Music the Key to the Universe?

Neon-narcotics

Recent studies at MIT attempted to use the proteins of manmade silk fibers as notes and came away with the conclusion that:  “silk with good physical properties produced pleasing music.”

The MIT team realized that, by using good-sounding music as directions (instead of by trial-and-error), they were able to create a synthetic silk with “exceptional properties.”  Those silk strands that the team produced that were failures turned out to “produce” music that sounds discordant to the human ear.

This would explain why music has such a result on water molecules, as discussed in a previous post, or why cows who listen to Mozart produce better milk.

Another scientist, Joel Sternheimer, found that the music produced by converting the amino acids of a plant into musical notes actually produced a pleasing song and, more surprisingly, when that song was played back to the plant, it helped it grow even faster!

Not only that, but the whole universe is may follow patterns described by the Fibonacci sequence (1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8,…) which “converts directly to [a] common musical scale found around the world throughout the ages.”   It therefore does not surprise me that music has been found to help humans too, such as those suffering from autism. 

Maybe, in some esoteric way, what we need to get better and stay healthy, is to make sure we do not get out of tune. 

Sources:

SuperConsciousness Magazine

MIT News

Autism epicenter

Natural Steps for Myelin Sheath Preservation

In the previous article, we discussed how important it is to build the myelin sheath in your brain to help you learn and become a better performer.  So today, I want to discuss ways in which one can help prevent and repair myelin damage, in a natural way.

Myelin is essentially 75% fats and cholesterol, and 25% protein.

1.       Folic acid and vitamin B12.

2.       Reduce inflammation in the body that could damage the myelin:  essential fatty acids (omega-6, omega-3), vitamin C, vitamin D, green tea, devil’s claw, white willow, and boswellia.

3.       Other nutrients that support the immune system:  zinc, vitamin A, vitamin B.

Of course, the quantities needed of each varies with each individual, but it’s important to make sure one has a balanced (and as natural as possible) diet.  The more detoxified your body is, the better.

Some foods that can help include:

1.       Olive oil.

2.       Fish (though be careful of mercury).

3.       Nuts.

4.       Cocoa.

5.       Avocados.

6.       Whole grains.

7.       Legumes (ex: beans, lentils).

8.       Spinach.

9.       Yogurt (plain organic is better; if you want it to taste sweet, you can add a little bit of raw honey).

10.   Semisweet chocolate.

11.   Oregano and thyme.

 

Things to avoid include chemicals and heavy metals (ex:  mercury), exposure to x-rays, insecticides, organic solvents.

Sources:

Ehow

Cancers Survivor Network 

Talent—Innate or Developed?

Author and journalist Daniel Coyle did a study on three places around the world that develop top of the class performers to find their secret sauce.  This is what he came back with:

1.       Deep practice—slow down your “play” (be it music, sports, or something else) or decrease your playing field so your errors become blatant.  Reason?  This practice increases the production of myelin in your brain, which helps to “exponentially increase the rate at which we learn.”

2.       A model of one who’s already broken the mold, that inspires others—“If they can do it, so can you.”

3.       Master coaches—ones who, like Yoda, know how to properly assess their protégés, communicate with them and keep them motivated.

I feel this can also be applied to writing (or any other practice, really):  you need to slow down from time to time in your endeavor to make sure your story’s tenable, then break down your story in parts to make sure each one’s well-written and strikes the right chords; inspiration is what’s helped me stay motivated (in my case, I’m motivated by anyone who’s succeeded via hard work and dedication, despite the odds stacked against him/her—like Jo Rowling); and someone who can open your eyes to your writing and tell it how it is (advance readers—is there such a thing?—and editors).

But really, this is to say to everyone out there with a big dream they’re afraid they can’t accomplish:  don’t give up.  It may take you a long time to get there (aka: Malcolm Gladwell’s 10,000 hours), but if you keep at it, work hard on honing your skills, you will break through!

PS:  I don’t believe in “overnight wonders.”  Maybe they seem like it to us, the public, but in reality, it took a lot of hard work and dedication for those people to get recognized.

Source and full interview:  SuperConsciousness Magazine