Neurohacking Tutorial 4

Interpreting your Functional Analysis and Designing Your Personal Plan

Updated: July 2009

Before doing this tutorial you should have done a Functional Analysis. During this tutorial we’re going to interpret your analysis and show you what it tells you about your brain. We’ll give you a little more background information first of all and later show you how to work out your personal strategy for NH using your results. We're also going to look at the second golden rule in depth.

If you did an automatic analysis you will be able to skip the calculation parts of this tutorial (although you may be interested in finding out how your results are calculated). Keep your assessment sheet or results handy to check against their interpretation, as you will need this information for your personal plan.

Follow the Right Habit

When you interpret your analysis you'll know a lot more about how your brain networks are performing. Figuring out what you have already developed in the past helps you to draw your own 'map' for developing additional skills and abilities (your personal strategy). During this tutorial you'll also learn more about what human beings are really capable of and how much our behavior is affected by what we are surrounded by and what we take into ourselves.

Your personal strategy can be designed with all this in mind, but there is one thing it must always include, whoever you are, whatever results you get and whatever your strategy is: it will change nothing at all if you don't actually practice it!

“sooner or later you're going to realize just as I did that there's a difference between knowing the path, and walking the path.”

(Morpheus, “The Matrix”)

When you're starting out on a journey, it's good to know where you are starting from now and where you are going. The optimal path always leads towards entelechy, and that means we don't waste time trying to suppress or give up old habits; we focus on developing the new ones that will replace them. That's knowing the path. The new habits we deliberately ingrain into ourselves when we practice take over the old habits' pathways and put us on the path to entelechy -realizing our full potential. That's walking the path.

The first step -actually trying some of this stuff- is not as important as the series of steps coming after it. If you only try stuff out once or twice, you're not going to improve your brain. The whole part about habit is it needs repetition in order to take over those pathways. It's like you need a certain amount of 'flying time' before the genome switches on your warp speed license, okay? Staying on the path is more difficult that stepping onto it in the first place. You have to want to improve and be determined not to turn aside when anxiety strikes. Anxiety will throw you doubt, fear, disbelief, self hatred, confusion, and you will not be conned. Neurohacking is not for wimps. We're starship Captains, and we'll just take evasive maneuvers and keep flying.

“On your side” in Walking the Path is the Empowering Habit of Focusing on Solutions, Not on Problems

These are your 'evasive maneuvers'. If you practice the behaviors that are known solutions, the problems will naturally be solved. But to do so, you have to turn your attention towards walking the path rather than just knowing the path. You have to have the personal experience of doing the practice. This is most crucially true of anxiety reduction and input control.

It's no use knowing how to jack your brain into the database of the genome matrix and access greater abilities if you never press “load”.

Sometimes we have been searching for so long for ways to solve problems that it has become a habit to approach every new thing we learn as a problem-solving exercise, so let us say that from here on in we have to develop the habit of applying solutions instead of behaving as though we are continuing to look for them.

When we only use the same processes in the brain for a long time, the brain shuts down other nets and other kinds of thought, preserving only those modes of thought that have been used and seemed most valuable during our last decade or so of experience in life. These are the 'habitual pathways', and there's no need to change them, because if we use them for the new habits they will change their own connections and rebalance our brain.

This is where developing new habits comes in. These habits are the “right things” the brain should be doing. The practice is the most important part when you want to learn something new or develop a new habit, because knowing the theory about how the brain can be balanced doesn't balance the brain. Learning what the new habits are and why they work is knowing the path. Practicing the new habits is walking the path. You need both.

Working Against You in Walking the Path is Trying to Run Before You Can Walk

You shouldn't go too far too fast. Too much strange new stuff all at once is harder for the brain to adjust to. So be fussy at first -do your anxiety reduction practice and begin input control. When you start to work on the first network that needs adjustment, try each exercise and/or hack just once. Then choose only the two or three that you like the most, and practise those as directed. If you get bored with any of them, choose a different one for a change. Once you can do them really well, try some others. There will be new ones in each tutorial, so you will have an increasing variety to choose from.

If you feel an aversion to some exercise before trying it, ask yourself why you are judging an experience before you've had it. Is there a good reason (like, “I can't do the balance exercise because I have no legs”) or is anxiety trying to control your freedom of experience? If so, slow down and do some anxiety reduction until you realize that it's no big deal to try something once, and remember that we're here to try out new experiences; that's what walking the path IS, dude.

Whenever we initiate a change of habits, even a positive one, we activate the neurochemicals for learning. If anxiety is high, Cortisol will rise and the unconscious mind will oppose or run from whatever we're trying to do. Steady, small steps in habit-changing don't set off anxiety, but rather keep us in the alert attentive mode where we have access to our creativity and playfulness.

So regularity and moderation are the keys to fast learning and productive change. If too much is new, the challenge is so far beyond our current experience as to be overwhelming. If not enough is new, boredom or disinterest prevent practice. It's that entelechy zone in the middle we need —activities that at first feel a bit awkward and unfamiliar but still interesting and effective are those during which true change occurs. In this zone you will experience small but continuous improvements, and then (when practice becomes habitual) sudden changes of awareness followed by larger improvements. This is the natural way the brain learns.

After the initial confusion of confronting the new, the mind begins organizing the new input, ultimately creating new synaptic connections as the process is repeated enough. But if, during creation of that new habit, anxiety steps in and protests against taking the unfamiliar path, you get stuck before you've started and keep trying to start your practice but flunk out over and over again. This too is a habit! And like any other it burns its own neural pathways and favors them over all others. Always keep your eye on anxiety levels and take on only as much 'new' stuff as you feel comfortable with but interested by.

It is also best of new habits are sufficiently similar to the old to be more like a variation than a totally new experience. You are probably either left- or right-handed, and if you try to write with the other hand it may feel extremely awkward, even though you already know how to write. Your brain has made familiar, habitual pathways, and this shows up in scanning.

When an FA is done in hospitals, MRIs are usually taken and correlations established. Most 'normal' brains show some hemispheric dominance (just as most people are not ambidextrous). It's useful to check for your hemispheric dominance because it isn't always established by handedness. If someone has particular skills related more to networks on the left than on the right or vice versa, this will influence dominance too. Hemispheric dominance will naturally tend to affect your analysis results and your personal strategy because if you have a strong dominant network it may be susceptible to wronguse, so it's important to know what it's doing, plus this will alter the way in which you should wire some mind machines, if you use them.

Hemispheric dominance isn't always related to handedness, but it is related to vision. You will almost certainly have a dominant eye on the opposite side to your dominant hemisphere. We know this because in recent years scientists have used neuroimaging techniques and single-cell recording techniques to identify neural events responsible for the perceptual dominance of a given image, and for the associated hemispheric dominance. Since most of us don't have a brain scanner, here are two low-tech methods of checking the same thing:

DO IT NOW

Checking For Hemispheric Dominance Without an MRI

Method 1: Look through a paper tube at a white wall with your right eye and hold your left hand in front of your left eye a couple of inches away. After a few seconds, it may appear as though a white hole appears in your hand, then disappears, then reappears.

If no white hole appears at all, you probably have left eye (and right hemisphere) dominance.

If the hole appears and remains, you probably have right eye (and left hemisphere) dominance.

Method 2: Make two cardboard tubes, each with a circle of tracing paper taped onto the ends bearing a different design (simple shapes like a square and a star will suffice). Place the open ends of the tubes over each eye with eyes closed, turn towards the light and look through the tubes. You should see one of the shapes first, and whichever you see, that eyeball (and the OPPOSITE brain hemisphere) is dominant.

Make a note in your Captain's log if you detect strong hemispheric dominance.

Who Are You - Personality Reloaded

The process of mapping the factors of human intelligence to individual brain networks, locating the precise brain activity that creates specific experiences and behavioral responses, is currently engaging some of the finest neuroscientists in the world. For neurohackers, the discoveries are priceless, because they are giving us much greater understanding about the mind, intelligence, behavior, and consequently of the most fundamental of mysteries that we ever encounter –ourselves!

The behavior of networks in different conditions is now demonstrable. It is now possible to locate and observe the brain processes underlying joy, love, learning and interaction, as well track the development of obsession, violence, depression and misunderstanding. We can detect the physical and physiological signs in networks of even complex qualities of mind such as humor, spirituality, gregariousness, bonding, empathy and self-awareness. As we noted in the last tutorial, the brain has finally come out of the closet, and we think that’s absolutely marvelous.

These discoveries are also of immense cultural and practical importance because they pave the way for human beings to recreate and develop ourselves mentally through neurohacking in ways that have previously only been described in science fiction. As knowledge of the human genome is allowing human beings to manipulate the fundamental physical processes that give rise to genetic disorders, so brain scanning and mapping is proving to be the perfect navigational tool required to outline and manipulate brain and mind function in precise and radical ways.

Unlike genetic engineering though, manipulating networks does not depend on waiting for the development of expensive new technology. All it will take us is the use of currently existing methods and tools; for example input control, drugs, implants, mind machines, electrical or magnetic manipulation or psychological techniques.

As neurohackers, it will soon be possible to target intervention so finely that an intelligent individual’s state of mind [and thus behavior] will be almost entirely autonomous. We would like you to think about the implications of this, and consider a future where those who want it can have a lot more free will, autonomy, control and awareness with regard to their own mental health, their moods, and their mental abilities.

The notion of personality is another area where we have been forced to abandon old hypotheses for new. It used to be believed that personality was genetically determined and due to people having innate “traits”, such as honesty or dishonesty, extroversion or introversion, happiness or sadness. This gave credence to two contradictory ideas. One was the idea of 'deterministic blamelessness', where none of us is to blame for bad behavior, since it's “in our nature” to act out what our genes have determined we must be like (in other words there is no free will). Yet the other attributed blame for everything to individuals' “traits” rather than responses to different circumstances made from different experience (this is now called the 'fundamental attribution error'. Academics are in the habit of bestowing complex names on things; even upon their own mistakes).

