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People's Egos Get Bigger After Meditation and Yoga, Says Study (qz.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the surprise-to-no-one dept.

An anonymous reader shares a study that finds contemporary meditation and yoga practices can actually inflate your ego. Quartz reports: In the paper, published online by University of Southampton and due to be published in the journal Psychological Science, researchers note that Buddhism's teachings that a meditation practice helps overcome the ego conflicts with U.S. psychologist William James's argument that practicing any skill breeds a sense of self-enhancement (the psychological term for inflated self-regard.) There was already a fair bit of evidence supporting William James's theory, broadly speaking, but a team of researchers from University Mannheim in Germany decided to test it specifically in the context of yoga and meditation.

They recruited yoga 93 students and, over a period of 15 weeks, regularly evaluated their sense of self-enhancement. They used several measures to do this. First, they assessed participants' level of self-enhancement by asking how they compared to the average yoga student in their class. (Comparisons to the average is the standard way of measuring self-enhancement.) Second, they had participants complete an inventory that assesses narcissistic tendencies, which asked participants to rate how deeply phrases like "I will be well-known for the good deeds I will have done" applied to them. And finally, they administered a self-esteem scale asking participants whether they agreed with statements like, "At the moment, I have high self-esteem." When students were evaluated in the hour after their yoga class, they showed significantly higher self-enhancement, according to all three measures, than when they hadn't done yoga in the previous 24 hours.

87 of 191 comments (clear)

  1. I'm too busy meditating to do this survey... by ole_timer · · Score: 2

    ...and you results are below me...

    --
    nothing to see here - move along
    1. Re:I'm too busy meditating to do this survey... by houghi · · Score: 1

      Well, it is better to meditate or to fish than sit around and do nothing.
      I prefer watching Baseball myself.

      --
      Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
    2. Re:I'm too busy meditating to do this survey... by syn3rg · · Score: 1

      My ego gets bigger after whiskey...

      --
      The contents of this message have been doubly encrypted by ROT13
  2. Must be Christians... by The+Fat+Bastard · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Buddhists would have left their ego on the mat.

    1. Re:Must be Christians... by phantomfive · · Score: 2

      Ego in Buddhism is somewhat different than Ego in psychology. In Buddhism Zen you learn there is no independently existing self, but the non-self is pretty great. To quote a monk, "you are buddha." To quote a particular nun, "You are me and I am you."

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    2. Re: Must be Christians... by bestweasel · · Score: 1

      Buddhist thoughts for the internet age:

      Imagine the sound of one hand slapping an Anonymous Coward.

      If a troll falls in a basement and no one is around to hear it, does anyone care?

    3. Re: Must be Christians... by c6gunner · · Score: 2

      Best metaphor I have: a river flows into an ocean. However, there is no specific point at which the river ends and the ocean begins. That boundary is fuzzy, precisely because it isn't actually a boundary at all. There's just water there, and the river and the ocean are concepts our mind carves out in order to understand them.

      And those concepts are real, and useful, which is why we have them in the first place. If you take a drug which temporarily stops you from being able to tell the difference between a river and an ocean, that doesn't mean there is no difference. It just means you've fucked your brain to the point that it no longer sees a difference.

      You don't get enlightenment from that. You may - according to this study - get a temporary sense of superiority from it, though. Much like flat earthers get a sense of superiority from thinking that they know something about the world which the rest of us do not.

    4. Re:Must be Christians... by gtall · · Score: 1

      I am the walrus, kookoo ka choo.

    5. Re:Must be Christians... by phantomfive · · Score: 1

      I am the egg man!

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    6. Re:Must be Christians... by cascadingstylesheet · · Score: 1

      Buddhists would have left their ego on the mat.

      Right ...

      Christians believe that they (like all humans) are sinful and in desperate need of forgiveness. That nothing they can do can earn that forgiveness; it must be a gift from outside of them, from Jesus. That they themselves are so bad that only the death of a perfect, sinless Man can atone for it.

      Such arrogance!

    7. Re:Must be Christians... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      In other words you are indoctrinated with trivially refuted nonsense that's even less plausible than other world religions.

      Do you actually know anything about Buddhism? Or do you merely think you do?

      For starters, Buddhism isn't monolithic, there's a fair bit of differences within it.

      At its core, Buddhism is far from dogmatic, and there is no 'indoctrination'. It boils down to understanding your self, recognising that being an angry asshole probably isn't making you happy, and that being nicer to people and stopping being a douchebag has a better chance of bringing you happiness.

