Rocky

Part of the cult mentality I recall, is Johnny Townsend's admonition to twi followers about simplicity and keeping one's life and mental activity simple. Perhaps it sticks with me because life really IS full of complexity. With Wierwille's brainwashing directives to not read anything outside of his private interpretation of The Word (how's that for a contradictory bit of insanity?), I didn't record (journal) when I first realized the importance of paradox. But the true joy of my retired life these days (besides doting on grandchildren) is reading and learning more of what I could not have done had I remained in the cult. One of the books I have open in front of me right now is Brene Brown's Atlas of the Heart. It's a masterpiece. Here's a poignant excerpt: Can two seemingly contradictory thoughts both be true? Competing emotions and contradictory thoughts are messy and can feel uncomfortable, vulnerable, even irritating. But it's important to remember that this push-pull is a reflection of our complexity, and if we're willing to stay with it and stay curious, complexity is one of our greatest teachers. The problem starts when we don't have the skills or experience to tolerate the uncertainty and ambiguity and we give in to the cravings for neat, mutually exclusive categories. There's nothing more limiting than tapping out of tension and oversimplifying the thoughts and feelings that have the power to help us understand , who we are and what we need. -- Brene Brown, p70, Atlas of the Heart, 2021.

This reminds me of Amber Scorah Scorah's story about escaping JWs. Obviously, TWI isn't so unique, but cults (including twi) aren't benign.

But if your job depended on a multi-million dollar nonprofit organization that employs who knows how many people these days, and the revenue was sharply/rapidly declining... you might be tempted to try.

Brene Brown's latest book, released this week, Atlas of the Heart, has a good bit (actually, a lot) of insight on emotional intelligence

Historian Yuval Noah Harari on skills related to emotional intelligence.

Yes, EQ as opposed to IQ. But more literally, EI.

Sure, it would be nice. But experience has shown that what you're doing so far to get there with him has not, does not, and because we (humans) can use that information to reasonably predict the future, will not get the job done.

Sounds like fun. My first theatrical performance/experience was the main role in my 4th grade Christmas play, The Smallest Star in the Sky. Changing the subject back, I've been thinking about your feedback from yesterday. While I'm not going so far as to contradict (either you or) the researchers behind the shortened assessment, it occurs to me that another way to characterize (at least part of) what they describe as a trait is as emotional intelligence, EQ. I've read about EQ before and believe it's important.

Let your light shine! Btw, Socks, I didn't read Skyrider's comments as critical of yours. Also, (not to or about Socks) the bickering betwixt Bolshevik and Mike is noise easily scrolled past.

As Emiril Lagassi would say, "BAM!" ... but don't expect TWI to "Kick it up a notch."

I definitely get your point of view. However, what these researchers describe (and they have labeled as such) is a trait. A distinguishing feature, as of one's character. What you described seems to be more along the lines of expression or application of one's accumulated knowledge, understanding and/or experience. From my vantage point, it looks like one is a noun, the other a verb or perhaps an adjective. But both are reasonable and legitimate.

Not that I have any research on that question, but it seems intuitive that people could be as such. However, those researchers (psychiatrists and psychologists) define wisdom as a trait.

Do any of you know people who have recently departed from twi?

