Information and brain stimulation - why information is its own reward!

I am currently on the last contact week of the Senior Management Course at the University of Stellenbosch Business school. It has been fantastic to gain new insights into economics, marketing (and of course the related concepts of strategic thought, leadership and a whole host of other factors that influence our lives).

I find this stimulation quite rewarding! When I learn new things I feel energized and engaged with the ideas and concepts. Conversely when I set in a lecture where I feel that I am not learning much, and not able to contribute anything, I feel less energetic, lethargic and seem to lack energy!

I think that sometimes we all forget that the body is a complex integrated system in which all of the parts are interdependent and interlinked. When my brain is stimulated it will work through the endocrine system to excrete chemicals and stimuli throughout the whole of my body. This means that not only will my mind be stimulated by new ideas, but my whole body will be energized and engaged.

The converse is of course also true - when a persons body is under threat their thought processes tend to become sharper, quicker and much more creative (when a lion is about to bite off your leg you start thinking quickly and creatively to survive!)

Well, here's an interesting post on some recent research that shows the link between stimulating ideas and hydration in the body's interlinked systems:

To me, and I suspect many readers, the quest for information can be an intensely rewarding experience. Discovering a previously elusive fact or soaking up a finely crafted argument can be as pleasurable as eating a fine meal when hungry or dousing a thirst with drink. This isn't just a fanciful analogy - a new study suggests that the same neurons that process the primitive physical rewards of food and water also signal the more abstract mental rewards of information.

Humans generally don't like being held in suspense when a big prize is on the horizon. If we get wind of a raise or a new job, we like to get advance information about what's in store. It turns out that monkeys feel the same way and like us, they find that information about a reward is rewarding in itself.

Ethan Bromberg-Martin and Okihide Hikosaka trained two thirsty rhesus monkeys to choose between two targets on a screen with a flick of their eyes; in return, they randomly received either a large drink or a small one after a few seconds. Their choice of target didn't affect which drink they received, but it did affect whether they got prior information about the size of their reward. One target brought up another symbol that told them how much water they would get, while the other brought up a random symbol.

After a few days of training, the monkeys almost always looked at the target that would give them advance intel, even though it never actually affected how much water they were given. They wanted knowledge for its own sake. What's more, even though the gap between picking a target and sipping some water was very small, the monkeys still wanted to know what was in store for them mere seconds later. To them, ignorance is far from bliss.

Bromberg-Martin and Hikosaka demonstrated that even more clearly with a second, slightly different task. This time, the monkeys always received information about their watery rewards and the initial choice of symbol simply determined how quickly this information was provided. After a few goes, the monkeys clearly wanted their info immediately. If the researchers swapped the target that provided the most instant information, the monkeys swapped the direction of their gaze.

This preference for knowledge about the future was intimately linked to the monkeys' desire for water. The same neurons in the middle of their brains signalled their expectations of both rewards - the watery prizes and knowledge about them.

All the neurons in question release the signalling chemical dopamine. While the monkeys were making their choices, Bromberg-Martin and Hikosaka recorded the activity of 47 dopamine neurons in their midbrains. These neurons became very excited when the monkeys saw a symbol that predicted a large amount of water, while the symbol that cued a smaller drink inhibited the neurons. The same dopamine neurons were excited during trials where the monkey only saw the symbol that heralded forthcoming information, and they were inhibited if they monkey only saw the other non-informative symbol.

So the same population of midbrain neurons signal changes in both the thirst for water and for knowledge. The more active they are, the stronger that thirst is. One monkey had a stronger preference for early information than the other and indeed, its dopamine neurons were more active when it saw the informative symbol. Even for each individual monkey, the neurons were more active on specific trials where they showed a preference for advanced knowledge.

Dopamine neurons are thought to be involved in learning about rewards - by adjusting the connections between other neurons, they "teach" the brain to seek basic rewards like food and water. Bromberg-Martin and Hikosaka think that these neurons also teach the brain to seek out information so that their activity becomes a sort of "common currency" that governs both basic needs and a quest for knowledge.