      That's really it.

      So, by all means .. please, trivially refute it and demonstrate your mastery of the subject.

      Meditation is a tool to quiet your brain and just 'be' for a period without thinking about your 'to do' list. It's also a tool for self reflection and self acceptance -- you exist in your currently messed up form, and some things you can change and some you can't, but most importantly, you want to know what those are and work on the things you can change.

      It's a fairly well known thing among Buddhists that new practitioners can get a little too into it and think they've achieved something more amazing that sitting still. Thinking you're special because you meditated it pretty much the opposite of the point of it since it's about letting go of your ideas of yourself and looking at the world as it exists.

      But it's all okay because it doesn't mention the G word.

      Technically, that's not true. Since the Buddha was a Hindu, and because of the age he lived in, the pantheon of Hindu gods existed, but in many ways weren't that much more elevated above the muck than the rest of us -- at least on long-timeline scales.

      Generally, this can be treated as metaphor instead of a literal belief in them. It serves to explain things, but at the end of the day, even the gods had to deal with the same shit as the rest of us. If more people accepted the Bible or any holy book as metaphor instead of the absolute word of an angry god, we'd likely have a lot fewer problems in the world.

      Buddha never claimed to be a god, nor did he ever say you should believe without questioning. In fact, he admonished people to test and question everything, and discard what doesn't work.

      That whole reincarnation thing? That's not an absolute, and you're not required to believe in it. Again, anywhere between metaphor and full on literal religious belief depending on where in the world you're from.

      To many practitioners, Buddhism is more of a self-help process than it is some path to Nirvana and immortality. The places where it is a full on religion tend to skew to a lot of mysticism and the like, but that's cultural baggage.

      So, go ahead ... thrill us all with your stunning, trivial refutation of Buddhism. Because I'm pretty sure you don't know enough about it to know what it really is, let alone be able to refute it.

    8. Re:Must be Christians... by mjwx · · Score: 1

      Buddhists would have left their ego on the mat.

      Right ...

      Christians believe that they (like all humans) are sinful and in desperate need of forgiveness. That nothing they can do can earn that forgiveness; it must be a gift from outside of them, from Jesus. That they themselves are so bad that only the death of a perfect, sinless Man can atone for it.

      Such arrogance!

      All religions are fucked up in one way or another but having lived amongst Buddhists for a while, Buddhism is the least fucked up of the major religions. Christianity and the other Abrahamic religions say that God is the only one who can judge, so some people go around doing shitty things without remorse because they think god thinks its OK. A Buddhist is responsible for creating their own destiny, if you've lived a shitty life being shitty to others, you're coming back as a slug and it's no-one's fault but your own. I find the idea of divine forgiveness to be the antithesis of responsibility. There are bad parts in Buddhism, such as rampant sexism (desire leads to suffering, temptation leads to desire, women are temptation) but Buddhism has shown a willingness to change (as has the CoE, to be fair). However judging by the worst of them... When a Buddhist goes off the reservation he sets himself on fire... When a Christian goes off the reservation he nails others to the cross and set them on fire.

      --
      Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
    9. Re:Must be Christians... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Anyway, until you have had that experience, statements about the non-existence of the self, or oneness with everything, sound like "trivially-refuted nonsense." This is because that differentiated-self experience is there constantly, to the point where you can't even conceptualize reality without it.

      You don't have to go through experimental route to benefit from this observation in practice. Many freely available texts describe all the necessary philosophy that you need to access the concept of anatta, without any drug use or exhausting practice that leaves you in a semi-conscious state. Even Scientologists use such practices to "purify" their minds for the acceptance of one truth and one bank account to give their money to.. Be careful out there, Padawans.

    10. Re:Must be Christians... by apoc.famine · · Score: 1

      Christians believe that they (like all humans) are sinful and in desperate need of forgiveness.

      Wrong about the "all humans" part. That's pretty unique to the Abrahamic religions, in particular christianity.

      Such arrogance!

      I'm guessing that you were being sarcastic, but yeah, it's fucking arrogant as hell to claim that you have some connection with a divine being, and are going to get infinitely rewarded by that divine being because you understand them and therefore are superior to all those who do not. To claim without evidence that there even is such a divine being is pretty fucking arrogant, let alone tell others that you speak on its behalf.

