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How to Increase Your Visual Intelligence

August 6th, 2010 by Admin | 5 Comments | Filed in Brain & Perception

Visual intelligence can be easily increased. The ability to quickly recognize more of what you see, including more nuances, distinctions and meanings is visual intelligence.

Although we need our eyes to see, all that our eyes perceive is impressions of light. Our eyes account for only 10% of our perception of vision. People who have 20/20 vision, with or without corrective lenses differ widely in their visual intelligence.

Easily and effectively you can learn to see more by, well, seeing more. See people, places and things that are new to you.

We see through our memories. The more visual memories we have that are of different people, places and things, the more we are able to perceive.

Science has discovered that 90% of vision happens in our brains. Our brains decode the impressions of light sent by our eyes into meaningful data. We experience the brain’s translation of this data as seeing.

People can be blind, or partially blind when specific areas of the brain that relate to specific types of visual recognition, such as faces, is damaged. We are all also relatively blind to what is radically new to us.

There is a documented story of a European medical doctor who was working with a tribe in Africa over a century ago during the colonial period. He became good friends with the chief who was very intelligent and they spent many off hours together. The doctor was introduced to the tribal culture, which included sculpture and other visual artistic expression, but not painting.

When a show of good European paintings (this predates the acceptance of Modern Art, so these paintings were realistic) traveled to a colonized town within a day’s journey, the doctor invited the chief to accompany him so that he could share his culture’s art.

After they walked through the show, the doctor asked the chief how he liked the paintings of the people and places in Europe. The chief asked what he meant.

It turned out that when the chief looked at the paintings all that he saw was colors, not people, places or things, which were wholly unfamiliar to him. The chief lacked the idea and experience of visual information being conveyed through paint.

They returned to the show, where painting by painting the doctor pointed out what was in the painting until the chief actually had enough new visual memories of paintings depicting people, places and things, that he could see them on his own. Then the chief became delighted with the art and new experience!

The above story explains how we gain greater visual intelligence. Being able to discern images that are comprised of paint, ink or pixels is something normally sighted people in the industrialized world learn to do by the time they are toddlers. But the average toddler, no matter how intelligent, cannot see everything in a detailed painting, such as a Rembrandt, that an adult can. The toddler lacks the many visual memories and encounters with works of art that are necessary to view the subtleties of Rembrandt’s work

This is why young children especially enjoy books where the illustrations are simple and brightly colored. Bright, basic colors are the first ones we learn to see. Yet it is important to introduce and point out more complex shades and color variations to children as the focus it helps them acquire new visual memories and understandings.

Travel, meeting new people who are not of our own familiar racial groups, seeing art and going to movies that include new and different visual information, such as people, places and things created by special effects allows us to increase our visual memories. This means we can recognize. This increases our functional visual intelligence.

So, take the time to break out of your daily visual rut of the places you go, and the environments and people you see. The more different people, places and things you learn to see, the more you will be able to see. Increase your visual intelligence!

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You Only Need Your Brain to See

July 16th, 2010 by Admin | 1 Comment | Filed in Brain & Perception, Inspirational Stuff

Most people think that they see with their eyes. Actually ninety percent of vision takes place in the brain.

Basically, what the eyes see are impressions of light. About two million optic nerves are required to transmit visual signals from the retina—the portion of the eye where light information is decoded or translated into nerve pulses—to the brain’s primary visual cortex.

The brain uses memories to interpret what the impressions of light mean. This process is much like decoding a message into meaningful information.

This is a recent discovery. It led to scientists being able to stimulate certain areas in the brains of volunteers so that the volunteers” saw” images that their eyes were not focused on.  It has also led Paul Bach-y-Rita, a neuroscientist at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. to a new way of helping people see using their tongues via a device called BrainPort, which device uses the tongue to send the impressions of light to the brain. Paul Bach-y-Rita, has devoted much of his career to a single, revolutionary concept: that our senses are interchangeable, and they may be. The big difference as to how we perceive what we sense occurs in our brains.

There are medical cases of people who suffer various kinds of blindness due to brain injuries, although their eyes are fine and able to transmit impressions of light. One of the most interesting is that of a man who cannot see faces. He can see landscapes and objects and bodies, but due to a brain injury that affects the portion of the brain where facial memories are stored, he cannot distinguish faces, even of his own family.

The more varied and different visual memories a normally sighted person has the more that person is able to experience seeing specific people, places or things. This includes people who use corrective lenses to achieve better vision.

You know how easy it is to recognize a person that you know well, like a close family member within a crowd, such as at an airport or train station.

You would not need a photo to spot your closest friend, partner, mate, etc.,You would not even need a description of what they would be wearing to easily recognize the people closest to you.

