The Autism Spectrum Quotient

Take the test at the link below.

The Autism Spectrum Quotient

Become a Human Lie Detector

The following tips will assist you in determining whether someone is being untruthful. A word of caution is required though, to make an accurate determination that somebody is lying you will need to assess multiple factors rather than rely on a single diagnostic factor. By looking for clusters of the following factors you will enhance your ability to determine the truthfulness of those you meet.

1) Body Language

Is the person making eye contact while speaking? Liars will sometimes avoid making eye contact when lying.

Does the person touch their face or head whilst talking? Some liars will unconsciously touch their face whilst lying. Often the liar will disguise this movement as a scratch.

Are the movements of the person rather stiff? Liars will often minimize their display of body language in a bid to hide the fact that they are lying.

2) Incongruence

Is there a delay between the persons language and the emotion displayed? An example of this can be seen when you give somebody a present that they dislike and they say "I love it" but the smile comes after the statement rather than with it.

Facial expressions that don't match the verbal statement, such as somebody grimacing when they say "I love you", are another clue that the person is lying.

3) Interactions

Liars will often try to distance themselves from the person they are lying to. They may do this by turning their body away from the person they are talking to. They may also try to place a barrier such as an object or an item of furniture between themselves and the person they are talking with.

4 ) Verbal statements of liars

Many liars avoid directly telling a lie. Instead they lie by omission or they will lie via implication. This allows them to lie without directly doing so.

Some liars will add many superfluous details to their fabrications in a bid to make them more believable.

Liars will also sometimes speak in either a monotone voice or a very quiet voice. Some liars voices will also crackle with emotion when lying.

Conclusion

The factors above in combination will help you to determine whether somebody is lying or not.  These factors are not iron clad guarantees of deceit though. For the above factors to be most effective it is helpful if you have some knowledge of how the person has previously interacted with you. This gives a baseline from which you can more effectively judge whether groups of the above factors are significant indicators of untruthfulness. The factors above are useful indicators of potential deceit but you must always remember that sometimes a scratch is just a scratch! Further information on this subject is given in the book "What Every Body is Saying" by former FBI agent Joe Navarro.

Tips and Tricks for Influencing Others

An interesting little article from Lifehacker:

http://www.lifehacker.com.au/2011/01/how-to-plant-ideas-in-someones-mind/

How to Develop a Perfect Memory

I've recently commenced a lengthy period of leave and have finally found the time to examine my substantial backlog of reading material. At the top of my list is Dominic O'brien's book "How to Develop a Perfect Memory". This book is an interesting examination of a world champion memorizer's memory techniques. The book begins with a few simple memory techniques (the journey method, and the number shape method) and then moves on to some highly unique memory systems that can not be found elsewhere. One of the author's more useful techniques is his system for memorizing long strings of numbers. This technique assigns a letter to each number (0=O, 1=A, 2=B etc) and then pairs these letters and associates them with both a memorable person and a unique action. These people and actions are linked together using standard memory techniques to memorize the number string. To use a brief example the number 12688072 could be encoded as follows:

12 = AB - Person = Allan Border
68 = SH - Action = Searching for clues (SH = Sherlock Holmes)
80 = HO - Person = Santa Claus (Ho Ho)
72 = GB - Action = Working in the oval office (GB = George Bush)

I would link these people and actions as follows - Allan Border (AB) is holding a large magnifying glass and searching for clues (SH) whilst walking around a cricket pitch. He stumbles upon Santa (HO) who runs off to the White House and starts working away in the oval office (GB).

By using this method numbers are given meaning and this in turn makes them more easily memorized. I'm still only in the early chapters of the book but it looks promising and at this point I would recommend it to anybody who wishes to improve their memory.

And now for something a bit creative!

Many years ago as a young teenager I desperately wanted to draw but believed myself to have next to no natural ability. That all changed when I found Betty Edwards book "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain". Through a series of exercises this book allowed me to draw life like pictures that I never knew I was capable of. My first proper drawing was of my hand. When it was completed I was thrilled to see that it wasn't a cartoon caricature but a properly rendered life like drawing that any artist would be proud of. I've only recently found the book again and am looking forward to starting where I left off. This book comes highly recommended for all budding artists and those that just want to make better use of their brains!

Harry Kahne - The Ultimate Multitasker

Harry Kahne had the seemingly unique ability to perform multiple complex mental activities concurrently. He could write a poem upside down with his left hand, whilst simultaneously solving complex mathematical problems with his right hand, and at the same time he would be answering questions from the audience. Kahne claimed that his skills were not unique. He believed that with the appropriate training anybody could gain the same skills and abilities. The following link will take you to a magazine article and Kahne's own Multiple Mentality Course. Enjoy.