      --
      Velociraptor = Distiraptor / Timeraptor
    11. Re: Must be Christians... by Dread_ed · · Score: 1

      Ego death, selflessness, the connection of all things, the first lesson from Adam and Eve's fall: They are all the same. People have been pointing to this phenomena for millennia, if you haven't noticed.

      Look! Here come a bunch of self serving, arrogant, isolated, status-seeking people who stretch and think hard about how cool they look in their yoga pants. After looking at themselves in the mirror for an hour, comparing themselves to all of the other scantily clad people in their class, and meditating on how many people they are going to make want to fuck them because they do Yoga, no increase in selflessness was discovered. Big fucking surprise. FYI, this world will supply you with an infinite number of straw men to attack and hold up as proof that thinking you are not the center of the universe is a worthless pursuit.

      When you can get past the bullshit inherent in any human system you may find what other people have found: There is no superiority in losing your separation. Compassion, contribution, empathy, and service are more likely results.

      You don't get that in a posh yoga studio, surrounded by rich people trying to look good while trying to look good at looking good. How obvious can obvious be? The answer is, of course, "Not obvious enough."

      A river, a lap, and a fist walk into a bar. The first one dries up, the second one stands up, and the third one opens up. The bartender yells, "Hey! No Crossdressers!"

      --
      When the only tool you have is a claw hammer every problem starts to look like the back of someone's skull.
    12. Re:Must be Christians... by Dread_ed · · Score: 1

      Just because your understanding of divine forgiveness is incomplete and fucked up doesn't mean it undermines responsibility or the concepts of salvation, redemption, forgiveness, justification, unconditional love, grace, divine justice, etc.

      What becomes completely obvious from your post is you lack the ability to see the "policy of god toward man," called grace, which when identified invests the observer with the ability to then transmit that same grace toward other humans.

      Instead you see an excuse to do whatever you want, none of which is informed by or modeled on the characteristics of divinity or the descriptions of the spiritual life detailed in the associated hardcover materials. You incompletely and inaccurately saw one small part of a staggeringly large concept, separated it from all of the other integral parts that make it functional, removed and steadfastly rejected all of the other interdependent concepts from the whole, and declared it unworkable. Well, duh! You broke it, misused it, and falsely represented it. Of course it's easy to vilify. You set it up that way.

      But that's just it. That is what you see. Not everyone else sees that. You brought that, you chose to see that, and you made your conclusions based off of yourself instead of the concept that you so sorely misunderstand. Is it any wonder you feel so strongly about it? It's all you, only about you, and your relationship to grace.

      --
      When the only tool you have is a claw hammer every problem starts to look like the back of someone's skull.
  3. Already a known problem... by ndykman · · Score: 5, Insightful

    There is plenty of commentary in Buddhism on why serious meditative practice needs to be done with an proper teacher and inside a proper community to avoid these very issues. Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism is a great text that discusses this issue and how to approach it from a Tibetan Buddhist perspective. This is really nothing new, far from it.

    And, yes, if you have a set of random people meditate with no or little guidance for four weeks, there will be a ego boost. Longer term, directed practice is required for real change.

    1. Re:Already a known problem... by Tablizer · · Score: 4, Funny

      serious meditative practice needs to be done with an proper teacher and inside a proper community to avoid these very issues.

      So it's like Agile: if it's not working then you are not spending enough on expensive gurus and consultants, and if you are spending a lot and not getting results, then you are using the WRONG expensive gurus and consultants, and should switch to the expensive guru who is pointing this out to you.

      In other words, it may be a self-reinforcing Sisyphus racket, or at least could end up that way in the wrong guru hands. Proceed With Caution.

      --
      Table-ized A.I.
    2. Re:Already a known problem... by Comrade+Ogilvy · · Score: 1

      LOL

      Yes, it is like Agile insofar as a new perspective gives you useful tools for getting out of your rut. But if you love your rut, both Agile and meditation will not prevent you from recreating your old dysfunctional habits. (Where "you" perhaps is really "your company".)

      As a practical matter, consultants can bring some value. But the cynical might guess that the advantage is, with enough money thrown at the problem, actual managers responsible for making key bad decisions in the past might show up to a class and accidentally learn something.

    3. Re:Already a known problem... by PPH · · Score: 1

      I'm beyond all this. I'm not Agile enough to gaze at my own belly button.

      --
      Have gnu, will travel.
    4. Re:Already a known problem... by iMadeGhostzilla · · Score: 1

      Want to add that meditation is one of the hardest things to learn correctly because just like in say swimming it requires a lot of new neural activity, but unlike the swimming coach the teacher can't easily see how you're doing. Unless it is a great teacher, but they are rare.

