Graham D Brown

40 years of the global village

By gbrown | June 25, 2008

41 years ago today, the world witnessed the first live satellite linkup (BBC’s “Our World”) broadcast to an estimated 400 million viewers - staggering considering this was 1967.

The nub of the broadcast was to showcase innovation & culture from around the globe. While the Irish gladly demonstrated their clog dancing, the Japanese their world class subway system and the Australians their tramlink, the UK production fretted over what exactly constituted a true representation of British culture. So in a brave mood and nod to the nuance of the time, when the live broadcast announced “over to London…”

The Beatles perform “All You Need is Love” with Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Eric Clapton, Graham Nash, Keith Moon and Gary Leeds providing backing vocals. How cool is that?

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Time to Think - Being Aware is Good for You

By gbrown | June 9, 2008

From my reading list this week
Read the full article here

Shared by Graham

Being aware of the moment and your emotions is good for you according to new research. The ability to step out of your daily frame not only calms you down but also gives you perspective. I’m a great believer in the power of creative insight whether it be through meditation or simply going for a walk in nature.

Source: U.S. News and World Report

Pay close attention to each feeling, and let it be.

Brought to you by Social Psychology Network
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Proof that We are Motivated Mostly by Fear: What Would You Do in a Hit and Run?

By gbrown | June 9, 2008

From my reading list this week
Read the full article here

Shared by Graham

Proof that humans are motivated more by fear than any other emotion, this video of a pedestrian mown down by a hit and run driver whilst onlookers fail to act demonstrates that people are often more scared of making mistakes and threats to their own security than the compassionate need to help others. Fair enough, the video doesn’t run the full length and we don’t know what happens next…but there is a distinct absence of timely help

Source: ABC News - Health

Psychologist and EMT weigh in on video of injured, neglected man.

Brought to you by Social Psychology Network
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High Self-Esteem Isn't Always Healthy?

By gbrown | June 9, 2008

From my reading list this week
Read the full article here

Shared by Graham

Donald Trump has long been criticized for maintaining an ego that punches above his weight. But, give him his dues he recognizes his own humility citing a new study that shows those that are over-confident can be aggressive and defensive.

The “self” is a construct that can both promote and hide an individual. The Buddhist concept of “no self, no problem” is easily understood, but challenging to implement in daily life.

Trump makes the useful division between self-esteem and ego, the latter being the culprit for so many of our problems. Self-Esteem can often be misinterpreted - where one sees servility, others read humility. Often ego displays and big statements hide a personality that is very fragile and insecure.

by Donald J. Trump

Personally, I’ve never had a problem with self-esteem. I always say that you have to believe in yourself or no one else will.

Now a new study has come out suggesting that high self-esteem isn’t necessarily healthy. The researchers, who of course are psychologists, say that sometimes people who are overly confident and proud of themselves can lash out at other people and believe that everyone else is wrong except them.

They concluded that there was “good” high self-esteem and “bad” high self-esteem. With the good people well-grounded and the bad ones too aggressive and defensive.

That doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me. I say that if you are confident in yourself and what you do, that’ll be reflected in your work and in how you treat people. I’ve always been one to say that you have to blow your own horn and let people know about your accomplishments. But rarely should that be at the expense of others - other than your worst competitors.

So keep your self-esteem high and there’s no need to have your ego in check as long as you can back up that confidence with success.

Donald J. Trump is Chairman of Trump University.

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The psychology of forgiveness

By gbrown | June 9, 2008

From my reading list this week
Read the full article here

Shared by Graham

As an ex-student of Sussex University I was interested to hear about this research. Yes, it’s stating the obvious, but the commonly known is so often uncommonly practised.

Continuing the theme of travel as a great base for understanding world cultures, this research shows that the more contact with people that we have, the more we are open to reconcile with them

The TED.com staff’s favorite psychology research blog, the BPS Research Digest, reports on a study on forgiveness from the University of Sussex and the New School for Social Research. The study examines how groups which have committed atrocious acts against one another come to break the cycle of resentment and forgive.

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Foreign cultures are mirrors

By gbrown | June 9, 2008

Shared by Graham

I lived in Japan in 1996, at the beginning of the lost decade. It was an interesting time for myself in terms of discovery - I learned more about my own self and culture than about Japan as reflected through the eyes of an observer. I read the other day that only 18% of Americans own passports and wonder what our world is missing out on by not being able to step out of their culturally constructed “self” and see behaviours, customs and ideas through an objective lens. As Jonathan Guthrie points out in this article in the FT - “Foreign cultures are mirrors. Peer into them and we see a reflection of ourselves, peering back.”

Britons do not value business cards greatly – a prospect may scratch his ear with the one you have carefully presented, writes Jonathan Guthrie

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All in the Mind

By gbrown | June 9, 2008

After a lengthy journey of self discovery in the blogosphere I have arrived at a happy conclusion.

This is hardly on par with Einstein’s quest for the unified field theory, but in my universe it’s close. I have decided to dedicate my writings to that which I have always been dedicated to - but have, as is often the case , commonly ignored - psychology and the understanding of behaviour.

My works have always maintained an undercurrent of understanding the mind - from searching for what makes people happy, to defining success, to managing people and organizations, to studying the psychology of influence in marketing.

So here we go… a journey into the mind.

Topics: Psychology of Business, Psychology of Consumers, Psychology of the Self | No Comments »

mobile blog test

By gbrown | June 9, 2008

Testing using mobile blog

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Happy 50th

By gbrown | May 25, 2008

Happy 50th Birthday Paul… I hope I can be as cool as this on my 50th!

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Concrete Jungle

By gbrown | May 11, 2008

Following in the vein of honouring the late greats, today is Bob Marley’s turn. Departed May 11 1981, 27 years to the day. Concrete Jungle …

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The hottest places in Hell (part 2)

By gbrown | April 1, 2008

“The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who in times of great moral crises maintain their neutrality.” Dante

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The hottest places in Hell…(part 1)

By gbrown | March 31, 2008

Next week will be 40 years since MLK’s assassination.

In the End, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends

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Muhammad Yunus Video

By gbrown | March 27, 2008

Short Documentary on Muhammad Yunus and Grameen Bank’s work. More information on Muhammad Yunus here including when I met Dr Yunus on his recent trip to London.

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Graham’s Recommended Reading List this Week (from Kaku to Kurzweil)

By gbrown | March 27, 2008

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Greg Mortenson talks about Three Cups of Tea (Borders)

By gbrown | March 26, 2008

Greg Mortenson talks about Three Cups of Tea with Borders. More information on Greg’s work here

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Getting lost in finding a guru

By gbrown | March 26, 2008

And if you are not satisfied with them then you trot off to India, or to Japan, trying to find a guru originally for yourself down there.

That is, you deny freedom, freedom to find out for yourself. And that means the total denial of all religious spiritual authority - total denial.

Otherwise you can’t be free to enquire, to examine. Politically, democracy, so-called democracy, allows you to be free, not under tyranny, but you have accepted the tyranny of the gurus, of the priests, of the authority, of tradition. And we are saying that a mind, a religious mind that is trying to find out what religion is, the truth, if there is an ultimate reality, ultimate truth, must be totally free from all authority.

Because we want, we are confused, uncertain, unhappy, and these people promise all these things - happiness. And so we are only too eager to follow. That is one point.

Jiddu Krishnamurti in “Freedom from All Belief” cited in the Zen Frog

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