Speed Mathematics: Secrets of Lightning Mental Calculation

I've always been fascinated by savants who have the ability to perform amazingly complex math calculations mentally. Over the years I've examined systems from Vedic Maths to the methods of Trachtenberg in a bid to improve my ability to perform mental calculations. Some years ago I came across a book called "Speed Mathematics - Secrets of Lightning Mental Calculation" by the Australian author Bill Handley. This book is an accessible manual of techniques for performing rapid mental calculations. An example of the type of calculation explained in this book is the author's method of multiplication.This method uses a reference number to make multiplication easier. In the example below the reference number used is 100.


In this example we want to multiply 98 x 115.

Step 1 - 98 is 2 less than the reference number so we mentally note -2.
Step 2 - 115 is 15 more than the reference number so we mentally note +15.
If you were writing this on paper it could be represented as follows:

Step 3 - Add or subtract diagonally. eg 98 + 15 or 115 -2. The answer is the same - 113
Step 4 - Multiply the result of the last step (113) by the reference number (100) eg 113 x 100 = 11300
Step 5 - Multiply 2 x 15 = 30 but because one of the numbers is negative the answer is negative. ie -30
Step 6 - Subtract the result of the last step from the result of Step 4. ie 11300 - 30 = 11270

So 98 x 115 = 11270. This method when done in the mind takes only a couple of seconds to complete.

The methods in this book are both simple and effective. With a little practice you will definitely be able to make use of these techniques to perform your own rapid mental calculations. This is a book that I would highly recommend to anybody who is sick of relying on electronic calculators to solve their daily math problems.

Sites of Interest

Here are a few sites that my readers may find of interest.

1. An article I wrote some time ago about a simple memory technique.
2. IQ Tests from the International High IQ Society.
3. Mental Floss - A quirky eclectic blog full of brain building goodness.
4. Lifehacker - A favorite site of mine with heaps of tips for improving all aspects of your life.

Do yourself a favor and check these sites out.

Supercharge your ability to memorize number sequences

The Major memory system is one of the more powerful memory systems available. This system allows its users to turn numbers into visual images that can be strung together and thus easily memorized. The system works by converting numbers into letters. These letters are strung together to make words and these words form the basis for the images which are memorized. With this system long numbers can be easily memorized. The basic associations for this system are as follows:

0 = S,Z
1 = D,T
2 = N
3 = M
4 = R
5 = L
6 = J, SH, soft CH
7 = K, hard C
8 = F,V
9 = P,B

By using the assigned letters above in combination with vowels you are able to make words which can then easily be visualized. The following words are representative of the basic numbers:

0 = Sea
1 = Tie
2 = Noah
3 = Ma
4 = Ray
5 = Law
6 = Jaw
7 = Key
8 = Fee
9 = Pie

The letters H, Q, W, X, & Y can also be used to flesh out words as they don't code for numbers. You should come up with a vivid image for each of these words. Once you have done this you will know that Ma (I picture the grandmother out of the Beverly Hillbillies) represents the number 3 and that 7 is represented by the image of a large ornate Key. You could of course represent these numbers with other images. 3 could be associated with Mo from the Three Stooges and 7 could be represented by the image of a Car (Hard C = 7). The images you choose are entirely up to you.

Once you have memorized the images linked to the numbers 0-9 you can then come up with images for the numbers 10-99. This is not a difficult process. Some people even take this a step further and start memorizing images associated with three digit numbers. Sitting down and taking the time to learn these associated images prior to using them will make them easier to remember but it should be noted that they can easily be generated on the fly as required.

Memorizing numbers with greater than two digits is done by linking several images together. For example - if I wanted to memorize the following number - 6299 5930 I would do so by:

1) Breaking the number down into 4 two digit numbers - ie. 62 99 59 30
2) I would then associate an image with each number pair. In this case:

62 = JaNe (Jane from Tarzan and Jane)
99 = PuP (A cute little puppy)
59 = LiP (A gigantic jutting bottom lip)
30 = MaZe (A big hedge maze)

3) I would then Link each of the images together from first to last so that the number can be rapidly recalled. If you are worried that you won't remember the correct sequence of the images you can combine the Major System with the Journey System. If you did this you would simply place each image at a specific point in a predetermined journey. So for a typical 8 digit phone number I could use the journey from my bed to the kitchen that I take each morning after getting up. Using this as an example I would visualize Jane in my bed (stop 1 in the journey), the pup gnawing on my bedroom door (stop 2), a gigantic lip would be jutting from the wall of my loungeroom (stop 3), and finally I would find a hedge maze growing in my kitchen.