The current model of personality is very different. Personality is now known to be dynamic, not fixed, Nurture and examples from others play a big part in its development, as can trauma, malnourishment or neglect. And because our response to input remains adaptive for our whole lives; it is never too late to change.

Major personality changes occur through learning, experience and interaction all the time, often through an accumulation of many small changes.

Biological psychology in general, and Carl Rogers (who designed the model of personality we use in these tutorials) in particular, see people as basically good and healthy, or at very least, when in a healthy state never bad or anxious. In other words, good mental health is seen as the ‘normal’, natural progression of life, and mental illness, non-defensive violence, and other human problems, as distortions of that natural tendency caused by dysfunction, however minor.

Rogers’ ‘personality theory’ is built on the natural striving of intelligence for entelechy (optimal development), that he calls the actualizing tendency. It could be defined as “the built-in motivation present in every life-form to develop its potential to the fullest extent possible and become as adaptable as possible”: the intent for entelechy. We’re not just evolved for bare survival, but for thriving, growing and improving as well.

Entelechy encompasses all the other motivations we have. It includes why we want all the things in the 'important' list above, why we need self-respect, love, and a sense of competence, why we seek to explore strange new worlds, discover new truths, invent new things, or create new works of art. We do all this because according to personality theory it is in our nature as healthy living things to do the very best we can. We are designed to shine; to be stars in biology’s crown, the blockbusters of her evolutionary career in creative play.

What's Important

Psychologist Carl Rogers, whose theory of personality is currently prevalent, believes that all healthy creatures naturally strive to make the very best of their existence. If they fail to do so, there is some dysfunction. Something has got in the way.

Optimal development emerges from a certain process rather than a static state. Rogers describes this as the good life where the organism continually pursues entelechy and aims to fulfill their full potential. The possibility for change in any individual is much greater than was previously believed. With this knowledge comes the responsibility to use it beneficially, which is what input control is all about. Directing your own development is by far the easiest way to make sure it's beneficial, and in any case, why would anyone want to let others determine the course of their lives?

This is where walking the path matters a lot more than knowing the path. When we begin a journey, we do not know the path, the whole point is it's new territory; but what we have here for you is maps, and from them you can build a strategy. You may be surprised at how much easier a journey can be, when you have a good strategy.

We said earlier in this tutorial that when you're starting out on a journey, it's good to know where you are starting from now and where you are going. It's also good to know what's really important, how to organize the journey (how to actually get from A to B) what you are likely to encounter on the way and why you are making the journey in the first place. We'll address all these issues during this tutorial, so you can form a mental map of the overall territory.

You should keep your functional analysis in your Captain's log, and if you're new to the mystical art of keeping records, it will give you a few surprises in times to come. The first thing that may surprise you is how much of it you won't remember. If you've ever kept records of your progress in anything before, it is likely that they're either academic or about some kind of competitive sport or game, and you'll tend to remember the highlights -the important bits- highest scores, comparison to others, results of tests or competitions. Here there is no competition, no grades and no 'scores' that matter apart from giving us the data to work things out.

This is why the tutorials emphasize the important bits to remember. We tend to forget things unless we register them as important. The trouble is, we are in the habit of paying attention to whatever we have been taught is important, and most of us are not taught by biology or intelligence. Knowing what's important both overall and in any given situation, if you're intelligent, is the same thing as knowing what you need. There are things that you need to happen, things that you need to do, and things that you need to know, in order to interact well. When you are certain about what's really important you can see your priorities clearly and it gets much easier to make good decisions. 

So this is another new habit you can begin -start noticing, understanding and prioritizing what's really important.

DO IT NOW - Importance Reloaded

Rank the following things in order of importance, most to least (this may not be a particularly easy thing to do, but have a go):

• enough to eat
• freedom
• intelligence
• your sanity
• safe drinking water
• interaction
• shelter and warmth
• being alive
• happiness and love
• getting enough sleep
• your physical health
• spiritual awareness
• protection from harm
• trustworthy allies (loved ones)
• self awareness

Now read this story:

A little boy and a little girl are in the bath. The little boy points to his penis and says “How come you don't have one of these?” The little girl replies, “Because I've got one of these, and that means I can get one of those any time I need one.”

With this idea in mind, “If I have this I can get that anytime”, look at the order you placed things in above. Does this idea allow you to change the order?

You will find that there are only a few things on the list necessary in order to get all the rest anytime you need to. If you are alive and intelligent you can engineer or accomplish all the rest.

Absolutely everything you need for a high quality life depends on these basics above. Some of the things on this list cannot ever be bought, made with technology or exchanged for goods or services. Nevertheless, they are the first things you need in life and they continue to be the most important things you will ever need throughout life.

This is important: If you achieve the most important two, life and intelligence, all the rest (and everything that depends on them) will be accessible automatically.

If you think, therefore, that you have multiple goals, you are mistaken. As long as you are alive the single goal is intelligence, because all your other aims, all the doors you wish to open and the places you wish to go and the things you wish to achieve, will become possible once you develop and use this master key. It is intelligence that aligns us with the path.

Who Are You 2 - Humanity Reloaded

“All we are saying, is give peace a chance”

(John Lennon)

The view of 'human nature' in general is also undergoing a radical transformation. We are not, contrary to almost universal current belief, 'naturally' provocatively violent or warlike.

This may be SO contrary to what virtually everybody believes that it may seem absurd. But remember, once (not too long ago) virtually everybody believed that the sun orbited the earth and mental illness was caused by demons. Today, virtually everybody (possibly including you) believes that humankind has a “nature” for violence, bloodshed and warfare that we will probably never transcend.

Almost all accounts of human behavior emphasize conflict. Many people come to believe (as it is constantly portrayed on TV) that we are simply all assholes in the same big toilet. Enough pressure, and we blithely slaughter one other.

We don't subscribe to that destructive point of view, because we've seen the evidence that hasn't yet gone public. (The science that isn't in any way interesting to the media because it doesn't have sex and violence in it).

A common theme among neurohackers is a deep and enduring intuition that humans, at root, are “goodies”. We're the good guys; we can certainly use violence to defend ourselves, but in optimal conditions we are peaceful, intelligent, creative creatures and it is not a part of “human nature” to be warlike.

This belief may seem at first irrational and 'hippy-dreamworld' in the face of all the “evidence” all around us of humanity's violence and ills. Many believe that humanity gets nasty when we do not live in optimal conditions; for example the belief that we get violent and fight when there are too few resources or too high a population for everything we need to go around, especially when there are unequal power groups and accessibility is prejudiced.

That sounds a bit more rational, and it's closer to the truth, because these conditions are a threat to survival, but once again the evidence points to us not quite perceiving the whole truth because not all violence is about resources or status (how does self-harm, child abuse, killing potential allies or beating your partner up increase your resources or status?)

The belief in the “human nature” of violence is one of the biggest con-jobs the public has ever been taken by, and it turns out that this belief is the equivalent of saying that humanity is “naturally” insane! We would like to share with you the 'busting' of the 'violent human nature' myth here. In fact you can come with us through the clues to this mystery and try to guess “whodunnit”...

First Clue

Our first clue is that in real life, it is enormously more common for humans to be cooperative and to attempt to get along than it is for them to be uncooperative and aggressive towards one another, but we don't notice this. We don't notice the statistics because it's not newsworthy that billions of people didn't rape or kill anyone today, so the media don't talk about that very much, busy as they are talking (and worrying) about the TV newsrooms' anxiety-based portrayal of 'reality'.

'News' is short for 'New things'. The news about 'the usual' is boring, the news must pick out the extremely UNusual to get attention and viewers. Evening news broadcasts actually follow the rule: "if it bleeds, it leads". The media portrayal of human behavior takes a constant focus on violence and warfare that is completely disproportionate to what goes on in real life. The vast majority of people are just not violent or warmongers, but our attention is constantly focused on a media diet of stories about the tiny minority who are.

The media view assumes "we're some kind of automata where aggressive genes force us to pick up knives and guns like zombies and attack each other without any thoughts going through our heads", says psychologist Steven Pinker of Harvard University US, War is not in our DNA. And if warfare is not innate then neither is it inevitable.

Changes in the rate of warfare and homicide, says Pinker, cannot be explained by changes in ‘human nature’ over such a relatively short period. Cultural changes and changes in attitude must be responsible, he says. A growing number of experts are now revealing that the urge to wage war is NOT innate, and that understanding its real causes could well move humanity in a direction that could make war a thing of the past. And the information is there already; it only needs a critical mass of people to understand what's going on and to do something about it.

Robert Sussman, an anthropologist from Washington University US calls the 'violent nature' myth the perpetuation of the "5 o'clock news" view of human nature.

Currently, anthropologist Douglas Fry of Åbo Akademi University, Finland, identifies 74 (current) "non-warring cultures" that contradict the idea that war is inevitable. Fry points out that hunter-gatherers in the modern era show little or no genuine warfare (defined as 'organized fighting between rival groups').

Instead, humans "have a substantial capacity for dealing with conflicts non-violently", he says. One group might simply walk away from the other. Alternatively, an objective third party might mediate a resolution. Cooperation is much more likely.

These examples are crucial, Fry says, because (and we want you to think hard about this, dudes), our ancestors lived as hunter-gatherers from the first emergence of the Homo lineage around 2 MILLION years ago until the appearance of permanent settlements and agriculture less than 20,000 years ago. It's hard for humans to get a perspective on these kinds of relative periods of time, but that lifestyle constitutes more than 99% of our evolutionary history as Homo, during which there is no evidence of any homicidal tendencies, and many groups still leading that lifestyle remain violence-free now. 

