
2013 Lewis meditation results - Ashuu
http://www.gwern.net/Lewis%20meditation
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startupfounder
It is really interesting to see the "Western" approach to meditation.

I grew up in a Buddhist community and have sat week long meditation retreats
without anyone quantifying results.

It is interesting that Westerners have to be scientifically convinced that
meditation will have a quantifiable outcome for it to be a helpful practice.
It's like we know that eating fresh vegetables is good for us, but only when
it is proven to us are we convinced that we should go ahead and eat fresh.

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enraged_camel
>> It's like we know that eating fresh vegetables is good for us, but only
when it is proven to us are we convinced that we should go ahead and eat
fresh.

How exactly do you think we came to know that eating fresh vegetables is good
for us? The answer is science.

I mean, sure, humans have preferred fresh vegetables over non-fresh ones for
ages, but that's because fresh looks, smells and tastes better than non-fresh.

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goblin89
1) Can it be wiser often to rely on ‘fresh looks’ instead of science in our
choices? Using scientific findings to make the right choice requires access to
these findings, ability to interpret them properly, and certain time
investment. Most people can't do that, especially considering that we face a
lot of choices.

2) With practices such as meditation, there are no ‘fresh looks’ to judge it
by, and scientific knowledge on the matter related to our mind and
consciousness seems to be limited. How do I rationally decide whether or not
should I meditate?

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dmazin
I'm very excited at HN's discovery of gwern.

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olegious
What exactly is gwern?

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anonymoushn
gwern is a guy! You can read about him here
[http://www.gwern.net/Links](http://www.gwern.net/Links)

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FrankBlack
I guess it won't be long until the Discovery Channel hosts "Meditating With
The Stars" and "Ultimate Meditation Championship".

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tdec
Interesting to see such an amount of work done but it fails to take into
account that a single month of meditation is not nearly enough to even begin
to properly feel the beneficial effects it can have.

In some areas, simply feeling might also still be a better choice than
quantifying.

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scottcha
Interesting analysis but I think the last sentence sums up my sentiments:
"Even if all the other issues could be dealt with and mindfulness meditation
did improve arithmetic, what is it a valid proxy for?"

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hosh
Improved arithmetic is a side effect. I doubt there is any way to meaningfully
quantify the beneficial effects of mindfulness meditation. Any long-term
practitioner would be able to tell you that.

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mbrock
Hmm. Tell Alan Wallace, the Shamatha Project, and the UC Davis Center for Mind
and Brain! There's a lot of interesting variables and correlations to study in
relation to meditation.

My Zen teacher talked about some Shamatha Project study that found sustained
concentration meditation to decrease neuroticism and increase
conscientiousness. Anecdotally, he confirmed that this is what he has seen as
a meditation teacher.

I find it really weird to measure the efficacy of meditation by arithmetic
puzzles, though. Is anyone claiming meditation makes you better at math? That
doesn't seem like a big area of interest to me.