Here's a few "words of wisdom" for followers of TWI or any other fundamentalist group pushing manifestations or gifts of Holy Spirit. I can say with a HIGH DEGREE of confidence that neither TWI nor The Way Corps did at any time foster in me any wisdom as reflected in this article. However, as a result of living life (and enduring some of the tribulations/troubles/pressures thereof) over the course of the roughly 35 years since I severed my relationship with Wierwille's cult, I have grown to have some wisdom. I have learned to accept that I've been wrong plenty of times. Have you? The 7 questions that measure your level of wisdom I saw this on FB and did a bit of checking on the internet, not wanting to believe something just because it's on FB. Apparently, researchers at UC San Diego distilled a previously 28-question test (survey) down to 7 questions and have shown that those questions can with a reasonable degree of certainty show the level of wisdom a person has gotten to in their life. “Wisdom is a personality trait complex and multi-component“says the group of researchers led by Dilip V. Jeste and Michael Thomas, from the Department of Psychiatry at the USCD and the Department of Psychology at the University of Colorado, respectively. The team created the San Diego Wisdom Scale, which originally consisted of 24 items, evaluating six components. -The component of self-reflection, which measures the desire and ability of people to understand themselves and their actions at a deep level. Assess preferences regarding understanding of one’s thoughts, motivations, and behaviors. -The component of prosocial behaviors includes empathy, compassion, altruism, and a sense of justice. It assesses the ability to maintain positive social connections, as well as compassion or mindful behavior. -The component of emotional regulation measures the ability to regulate negative emotions that interfere with decision-making. It evaluates the own feeling of being able to effectively manage negative emotions and emotional stress and favor positive feelings. -The component of acceptance of divergent perspectives examines acceptance of other value systems and interest in knowing the points of view of others. It measures one’s openness and comfort with values and perspectives that may be different from one’s own. -The component of decision assesses the ability to make decisions in a timely manner. -The component of social counseling refers to the ability to give good advice to others. Subsequently, as a result of the appearance of a growing number of publications that suggested that spirituality is also a component of wisdom, the researchers decided to add it. -The component of spirituality measures the connection with oneself, with nature or with the transcendent (such as the soul or God). The total score on this expanded 28-item scale was called the Jeste-Thomas Wisdom Index (SD-WISE-28) or JTWI. But now, in a study published in the journal International Psychogeriatrics, researchers found that an abbreviated seven-item version (SD-WISE-7) was comparable and reliable. “Measures of wisdom are increasingly being used to study factors that affect mental health and optimal aging. We wanted to test whether a list of only seven items it could provide valuable information to examine wisdom, “said Jeste, lead author of the paper, senior associate dean of the Center for Healthy Aging and distinguished professor of psychiatry and neurosciences at UCSD School of Medicine. [...] These are the seven statements that are part of the current abbreviated index: 1. I stay calm under pressure. 2. I avoid self-reflection. (It is scored backwards) 3. I like to be exposed to different points of view. 4. I tend to put off making important decisions as long as I can. (It is scored backwards) 5. I often don’t know what to say to people when they ask me for advice. (It is scored backwards) 6. My spiritual belief gives me inner strength. 7. I avoid situations where I know my help will be needed. (It is scored backwards) “Shorter does not mean less valid”says Jeste. “We selected the right types of questions to obtain important information that not only contributes to the advancement of science, but also supports our previous data that wisdom is correlated with health and longevity.” Furthermore, they found that SD-WISE-7 strongly and positively correlated with resilience, happiness and mental well-being and, conversely, strongly and negatively with loneliness, depression and anxiety. “There are evidence-based interventions to increase the levels of specific components of wisdom, which would help reduce loneliness and promote general well-being, “the researcher stressed. He added: “Just as the COVID-19 vaccine protects us from the new coronavirus, wisdom can help us protect us from loneliness. Thus, we can potentially help end a behavioral pandemic of loneliness, suicide and opioid abuse that has been occurring for the past 20 years. “ The next steps the team plans to take include genetic, biological, psychosocial, and cultural studies of a large number of diverse populations to assess wisdom, as well as various factors related to the mental, physical, and cognitive health of people throughout life. life, Jeste advanced. “We need wisdom to survive and thrive in the life. Now, we have a list of questions that take less than a couple of minutes to answer and that can be put into clinical practice to try to help people, “he concluded. Among the limitations of the study, the authors mentioned that the measures used were based on self-report and, therefore, the associations could be affected by response biases. And they noted that while they would be helpful, there are currently no validated objective measures of wisdom or other personality traits.