As Brian Ferguson of Rutgers University, New Jersey, points out , there is nothing in the fossil or archaeological record supporting the claim that our ancestors have been waging war against each other for hundreds of thousands, let alone millions, of years. In fact, the first clear-cut evidence of violence between groups appears about 14,000 years ago, he says. Suddenly we find mass graves of skeletons with crushed skulls, hack marks and projectile points embedded in them; rock art in Australia, Europe and elsewhere depicting battles, and settlements clearly fortified for protection against attacks.

Q: What else changed suddenly at the same time?

(If you guessed better technology, you're mistaken.)

A: War began when humans shifted from a hunter-gatherer lifestyle to one that was commonly tied to agriculture, Ferguson says.

Second Clue

Our second clue comes from the field of paleopathology (the study of disease by analyzing ancient remains).

Paleopathologists studying ancient skeletons from Greece and Turkey found that the average height of hunter-gatherers [both male and female] in that region towards the end of the ice age was a generous 5’ 8”. With the adoption of agriculture, height crashed, reaching by 4000BC an average of 5’ 2”. By classical times, heights were slowly on the rise again, but modern Greeks & Turks have still not regained the overall average heights of their hunter-gatherer ancestors.

Another discovery by paleopathologists concerns thousands of Native American skeletons from the Illinois and Ohio River valleys. Corn, first domesticated in Central America thousands of years ago, became the basis of intensive farming in those valleys around 1000AD. Until then, American hunter-gatherers had skeletons “so healthy it is somewhat discouraging to work with them” [as one paleopathologist complained].

With the arrival of corn, American skeletons became ‘interesting’ to study... The number of cavities in an average adults teeth jumped from one to seven, and tooth loss and abscesses became rampant. Enamel defects in children’s milk teeth imply that pregnant and nursing mothers were severely undernourished. Anemia quadrupled in frequency, tuberculosis became established as an epidemic disease, half the population suffered from Yaws or Syphillis, and two-thirds suffered from osteoarthritis and other degenerative diseases.

Mortality rates at all ages increased, with the result that only one percent of the population survived past the age of 50. Almost one-fifth of the entire population died between the ages of birth and four, probably because weaned toddlers succumbed to malnutrition and infectious diseases. Thus corn, usually considered among the New World’s blessings, actually proved to be a public health disaster. Similar conclusions about the transition from hunting to farming emerge from studies of skeletons all over the world.

Third Clue

Our third clue is knowing that the type of malnutrition suffered by people on high GI diets causes metabolic syndrome (hypertension and glucose intolerance). There is now substantial evidence that circulating cortisol concentrations are higher in people with metabolic syndrome.

Hunter gatherers enjoyed a varied diet with adequate amounts of protein, vitamins and minerals, while farmers obtained most of their calories from starchy crops. In effect, humanity gained cheap calories at the cost of poor nutrition. The population would 'appear' at first to be getting healthier -on constant high GI foods it would certainly be getting fatter, maturing faster and ageing more quickly. The immune system would also be poor.

Most of today’s leading infectious diseases could not become established in hunter-gatherer communities. These diseases persist only in societies of crowded, malnourished, sedentary people constantly reinfected by each other and their own sewage. Almost all infectious diseases that humans suffer today have their origin in zoonoses from farm animals [viruses and bacterial diseases have ‘jumped ship’ and evolved to infect the humans tending these animals, thus spreading to the general population.]

Because of dependence on one or a few crops, farmers ran a much greater risk of starvation if the crop failed than did hunter-gatherers. [The Irish potato famine is just one example]. If a large population expecting large amounts of food suddenly has very little, those unable to move on or hunt are reduced to surviving through scavenging and theft (and in some cases, cannibalism).

But besides malnutrition, famine and epidemic diseases, farming brought another problem to humanity –class divisions.

Only in a farming population could contrasts between disease-ridden masses and a healthy, non-producing elite develop. Among archaeologists, skeletons of the ‘elite’ are distinguished not just by expensive grave goods or ornate burial, but by a four-fold lower rate of bone lesions from epidemic diseases.

Farming exacerbated sexual inequality; women became the beasts of burden, were drained by more frequent pregnancies than their long-term breast-feeding hunter-gather sisters, and suffered poorer health than men.

Fourth Clue

It is understandable then, that in this environment they had created for themselves -one based on agriculture- such societies were going to experience a high level of anxiety, and here is our final clue -if a pregnant woman is malnourished and anxious, her blood chemistry alters the development of the fetus in the womb. Rear networks overdevelop (the genome is getting the message that whatever is born had better have a huge muscular and skeletal system in order to catch its dinner and defend itself from all this danger). The truth is, the fetus is constantly injected with anabolic steroids. This stimulation and fast growth of rear networks can only happen at the expense of frontal networks, which underdevelop because when the brain is under the influence of cortisol, blood supply favors rear networks. (the mother's rear nets will also enlarge and her frontal nets shrink).

This results in a population with a low capacity for cognitive reasoning and a high capacity for both anxiety and violence unless the brain imbalance is addressed. It always can be, but in some people it never is.

We have at this stage enough 'clues' to confidently reject the fatalistic belief that warfare is in any way “innate”. Rather than being a product of our genes, warfare occurs in response to mental damage brought on by a dysfunctional lifestyle. The idea about lack of resources is partly correct, but these people didn't lack food, they lacked nutrients and they got dumb and they created a society based on their own anxiety. The resource they needed most was peace of mind. Anxiety had claimed its first casualties.

Violence is not a biological compulsion but a behavior induced by dysfunction, often due to the epigenetic changes brought on by environmental conditions such as overcrowding and malnutrition. Even then it is far from inevitable, as the variability in warmongering between groups and across time attests. But put simply, the majority of people's lifestyles are sending them mentally unbalanced and senile, and have been ever since anxiety started imposing borders and boundaries that get in the way of intelligence.

“I know you're out there. I can feel you now. I know that you're afraid... you're afraid of us. You're afraid of change. I don't know the future. I didn't come here to tell you how this is going to end. I came here to tell you how it's going to begin. I'm going to hang up this phone, and then I'm going to show these people what you don't want them to see. I'm going to show them a world without you. A world without rules and controls, without borders or boundaries. A world where anything is possible. Where we go from there is a choice I leave to you.“

(Neo, “The Matrix”)

We now know “whodunnit”, We dunnit, but we dunnit by accident because a lot of things we are supposed to be able to do to adapt in emergencies (like survive on corn flakes) we started doing all the time.

We also know this situation can be changed, because this is how evolution evolves; by adapting in response to fuckups. In human beings it needs to use our intelligence to do that, without anything getting in the way. Evolution built this complex system of your brain to hack obstacles, adapt, repair and upgrade itself, and after 2 million years' practice and experience, evolution's kung fu is the best.

With this knowledge, comes free will. We no longer have the ill-fitting figleaves of “genetics” or “innate” to hide behind as excuses for violence. Our nature is shaped by our environment and experience, and with the knowledge of how to change both we have the free will to change both.

What Happens When Things Go Wrong?

Q: Do these discoveries about lifestyle and health mean we have to live in wooden huts, go hunting, and avoid technology in order to develop intelligence?

A: No. The fact that you are reading this online should answer that one. Our technology is just as relevant to us as our ancestors' technology of spears, clothes and wooden huts was to them. We interact with matter and we create organized complexity, and this can improve our adaptability. There is nothing wrong with technology; it is how we use it that matters. Understanding the biological conditions that decrease intelligence and promote violence and war also suggests ways to limit it without such fundamental changes.

First of all we have to recognize the truth and stop making excuses

Nobody is to blame. We are naturally trusting beings, and we have all been laboring under the illusion that everything was hunky dory and normal. If we doubted it, we blamed ourselves for not understanding it. In every age so far, society's 'maps' of reality and of ourselves and our species have been constructed to explain illogical violent behavior as 'normal'. We have believed “It's human nature” to go so nuts we kill one another and/or ourselves. We even do it in big groups in competition over bits of land containing the very resources that make us sick and leave shit everywhere.

We have believed god told us to do it. We have burned witches, said that the enemies were monsters or demons. We have claimed it's in our genes; we are their victims, we have put ourselves through centuries of anxiety-increasing guilt believing that we are born naturally as 'the baddies' (sinners). We have soaked up countless plays, books and movies portraying how dreadful humans are over the centuries, and never once has it occurred to us that all we are portraying is how dysfunctional humans can become when anything interferes with the healthy development of their intelligence. Anxiety gives us the equivalent of a pre frontal lobotomy and we consider this normal because everybody else has had one.

We have even twisted scientific discovery in the context of Darwin's observations into the “five o'clock news” mentality and claimed that evolution happens because of competition, forgetting how he stressed cooperation, adaptation and variation in natural selection.

Healthy competition is vital for a group to find out who can do what things best -for the whole group. If you're an intelligent group it's in the interests of your survival to know who is your fastest runner, who has the best memory, who designs and builds the best hardware, and who's your best medic. This is why we play online games and physical sports -notice the word PLAY. Play is always in the interests of survival through entelechy. It keeps you on the path.

Competition for 'status' related to resources is particularly stupid, because everyone is 'best' at something different. If only the biggest or fastest or strongest get food, most of the tribe may die of the next disease because the smartest herbalist starved.

Drawing from hundreds of studies, Social Scientist Alfie Kohn eloquently argues that our constant efforts to defeat each other for no good reason --at work, at school, at play, and at home -- turns all of us into losers. We lose the very factors of intelligence we need in order to improve ourselves if we don’t focus on working cooperatively instead of struggling to be Number One.