Reference: Neuron 10.1016/j.neuron.2009.06.009

Sustainable economies, world resources and wolframalpha

Today we are doing economics at business school. It is frightening to think that 21% of the world's economy comes from 5% of the world's population (the USA). The USA has a high services component (education, health care, safety etc.) and relies heavily on other countries for Agriculture and mining (food and minerals). Of course that comes from Africa which is the largest food and mineral resource base (25% of the world's physical resources comes from here). Amazingly the world's production of food has outstripped the world's demand for food - in other words there is MORE food in the world than there are hungry people! Of course this food goes where there is money (so most African nations export their food and minerals while their people starve).

Ghandi once commented that “The earth has enough resources to meet every man’s need, but not every man’s greed”.

I quickly went back to WolframAlpha to get some 'knowledge' (as opposed to just information - see yesterday's post on this wonderful tool). Now consider this - nations that can buy food, and that have a high proportion of services (health, education, safety, water production etc.) in their economy will have a much higher expected life expectancy at birth). So consider this... If you are born in the USA you will be expected to live longer (because you will have both food and services). Yet a nation like Swaziland that is resource rich will export its food and its economy is structured towards providing food and minerals for export to the rest of the world!

Take a look at this shocking statistic for life expectancy in Swaziland (31.9 years!), whilst in America it is 78.9 years! Of course HIV and AIDS have a huge impact on this (again, what is required is a strong services sector in the economy! Medical care (for those who are sick) and education for those who are not yet effected - but these lesser developed economies cannot focus on these elements since their basic survival is based around harvesting their natural resources to bring money into their economies to fund growth).

I am not sure if you know that 'economics' comes from two Biblical words (oikos meaning household, and nomos meaning to manage). I wonder how God feels when God sees all of the Children in God's household, some are fat, some are starving, some of us have everything whilst others have nothing!

I remember Bishop Dandala commenting some years ago that Africa is heading for a new form of colonisation - economic colonisation, where the strong will take over our land, our resources, and our political and economic systems simply because we shall have the natural resources, but our people will be so weakened by poverty and AIDS that we will sell it all for survival. In this context strong economies like China, America and India will take over what we have in order fund their development and growth from a position of dominance...

I would love to hear your thoughts. How do we turn this around? What can we, as Christians, do to transform the world's economies to make them more sustainable and Christ honouring?

I have a few other posts on economics here.

Flash floods in Somerset West, Cape Town! See the photos and short video.

Original post from 12 July 2009.

This afternoon Megie, Courtney, Liam and I were driving home after lunch (I preached at Kaleidescope Church this morning). On our way home the rain started bucketing down! Within a few minutes the water was so deep that it was up the the bottom of the car doors! I haven't seen rain like this in years!

I thank God that we have a warm, dry, house - but heck I now know that my work in Power that helps to build affordable (and free) houses is truly worthwhile!

This short video was shot on my Nokia E90 by Megie.

This coming week I am back at the Stellenbosch Business school for the last of the contact sessions for the Senior Management Graduate Diploma. I am looking forward to learning more!

You can follow the events of the week on my twitter feed at http://www.twitter.com/digitaldion

Here's more on the flash floods in Somerset West yesterday. Take a look at this News24 article (the photo comes from there).

Be blessed!

13 July 2009

Here are a few more photos that I was sent.

This picture was taken on Victoria road at the bridge that runs from the N2 to Main road in Somerset West - look how deep that Taxi is in the water!

Thankfully the folks in the Taxi managed to get out safely!

This is the Steers Franchise in Main road Somerset West. Amazing!

Moving from information to knowledge.

One of the common misconceptions with the use of the internet is that one can get useful knowledge through web searches.

While this perception is not entirely untrue, the reality is that all that search engines do is that they 'farm' existing information on the internet (some of it that is useful and some of it that is not) and present you with a list of links to websites that contain information about your search term.

So, for example if I put 'Dion' into google.com it will look for the site that has A) the most hits, B) the longest history in existence, and C) that has the search term 'Dion' on it. (My name lands 3rd on the first page under Video and at the top of the second page of search results).

This is simple information - it is not knowledge. All that google is telling me is that there are a number of sites that refer to the word 'Dion' on the internet.