    5. Re: Already a known problem... by bestweasel · · Score: 1

      Don't be so defeatist, haven't you seen those statues of the laughing Buddha?

    6. Re: Already a known problem... by triffid_98 · · Score: 1

      The embodiment of Christ and his disciples already died (I mean quit) for your chronically dysfunctional company so that they could rise on the seventh day at a company that could still be healed.

      While I'm no fan of the 'one true scottsman' defense I've seen enough half assed dysfunctional 'scrum/agile' companies to see that it's not the process that's (usually) the problem, it's that companies think they can develop a "cargo cult" approach to this stuff and get some benefit out of it. They won't and the management aren't exactly likely to jump up and down screaming that this was their own damn fault.

    7. Re:Already a known problem... by phantomfive · · Score: 1

      In other words, it may be a self-reinforcing Sisyphus racket, or at least could end up that way in the wrong guru hands.

      Yeah, you should find out what the guru is going to teach you before you commit 20 years of your life to following him. Ask him what sutra he reads, this stuff hasn't been secret for hundreds of years (if it ever was secret). Ask him what he is going to teach you. Don't commit to following a guy unless you want to go where he will lead you.

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    8. Re:Already a known problem... by hey! · · Score: 1

      The missing ingredient in both the Agile and meditation case is the same: motivation.

      I've always said that the biggest real difference between success and failure on a software project, other than technical acumen relative to difficulty, is commitment to the user. You've got to care about results. If you do Agile for the sake of being someone who does Agile, you're just wasting time and money fashionably.

      People succeeded in software before Agile, and people fail even though they do the rigmarole parts Agile. But if you care about the users and stakeholders you find a way to succeed, and Agile gives you a framework for doing that. That framework is pointless if that's not what you're up to.

      --
      Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
    9. Re: Already a known problem... by PPH · · Score: 1

      I have a tee-shirt for the gym: "I have the body of a God". With a laughing Buddha picture.

      --
      Have gnu, will travel.
  4. Of course! You're happy with yourself by evanh · · Score: 4, Insightful

    You've just completed a supposedly beneficial task. It's no different to completing a task at work or even winning a competition that matter.

    One would hope one is happy occasionally.

  5. Too lazy to brag? by Tablizer · · Score: 1

    I've also read meditation appears to make people less ambitious. One might argue as long as it makes one content it doesn't matter. Being confident and lazy won't necessarily harm you and others.

    I thought the main goal of meditation was achieving "inner" peace? If increased confidence provides that, then you arguably have gained inner peace.

    Of course some people are over-confident, which often leads to jerk-hood, but it might also provide confidence to those who lacked it before. Thus, increased confidence in itself is not necessarily "bad". It may "fix" some and "break" others.

    It may also have other benefits or changes that counter-act the problems of over-confidence. For example, if it does make one both over-confident and lazy, the person may be too lazy to rub in their greatness. Too lazy to say, "Neener neener, I'm better than you, loser!"

    --
    Table-ized A.I.
    1. Re:Too lazy to brag? by phantomfive · · Score: 1

      It seems like the people in the study had a better sense of self-esteem. I don't see any problem with that.

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    2. Re: Too lazy to brag? by c6gunner · · Score: 1

      Right. What we really need in this world is more people who think they're better than everyone else. That ought to fix our problems.

    3. Re: Too lazy to brag? by phantomfive · · Score: 1

      Why not? You do.

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    4. Re: Too lazy to brag? by N1AK · · Score: 1

      While having a world full of people like you who can't see the difference between having self-esteem and feeling superior to others would be so much better? In my experience the people who are most condescending and uncaring towards others often have poor self-esteem, which makes them either refuse to accept the value of others or begrudge them for it as part of their coping mechanism.

    5. Re:Too lazy to brag? by tehcyder · · Score: 1

      It seems like the people in the study had a better sense of self-esteem. I don't see any problem with that.

      There is a difference between "self-esteem" and "inflated self-regard".

      --
      To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
    6. Re:Too lazy to brag? by Dread_ed · · Score: 1

      Ambition is frequently the result of laboring under the illusion of inadequacy. Ambition has the goal of providing the proof to self and other that you are not inadequate. The proof is the target of the ambition. See this whatever? It's proof that I am not inadequate inside. See! I'm worthwhile because I have X.

