Human Behavior

Individuals, habits, emotions, cognition, decision-making.

The Age of Unprecedented Competition

July 31, 2023 — Leave a comment

The life of the average man is going to be more competitive than ever.

Numerous people have written about AI. Most focus on the technology itself, whether it’s a blessing or a threat.

I’m less interested in AI than in what it will demand from us. Because regardless of what happens, one thing seems certain: life for the average person is about to become far more competitive.

Is there reason to worry?

One thing is for sure, life always gets worse before it gets better.

This new era won’t be any different.

Those who adapt will thrive. Those who don’t will struggle.

The world has always favored the fittest, those who stand out. Being average is costly when it’s not convenient anymore.

  • What does it take to stand out ?

Well, you won’t like the answer, my friend, but it takes a lot of suffering.

The cure for pain is in the pain.

Embrace your losses, embrace being discriminated against, injustice, the rigged system. Embrace it, but never accept it. Fight it, that’s how you become resilient, tough.

You have to GO through it in order to GET through it.

Good times make us soft, so let the struggles begin, let it come, we’ll be fine.

Have some faith.

After all, as time passed, the world got meaner. It’s always been like that. This won’t be any different.

Our history is plagued with long periods of cruelty and conflicts. Cruelty has a thousand faces, AI may just be one of them, like automation was a few decades ago.

But again, going through bad times builds resilience, we just have to learn how to manage our demons.

I know not everyone can, which is unfortunate, but humans are as strong as our weakest link. There’s hope in that.

Don’t cower away from difficulty, don’t try to drown your problems. Don’t be that person.

Cowardice feeds our weaknesses.

Face life with bravery and remember, bad things happen to make exceptional people.

If you’re a man of God like me, think about all the messengers that came before us, all the things they went through.

It’s no coincidence.

Whether it’s AI or something else, humanity will always prevail.

Believe.

Thanks for reading.

Teekay

10 Unconventional Ways to Sleep Better

July 24, 2023 — Leave a comment

Mastering the mechanics of sleep transformed my lifelong struggle.

This is a follow up to my first piece I wrote on Medium titled: Snooze or Lose: 10 Sleep Secrets to Catch Those Z’s!

Let’s dive right in!

warm feet by Teekay Rezeay-Merah
Warm feet by Freepik
  1. CBD: Use it however you want, CBD may help some people relax before bed, although results vary.
  2. Sleep mask: Unless your room is PITCH BLACK, you need one of these. Light is the enemy of sleep, so get yourself a sleeping mask. You’ll thank me later. FYI, get ready to start dreaming for real !
  3. Stop eating three hours before bed. That’s right, three full hours. You know what’s the best part about this? By doing so, you will inadvertently start your Intermittent Fasting journey.
  4. Weighted blankets: They provide a calming effect and promote better sleep by increasing feelings of comfort and security. Some people find the gentle pressure calming.
  5. Warming your feet before bed, either with a warm foot bath or by wearing warm socks, helps dilate blood vessels and signal to your body that it’s time to sleep. I bet you didn’t know this one !
  6. Experiment with sleep positions: For example, sleeping on your left side alleviates acid reflux symptoms (but ditching dairy will eliminate those symptoms altogether, for good), while elevating your legs slightly improves circulation and reduces leg and back pain.
    I sleep on my back first, then turn. I like stretching my backbone before bed as well, hence my first position.
  7. Sleep in a cool room: Do keep your feet warm, though. A cool bedroom (around 65°F or 18°C) is often associated with better sleep. Our bedroom is often cooler than that in the winter.
  8. Use pink noise (I looked up why it’s call pink noise, I still don’t get it): This ambient noise has a soothing effect and drowns out other sounds that may disrupt your sleep.
  9. Try aromatherapy: Certain scents like lavender, chamomile, or vanilla have a calming effect and promote sleep. They also create a relaxing atmosphere, which is paramount to sleep well.
  10. Practice lucid dreaming techniques: These techniques allow me to become aware and almost control my dreams. Lucid dreaming has definitely enhanced my sleep experience and made it more restful, and fun. Yes, sleep can be fun too.