Kohn very effectively shows that competition is not an inevitable part of "human nature." It does not motivate us to do our best (in fact, the reason society is in trouble is that it judges social status on values of financial competitiveness instead of ability, excellence and competence.) Rather than developing personality and building character, competition sabotages self-esteem and ruins relationships. It warps creativity and play -in sports and recreation by turning the playing field into a battlefield for prize money, and in art by offering hugely more financial reward for portraying society's ideals or contributing to an input of sex and violence guaranteed to remind the population how terrible and scary real life is.

Creativity and intrinsic interest in any task diminish if the task is done intentionally for financial gain. There is no biological intent behind our efforts if they are not autonomous; in other words if we were ordered to do them or coerced into doing them, because this is conditional worth. The mind knows unconsciously that this is not a task worth wasting energy on, and we lose motivation.

It is obvious both that we can be extremely competitive and that we are able to use extreme violence if need be, for example to defend ourselves against predators, An attacking lion is worth competing with if you want to live. But it is our nature to be cooperative, peaceful, adaptable, explorative and alliance-seeking. These skills promote survival and thriving more than any other course of behavior.

We have been told that we were everything from victims to sinners, and we will now have to stand up and face the stark truth -we are “naturally” really nice, really cool dudes. No intelligent human would destroy a potential ally, because in the group survival-and-thriving game it is the equivalent of cutting off one of your own fingers! An ally shaken by the hand is worth much more -personally and to the group- than two enemies in the bush.*

We are designed by biology to play -and healthy sporting or competition IS play, bizarrely it is a kind of cooperation; an interaction in which we set our skills against each other to discover truths for the good of the group; it is the rear-network version of frontal net skills creativity (in which we compete by putting things together for the best designs, inventions and most effective ideas and stories for the good of the group), and scientific argument (in which we compete by taking things apart and setting theories against each other to discover truths for the good of the group).

You may have found out a lot of unexpected things today. This knowledge will unfold a great deal for you as your mind assimilates it and makes associations over the next few days, weeks or months, if you understand it you will realize things not just about yourself but also about others, their behavior, and their state of mind. As we progress through the tutorials we will show you techniques for conflict reduction and resolution in personal and group situations. This opens up a whole new door to successful relationships and social interaction. We'll also show you techniques to turn a dull task into something you can use for improvement.

Incongruity

The biological aspect of your being that strives for entelechy needs and receives positive regard and self-regard. Rogers' personality theory calls this the real self. It is the “you” as the optimal intelligence that if all goes well you will become.

To the extent that our society is out of sync with “the path” (entelechy), we are forced to live with conditions of worth that are out of step with our biology. In an anxiety-based environment we receive only conditional positive regard from teachers and grown ups (“You're only 'good' if you do what I want”) and so we develop conditional self-regard, trying to be like society's ‘ideal self’ (the ‘ideal’ of society).

By ‘ideal’ here, Rogers is suggesting something not real; something synthetic and idealized (idolized) that is always out of our reach, a standard we can’t meet because to aspire to that idealized contrived 'personality' we are forced to do things that degrade our self worth and things that harm us and make us sick and dumb. The more we strive for society's ideal, the more of these things we must do, the more dysfunctional we become.

“You are not yourself!”

(Frodo, when Boromir goes mad, 'Lord of the Rings')

This gap between the real self and the ideal self, between the person that biology and intelligence need in order to follow the path to thriving and the person who society ideally wants, is called incongruity. The greater the gap, the more incongruity. The more incongruity, the more anxiety. In fact, incongruity is essentially what is meant by neurosis: Being out of sync with your own self.

When you are in a situation where there is an incongruity between your image of yourself and your immediate experience of yourself (i.e. between the real and the ‘ideal’ self), you are in a threatening situation. For example, imagine if you have been taught by society and your parents to feel unworthy if you do not get top marks on all your school tests, and yet you aren't really all that interested in some subjects, and your own biology has designed your brain to grow intelligence by avoiding the activities that bore you and chasing those that excite you, then situations such as school tests are going to bring that incongruity to light and will be very threatening.

When you are expecting a threatening situation, you will feel anxiety. Anxiety is a signal indicating neurochemical imbalance, but the constant uneasiness high Cortisol levels promote convinces you (often unconsciously) that you really are threatened by the situation. In this state of mind if you go ahead, your performance WILL be poor, for obvious reasons, so you cannot win! One way to avoid threatening situations is to run away from them and isolate yourself. Another is to attack. Often instead of running or attacking physically, we run or attack psychologically, by using defenses.

“You have to understand, most of these people are not ready to be unplugged. And many of them are so inured, so hopelessly dependent on the system, that they will fight to protect it.”

(Morpheus, “The Matrix”)

Rogers suggests that the incongruous individual who is always on the defensive and cannot be open to all experiences is not functioning ideally; i.e., is dysfunctional. They work hard at maintaining/protecting their self concept. Because unconsciously they know their lives are not authentic this is a difficult task and they are under constant threat. They deploy defense mechanisms to achieve this. He describes two mechanisms: distortion and denial.

Distortion occurs because the anxious individual constantly perceives a threat and distorts their perception of events so that it fits their anxious view of reality. Denial follows the same process except instead of distorting they deny the threat exists.

Defensive behaviors reduce our conscious awareness of the anxiety but not the anxiety itself. As the threats mount, the work of protecting the 'reality' view becomes more difficult and the individual more defensive, stuck and rigid in their habitual self structure. If the incongruity continues this process eventually leads the individual to a state that would typically be described as neurotic. Their functioning becomes precarious and psychologically vulnerable. If the situation worsens it is possible that the defenses will cease to function altogether and the individual becomes aware of the incongruity of their situation. Their personality becomes disorganized and bizarre, irrational behavior, associated with earlier denied aspects of development, may erupt uncontrollably.

Unfortunately, every time we use a defense, we put a greater distance between the real and the ‘ideal’. We become ever more incongruous, and find ourselves in more and more ‘threatening’ situations, develop greater and greater levels of anxiety, and use more and more defenses.... It becomes a vicious cycle that the person eventually is unable to get out of, at least on their own.

A Different Sort of Matrix

Incongruity is a key way in which people get what is called ‘stuck in a matrix’. In biological terminology, a ‘matrix’ is a context in which one phase of growth & development can take place. (so this is not at all the same Matrix that Neo was stuck in, it’s a matrix with a little ‘m’.)

We're not going into detail here (if you want to know more before going on, you'll find matrix theory in the theory & research section of the library), but according to matrix theory, different matrices (matrixes) provide such contexts at different stages of our development, ideally (but not essentially) in timed genetic synchrony. In healthy development, the organism “shifts matrix” when one phase of growth is complete, and begins a new phase (in the brain these shifts are marked with brain-growth spurts). If development is interfered with, however, we get “stuck in a matrix”, and currently this happens to the majority of us. Anxiety reduction and input control are two ways which help to get us “unstuck” and back to congruity, at which point the development of intelligence continues. If we don’t get unstuck, it doesn’t continue, so many people never fully mature all networks or develop full intelligence.

Behave as though it's happening, and the brain will think it's happening

You already know that input control is an important key for adjusting personality, behavior, health and intelligence. Here you will discover how pervasive simple, everyday influences are and why it makes such a big difference when you adjust a lot of little things. Who you are today is largely the result of what input you have experienced in the past, but who you are tomorrow is largely the result of what input you are experiencing today.

Do you remember our description of input control from tutorial 2?

Changes in the inner environment (your brain chemistry) in response to changes in the overall environment are what signals the genome. Input control is all about making beneficial changes happen on purpose in that 'inner environment' by manipulating input from the overall environment.

You can also induce these beneficial changes by manipulating input from yourself!

You may not yet know of the power of input control to the unconscious mind from yourself; in the words you speak and the ways that you behave. The ideal state of mind for growth, development and learning is that of creative play; an attitude that is childlike rather than childish, and one of the most powerful types of play is imitative play. If you behave as though you are a more intelligent, more autonomous, more confident person, your brain will happily adjust neurotransmission to match your new behavior and without having to work at it you'll become the person you are imagining yourself to be. 

The power of mimicry is obvious on the environmental level, because it's how we interact and learn, we are natural 'mimics'; to learn a procedure we 'behave more like the teacher' and copy their behavior and/or train of thought (forging the same pathways in our own minds) but it is also true on an unconscious level; it's a part of how bonding happens in healthy relationships, and also how empathy functions.

Unconscious signals induce mimicry as much as or even more than conscious ones. Your own behavior signals your genome, requesting production of the relevant proteins to match body state with mind state. Confident, light-hearted behavior and play induce the neurochemical balance best for learning and adaptation.

This works the other way round too! Every time you don't keep integrity to your 'real self' as Rogers calls it, your brain gets a checksum error between unconscious and conscious input because the signals do not match up. This is what Rogers means by incongruity, and without it we lose our natural morality, because the world no longer makes sense.

If you want to affect real change and improvement in your life, and experience reality with a powerful intelligence, behave as though it has already happened. Enjoy being that real you. The more you play at being them and doing what they would do and saying what they would say, the more you are literally becoming your real self.

You'll also become much more aware of the effect of others' behavior on our unconscious minds, and how people seem to 'catch' anxiety from each other, so for your own health avoid mimicking dummies and start copying the intelligent dudes.

DO IT NOW

Spot Examples of Unconscious Mimicry

You can do this is real life situations watching real people, or in movies. Look for situations where one person's anxious behavior appears to make another person become anxious. Who throws the second punch? How is group behavior on the street different from individual behavior on the street? How do people attracted to each other change their body language?

How do you behave differently when with a group? Do you feel yourself getting more anxious in situations when someone is behaving stupidly, or suddenly panicking when confronted by an idiot? Learn to recognize that moment -that is exactly when your unconscious needs an explanation. Once you get used to recognizing situations like this you can learn techniques for beneficial, non-violent conflict resolution.