      If meditation relaxes some of the ambition driven by inadequacy I would not be surprised.

      --
      When the only tool you have is a claw hammer every problem starts to look like the back of someone's skull.
    7. Re:Too lazy to brag? by Tablizer · · Score: 1

      Some of the most driven and materially successful people do seem to have something "digging" at their soul, often a bad childhood or relationship between one or more parent. Examples: John Lennon, Steve Jobs, Warren Buffett, Larry Ellison.

      --
      Table-ized A.I.
    8. Re: Too lazy to brag? by Tablizer · · Score: 1

      Self esteem is hard to define and different people will define it different.

      --
      Table-ized A.I.
  6. This seems consistent with last week's article by SlaveToTheGrind · · Score: 1

    basically saying that meditation makes you less motivated to put your nose to the grindstone for The Man.

    1. Re:This seems consistent with last week's article by cascadingstylesheet · · Score: 1

      basically saying that meditation makes you less motivated to put your nose to the grindstone for The Man.

      Or for yourself. Or for your neighbor. Or for your kids. Or for your aging parents. Or ...

      Motivation ain't just for "the man".

    2. Re:This seems consistent with last week's article by squiggleslash · · Score: 1

      Is it possible that Slashdot has been bought out by someone who has a grudge against Big Yoga?

      --
      You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
  7. Re: Yoga is not meditation by Zero__Kelvin · · Score: 1

    I'm by afraid you know little about Yoga as well as having a weak understanding regarding what exactly does and does not qualify as meditation.

    --
    Guns don't kill people; Physics kills people! - John Lithgow as Dick Solomon on Third Rock From The Sun
  8. Re:Of course! You're happy with yourself by evanh · · Score: 1

    I'll happily hang on to my bytes of ego, thanks.

  9. Get over yourself by MrKaos · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Meditation is good and useful practise for accessing different states of consciousness without drugs. There are many reasons why you want to do this. To say it reduces motivation and increases ego just indicates it is not being used properly. Brains are smart - minds are smarter and whilst you can fool the conscious mind fooling the unconscious mind is like trying to pretend gravity doesn't exist as you step off a cliff. Bottom line here - don't be fucking stupid, intent is everything.

    In some cases though meditation is a form of spiritual bypassing of all the shit you've been through in your life. These things mess with your super ego, those little voices in your head that can give you constructive or destructive messages. If they are destructive you're going to have a crap opinion of yourself and meditation will expand any false reality you have constructed and turn you into a real asshole.

    Bottom line: deal with your issues consciously first then meditation will be useful. Chances are you won't act like a dick either.

    Have a nice day :)

    --
    My ism, it's full of beliefs.
  10. Healthy self-esteem vs. malignant narcissism by Harvey+Manfrenjenson · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Did they make *any* attempt to distinguish between the two? If not, it's a worthless study.

    Healthy self-esteem is based on a realistic and measured appreciation of your own good qualities ("I'm a good ukulele player"). Inflated self-esteem is, well, inflated ("I'm the greatest fucking ukulele player on earth"). Malignant narcissism, as seen for example in narcissistic personality disorder, also tends to include a competitive need to denigrate the positive qualities of others ("All other ukulele players are shit"), and tends to include the belief that you deserve special treatment because of your extraordinary qualities ("I should get my ukuleles sent to me for free, and I don't need to be nice to people because I'm such a genius at the ukulele").

    1. Re:Healthy self-esteem vs. malignant narcissism by phantomfive · · Score: 1

      There is no such thing as healthy self esteem. The self esteem movement is one of the worst things to happen to American culture and,

      You seem to have enough of it.

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    2. Re:Healthy self-esteem vs. malignant narcissism by avandesande · · Score: 2

      Actually narcissists have poor self-esteem which is why they act out in the way they do to compensate. It is hard to know if meditation is healthy or not in this context.

      --
      love is just extroverted narcissism
    3. Re:Healthy self-esteem vs. malignant narcissism by GuB-42 · · Score: 1

      Doesn't the comparison to the average tests both inflated self-esteem and malignant narcissism while excluding healthy self-esteem?
      If significantly more than half of a group consider themselves above average, it means that people overestimate their own skills or underestimate other people skills.

    4. Re:Healthy self-esteem vs. malignant narcissism by Tyler+Durden · · Score: 1

      Yup. Also, consider the person with extremely low self-esteem. Someone who walks around constantly thinking, "Whoa is me. I'm so terrible." etc. would, in the Buddhist sense, have a terrible problem with their ego. They're always focused on themself.