Many sleep problems improve once we address the habits surrounding sleep, though persistent insomnia deserves professional attention.

Update: recent studies have linked the lack of dreaming to certain illnesses like dementia and depression, and you can’t dream if you’re not getting proper sleep consistently.

Thanks for reading.

Tee.

monkey see, monkey do by Teekay Rezeau-Merah

How Marketing Manipulates Your Brain Through Mirror Neurons

July 17, 2023 — Leave a comment

An article is about a NeuroScientific and neuromarketing concept you never knew existed!

Our brains have this exceptional ability to act as a mirror. This ability is made possible thanks to what we call “mirror neurons”.

Mirror neurons are a type of brain cell responsible for mirroring or simulating the actions of others.

The knowledge of these neurons is relatively recent. In fact, it wasn’t until the 90s that researchers first identified mirror neurons in macaque monkeys.

And what they found was fascinating !

Mirror neurons were found to activate when a monkey performed a specific action, such as grasping a piece of food.

However, the same neurons also activated when the monkey watched another monkey (or a human) perform the same action.

It was unexpected.

  • The Point

These incredibly cool neurons are said to play an important role in our ability to imitate and learn from others, as well as in our ability to empathize with and understand the intentions of others.

And to be honest, it makes perfect sense.

For instance, I realized very early on that my proficiency in learning new languages was attributed (in part) to my habit of mimicking the language patterns and communication styles of native speakers.

In fact, even when my knowledge of a language is limited, I make a conscious effort to replicate the way words and phrases are pronounced, rather than how they are written and spelled.

By “mirroring” others, I learned 10X faster than before, and I hardly forget anything. I can also sound “native” if I want to, in any language that I speak.

This strategy has been instrumental for me. Becoming fluent in six different languages and comfortable in a couple more didn’t happen overnight, but with the right tactic, language-learning can be a piece of cake.

Check out this little 3-minute clip if you wish to understand how it works.

With that being said, the effect of mirror neurons isn’t just limited to what we see or what we hear, our brain can even experience vicarious touch through others.

Perhaps this explains the boom of ASMR and the porn industry?

New technologies like Virtual Reality are already using the power of our mirror neurons to their advantage, and perhaps ours, as well.

For instance, VR is now used to help us fight certain mental illnesses and cure certain phobias.

VR can obviously never substitute real life, but it could potentially help many of us heal from certain things.

  • The Dark Side

As an ethical marketer, I must mention this.

In the world of marketing, understanding vicarious touch and mirror neurons has been a game changer.

Instead of designing ads and products blindly, we now purposely target your subconscious mind.

Doing so allows us to create more engaging and memorable experiences for our audience, thus driving up sales and clicks.

Marketers increasingly design experiences that engage our senses and make products feel more tangible, even through a screen.

So instead of making commercials that focus on the product alone, big corporations and marketers now hire actors and tap into all your senses to deliberately activate mirror neurons in you, the viewer.

There are numerous other tactics to trigger buying, here are a couple I’ve used in the past:

  • Product packaging: Mirror neurons can even be triggered through packaging. In fact, the texture and feel of product packaging evoke more tactile sensations in consumers than they know. For example, a package with a soft, velvety texture creates the impression of luxury and comfort, while a clear, matte packaging evokes warmth and superior quality.
  • Audio-visual experiences: Videos, music, podcasts and other types of media can evoke sensations of touch through sound and image. These techniques have long been used in the entertainment industry and in adverts to shape culture as a whole.
  • Scented products: Products that smell cut grass or mint create the sensation of coolness, while the the smell of lavender provides us with a sense of warmth and reminds us of our childhood (and possibly grandparents). Yes, smell is also used to drive up sales, but can only be used in physical businesses (for now).

Understanding human behavior allows us to look at ourselves with more depth.

Understanding ourselves doesn’t just make us wiser, it actually improves our decision making, hence this piece.

By reading this, I hope you’ve gained a bit more self-awareness and understanding of human behavior.

Thanks for reading.

Teekay