#22 - 21 February, 2024

CONTENTS

?? LEAD ARTICLE: Pause, rewind, play again

?? Workplace "wellness perks" don't work

?? When success tastes bitter

?? Prebunking rather than debunking

?? Second helpings - good reading from the web

LEAD ARTICLE

Pause, rewind, and play again

I am taking a brief respite from the weekly Lead Articles to recharge my idea battery. I thought this break could be a good time to list the series so far and allow subscribers to read articles they may have missed or, maybe, read them again. Here's the list with links to the issue.

1. Cancer follow up testing does not provide benefit
2. On friendship - with a little help from Aristotle
3. Beyond blood donation - effective altruism
4. A no-nonsense guide to exercise
5. Cold truths about diet and weight loss
6. Overdiagnosis and the ethics of medical testing
7. Medicalisation - extending the boundaries of disease
8. "The reproducibility crisis" in medical research. It works for some, not everyone.
9. More Picasso than Poirot - the Art of Medicine
10. Stepping through the minefield of risks to your health
11. To err is human - doctors are merely human
12. Outcomes in healthcare - a tale of two perspectives
13. No more New Year's resolution - do this instead
14. Age is just a number, so let's measure it
15. Fooled by Pharma
16. Making the Medicine go down needs more than a spoonful of sugar
17. Procrastination - "Just (don't) do it"
18. Wound healing - an everyday miracle that is "born to blush unseen"
19. How good was your hospital stay? A rating guide
20. The "Four Noble Truths" of healthcare delivery

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Workplace "wellness perks" don't work

I am not surprised. Many, if not most, of those on offer teach Yoga and mindfulness. I have no quarrel with them as effective tools for personal enhancement. I have practiced both for decades and intend to go on for as long as I can. What I have found objectionable is the tendency towards taking these practices out of the larger context of a life-long spiritual pursuit, repackaging them as quick fixes, and selling them to a public that is stress-ridden. "McMindfulness" is bound to fail in the long run when used in this spirit. The ultimate benefactor is not the person but the organisation, which is seeking to profit from the enhancement in productivity that these "wellness perks" are expected to bring about.?

A recent study from Oxford University's Wellbeing Research Centre, analysing 90 wellness interventions among 46,336 workers, found these perks ineffective in improving well-being. The study suggests a need to focus on organisational changes and meaningful work to truly enhance employee well-being, indicating a shift from individual perks to a more holistic engagement with work conditions and culture.

As one participant in the study lamented, "I think ultimately making more money would have made my life easier in a more significant way than having in-office meditation sessions ever did."

Karlis N, Salon.

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"Well-being cannot exist just in your own head. Well-being is a combination of feeling good as well as actually having meaning, good relationships, and accomplishment." - Martin Seligman

#evidence #health #SelfHelp #wellness #workplace #productivity #yoga #mindfulness

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When success tastes bitter

Stephen Covey's "Seven Habits of Highly Effective People" is widely acknowledged as a classic tome for self-improvement and productivity. A piece of advice that has stuck to me is his recommendation that when you are climbing up the ladder of success, make sure it is leaning against the right wall. You reach the top, look around, and see that the view is not what you wanted. You're unable to enjoy your accomplishments fully and feel a sense of inadequacy or even failure. It happens quite often.

The piece looks into the harmful cycle of pursuing more—wealth, fame, and accomplishments—only to discover that these pursuits provide temporary happiness. It emphasises the significance of recalibrating our happiness metrics, calling for a change towards favouring personal growth, meaningful contributions, and authentic relationships above traditional indicators of success. We can get away from the hedonic treadmill and foster long-term contentment by reframing our relationships with money, accomplishment, and recognition, as well as developing satisfaction skills.

Carucci R, Harvard Business Review

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"You become a heartless taskmaster to yourself, seeing yourself as nothing more than Homo economicus." - from the article

"Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful." - Albert Schweitzer

#merit #philosophy #productivity #SelfHelp #success

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Prebunking - a new strategy against disinformation

I consider myself a concerned, reasonably intelligent person. When it comes to the topic of climate change, though, I retreat into a shell. I understand it's real and constitutes the greatest challenge of all time to mankind's survival on the planet. I lack the skills to be able to delve into the intricacies of the science behind it. I have to take things on faith, in blind trust. This makes me uncomfortable, but I have no choice. I trust the scientists who know enough about this matter to speak the truth.

Given the complexity and subtlety of the problem, it's easy to see how people can be drawn into polarising positions that deny the existence of climate change. The power of today's social media allows disinformation and outright lies to disseminate widely, almost instantly. The fight against widespread disinformation continues despite the stark realities of climate change—necessarily a belief equally based on faith for most of us.

I learned a new word today: "prebunking." This innovative strategy has the potential to strengthen public resistance to climate disinformation by distributing factual information and insights regarding typical manipulative strategies prior to the spread of lies. People are better able to comprehend the truth about climate change and its effects. Prebunking prepares individuals to confront environmental issues, armed with evidence instead of fear.

Great, in principle, but the effort involved in educating an audience with woefully short attention spans has to be huge. I cannot share the enthusiasm of the author of this article. History shows humans to be consistently refractory to warnings and good advice.

Turney C, The Conversation.

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"Prebunking often has a better chance of success, according to recent research, by laying out clear, accurate information in advance." - from the article

"Science and education are the most effective weapons against the epidemic of misinformation." - Stephen Hawking

#CriticalThinking #evidence #SelfHelp #skill #strategy #ClimateChange #disinformation #debunking #prebunking #environment #truth

SECOND HELPINGS

Good reading from all over

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