The Major System takes some effort to be able to use effectively but that effort is amply rewarded by the ability to easily memorize long sequences of numbers. More information on the Major System can be found in most books describing Memory systems. I would recommend something like Harry Lorayne's Page a Minute Memory Book for those just starting to use these systems. Ample information can also be found online.

Icue Memory

I have been
using a useful memory training app for the Iphone called Icue Memory. This app costs $3.99 (AUD) and consists of three memory training tools that test your ability to memorize sequences of playing cards, numbers, and binary numbers. This application is polished and professional. It is the only memory training tool currently endorsed by the USA Memory Championship. This app has the ability to upload your high scores to a high scores list on the developers website. I thought that this was a nice touch. My only criticism of this app is that the developer could easily integrate instructions for the various memory training systems directly into the app. At the moment you have to go to the developers website for this information. This is only a minor criticism though as the majority of users of this app will already be competent in various memory training systems. Despite this minor reservation I highly recommend this app to anybody looking to improve their powers of recall.  Further information can be found on the developers website.

Embedded Commands

I'm currently reading "Mind Control 101" by Dantalion Jones. This book is a fascinating exploration of the techniques that can be used to covertly control the minds of others. One of the techniques covered in this book is the use of Embedded Commands (EC). Many people are aware that subliminal messages can readilly be inserted within music to subtly influence behaviour. Fewer people are aware that it is also possible to insert subliminal commands within everyday language through using EC. These EC act directly on the subconscious and allow the user to effectively control the behaviour of others in a covert way. What follows is a concise beginners guide to the use of EC.

For the purposes of this guide EC will be be capitalized and pauses in speech patterns will be represented by an ellipse (...).

Step 1 - Establish a Goal.

What are you trying to achieve? Are you attempting to sell something? Are you trying to persuade someone to go to bed with you? Are you arguing your case for a pay rise at work? You must first determine what you wish to achieve through using EC before you can move on to the next step of defining your commands. For the purpose of this guide we will assume that you are trying to get rid of an unwanted house guest.

Step 2 - Define your Commands.

Once you have settled on a goal you must define your EC. These will be short phrases of no more than three or four words that express your goal. You will need multiple commands in a conversation so that the subconscious of your target has sufficient commands that it can identify. Given our stated goal in Step 1 you could use the following EC:

GET OUT
LEAVE IMMEDIATELY
SHOW YOU THE DOOR
DON'T RETURN

Step 3 - Deliver your Commands.

EC are embedded within ordinary language. That is they are hidden. If they were stated overtly the mind would likely show some resistance to following the commands. By delivering these messages covertly the conscious mind is effectively bypassed and the subconscious is able to act on the message. The person will respond to these commands but will not know why they are doing so.

To deliver the EC above the commands need to be inserted into normal language and marked out in some way so that the subconscious mind can act upon them. In practice the commands are marked out by:

1) using a short pause before and after each command, and
2) deepening your voice slightly when giving the commands.

An example of using our EC could be:

I was talking to a friend at work today. He told me that you ...GET OUT... of life what you put into it. I agreed with what he said but had to ...LEAVE IMMEDIATELY... rather than continue talking when the boss walked in. When I got back to my desk another colleague said that my boss would be happy to ...SHOW YOU THE DOOR... that we are currently designing if you were interested. I know that you are probably not interested in continuing seeing my boss romantically but if you ...DON'T RETURN... his phone calls soon he may no longer talk to you.

The overt content is less important than the covert commands embedded within. Having said this you will need to spend some time ensuring that your script is congruent and fits the situation at hand.

You may also worry that the use of EC will sound strange to others. This worry is unfounded. Although others may realize your speech is a little different the technique is subtle enough that they will not be able to pinpoint why your speech sounds different. The commands will work on the subconscious mind and your target will with any luck respond to your commands. Have fun and use this technique wisely.

Welcome to my blog!

Welcome to the Expanded Mind. By way of introduction I will give you a little bit of information about myself and what I hope to achieve with this blog. I am a 35 year old university graduate with an insatiable desire for information. I have a passion for self improvement and the desire to fully reach my potential. This blog will be used to explore and share my interests with the wider community. I intend to examine topics as diverse as memory systems, Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP), body language, hypnosis and anything else that I think has the potential to expand my mind or anybody else's. My journey has been a rich and rewarding one. It is my earnest hope that you can take something away from this blog that will aid you on your own journey through life.