Here's a few "words of wisdom" for followers of TWI or any other fundamentalist group pushing manifestations or gifts of Holy Spirit. I can say with a HIGH DEGREE of confidence that neither TWI nor The Way Corps did at any time foster in me any wisdom as reflected in this article. However, as a result of living life (and enduring some of the tribulations/troubles/pressures thereof) over the course of the roughly 35 years since I severed my relationship with Wierwille's cult, I have grown to have some wisdom. I have learned to accept that I've been wrong plenty of times. Have you? The 7 questions that measure your level of wisdom I saw this on FB and did a bit of checking on the internet, not wanting to believe something just because it's on FB. Apparently, researchers at UC San Diego distilled a previously 28-question test (survey) down to 7 questions and have shown that those questions can with a reasonable degree of certainty show the level of wisdom a person has gotten to in their life. “Wisdom is a personality trait complex and multi-component“says the group of researchers led by Dilip V. Jeste and Michael Thomas, from the Department of Psychiatry at the USCD and the Department of Psychology at the University of Colorado, respectively. The team created the San Diego Wisdom Scale, which originally consisted of 24 items, evaluating six components. -The component of self-reflection, which measures the desire and ability of people to understand themselves and their actions at a deep level. Assess preferences regarding understanding of one’s thoughts, motivations, and behaviors. -The component of prosocial behaviors includes empathy, compassion, altruism, and a sense of justice. It assesses the ability to maintain positive social connections, as well as compassion or mindful behavior. -The component of emotional regulation measures the ability to regulate negative emotions that interfere with decision-making. It evaluates the own feeling of being able to effectively manage negative emotions and emotional stress and favor positive feelings. -The component of acceptance of divergent perspectives examines acceptance of other value systems and interest in knowing the points of view of others. It measures one’s openness and comfort with values and perspectives that may be different from one’s own. -The component of decision assesses the ability to make decisions in a timely manner. -The component of social counseling refers to the ability to give good advice to others. Subsequently, as a result of the appearance of a growing number of publications that suggested that spirituality is also a component of wisdom, the researchers decided to add it. -The component of spirituality measures the connection with oneself, with nature or with the transcendent (such as the soul or God). The total score on this expanded 28-item scale was called the Jeste-Thomas Wisdom Index (SD-WISE-28) or JTWI. But now, in a study published in the journal International Psychogeriatrics, researchers found that an abbreviated seven-item version (SD-WISE-7) was comparable and reliable. “Measures of wisdom are increasingly being used to study factors that affect mental health and optimal aging. We wanted to test whether a list of only seven items it could provide valuable information to examine wisdom, “said Jeste, lead author of the paper, senior associate dean of the Center for Healthy Aging and distinguished professor of psychiatry and neurosciences at UCSD School of Medicine. [...] These are the seven statements that are part of the current abbreviated index: 1. I stay calm under pressure. 2. I avoid self-reflection. (It is scored backwards) 3. I like to be exposed to different points of view. 4. I tend to put off making important decisions as long as I can. (It is scored backwards) 5. I often don’t know what to say to people when they ask me for advice. (It is scored backwards) 6. My spiritual belief gives me inner strength. 7. I avoid situations where I know my help will be needed. (It is scored backwards) “Shorter does not mean less valid”says Jeste. “We selected the right types of questions to obtain important information that not only contributes to the advancement of science, but also supports our previous data that wisdom is correlated with health and longevity.” Furthermore, they found that SD-WISE-7 strongly and positively correlated with resilience, happiness and mental well-being and, conversely, strongly and negatively with loneliness, depression and anxiety. “There are evidence-based interventions to increase the levels of specific components of wisdom, which would help reduce loneliness and promote general well-being, “the researcher stressed. He added: “Just as the COVID-19 vaccine protects us from the new coronavirus, wisdom can help us protect us from loneliness. Thus, we can potentially help end a behavioral pandemic of loneliness, suicide and opioid abuse that has been occurring for the past 20 years. “ The next steps the team plans to take include genetic, biological, psychosocial, and cultural studies of a large number of diverse populations to assess wisdom, as well as various factors related to the mental, physical, and cognitive health of people throughout life. life, Jeste advanced. “We need wisdom to survive and thrive in the life. Now, we have a list of questions that take less than a couple of minutes to answer and that can be put into clinical practice to try to help people, “he concluded. Among the limitations of the study, the authors mentioned that the measures used were based on self-report and, therefore, the associations could be affected by response biases. And they noted that while they would be helpful, there are currently no validated objective measures of wisdom or other personality traits.

To clarify the record, what "Rocky said..." is really Rocky quoted Mike as saying.

What do you learn when you do that?

Those posts seem to not have anyone's names. It all reads like propaganda, as far as I can tell.

Shazzam! I'm impressed. Not!

It won't work. Society has changed drastically since the 1970s. TWI is trying to come up with "new" ideas but said ideas are putting old wine in hopefully new wineskins... or new wine in old wineskins. Either way, it just will fizzle out without much fanfare before too long.

They already charge for them. You didn't know that? They don't produce major scientific breakthroughs for public health with magical thinking, or someone simply snapping their fingers.

So sorry. I had a cat for several years. He came down with bowel problems too. He's been gone for 7 years now. I miss him. Hugs.

Great point.

It's not blank on my screen. If you don't feel like yourself... -Seyda Noir I love the prose.