What we need in the information age is a tool that can help us to move from information to KNOWLEDGE. Knowledge is a useful comodity. This is where wolframalpha comes in!

This site is brainchild of Stephen Wolfram (a scientist) who has developed a mathematical model that can harvest information and then use mathematical models to turn the information into useful knowledge.

So, for example, if you put the name 'Dion' into wolframalpha.com it will do the same as google on the back end (i.e., search the internet for all information and references to the word 'Dion'), then once it has the information it draws out useful information. For example, it will search websites and connect the name 'Dion' with birth dates, population statistics, and death rates.

Wolframalpha will then give you back useful statistical knowledge like how many people on earth have that name, when the name was most popular, what the average age is among people who have that name and what their expected age is.

The site is still in its infancy, but it is heading the right direction! We need to move from information to knowledge.

Go along to wolframalpha.com and put your first name into the search engine and see what it spits out. Then take a look at a few other examples they have listed on calculations, stocks, and a host of other knowledge processes. Please let me know what you discover (and particularly if you find anything interesting!)

Perhaps we're getting closer to Ray Kurzweil's prediction that by 2029 we shall have intelligent machines.

Check here for more posts I've made about Artificial Intelligence, consciousness, the human brain and information technology.

Using New Media and Social Media in ministry

Last week I had the privilege of teaching some classes on new media and ministry at Media Village's School of Video Production.

Since most of the persons on the course were not theologically trained we spent the first day discussing issues related to the 'message' of ministry. In particular we talked about the message of the Kingdom of God and our responsibility to be agents of transformation in society (thus pitching the content of the message towards individuals in order to engage the individuals with the Gospel of Christ, and also empower individuals to transform systems and communities to embrace the ways of Christ).

I have recently become increasingly aware of the fact that the Church sees its mission mandate as a geographical mandate (i.e., go into all the 'world' making disciples of all nations...) However, there are 'worlds' that are not part of our regular geography - these include social networks and new social media. I'm not sure about you, but I so much more connected with many more people because of the technology of social media. I communicate with more than 1000 people each time I send out an update on my twitter feed - http://www.twitter.com/digitadion. I have over 700 followers on twitter, and since my twitter feed automatically updates my facebook profile the 460 friends I have on facebook (some of whom are also friends on twitter) receive my updates. This phenomenon shows when I look at the logs for my website! I see a huge spike in hits to my website after an interesting tweet!

The lectures themselves offered quite a lot of insight into the tools of social media (twitter, facebook, linkedin) and new media tools (which primarily are communication tools to get rich content (such as audio, video, electronic text, or still images) to large groups of persons).

My media strategy, as you shall see from the video below, is quite simple:

1. Build a wide range of relationships. This is where twitter and facebook come in. The intention of these relationships is the create opportunities to interact around common interests and concerns, and particularly to drive traffic to my content! I cannot emphasize this last point strongly enough!

2. Having built a wide range of relationships I use various means to present rich content to my network. These include videos through youtube and qik, electronic text via my blog, and of course audio via my podcast and images via flickr.

3. When persons visit any of these sites I try to provide content for free (books, podcasts, videos etc.) that will bring about returning visits.

The long and the short of this relationship is that it creates a model for engagement around issues of the Gospel (the love of God in Christ, justice, social transformation etc.) Furthermore, the model also serves as a platform from which to launch my thoughts and ideas - I cannot tell you how many wonderful opportunities have come because my blog is rated in the top 5 in the Mail and Guardian's religion blogs section. I frequently get emails, telephone calls, do radio and television interviews and have generated many sales for my books etc. through these contacts.

The 'secret' if I can put it as such, is to give away ones content for free whenever possible. My idea is that the most valuable thing I have is not the paper on which my books is printed, rather it is the ideas, concepts and engagement that form the books - and of course my time. So, persosn can have my work for free since it eventually leads them to contact me to engage around the content. This in turn allows opportunities for me to share the Gospel of Christ and to encourage others to work with me for the transformation of society and creation!

Well, here's the video on new media / social media:

And, here's a copy of the Powerpoint Slides I used over the three 2 days. Simply click the link to download them. There is a 'reading list' in the middle of the slides that may be of some help. Please feel free to use them as you wish, if I could simply ask that you give a linkback to my blog (or site http://www.dionforster.com ) if you use them.