      --
      Happy people make bad consumers.
    5. Re:Healthy self-esteem vs. malignant narcissism by Quirkz · · Score: 1

      Self-esteem is a weird topic. I suspect half of the issue is semantics, because people often mean different things about esteem, as evidenced by the comments in this article.

      Self-esteem might be one of those golden mean issues, where finding a balance is ideal, and too much or too little are both problematic.

      Another way to look at it might be that it's a necessary thing to boost when it's too negative. Having burdensome issues with sense of self that get in the way of your ability to express thoughts or accomplish goals is unfortunate. From this view, the main purpose of self-esteem boosters might just be to get it out of the negative. Once it stops being an obstacle, you can essentially forget about it, pretend it doesn't even exist for all anyone cares, and just get on with life.

      There's probably other angles, but even the difference between the two above can cause an endless loop of arguing if people don't realize they're talking different things.

      --
      The Quirkz Handbook of Self-Improvement for People Who Are Already Pretty Okay
    6. Re:Healthy self-esteem vs. malignant narcissism by Harvey+Manfrenjenson · · Score: 1

      It's a good point, that a "comparison to the average" test can tell us something about inflated self-regard, although even that is fraught with multiple problems. (Let's say 75% of the meditation group assess themselves as being better at yoga than the average student in their class. Are they comparing themselves to the entire class, or just to the subset that did meditation? Was the meditation subgroup randomly selected, and did they ensure that the average skill level of the meditation subgroup was similar to that of the other yoga students? Also, a certain subset of that 75% will be absolutely correct in saying that they are better than the average student-- so how can you tell which ones are assessing themselves incorrectly? Maybe the number of incorrect-positive assessments is constant between the two groups, and the only effect of meditation was to reduce the number of incorrect-negative assessments).

      Anyway, my point was that the summary talks about measures of narcissism ("I will be remembered for the great deeds I will do") and measures of healthy self-esteem (e.g. "My self-esteem is high right now") as if they were interchangeable.

      That's not even getting into the potential issues with the construct validity of the different assessment tools. (To take a silly edge-case example: if one of your students happens to have won a Nobel Prize, or saved a child from drowning, the statement "I will be remembered for my great deeds" is not a valid measurement of whether he is a narcissist).

  11. smug v. ego by goombah99 · · Score: 1

    how does one tell the difference between Ego and Smug?

    Ego drives the Audi and Smug drives the Prius

    list your own below....

    --
    Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
    1. Re: smug v. ego by bestweasel · · Score: 1

      Does doing something to cut pollution mean you're smug? If so the world needs many more smug people driving, whether speeding electrically down an empty highway or contentedly sitting there in traffic jams with a self-satisfied semi-smirk on their lips, as the engine management system quietly shuts off the motor.

    2. Re: smug v. ego by c6gunner · · Score: 1

      NEWSFLASH:

      Science shows ancient practice is fucked up.

      Hippies respond: "well it wasn't fucked up before we knew it was fucked up!"

    3. Re: smug v. ego by phantomfive · · Score: 2

      Instead of buying a big house far from work, why don't you get an apartment close to work? Then you can really reduce your environmental impact, without being smug.

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    4. Re: smug v. ego by c6gunner · · Score: 1

      Always nice to see scottsmen engaging in the No True Yogi fallacy.

  12. Considering the past weeks articles.. by meglon · · Score: 1

    What we've really determined is: Psychological Science isn't.

    --
    Fascism: An authoritarian and nationalistic right-wing system of government and social organization. See also: NAZI's
    1. Re:Considering the past weeks articles.. by Shotgun · · Score: 1

      No. Smarmy, self-assured Slashdot posters and their ilk claim that anecdotes are not data. AN anecdote is not data. It is a datum. Once you have multiple anecdotes (notice the s indicating a plural), you most definitely have data.

      Every single experiment ever performed was an anecdote.

      --
      Aah, change is good. -- Rafiki
      Yeah, but it ain't easy. -- Simba
  13. Plenty of data to back this up by Trogre · · Score: 1

    Observational data suggests that regularly practising Yoga strongly correlates with elevated levels of douchebaggery.

    --
    "Nine times out of ten, starting a fire is not the best way to solve the problem." - my wife
  14. Re:Must be Christmas... by phantomfive · · Score: 1
    Must be nice to think you can so easily refute stuff you didn't even understand.

    But it's all okay because it doesn't mention the G word.

