Early experience shapes the structure and function of the brain. This reveals the fundamental way in which gene expression is determined by experience.
Daniel J. SiegelRead
...not all encounters with the world affect the mind equally. Studies have demonstrated that if the brain appraises an event as "meaningful," it will be more likely to be recalled in the future.
Interpretation
Our experiences are not all equally significant in shaping our memories and understanding; the meaningful ones stand out.
This quote emphasizes the idea that the mind processes experiences differently based on their perceived significance. When an event is deemed meaningful by the brain, it becomes more likely to be remembered, highlighting the importance of the mind's appraisal in personal development and memory retention.
In practice
In a lecture about educational psychology, you could use this quote to illustrate how students remember impactful lessons.
Early experience shapes the structure and function of the brain. This reveals the fundamental way in which gene expression is determined by experience.
Too often we forget that discipline really means to teach, not to punish. A disciple is a student, not a recipient of behavioural consequences.
While the days of parenting may seem so long, the years are so short.
We must keep in mind that only a part of memory can be translated into the language-based packets of information people use to tell their life stories to others. Learning to be open to many layers of communication is a fundamental part of getting to know another person's life.
For "full" emotional communication, one person needs to allow his state of mind to be influenced by that of the other.
Grief allows you to let go of something you have lost only when you begin to accept what you now have in its place. As our mind clings to the familiar, to our established expectations, we can become trapped in feelings of disappointment, confusion, anger, that create our own internal worlds of suffering.
We on Earth have just awakened to the great oceans of space and time from which we have emerged. We are the legacy of 15 billion years of cosmic evolution. We have a choice: We can enhance life and come to know the universe that made us, or we can squander our 15 billion-year heritage in meaningless self-destruction. What happens in the first second of the next cosmic year depends on what we do, here and now, with our intelligence and our knowledge of the cosmos.
In real life the people who are most bigoted are the people who have no convictions at all.
We are going to die, and that makes us the lucky ones. Most people are never going to die because they are never going to be born. The potential people who could have been here in my place but who will in fact never see the light of day outnumber the sand grains of Sahara.
And then sometimes I think the people to feel saddest for are people who once knew what profoundness was, but who lost or became numb to the sensation of wonder – people who closed the doors that leads us into the secret world – or who had the doors closed for them by time and neglect and decisions made in times of weakness.
What are these fundamental principles, if they are not atoms?" "Stories. And they give me hope.
The world is by no means averse to religion. In fact, it is devoted to it with a passion. It will buy any recipe for salvation as long as that formula leaves the responsibility for cooking up salvation firmly in human hands. The world is drowning in religion. But it is scared out of its wits by any mention of the grace that takes the world home gratis.
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