I'd love to hear your perspectives on how the Church, and Christians, can use social media to bring God's will to bear on society.

The faith to change things...

I spent today with an incredibly engaging and committed group of students at the school of video production at Media Village in Kalk Bay, Cape Town.  It is always a privilege to teach, but it is an added joy when the students are eager to learn, highly skilled and engaged in their subject matter!

Today we talked about changing paradigms in Ministry and the Church.  We discussed the doctrine of the Church and the Biblical intention of the Church's mission, and we concluded the day with a discussion of a theology of ministry outside of the regular congregational setting (i.e., work as worship).  Tomorrow we will conclude the lectures with a look at how we can use new media to reach a changing world with the unchanging message of the Gospel of Christ.

I will post the powerpoint slides for the lectures once we're done with the sessions.

However, this evening as I was catching up on my emails for the day this quote came into my inbox from Sojourners:

This is the first generation in all of recorded history that can do something about the scourge of poverty. We have the means to do it. We can banish hunger from the face of the earth.

- Hubert Humphrey, (U.S. Vice President 1965-1969)

Here's a challenging passage of scripture to go along with it:

The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith!" The Lord replied, "If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it would obey you."

- Luke 17:5-6

Practical Spiritual Disciplines - dealing with busyness

I'm not sure if this is the case with you, but I frequently find myself swamped with expectations and demands - busyness can be such a powerful distraction from what matters most in life! We read about such an account in Luke 10.38-42. I have often pondered that text in relation to my life.

You see, I like being productive. I like doing my best to see that I work towards establishing God's Kingdom where I am able to. In short, I quite like being busy! But, just because I like it, it doesn't mean that it must not be subject to Christ and to the Spiritual Disciplines of making one present to Christ and Christ's ways in the world and relationships you're in!

So, here's a copy of my next program for Radio Pulpit's 'The ministry and me' about the practical spiritual discipline of dealing with busyness. Please see more about Radio Puplit at http://www.radiopulpit.co.za

You can download an MP3 version of the file here: http://www.spirituality.org.za/files/RadioPulpit/Forster8Jun09.mp3 (6.7MB mp3).

I'd love to hear your comments, ideas, and feedback! Please email me for a transcript of the episode.

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Times of refreshing! Knysna Oyster Festival

On Friday we drove the 4 hours from Cape Town to Knysna to celebrate our friend Gary Power's 30th birthday in Knysna. Many blessings for the year ahead Gary. They were at their family holiday house on Thesen's Island in Knysna - this weekend is the Oyster Festival.

So, I entered to ride the 50km Mountain Bike ride in the forest around Knysna. It was an incredible ride! I did the 50km in just under 3 hours. Go to http://www.qik.com/digitaldion to see two short video clips I made on the race.

In the afternoon we went out onto the lagoon with our families. It has been a great weekend! I could do with a day or two more, but I feel refreshed and ready to face the next few weeks. I have a lot of domestic travel coming up (at least two days a week for the next month).
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The sky is on fire!

We get some of the most amazing sunsets in Somerset West! This was
the scene behind me as I was driving home from work today - beautiful!

'Holy leisure' in the Helderberg Mountains!

This afternoon once things had settled a bit at home and the chores were done, we'd had a lovely lunch together as a family and everyone was settling down for a rest, I decided to head up into the mountains for a good cycle!

It was an incredible ride this evening - we're having the most remarkable weather in Cape Town at the moment! I did about 30 km's on the jeep trails above Silverbook Kloof road. The forest is thick and beautiful, but there are clearly a few enthusiastic cyclists and hikers getting up there because the trails are well kept and clearly marked. Even though it is steep and technical in some places the scenery is something else. Then, there is the reward of breaking through the forest at the top of the mountain to see the whole of False Bay below you! By the time I got to the top my lungs were burning, my legs were a little numb, but my mind was clear and the view was worth it!