Notes

*Why two? Because if you piss off a dumb dude they always come back the next day with a mate and big sticks

Interpreting Your Functional Analysis

If you did an automatic FA, you will have a results page that has a top area like this (we have used a random student's example figures):

 Fig1

Your own percentage figures may be totally different. In any case, this section shows you how much of each network is doing what it should be doing (the white section) and this is the equivalent of your "F" (Functional) score in the interpretation notes below.

The wronguse score (the black section) is the equivalent of your "O" (Occupied) score in the interpretation notes below.

The nonuse score (the gray section) is the equivalent of your "N" (Nonuse) score in the interpretation notes below.

The bottom area should look like this (we have used a random student's example figures):

Fig2

This section shows the equivalent of the 'whole brain scores' in a manual analysis (see interpretation notes below)

Now scroll down to the interpretation notes (or continue reading the next section if you want to see how your scores were worked out). 

If you did a manual analysis, you will need your assessment sheet, and you may need somewhere to write down some calculations in rough as you’re going along. [If you don’t like doing calculations, grab a calculator.]

If you are absolutely awful at understanding arithmetic don’t worry; we’ve worked through this in a way that should enable anyone to get their results right regardless, if they follow the instructions.

We've also provided our own examples from previous students throughout. 

Step 1

At the end of your functional analysis you should be left with three ‘scores’ for every network, that are labelled ‘F‘, ‘O’, and ‘N’. You should have written these in the left hand column of your assessment sheet, in rows corresponding to the networks. Check that you have done this before going on. Based on the results of our example student [the same example we shall use throughout], their scores looked like this:

Fig3

Ignoring the letters beside your scores for the moment, work through one network at a time and add the three different scores together for each network.

Our example student's results came out like this:

Fig4

Don’t worry if your numbers are nothing like theirs; everybody's are different and this is just an example. Your totals can be anywhere between 0 and 120 for each network.

On your assessment sheet, these totals go in the second column labeled 'Totals for networks' (like in the example above).

You’ll notice it says ‘100% scores’ beneath the title ‘totals for networks’. That means the total score that you got for each network counts as ‘100%’ for that network. [So in our example, for our network 1 & 2 ‘totals’ score,  45 =100%, and so on for all the totals.] Don't worry if you don't understand this yet.

Step 2

Next you need to make a note for each network of what one percent is for that particular network, to do that get your calculator out (or use google) and divide 100 by each of your totals scores.

The results should go on your assessment sheet in the third column labeled ‘1% figures for each network’.]

In our example, for N1&2 we got 100 / 45 = 2.22. [If you get a recurring number for your result, write down the number only to the first two digits after the decimal point]. These figures represent one percent for the particular networks they relate to. Don't worry if you don't understand that either. We'll explain in more detail when we've got the sheet filled in. Here is our student's example below:

Fig5

Step 3 

Now we’ve filled in the first three columns. Next we go back to your original ‘F’ ‘O’ ‘N’ numbers in column one, and multiply each of them by the ‘one percent’ figure from column three.

Put the results in the next three columns labelled ‘F score’, ‘O score [percentage occupied]’, and ‘N score [percentage unused]’ columns on your assessment sheet; columns 4, 5 and 6.

Look at the example below if you are not sure what to do:

Fig6

You multiply the network scores by the '% scores' and you put the answers in the next three columns.

These are your 'F score', 'O score' and 'N score'; important numbers that tell us what’s going on, so make sure they’re correct.

If you want to double check, if you add all three of these results for any given network you should get a figure between 99 and 100. This is because you almost certainly had to restrict recurring numbers, so don’t worry. (If you end up with a 99-and-a-bit-percent fully functional intelligence through following this program, we think you’ll be too smart to worry about the other bit).

We can now get some information from our sheet before filling in the rest. You will need your Captain's Log to make notes.

Interpretation Notes 

The F score column

The percentage figure you got for ‘F’ in each network indicates how much of each network is currently in really good shape [‘F’ stands for ‘functional’].

The F score shows you what percentage of each network is currently functioning healthily and well. Our example student got 48.84 for networks 1 & 2, (but remember, this represents two networks) so this was pretty low too, and lowest of all was N5. High numbers in the 'F score' column indicate your strongest networks, and low numbers indicate your weakest. You should make a note of the two highest and three lowest in your Captain's log. Here is our student's example:

F scores:

• Strongest networks N4 (78), N3 (31.5)
• Weakest networks N6 (13.52), N5 (17.04) N1 & 2 (48.4 between them -count this as equally shared)

You should choose the EARLIEST weak network to upgrade first. In our student's case this is N1 & 2, even though N6 and N5 have lower scores. We always choose the earliest weak network as the place to start. As soon as you identify this network, begin choosing and collecting your favorite exercises and hacks for that network from the selections in tutorials.

The O score column

The percentage figure you got for ‘O’ in each network will tell you how much of that network is currently being used for the wrong tasks [‘O’ stands for ‘occupied’].

The 'O score' helps you work out what percentage of each network is functioning but currently may be used for the wrong things. [Networks can learn to do each others’ jobs, but it’s a bad habit, because they are never so efficient as when allocated their intended ones. So we don’t just need to know whether your crew is busy; we need to know exactly what they’re up to.]

Our example student got  31.08 in the O score column for networks 1 & 2.

So their personal plan would have included some training for these networks that moved them into the habits of more expedient and beneficial use. [Your ‘O’ score tells you what percentage of that brain network indulges in bad habits!] It's good if this particular percentage is a low one, but don't worry if it's not. It's far better to be aware that we've picked up mental bad habits than never to discover them at all! Improvement is what we're after here, and if we may have to focus a little more on some networks than others, at least we have the bonus of a greater percentage of potential improvement.

You should note that 'mental bad habits' does NOT mean you are thinking or doing 'bad things'. It means your brain has got into a habit of doing things the hard way instead of the easy way (probably originally because some teacher told it to).

Throughout the tutorials we give hacks for changing the habits of wrong use and re-employing the networks for the jobs they were designed for. Processing gets a lot faster, memory improves, and learning becomes much easier.

The N score column

The percentage figure you got for ‘N’ in each network will tell you how much of that network is currently being underused. [‘N’ stands for ‘neutral’].

In our student's case for N 1&2 the figure was 19.98

That means that at the time of the assessment, our example student was hardly ever using almost 20% of networks 1 and 2! So his or her personal n-hacking plan would have included exercises for increasing use of these networks at the same time as hacks for improving their habits.

Throughout the tutorials we give exercises for building up and re-employing underused networks.

At this point you can make a little graphic to show you what each network is doing in detail. Here's an example from our student's data: 

N 1 & 2

N3

The length of the colored bars are adjusted to represent the percentage of the network. (The full width of the page or table represents 100%). The green zone (F score) is the percentage of each network in the entelechy zone. As you can see, our student had quite a lot of 'wronguse' going on in N1 & 2 and a lot of nonuse going on in N3. Sketch yours out like this if you want to and you'll see how much potential you have (the red zones can all be converted to green!)

Now we still have two columns to fill in on your assessment sheet, and they will tell us even more.

Step 4 

Column seven is headed “Current potential possible increase [O + N].” This number is obtained by adding your ‘O’ percentage to your ‘N’ percentage. This will tell you your current potential possible percentage increase in intelligence in each individual network via neurohacking.

These figures go in the seventh column of your assessment sheet (see example below)

Fig7

This is the percentage by which you can improve your current intelligence simply by balancing your networks. It is not the estimated limit of your intelligence because once networks are balanced we can augment abilities. Nobody knows the upper limits to intelligence yet!.

Our example student had the potential to increase the performance of his or her networks 1 & 2 by 51.06 percent [in other words they would be able to more than double their current use of those networks and the abilities associated with them]. This is not unusual; many people find they have a 75% potential increase or even higher in some networks.

If you get a low figure for this percentage in any network it isn’t bad news either, because it more than likely means that your networks are reasonably balanced and you can move on into augmentation. [If we were assessing physical bodies here, a high figure in this column would be your potential to increase your fitness, a low figure would mean you’re already fit and can move on to becoming superfit]. So whatever figure you end up with here is good news.

Step 5

The last column on our sheet is labeled “Whole Brain % scores”.

This is where we work out what percentage of your whole brain is devoted to processing for each network. To do this you add together all the figures in the column labeled “Totals for networks [100% scores]” and put the result in the ‘totals’ row at the bottom of the sheet. (See our example below)

Fig8

Ours came to 263

For the next calculation, this figure now becomes your '100%'. Don't worry if you don't understand that; as long as you follow the instructions, arithmetic works whether we understand it or not; it doesn't mind.

In exactly the same way we did before, we now work out 1% of this total [100 divided by the 'total' score].

Our example student's 'total' score (we have highlighted in green above) was 263, so theirs came out like this:

100/263 =0.38

Note this number down under your 'total' score. And now you can work out what percentage of your whole brain each network currently uses [each ‘total for network’ score multiplied by your figure for one percent].

These figures go in the final column of the sheet labeled 'Whole brain % scores' (see example below)

Fig9

• N 1&2 [network score 45) x 0.38 = 17.1% of whole brain
• N3 [network score 57] x 0.38 = 21.66% of whole brain 
• N4 [network score 32] x 0.38 = 12.16% of whole brain 
• N5 [network score 70] x 0.38 = 26.6% of whole brain 
• N6 [network score 59] x 0.38 = 22.42% of whole brain

To check your 'whole brain' results: Added together these will make up almost 100% of the entire brain [You will get a number slightly less than 100, for the same reasons as before].

This final column will tell you how balanced your networks are, and what brain networks are possibly over- or under-developed.