    God will smite you. Not the Christian God, but Dunning–Kruger himself.

    --
    "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
  15. Re:Must be Christmas... by phantomfive · · Score: 1

    Because silly dogma that gullible people fall for is just misunderstood? Got it.

    It's not misunderstood, it's you in particular who doesn't understand it. The problem is you. You can't refute something you don't understand.

    Or maybe you do understand it. Can you say something that shows you comprehend?

    --
    "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
  16. Re:Must be Christmas... by ChatHuant · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Can you say something that shows you comprehend?

    Mu.

  17. No different than vegetarians by Vinegar+Joe · · Score: 4, Funny

    Q: How do you know if someone is a vegetarian?
    A: Don't worry, they'll let you know as soon as they can.

    --
    "The average reporter we talk to is 27 years old......They literally know nothing." - Ben Rhodes
  18. Re:Of course! You're happy with yourself by bjwest · · Score: 1

    Why would you need to mention any of these at all? These people are your friends, they should already know these three things about you. If there was a stranger in the group, you would mention the one that first comes up in conversation.

    "Did you happen to catch _____ on TV last night?" -- "No, I don't have a TV."

    "What do you do for fun/relaxation/exercise?" -- "I practice yoga."

    "Have you tried that new steak house over on 5th St?" -- "No, sorry, I'm vegan."

    --

    --- Keep the choice with the user..
  19. Re: Must be Christmas... by c6gunner · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Hurr durr, my pet belief is totally awesome! You just don't understand!

        - every crank ever

  20. Explains all the know-it-all crystal healers by Khyber · · Score: 1

    No fucking wonder their ego is so goddamned big.

    --
    Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
  21. Re:Must be Christmas... by phantomfive · · Score: 1

    Good, use your own words!

    --
    "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
  22. Re: Must be Christmas... by phantomfive · · Score: 1

    What's your belief?

    --
    "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
  23. Re:Of course! You're happy with yourself by serviscope_minor · · Score: 1

    That made me chuckle.

    Sadly the "don't have a TV" thing is kind of dated. I don't have a TV in the traditional sense...

    I do yoga oh shit!

    I do eat meat and I mostly watch DVDs which I buy second hand since there's a great second hand shop where I live, a bit of youtube and a bit of paid streaming service TV. I don't have a "TV" because the latop+screen does more than well enough.

    --
    SJW n. One who posts facts.
  24. Can't be worse then Vegans. by CptLoRes · · Score: 1

    Nuff said..

  25. Nah by SCVonSteroids · · Score: 1

    They were already like that.
    These are the types of folks who do anything to be better than others.

    --
    I tend to rant.
  26. Big ego by Daralantan · · Score: 1
    I remember a guy from college who went to a Universal Unitarian church. He came back one night talking about how they had done Buddhist meditation and something else and now his karma was perfectly aligned and he felt so amazing and like everything was right, blah blah blah..... Then 1-2 hours later he was in a rage because he wanted to take a shower, and someone else was in the dorm bathroom taking a dump. (He didn't want someone else smelling up the bathroom while he was in the shower, so he was cussing and talking a lot of crap about them for this.... with his perfect karma and alignment?)

    I did take Tae Kwon Do for years, and we had to meditate now and then. I mostly just recall it being helpful for sort of developing a better mind/muscle connection. More or less similar to just having good form and being aware of it when exercising though, nothing magical.

    1. Re:Big ego by Tyler+Durden · · Score: 1

      One day, Su Dongpo felt inspired and wrote the following poem :

      I bow my head to the heaven within heaven,
      Hairline rays illuminating the universe,
      The eight winds cannot move me,
      Sitting still upon the purple golden lotus.

      The "eight winds" in the poem referred to praise, ridicule, honor, disgrace, gain, loss, pleasure and misery - interpersonal forces of the material world that drive and influence the hearts of men.

      Impressed by himself, Su Dongpo sent a servant to hand-carry this poem to Fo Yin. He was sure that his friend would be equally impressed. When Fo Yin read the poem, the Zen Master wrote "fart" on the manuscript and had it returned to Su Dongpo.

      When Su Dongpo saw "fart" written on the manuscript, he was shocked . He burst into anger: "How dare he insult me like this ? Why that lousy old monk ! He's got a lot of explaining to do!"