So, I shot this little video with my Nokia E90 cell phone on QIK (by the way you can find all of my videos here, and you can follow my regular updates on my twitter feed at the bottom right of this page or follow me on twitter @digitaldion)

Well, now I'm sitting down for the evening to go through my diary for the week. It is another busy week with some travel at the end. I always get a little nervous about everything that needs to get done in a single week - is this just me or does anyone else face a similar anxiety? But, I have found that if I take the time to think about each task and each appointment, just for a few seconds, thinking about the desired outcome, the people involved, the resources required and the steps that need to be taken - and I then take a few more seconds to pray through these pointers, I find courage and comfort to face the week.

In recent weeks I have been on something of a spiritual journey (since coming back from Hong Kong). I have experienced that in spite of not being able to get everything done, that doing what I can do well is enough. My friend Fr Bruce Botha (SJ) reminded me of the discipline of creating contentment and peace in spite of busyness and demands when we were chatting at Stellenbosch this week 'It's OK' he remarked to me. That conversation has sustained me and reminded me that God does not measure success by tasks ticked off a list, or even by success. Rather, faithfulness is a higher virtue. Relationships are important, being present to God in every situation is important, and attempting to do one's best for the sake of Christ and every person that Christ loves. That is enough.

So, this evening I feel blessed at the opportunity to have some 'Holy Leisure' in the mountains and prepare for the week ahead.

I pray that your week will be blessed!

The beautiful game! Rugby!

We're waiting at the JHB air port to board a flight back to Cape Town - we flew into Johannesburg on Friday morning for some meetings, then on Friday night we had the world Spoof championships (Mr Spangenberg from Cape Town handed to trophy over to the new world champion, a gentleman contender Mr Cherril from the Cambridgshire area in England).

Today we had tickets to watch the Springboks playing against the British Lions as Loftus Versfeld. It was an incredible atmosphere! Go to http://www.qik.com/digitaldion for a nice little video to get some of the incredible atmosphere at the stadium! It was a sea of Red! I was so impressed with the Lions supporters - fantastic guys and ladies!

Well, now we are ready to head home. I am so thankful for the many blessings that I have in life!

I am looking forward to having time with my family tomorrow!
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A recorded lecture by Professor John de Gruchy on doing theology in South Africa

I am still at the Joint conference for academic societies in theology and religion that is taking place in Stellenbosch.  It is such a joy to catch up with old friends.  And, it is always a pleasure to have the opportunity to be challenged, inspired, and stretched by the research, passion and insights of others.

Last night (22 June 2009) Prof John de Gruchy, one of the most prominent theologians of our age, and certainly a top theologian in South Africa, delivered the opening keynote address to the societies.  As always John's thoughts were clear, his insights keen, and his research meticulously done and well communicated.  John de Gruchy is best known for his work on Dietrich Bonhoeffer and also his work on deconstructing the theology of apartheid in South Africa.

This lecture is entitled 'Transforming traditions:  Doing theology in South Africa today'

It has so many exceptionally challenging insights (listen out for his very keen observation on the work of Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens among others!)  Of great interest to me is the manner in which John 'deconstructs' the compounding effect of tradition on theology.  In short (if I understood it correctly) tradition has a way of enforcing itself with time.  This is good for good traditions, but it is also bad for bad traditions.  The longer something is accepted the more entrenched and unquestioned it becomes, and the more difficult it is to engage and challenge.  A lot of contemporary theology (and theological methodology) goes unquestioned because of tradition.  This is neither helpful nor wise!

I would also encourage you to give some thought to John's notion of the Christian Humanist...  I am still wrestling a little with this one and will need to read his book to get a clearer understanding.

Here's the lecture, it is a 13MB MP3 file.  If you should use it please remember to reference Prof John de Gruchy (22 June 2009, Stellenbosch) and also please offer a linkback to me here at http://www.spirituality.org.za

Click here to download the file:  http://www.spirituality.org.za/files/podcast/John_de_Gruchy_22_June_2009TSSA.mp3

Oh, and I keep forgetting to mention, you can subscribe to this podcast feed on iTunes, simply search for dion's random ramblings or Dion Forster.

I'd love to hear your thoughts, feedback and insights either in the comments below or via email!

I shall upload more lectures as I record them, so please check back in when you have a chance.