Dr. Andrew Belaveshkin

Posts

Respect for reality as a duty of a true gentleman

What we “see” is a mixture of two completely different streams of information — a top-down and a bottom-up one. One comes from sensory organs, the other from our expectations — and they can blend in the most bizarre ways. When reality is very bad, when there is neither strength nor desire to engage with it, and there is a desperate longing and expectation for improvement and hope — then we begin to go blind. We stop seeing reality and start seeing our own desires, taking what is wished for as what is real. This self-deception effect is well described in the writings of people who survived concentration camps (both Nazi and Soviet). Prisoners begin to believe that the guards actually sympathize with them and are completely on their side — only secretly. Their brain, like Skinner’s pigeon, begins to interpret the most ordinary gestures and words as hidden codes of support and sympathy. And the cruelty of the guards is interpreted by these prisoners as a form of disgui...

Health is not Everything?!

If you are reading these lines, you are most likely concerned about your health, think about your future, want to become tougher and stronger, live longer and better. Concern about the optimal state of health is already an indication of health since people who live one day simply don’t think about the long-term consequences of their actions. However, you are here, which means that you believe in yourself and are ready to handle various challenges. Referring to the question: “What’s the most important thing for you?” we confidently respond, “Health!” I guess you’d be surprised if I suddenly say that health shouldn’t be your primary goal. After all, we end conversations by wishing each other to stay healthy, and one of the toasts during feasts (which aren’t always healthy) will definitely be to everyone’s health. With all responsibility, I declare that the excessive pursuit of health is a symptom of poor health. A person who sets health as their main goal is certainly unhealthy and...

Practice of verbal awareness

Practice of verbal awareness, or how language shapes thinking. According to the Sapir–Whorf theory of linguistic relativity, the structure and vocabulary of a language can influence how we categorize and perceive the world, especially in the domain of embodiment, where linguistic concepts are tied to bodily and sensory experience. Many effects have been studied: having distinct words for colors improves color discrimination; ways of describing space influence navigation strategies; and in children, the development of an emotion vocabulary is associated with better emotion recognition. When children learn words for emotions, they classify facial expressions more accurately. A lack of words can slow down or limit perception and understanding (!!!) So, the key practical rules are: 1. Use a rich and differentiated vocabulary, not just a couple of words. 2. Think in continua and multisensory terms, rather than black-and-white judgments. 3. Focus on objective characteris...

Breaking the vicious circle

Nobody wants to be sick and weak. Why then do people make many attempts to change and still fail to do so? One of the common reasons is getting into a vicious circle, which over time worsens health and makes breaking out impossible. A vicious circle is like a swamp—the more you try to get out, the stronger it sucks you in. In this case, it is important to understand where it can be broken, and on which link to act. Thoughtless heroic efforts to change at any cost can only worsen the situation. In medicine, a vicious circle is a situation where the disorder itself becomes a factor that supports the same disorder. Cause and effect are connected: for example, with blood loss, the blood supply worsens, which leads to heart failure, which worsens the blood supply even further. The same goes for our habits. For example, the worse we feel, the less we want to move. The less we move, the worse we feel. Don't wait for a "convenient moment" or "inspiration"—just star...

Give Five: 5 health ideas for a better Life (17)

1. Oral health. In addition to regular brushing and flossing, pay attention to tongue cleaning and oral probiotics. These simple measures can help improve the oral microbiome, reduce inflammation, and eliminate unpleasant breath. Tongue cleaning can be done with a specialized scraper or a piece of gauze. Oral probiotics for both children and adults should contain at least two well-studied strains: Streptococcus salivarius K12 and M18. 2. Dynamic working postures. Varying your working posture helps prevent fatigue, reduces excessive sitting, and improves overall work efficiency. Sit when maximum concentration is required, stand during calls, information searches, or reading, and lie down when creative thinking is needed. 3. Self-stimulation through thoughts. Escapism is a common procrastination mechanism that involves retreating into thoughts, reflections, or activities to avoid discomfort or artificially elevate mood. To assess whether your thinking is healthy ...

The Peak–End Rule as a practical principle.

The Peak–End Rule as a practical principle for behavior change. The peak–end rule explains how an overall impression is formed: it is determined by the most intense moment (the peak) and by how the experience ends. Why? Our brains do not have the capacity to remember everything. From an evolutionary perspective, it made sense to retain only those memories that most strongly supported survival. Remembering the most painful and the most pleasurable moments helped us avoid danger or seek out beneficial experiences in the future. How the rule works. The most important moment in lifestyle change is not when you are training in the gym, but when you decide whether or not you will do your next workout. In that moment, you subconsciously weigh many factors: how important your goals are, how well they align with your identity and values, how pleasant or unpleasant your previous experience was, and how pleasant or unpleasant you expect the next one to be. If you...

How ancient democracies worked?

In Cyprus, near ancient Paphos (the village of Kouklia), there are several interesting places, little known even to guides. For example, the excavated top of the Marchellos hill, where remains of the ancient city's wall have been preserved, and nearby — siege towers and embankments. Archaeologists found hundreds of Persian arrowheads and several helmets of the defenders of Paphos. All this is evidence of the Persian siege of Paphos during the uprising of the independent city-states of Cyprus against the Achaemenid Empire in 497 B.C. (approximately 2,500 years ago) under the leadership of Onesilus. But this was only one of the episodes of the fifty-year war of many scattered small Greek poleis against the giant Persian Empire, far superior in population, territory, and wealth. What did the Persians want? “Water and earth.” In the history of these wars there was everything — bribery by the Persians of votes in the Athenian democracy, the overthrow ...