Ideally, these whole brain % scores should all be within a similar range. These figures tell you how much of your whole brain each network is using. If we represent each network's percentage with the length of a colored bar as before, our example student gets a result like this:

If a high percentage of any network is being used, but has a low 'F' score, that network is probably in wronguse. You can see this on our student's results for N5 and N6. They are using most of the brain's resources, but are engaged mainly in wronguse (look at the student's 'O' scores). 

The information you now have should enable you to tell quite a lot about your networks. Our example student's earliest weak nets were N1 & 2, so that would have been their starting point. At the same time as exercising and building up N1&2, they would have been working on anxiety reduction and input control to reduce the amount of wronguse in those frontal networks [we can do more than one thing at once, as long as we work in the right order, which speeds things up somewhat.]

Some Q & As From Previous Students, to Help You Understand More About Your Assessment 

Q: What’s the ‘perfect’ score? 

A: The ideal situation is to have all your network scores within a similar range, N1&2 being treated as two networks.

Here's a representation of a perfectly balanced brain:

(Remember that N1 & 2 are two networks)

This is a pretty much perfect Whole Brain Score assessment result for a high intelligence. Obviously for a ‘perfect’ score, these would all be 'F' scores! But notice how the figures are very similar to each other, and descend slightly as we go up the networks.

If anyone ever attains such scores with no 'wrong use' or non-use scores, we will be looking at the world's first genuine genius. We don't believe the world has seen one yet; what people refer to as 'genius' today is actually high performance in mainly one or two networks. [Einstein, Mozart, Da Vinci, mainly N3 & N4 –So imagine a mind with excellence in all networks!]

You may have worked out by now that no network should take up more than 17% of the resources of your brain or less than 16%. If you’ve been using a network for the wrong things, it may currently take up a lot more than that, and if a network has been underused, it may currently be working below 15% capacity. Don’t worry! That’s exactly what we’re here for and why we’re doing all this!

Q: Is age important?

A: Yes. If you are under 25 some of the exercises will not work for you, although it will do you no harm to try them out. You should not include any exercises or hacks in your plan that had no effect whatsoever after several tries. By all means try them out now and again to see if they have any effect later.

Q: I’ve got a very high ’whole brain percentage’ score for N4, and I know that’s the ‘creative’ network, so does it make any difference that I’m a songwriter /mathematician /engineer? –And will I lose my specialist abilities if I make other networks bigger?

A: If you’re a specialist in some field [for example, a professional musician, athlete or mathematician,] you can expect to have a somewhat larger network connected with that particular skill. Cab drivers, for example, tend to have a larger-than-usual N3 score for spatial memory. This is normal, but you will have to bear it in mind when looking at your figures for that network, and allow for a bit of an extra margin [around +5%] for a ‘normal’ score. Improving the supportive networks may even out your percentage scores, but this will not reduce your ability; in fact it will further enhance it, as long as you keep using it. You won't lose abilities as long as you develop the rest in the right order.

If you’re not sure what networks your specialization relates to, mail us and ask, or wait until you find out more about what networks control which skills & abilities [which we’ll talk about in more detail as we go along].

Q: I’ve got a high ‘O’ score and a high ‘N’ score for one of my networks. Should I do the hacks first or the exercises first?

A: Start with the exercise. -Give the brain an example of a good habit before you start removing a bad one, then reinforce it with regular practice as you begin hacking.

Q: Can the information on my functional assessment sheet reveal my brain chemistry? If so, how relevant is this?

A: Yes. Your answers to the questions reveal habits of thought and behavior that are directly related to the mixture of neurotransmitters in your brain. The networks all have their own neurotransmitters, as we know, so you can look again at your highest and lowest scores and consider what neurochemicals you may have an excess or a deficit of. This is also why we start with N1 & 2, because they produce most of the transmitters.

There are certain patterns of neurochemistry associated with ‘wrong use’ or underuse of networks that also cause a reduction in our abilities or functions. As you work through future tutorials we will discuss these and you should consider from the figures on your assessment sheet whether they might apply in whole or part to you.

There is no ‘normal’ optimal brain chemistry for all persons, but there is an optimal balance for you as an individual. We are able to use NH in order to move towards it precisely because your behavior and thought are intimately linked to the biochemistry of your neurotransmitters, and biochemistry is limited in the ways in which it can go awry. (When it goes wrong, it normally goes wrong in certain specific ways, starting with unhealthy habits that cause an excess or a deficiency of one or more of your neurotransmitters.)

It used to be thought that these imbalances were the sole cause of problems such as depression or schizophrenia, because by resetting the brain’s chemical balance artificially with drugs we can remove some of these problems or their symptoms in some people. We now know that imbalances are more likely to be part of a chain reaction due to an underlying problem caused by the long-term unhealthy habits of brain use, thought and behavior.

All thoughts and behavior rely on neurotransmitters. Without sufficient quantities, or when there is too much, our thoughts and behavior are always affected. Consider the loss of interest in sex of those lacking sex hormones, or obesity caused by lack of Ghrelin [a chemical that tells your brain when you’ve had enough to eat]. Depressed people notably lack serotonin, and paranoia can be induced by an excess of dopamine.

As you progress in NH, your personality, moods, temperament and behavior [not to mention your overall health] will all change. The good news is that these changes will all be for the better. If you’re shy, as you bring your serotonin up you’ll become more confident, not because you’re producing too much serotonin, but because you were deficient in the first place. If you’re nervous, you’ll become more calm [and you’ll live longer] as corticosteroids reduce in your bloodstream.

Knowing that one or more of your transmitters may be over- or under-produced [even for some of the time] is relevant because you can work on changing unhealthy habits in those networks to healthy ones. We also talk in later tutorials about the links between neurotransmitters, biochemistry and temperament because you may wish to take supplements or fine-tune your nutrition to improve your biochemistry.

Q: What if I said a definite 'yes' to hardly any of the questions?

A: It doesn't matter! It is only the final percentages that matter, not the number of answers. The questions are varied because different people like doing different things, using the same networks. Some guys play piano, others do jigsaw puzzles.

Q: What if I was on drugs or drunk when I did the assessment?

A: If you are normally under the influence of the same chemicals, your brain will have adapted to it and the assessment will still show an accurate reflection of where you are at right now. However, if you were on a short course of medication with side-effects or a one-off bender or binge-drinking session, your assessment will not be reliable and you should wait until you are in your 'usual' state before going through it and making sure you still give the same answers!

To be honest, and having done this, It's quite an interesting experiment to do the assessment when you are zonked off your face, then come back again a week later and (without looking at the first version), do it in your usual state of mind [if your usual state of mind is zonked off your face, this obviously won't work]. I've tried this with various different substances. By looking at the difference you can see how a particular drug affects your judgment, even of your own opinion of what you are like!

NHA Guide to Methods & Technology

From Functional Analysis to Network Template

We now need to design your personal strategy for the most rapid improvement possible from the figures in your assessment. Each tutorial from here on will focus on just one function from one area for improvement, so you'll be able to pick and choose whatever exercises and hacks you need.

Most of the information from your analysis is number-based. Your intellect will have grasped the ideas that these numbers represent, for example a higher 'F' score means a network is stronger. But numbers are often more easily grasped in graphs, charts and pictures, because your unconscious mind may be lagging behind trying to get an overall picture of things, so now we return to something very simple -a network template. This will give you all the info you need at a glance.

You'll need your assessment chart and you'll need to make a copy or sketch of this template below:

 Fig10

First have a look at your 'F' scores. On your network template, color in or mark the two highest scoring networks. These are your strongest networks, and you can use their skills to upgrade the weaker ones (the blank ones). Here, N1 & 2 count as two networks, so they share the scores (each has an F score of half their joint score). Look at our examples below if you are not sure what to do.

Now we are going to mark three networks with mnemonic signs:

Mark with an 'X' the network with the highest 'O' score. Currently this network is either overused or in wronguse; either way it will slow you down and cause problems. So practice the hacks for this network and try to keep an eye on the type of input and activities that stimulate it, choosing healthy ones. 'X' marks the spot where you should hack. But DON'T do the exercises for this network unless it ends up marked with a 'Y' or a 'Z' as well (see below).

Mark with a 'Y' the EARLIEST blank network (NOT necessarily the one with the lowest F score!) The one you mark will be the one you work on first and the letter Y means 'Yes!' You should do the exercises for this network. Just do the exercises, NOT the hacks (unless the network ia also marked 'X' (see above.)

Mark with a 'Z' the network with the highest 'N' score. This network is underactive and the 'Z' means it's asleep and snoring, so it needs exercise. Just do the exercises, not the hacks (unless it is marked with a 'Y' as well (see above.)

To summarize;   X = Hack;   Y or Z = Exercise.   If networks have X plus Y or Z, do both.

(Here are various examples below; the first one is our student's, taken from their figures above):

 Fig11

Our student's highest F score was for N4 (78). Their second highest score was for N1&2 (48.84) BUT this has to be halved (because it's for two networks) so N1 got 24.42 and N2 got 24.42, making N3 the second strongest network at 31.5

Their earliest blank networks are N1 & 2, and our student may have right-hemisphere dominance.

Example 2:

Fig12

If networks are marked with more than one sign:

If you find some networks contain both an X and a Z, or other combinations, remember that a network can be partially unused and partially wrongly used, or either at different times. You should apply both hacks and exercises to any networks like this, so make a note to that effect in your Captain's log.

In this example the earliest blank network is 3 and this student may well be a 'rearloader'.

Example 3:

 Fig13

In this example the earlist blank networks are N1 & N2, and this student may have left-hemisphere dominance.

Example 4:

 Fig14

In this example the earliest blank networks are N1 & N2, and this student is almost certainly a frontloader.

