Science Archives

How Dopamine Highs Sabotage Your Willpower

What is a dopamine high? What is the biological purpose of dopamine? How can a dopamine high undermine your self-control? Dopamine is the brain neurotransmitter that is at the root of every craving and desire. Dopamine can be dangerous because it causes a form of arousal when you want something, but does not release any sort of satisfaction when you receive that item. This cycle of want and disappointment can lead to anxiety and addiction. Here’s everything you need to know about dopamine highs and how to use dopamine in your favor.

How Body Responses Sabotage Your Willpower

How do your natural body responses affect willpower? How can you turn your fight-or-flight response into a pause-and-plan response? Body responses such as the fight-or-flight response were great in the Stone Age, but not so great for our self-control. These impulses that were designed to save your life tend to kick in at the worst times—like when you’re on a diet and your body says that you need that fresh-baked cookie. Luckily, there are ways to fight these natural body responses and take the control back.

Why Is Heart Rate Variability Important to Willpower?

What is heart rate variability? Why is heart rate variability important to willpower? Heart rate variability is the variance in time between each heartbeat. The higher the variability, the more relaxed and adaptable your body is to stress. This is related to willpower because people with higher heart rate variability are better at delaying gratification, dealing with stress, ignoring distractions, and exercising self-control. Continue reading for more information on heart rate variability and what you can do to increase it.

Autotelic Personality: Traits and Characteristics

How do you know if you have an autotelic personality? What does personality have to do with entering a flow state? If you’re naturally inclined toward finding flow in everyday experiences, you have an autotelic personality. If you’re an autotetic, you likely habitually do these four things 1) observe the environment around you, 2) set goals, 3) concentrate deeply on what you’re doing, and 4) enjoy a wide variety of experiences. Keep reading to learn what personality has to do with flow.

A Brief History of Time: Quotes by Stephen Hawking

Looking for A Brief History of Time quotes by Stephen Hawking? What are some of the most noteworthy passages worth re-visiting? Stephen Hawking’s A Brief History of Time is an exploration of the forces that govern our universe. The following quotes and passages simply but elegantly distill some of the key concepts discussed in the book. Keep reading for quotes and passages from A Brief History of Time: From the Big Bang to Black Holes.

Stephen Hawking and A Brief History of Time

Is Stephen Hawking’s A Brief History of Time worth reading? What are some of the key topics explained in the book? A Brief History of Time is an exploration of the forces that govern our universe. It distills a wide range of topics, from Newton’s laws of gravity to special and general relativity, the Big Bang, black holes, the possibilities of time travel, the quantum theory, and more. Here is a brief overview of Stephen Hawking’s book A Brief History of Time: From the Big Bang to Black Holes.

Cosmic Inflation Theory and the Uniformity Problem

What is cosmic inflation theory? How does the inflationary hypothesis contradict the Hot Big Bang model? Cosmic inflation theory states that the early post-Big-Bang universe expanded at a rate faster than light in just a fraction of a second, resulting in a rapid supercooling of the universe (much faster than in the Hot Big Bang Model). This, in turn, resulted in a strong anti-gravitational effect which ironed out the wrinkles in its initial non-uniform state. Keep reading to learn about cosmic inflation theory.

The Beginning of the Universe: How It All Started

How did the universe begin? And how do we know that the universe had a beginning in the first place? The beginning of the universe has been debated by philosophers and theologians since the beginning of recorded history. But there’s no more need to continue the debates on the subject. We now know that the universe had a beginning. Without further ado, here is a simple explanation of how our universe began.

What Was There Before the Big Bang? A Singularity

What was there before the Big Bang? Did the universe just spring up into existence from nothing? While we can’t possibly be 100% sure, we do have an informed guess about the pre-Big-Bang state of affairs of the universe. We know that the universe today obeys concrete scientific laws, so it stands to reason that it had done so before the Big Bang. Here is out best guess at what happened before the Big Bang.

The Quest for a Unified Theory of Everything

What is the unified theory of everything? Is it possible to come up with both a correct and coherent explanation of all universal phenomena? A unified theory of everything is the ultimate theoretical framework that fully and coherently explains all universal phenomena. This is extraordinarily difficult and likely impossible, but humanity’s quest to achieve the ultimate understanding of the universe means we’ll keep trying. Keep reading to learn about the unified theory of everything.