> This brings up a serious question. Can a person with a scientific
> mind set ever have the "certainty" that seems to be required for peak
> performance in many fields of endeavor?
I think so, but you have to temporarily leave the analytic/sceptic way of
thinking. It is a great tool to use to orient oneself, but slightly
limiting when you have set your course and want to DO it. Always finding
new possibilities and evaluating them reduces our mental focus, sometimes
we have to "be one" with the task, and just do it.
I borrow mental tricks from various religions and ideologies, or make them
up myself. For example, I have found that chanting a nonsense mantra is
quite helpful to do some feats of strength or stamina.
Another way would be to carefully think about your major goals in life,
analyse how they can be achieved, think about what these subgoals mean and
how they can be achieved, and so on until you see manageable tasks before
you (today I'm going to read up on biochemistry so I can get closer to my
exam so I can get my Ph.D in nanotechnology so I can help develop the
nanomachines I need to become immortal). And this way you also *feel' that
what you do moves you forward towards your great goals.
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Anders Sandberg Towards Ascension!
nv91-asa@nada.kth.se http://www.nada.kth.se/~nv91-asa/main.html
GCS/M/S/O d++ -p+ c++++ !l u+ e++ m++ s+/+ n--- h+/* f+ g+ w++ t+ r+ !y