Practical Assignment - Construct Your Personal Plan

You can fine-tune the details of your plan as we go along, but try at least to have these basics: 

1. Know what network you need to work on first –check your template. The earliest blank network should contain a 'Y'. Start there. Anxiety reduction should always be included.
2. Know whether you need to do just the exercises or hacks as well for that network [look at your template; you don't need to hack unless that network also contains an 'X']. Make notes in your Captain's log about what you are doing. Do your first sessions according to the plan below.
3. Know what changes to look for. You may notice first improvements in any factor of intelligence (these are outlined in tutorials 1 & 2 and should be listed in your very first assessment practice in your Captain's log.) You may also see improvement first in energy levels or physical health and mood. Any of this counts as progress. Don't limit yourself; move on to the next phase of your plan as soon as you see signs of improvement.

There is no set time limit, so go at your own pace, but be aware that too much or too little is not so effective as practicing regularly for short periods. 

Here's a plan template; you can fill in the correct networks for X, Y and Z and you'll have a personal plan:

First phase

• Look at the network labeled 'Y'.
• If the same one that is labeled 'X', do both exercises and hacks. If it is not, just do exercises for the 'Y' network and try out some hacks for the 'X' network.
• If your 'Y' network is also labeled 'Z' you should do as much practice as you can to prevent this network degrading.
• Try a couple of different exercises/hacks each session. Choose the 4 favorite most effective exercises and two most effective hacks, and try out different methods of anxiety reduction. As soon as you notice ANY improvement, note which practices are most effective and move on to the second phase.

Second Phase

• Reduce exercises for 'Y' network to the three that work best, plus anxiety reduction and input control. Don't do any other hacks apart from input control during this phase.
• Aim your input control at the 'X' network (we'll give a guide to different types for different networks in the next tutorial).
• Aim your exercise routine at the 'Y' and 'Z' networks
• Try out different exercises for the 'Z' network (even if it's the same network as 'Y') and add the best three to your practice.

You should be doing, in all, 6 exercises plus anxiety reduction and input control. This is your NH 'core target' practice, and you should make it habitual. If you have no time for all of it, just do this, and try to do it every day, however little (even a little reminder works with habits. Frequency is more important than duration). In the same way as before, as soon as you notice ANY kind of improvement, note down which practices are most effective and move on to the third phase.

Third Phase

As you progress through the tutorials, try out new exercises and hacks only for the relevant networks, X Y and Z. Try a different one each time with your core routine, and if you find any with results better than your current choices, swap them. Your core routine should now become dynamic -you may find you are attracted to different kinds of exercises at different times of in different moods, so keep a list of all effective ones and choose those to suit your mood or level of fatigue. Also vary them from time to time, even if they are working really well.

When you have noticed continued improvement in either one or several functions or behaviors for a consistent period of time (3 months if you practice more than 5 days a week) move on to the fourth phase.

Fourth Phase

As well as your usual routine, start trying out exercises for the next blank network in your template. If these make you feel uncomfortable, wait for a few days before trying again. From now on, once you have started hacking/exercising any network on a regular basis, as soon as you notice an improvement of any kind you can start to include the next one that needs work in your practice. You don't have to wait until the previous network has improved greatly before moving on as long as you keep exercising it, because you have kicked a natural process into unfolding and once it starts to improve it won't look back.

Once you are sending the signals to the genome in the right order, you have stopped limiting intelligence to impulse power and given it warp engines. From here on in, if you give intelligence an inch, it will take a light year : )

You don't need to do anything to networks at all if their 'F' scores are within healthy parameters and they are around the correct percentage of the whole brain. You can literally 'miss them out'.

Once you have worked your way in this manner through each network and got to doing exercises for network 6 (and this takes most dudes at least a year) you will need to do a new functional analysis. Please trust us on this. Even if you feel like the most fantastic entity in the universe with not a problem in the world, and you're immortal and you can resurrect the dead, when you get to N6 you STILL need to do a functional analysis dude. That's how we keep our feet on the path; because we see where its going next. You then proceed just the same way (only you'll be working on different networks). Development progresses like a spiral, and this is just the first 'turn' of that spiral.

Spiritual Advice

“The best way to fight evil is to make energetic progress in the good.”

The I Ching, Hexagram 43 “Breakthrough”

The Most Important Things to Remember From This Tutorial

• If the brain doesn't get what it needs, the mind won't do what you want. Try to identify this rule in the information about violent behavior and war above.
• You become more like whatever you are surrounded by. Try to identify this rule in the information about personality above.

Paste your assessment sheet into your Captain's log; it will be needed to refer back to. You can wipe your original results now if you want to; just keep the figures on the sheet, your notes and your template.

It can take a while to get the hang of a routine for regular NH, so take your time and look at your template and the NHA guide again if you get confused. Having the information there on the template s the most important thing, because we’ll look into each individual network in greater depth as we go along and relate it to your results, so just start the first stage and let yourself get used to doing something new. This is walking the path.

The information and ‘mini’ self assessments in future tutorials will help to narrow down and fine-tune exactly what you personally should concentrate on in each network as you are going along.

Don’t forget; if you need any help at this stage don’t hesitate to contact us. Use a nickname for confidentiality.

 DO IT NOW

Hacks For Improving & Balancing 'X' Network

Certain hacks work best with certain combinations of networks, and sometimes you can use your strengths to upgrade weaknesses. This has been indicated wherever it applies so you can look at your template and see if they apply to you. If so, they are likely to give you the fastest results.

Using Gestures and Speech to Enable Faster Learning and More Efficient Planning (works especially well for N2, N4 or N5)

The drive to gesture when speaking is fundamental to human nature. If you have thought about this you probably assumed that we gesture to help others understand what we are saying. But gesture also serves another purpose. Moving your hands can help you think.

Researchers have become increasingly interested in the connection between the body and thought – in the ways that our physical body shapes abstract mental processes. Previous research has shown that students who are asked to gesture and speak aloud while solving math problems are better at learning how to do them.

Saying aloud what you want to do (even as simply as “I want to find the answer to this”), and making an accompanying gesture (we find the 'peace sign' “v” gesture works very well) involves the whole body in learning. The brain associates the problem, the speech and gesture in a way that makes other associations easier, and this speeds up its processing.

The same hack can work in any situation where the person who is speaking and gesturing is also trying to understand or learn.

(This discovery and others have instigated important changes in the field of cognitive psychology. The old notion of Cartesian Dualism is now being replaced by Embodied Cognition. Embodied Cognition views concepts as bodily representations with bases in perception, interaction and emotion. There is much evidence supporting the Embodied Cognition view; we have detailed, experimentally supported accounts of how embodiment through gesture plays a role in learning new concepts.)

Kit List Planning (works especially well for N1, N2 and N4, bonus if you have a strong N3)

Make three lists, for what you would include in a household first aid kit, a going to an unexpected party kit, and an emergency kit for unexpected outdoor survival. Imagine you are making up these lists for someone else, and include everything they might need, like food, any special clothing or tech.

Now ask yourself how many of these kits you could actually assemble from what resources you have already, and begin to assemble them, in three bags or boxes or different shelves in a cupboard. If you cannot afford items that were on the original lists, replace them with items that serve a similar purpose but are less expensive. Each time you do this hack, try to add another item to one of your kits. When you have all three assembled think how cool that will be; you are ready to respond to any emergency, even sudden parties when none of your clothes are clean! If you really enjoy this hack, make up kits for other circumstances (for example, someone really cool unexpectedly staying overnight, emergency munchies, things you often run out of, or whatever you like)

Input Control Practice - Using Cognition and Creativity to Enable Faster Learning and More Efficient Memory (works especially well for N3, bonus if you have strong N4/N5)

People with strong front nets often have good cognitive skills and good ability to think objectively. Pessimistic, paranoid or obsessive attitudes greatly slow down learning and inhibit memory, because they increase the level of anxiety we experience in a given event, and even cause more anxiety with their self sabotage thought and behavior patterns. If you are consciously aware of any of these tendencies, you can significantly improve your memory and learning speed by hacking rear nets using cognitive behavioral therapy.

In cognitive orientated therapies techniques vary, but commonly may include keeping a diary of significant events and associated feelings, thoughts and behaviors; gradually facing activities which may have been avoided; trying out new ways of behaving and interacting; monitoring thoughts, assumptions, beliefs and behaviors and identify those which are dysfunctional, inaccurate, or unhelpful (the aim is to replace or transcend them with those which are more realistic and useful.) Relaxation, mindfulness meditation and distraction techniques are also commonly included. (We will explore CBT in greater depth in future tutorials, but if you wish to look into it further now consult the “Disorders & problems” section of the Library).

Input Control Practice - Off the Racket (good for N2, N3 or N4)

Get sound-wise. You live in a sonic world, constant vibrations stimulate microscopic hair cells deep inside your ears. These frequencies can influence our neurochemistry and our brainwave patterns, and hence our mood, learning, and health.Some of it we can put to beneficial use; as inspiring or relaxing music, as interaction in speech, as part of the beauty of nature, but what we don't usually notice is the racket of noise pollution we get as an unfortunate side effect of much technology. We usually ignore it as a background ambient in our lives, but biology doesn't ignore anything that is able to influence it.

The main thing noise pollution does is overaccustom us to distraction -so that we are distracted when it is no longer there (in the same way we notice a ticking clock only when it stops). This decreases your awareness, so if you live in the 'average' noisy environment where you can hear computers humming or traffic or household appliances, try to find or set up a 'sound free zone'. You might find an outdoor place where nobody goes if you live near a rural area, you might build a 'retreat pod' or a REST chamber as your soundproof zone, it might be that your neighborhood is really quiet between two and five in the morning, you might find it's really quiet in the attic or in the cellar, but wherever it is find the quietest place you know and go there at least once a week for thirty minutes.

Accustom yourself to silence and listening to the faint sounds you can still hear, and relax. If you feel uneasy in the silence, it's likely that you are overaccustomed to distraction and you should practice until silence seems just as 'normal' as your usual environment. At this point your overall awareness will increase and your attention will improve.

