has an more extensive definition of synchronicity. Deepak Chopra's book The Spontaneous Fulfillment of Desire: Harnessing the Infinite Power of Coincidence explains the concept well. He also refers to "synchrodestiny".

Here are some collection of examples of synchronicity found in books and on the internet.

The left hemisphere of the brain is analytical, judgmental, thinks sequentially, knows the concept of past and future, and likes to play out "what-if" scenarios in the mind. The right hemisphere is holistic, sees the big picture, and is not bound by time nor physical boundaries. The only moment that the right hemisphere knows about is the present moment. Read what Dr. Taylor has to say about the difference between the left and right hemisphere in the article linked here.

Jill Bolte Taylor, a brain scientist who had a stroke and now since fully recovered, writes in her book My Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientist's Personal Journey that she uses Nintendo's Big Brain Academy as part of her recovery training.