Julia Galef gave an interesting talk at TED in February, 2016 entitled, "Why You Think You're Right - Even If You Are Wrong."

She describes what she calls the "Solider Mindset" and the "Scout Mindset."

The "Soldier Mindset" operates with what she describes as "motivated reasoning" which selectively perceives facts and ideas that increase the person's chance of winning and rewards their need to be right.

The "Scout Mindset" rather than needing to be right, is interested in the accurate picture of reality even when it is unpleasant or inconvenient.

The contributing factors to "scout mindset" are not intellectual and cognitive as much as emotional. People with "scout mindset" tend to be more grounded (secure), more curious, and more open. These traits of goundedness, openness, and curiosity predict good judgment.

Ms. Galef states that whether one engages in more of a "soldier" or a "scout" mindset is based on what a person yearns for. Is the person more invested in defending his/her beliefs or seeing the world as clearly as possible?

The ability to consider and reflect on how people process their thoughts and beliefs is what is called "meta cognition". "Meta cognition" simply means thinking about thinking. Meta cognition is what Piaget, the psychologist who mapped out cognitive development, calls "formal operations." Formal operations, or meta cognition, is considered to be a sign of maturity and wisdom.

People who engage in meta cognition tend to be more mentally healthy than people who have not grown to this stage of maturity.

<iframe src="https://embed-ssl.ted.com/talks/julia_galef_why_you_think_you_re_right_even_if_you_re_wrong.html" width="640" height="360" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen></iframe>

How good is your vagal tone? Do you tend to be reactive or responsive then faced with attack?

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/du035tg-SwY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Calming ourselves down when we are anxious and depressed has to do with the part of our nervous system called the smart vagus. This is the part of our brain which an override our sympatheic nervous system or the fight/flight response. The ability to manage our emotional responses well to the interactions with others is referred to by neuroscientists as "good vagal tone." In therapy I make a distinction about being "reactive" and being "responsive." "Reactive" is when the sympathetic nervous system has been triggered with a fight/flight response. "Responsive" is when we can back off, take emotional distance, get things into perspective, calm down, and then decide how to deal with things in a purposeful and deliberate way.

How does one develop good vagal tone? The suggestion in this short video is to imagine what is called "the pin" or the factor which might be motivating the annoying/hurtful person's behavior. In every day words, we shouldn't take what we perceive as annoying or attacking behavior by others "personally." The annoying or attacking behavior of others may be motivated by factors which have nothing to do with us. So we need not fight or flight we can simply observe or perhaps even try to soothe the other who is having a bad day.

Corporations influence U.S. congress to not do research on public health issues

Suicide rates in U.S. are rising

Teen birth rate hits all time low in 2014 in the U.S.

The U.S. is a low tax country and may weaken our overall public health and well being

People in the United States complain about their taxes and it becomes a hot button issue in every political campaign from the local to the national level. However, in reality, Americans have one of the lowest tax rates of any first world country. Is the U.S. view on taxes dysfunctional because it focuses on the "me" instead of the "we" and thereby weakens our strength as a nation and our overall well being?

Family meals are very important for adolescent well being