We also use sound in ways that harm ourselves; for example you wouldn't start the day by giving yourself an injection of anxiety hormones, would you? But the rude awakening that alarm clocks produce gives us exactly that each morning -what a charming way to start the day!The technical term for the unpleasant shock of awaking to an alarm is acoustic startle response. As well as giving us that squirt of anxiety it raises our blood pressure and heart rate (all loud, sudden unexpected noises do this).

If you've been living with this kind of rude awakening there are some things you can do. You can swap a noisy alarm for one that's more musical but just as insistent, you can arrange your life so that you can live without the alarm at weekends, you can go to bed earlier so that you awake naturally. Later on in NH you will learn how to be your own alarm clock, and then the problem will solve itself.

Input Control Practice - Fung Shui For the Laid Back (good for N1, N2, N3 and N4)

Do you lead the sort of laid back lifestyle where you like to get things done very simply without wasting any time or energy? A chaotic environment can literally drain your energy, cause additional anxiety, and waste your time, especially when you can't find things! Conversely, a beautifully organized, 'everything-to-hand' environment can be a haven where you can escape from the hassles in your life (plus it looks really cool when you can find everything, and you are ready to go and party at a moment's notice).

Working on de-chaosing your space, doing some creative decorating or simply moving things about are all ways you can work toward the goal of having a beautiful and expediently organized living space, and it saves you wasting time that could be better spent on enjoying yourself.

By 'chaotic' we do not mean messy; messy is the sign of activity and life, and it's fine as long as you know where to find everything. By 'organized' we do not mean tidy; prisons are tidy!

Take these simple steps to make life easier for yourself and prevent wasting time:

Stand in the middle of your room. Move the things you use the most closest to where you are likely to be sitting when you need them. Put things you hardly ever use in the least accessible areas, and the things you use regularly somewhere you don't have to bend, crawl or stretch in order to reach them or to put them back. Develop the habit of putting things back in their 'areas' (even if this is just a different pile in each corner), then you always know roughly where to find what sort of things.

Do you constantly have to get up and go into another room to get stuff when you're working in another? Consider moving whatever it is into the main room. Possibilities include a kettle and tea bags or coffee maker actually next to your desk (you're at home; you can do what the fuck you like!); land line telephones or mobiles closer to hand, diaries and reference books etc on shelves right next to you, , DVDs right next to the DVD player; a munchies box of dried fruit & nuts on the desk, garbage bin close by, and remote controls have a designated “home” where they live at all times after being used (very close to where you are sitting). Get into the habit of putting them back there.

You can apply this kind of control to all areas. For example if you hate wasting time washing up, use paper plates (its more hygienic anyway). Think about what other time-and task-saving changes you could make. 

You will find more hacks to choose from in previous and forthcoming tutorials.

Exercises for improving & balancing 'Y' and 'Z' networks

Order Out of Chaos (works especially well for N1, N2 or N4, bonus if both your strongest networks are down one side (N1+N5 or N2+N4) or you have strong hemispheric dominance)

Throw on some music and attack the clutter in a drawer, a room, or your whole house. Pick a mundane, uncomplicated task such as window cleaning, polishing metal, cleaning tech or washing up, and turn it into a concentration exercise -Repetitive movements of cleaning or dusting can loll you into a near-meditative state, the physical activity of washing up or vacuuming your carpets can change your chemistry and reduce anxiety. Even if it doesn't work, you’ll be rewarded with a cleaner space and more soothing surroundings when you’re done.

Judging Direction of Sounds (works especially well for N1 & N2 or N4, needs assistant)

You need to be blindfolded; Sit In a chair in the middle of a large room. Block one ear with a hand or an earplug. Now get a friend to move about quietly making sharp sounds in different parts of the room. Repeat the experiment with both ears open. Which directions are the hardest to be sure of? Make a chart and check the response several times in each position.

If your sense of direction with two ears open is not excellent repeat this as an exercise at regular intervals.

Neurokinetic Body Imaging (works especially well for N1 & N2 or N4, bonus if you have a strong N3)

Start off any imaging session with relaxation and a general sensory focus. Stand erect with feet apart and sense how your body feels now. Accept things as they are, without value judgments.

Now imagine you are an android. You weigh about he same because your skeleton is a strong light metal or carbon fiber. You have just been built and you are currently attached to a 'center line' that is calibrating your posture. The center line goes all the way up inside your spine from your pelvis and comes out the top of your head, it is attached to a support high above and it holds you in perfect postural balance (this line can be imagined as made of laser light, monofilament, steel wire, or as an abstract - anything that feels light.)

Allow your weight to hang from this line (relax your arms and shoulders). Sway slightly as though a breeze is blowing you, forwards and backwards, left and right, and feel your skeleton's center of balance. Notice that when you are lined up with this center line, your posture feels more comfortable. Imagine yourself as supported; as though you are held up and balanced by the line from the top of your head.

Once you are able to imagine this, begin slow movement. Learn how to remain aligned with your center support line and move about (this can feel uncannily like being a puppet -but don't worry; you're the puppeteer). Finding your center line is of fundamental importance to all movement and posture including breathing. If you do a martial art you may know this technique already by some other name.

With the center line image established in a standing position, swing the arms around the axis, turning from the waist so the hips do not move. Swing back and forward in an easy manner. The slower the movements can be done in image work the more useful information you are likely to be able to pick up. Another useful movement is bending the knees. Let the sacrum drop just a few inches, then slide up the long center line. Repeat.

Gradually incorporate this image into tasks such as going up and down stairs, walking around your home, or outdoors.

Ninja (good for all rear networks and N4)

a) Find two positions in which you can balance for one whole minute on one leg. One on the right, one on the left. Make a note of them or draw stick figures in your Captain's log. The next day, find two different positions until you have found four for each side. Continue practicing these for another ten days, choosing a different pair of your positions each day. How much has your wobble reduced? When it has reduced noticeably, proceed to the next stage.

b) Stand. Move up onto tip toe. Keep balanced, lower slowly through stand to crouch and on (if possible) to sitting on your haunches. Then slowly up again. Arms may be held in different positions each time. Out to front, to side etc. This is a difficult exercise and to do ten up and down without overbalancing may take you some time. When you can do this consistently, move on to the next stage.

c) Create something that you can walk along and balance on, close to the floor. A plank or beam of wood is perfect, a very low thin table or row of bricks or even books (of the same size) is fine. Don't make it higher than one row by piling things up. Walk along it forwards without looking. Walk backwards. Balance on one leg. Become confident on this 'plank' then move on to the next stage. (If you use walking in a straight line as a test for sobriety, remember that this test may now be screwed.)

d) Using your awareness of the whole body find the place that your body balances over this supportive plank. Then begin to move arms and legs and notice how the center of gravity changes position depending on the shape you are making. Try and pin point this center in your body and notice how it shifts in relation to changes in body form. Don't worry about losing your balance in this part; just play around with it in an aware frame of mind. You will gradually internalize and embody an awareness of your center of gravity.

At first large movements are OK. Then as you get the hang of it reduce the size and speed of movements until movements are very slow and small. The most important information will be found on this fine-tuned level of perception.

Syncopation (works well for N2 & N4)

Sit down and raise your right arm in front of you. Pretending you are drawing anti-clockwise circles on a wall and move your hand/arm accordingly. Now begin to rotate your right foot/lower leg in a clockwise direction.

What happens?

For most people it becomes impossible to do both at the same time, much like the childhood game of rubbing your tummy with one hand while patting the top of your head with the other. Consciously we desire to do both actions, but the unconscious part of our processing confuses the unfamiliar mixture of sensory input. You will find though, that with practice both feats can be accomplished. We advise you to master these kinds of sensory motor tricks because they too are good for your intelligence. You’ll find that the sensory motor tasks you already do, such as typing or playing a musical instrument or driving, will all improve, as will your overall hand/eye coordination. Most importantly, this is one of the paths towards hacking into the unconscious, so it’s good practice for later fun.

Note: some people find this really, really hard to do. If you’re one of them, or if you just want to cheat and take a shortcut, ask a good friend or member of your family to hold onto your arm and ‘make’ your hand do the anticlockwise movement, then concentrate just on the leg. Your body will learn the overall task without your having to work so hard, although your assistant might think it’s a peculiar request.

Mission Possible (especially good for N3 or N5)

Copy this list below or print it, leaving a gap between the lines:

• Get in touch with a friend that you haven’t seen for a while.
• Watch a funny television programme or film.
• Exercise physically for about five minutes.
• Cut your television viewing by half this week.
• Go somewhere new -A concert, movie, unusual place, museum, library, forest or strange restaurant.
• Start a new hobby, join an online or offline social group, or learn a new skill.
• Go for a 20 minute walk next time it's sunny.
• Spend ten minutes listening to relaxing or uplifting music
• Take a luxurious hot bath
• Stop watching and reading the news this week.

Take your copy of this list and cut it up so that each suggestion is a strip of paper, fold up the strips and put them inside a hat or a (clean) sock.

Once a week, pull one out at random. Your mission is to complete the request as best as you are able. Note which suggestions you had problems with and consider why. Return the paper to the hat if you fail the mission, if you succeed, throw it away.

Finally, write or print one more suggestion and add it to the hat. Make it something reasonably simple like the others. Things that you keep forgetting to do could be good choices.

Your overall mission is to empty the hat.

Through a Glass Darkly (especially good for N3, N4 or N5)

Take a printed page of anything fictional that you haven't read before and hold it in front of a mirror so that the writing is reversed. Read it.

Was it more difficult to keep track of the story? If so, you are a 'rescanner' and you will be able to speed up your reading ability and improve your imagination with this exercise. Choose a different page every time, and it must be something you have not already read.