      Full of indignation, he rushed out of his house and ordered a boat to ferry him to the other shore as quickly as possible. He wanted to find Fo Yin and demand an apology. However, Fo Yin's door closed. On the door was a piece of paper, for Su Dongpo. The paper had following two lines :

      The eight winds cannot move me,
      One fart blows me across the river.

      --
      Happy people make bad consumers.
  27. Re:Must be Christmas... by Whibla · · Score: 1

    Can you say something that shows you comprehend?

    What is the next question.

  28. Re:Must be Christmas... by goose-incarnated · · Score: 1

    Because silly dogma that gullible people fall for is just misunderstood? Got it.

    It's not misunderstood, it's you in particular who doesn't understand it. The problem is you. You can't refute something you don't understand.

    You're doing a great job of displaying the article's point. Well Done!

    --
    I'm a minority race. Save your vitriol for white people.
  29. Re: Must be Christmas... by houghi · · Score: 1

    It just is, man.

    --
    Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
  30. Wait by cascadingstylesheet · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Wait, you mean that dabbling in cherry picked pieces of other cultures' spiritual practices might be some sort of dilettante-ish thing??

    1. Re:Wait by MonteCarloMethod · · Score: 1

      This is what immediately came to mind when I read the summary.

      In the US (maybe elsewhere in the West, but I don't have any firsthand experience of it) there is a relationship between the upper middle class and "doing yoga". A recent episode of the NPR podcast Hidden Brain touched on this and talked about how certain practices such as attending yoga classes, shopping at farmers markets, and breastfeeding (among others) are forms of class signaling. With this in mind, I am not surprised at all that the act of participating in an activity that tells the world "I am in the upper 50%" (50% is probably conservative, but I don't have an idea of what "upper-middle class" translates to in economic percentile) would have an influence on one's ego.

      The ego influence is doubly true if you consider that physical exercise is a great way to boost endorphin levels independent of any sort of external signaling.

  31. Re:Must be Christmas... by phantomfive · · Score: 1

    Oh babe, you should have seen me before I meditated!

    --
    "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
  32. Re: Must be Christmas... by phantomfive · · Score: 1

    Let it be, let it go.

    --
    "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
  33. Re:Must be Christmas... by phantomfive · · Score: 1

    What do you want?

    --
    "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
  34. Re: Must be Christmas... by cascadingstylesheet · · Score: 1

    Hurr durr, my pet belief is totally awesome! You just don't understand!

    - every crank ever

    The worst of those being those whose pet belief is that all beliefs are equally right or wrong.

    Except, of course, their own belief that "all beliefs are equally right or wrong". That belief is awesome!

  35. Will relaxing help the egos too? by Erikderzweite · · Score: 1

    What would be interesting if just relaxing and e.g. listening to your favourite music for an hour would produce similar results.

  36. Damnit by spongman · · Score: 1

    I read "eggos".

    So disappointed.

  37. Re: Meditation means many things by c6gunner · · Score: 1

    So deepity. Much cromulence.

  38. Is it a bad thing? by SoftwareArtist · · Score: 1

    It's all how you look at it. "Inflated ego" is a bad thing. "Confidence" and "self-esteem" are good things. But there often is little difference between them. This story is trying to spin it as a bad thing, but you could just as easily spin it as a good thing. So let's rewrite that headline.

    People's Self-Esteem Increases After Meditation and Yoga, Says Study

    Sounds like a good reason to meditate.

    --
    "I'm too busy to research this and form an educated opinion, but I do have time to tell everyone my uninformed opinion."
  39. What a dumbass by skovnymfe · · Score: 1

    Meditation isn't a "skill" you can practice. Meditation is literally conservation of energy through non-action. You just sit around doing nothing. If you're doing something, you're not meditating. People who don't understand this are people who only have a cursory understanding of meditation, and why Buddhists meditate. All these newage monkeys with their yoga and their meditation workshops and shit, these people will never achieve anything because they don't understand why they're meditating in the first place. They just heard it was supposed to be this amazing thing and they jump on the band-wagon. Of course they're going to pump up their ego by thinking they're doing something incredibly amazing that all the other uninitialized muppets aren't doing.

  40. Walk versus Yoga by NewYork · · Score: 1

    One hour early morning walk is better than any Yoga

    --
    Casteism
  41. Re:Must be Christmas... by phantomfive · · Score: 1

    So far I only came across gobbledygook when I look up awakening, enlightenment, and so forth.

    I guess it depends where you are looking. The four noble truths make it clear what enlightenment is (non-buddhists have different ideas, though).

    --
    "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."