Next, imagine this same crowd, but this time you are going to find someone new to you, but basically normal looking, that you only met briefly yesterday.  Can you remember the face of the person who you chatted briefly with in a line, the clerk at the check out, the taxi or bus driver, the person you rode with in an elevator, or asked for directions? Could you pick them out from a moving crowd?

It is almost impossible to accomplish the above task of picking a stranger out from a crowd. To easily to this the stranger would need to have a physical characteristic that visually sets them apart from most people, for instance their hair is dyed a bright green.

The reason we can easily recognize people we know well is that we have many, many visual memories of them. We have learned to distinguish them. We notice when something changes, such as they got a haircut, new eyeglasses, if they look tired, seem upset although trying to hide it. Do to our many memories we are mini visual experts on the people who are close to us.

Yet our eyes see the stranger as well as they see the person we know well.  What makes the difference in our ability to see and recognize happens in our brains.

Until recently improving vision only meant correcting what the eyes could perceive, such as through corrective lenses.

Now you can also radically improve your vision by consciously gaining more and special visual memories to change how your brain sees. You can increase your visual intelligence, which will change how effective you are in life, plus increase your enjoyment of your life.

See www.artofseeingthedivine.com to discover how you can add special visual memories to actually change the way you see the world and easily improve your life while you have fun!

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How to Easily Perceive and Understand What is Radically New

April 3rd, 2009 by Admin | 6 Comments | Filed in Uncategorized

People who can easily and quickly perceive and use what is radically new always have an advantage. Aside from being “in the know’ and hanging out with other people who are on the cutting edge people who learn how to quickly perceive and adopt the radically new are more likely to survive, and survive well.

Yet, people cling to what is familiar as our brains equate familiar with safe. Granted, we have survived in the environments that are familiar. Yet, there may be better environments and ways to live. Change can happen that can make what is familiar and safe absolutely life threatening.

When Safe Becomes Life Threatening

After hurricane Katrina, questions were asked as to why people who could evacuate failed to do so. Many people chose not to leave their homes when conditions of weather, wars and even domestic violence would seem to indicate that leaving is wise. Our brains have many memories of surviving within our homes and environments, but none of surviving in the new and strange environment that is the obvious logical choice to anyone except the person involved. What is familiar can seem safe even when it is not.

There are perceptual and neurological reasons why we prefer a phrase such as new and improved over revolutionary when it comes to the products and entertainment experiences that we choose.

How We Learn to Perceive Things

Science has discovered that the greater part of perception occurs in the brain as it decodes the impressions it receives your eyes, ears, mouth, nose and skin. For instance, the perception of vision, which is the dominant perception for healthy normal people occurs ten percent in the eyes. Ninety percent of vision happens in the brain as it uses visual memories to decode the impressions of light received from the eyes into meaningful information.

Our brains use memories to decode perceptual information. We began to collect and store this information from the moment we were born. New perceptions build upon past ones. Children must first learn basic shapes before they can master recognizing more complexly shaped letters,

Something that is really radically new is actually difficult for us to perceive as we lack the necessary memories. This explains partially explains why life changing inventions, such as telephones, televisions and personal PCs took a while before being adopted my most people. However, cell phones were more quickly adopted as they were not much different from cordless phones that were already in use.

Babies are known to touch, taste, listen and look at almost anything or anyone they can experience. We use our senses to verify and enhance the information we receive. A crawling baby learns spatial understandings from touch and vision. Babies watch our mouths when we speak, learning how to move their own mouths to emulate sounds. Babies feel and look at things to understand and simultaneously create memories of the experience for later use.

People continue to learn to perceive more variations of color well into adulthood. A similar process can occur as instrumental music and variations such as chords, as opposed to simple notes, can be learned throughout adulthood. When a perception is primarily based on a single sense, the way that color is based on vision and cannot be really heard, tasted, touched or smelled, the learning time for greater comprehension is prolonged. Language is used to convey understandings of lighter and darker, color mixing, hue, saturation, cool or warm, etc.

How You Can Speed Up The Learning Process

You can help yourself learn how to use anything new by using as many senses as you can to explore it. If it’s a new food dish, taste, smell, touch and vision are all used to perceive the food. A new gadget can involve touch and sight, plus sometimes sound. When we meet someone new we see them, hear their voice, perhaps touch with a handshake and perhaps enjoy the scent of their perfume.

Another trick to acquiring a quicker understanding of something new is to create many contacts or interactions with it. The brain experiences each new encounter as a new set of memories. The more sets of memories (encounters) the more comfortable we feel with the person place of thing. The brain can be tricked into perceiving many encounters instead of one prolonged one. For instance, with a new gadget before you read any instructions. Pick it up, examine it, turn it over, put it down, move your attention elsewhere for a few moments, or even just close your eyes and think of something else.. Then again pick it up, look at it, turn it, then put it down and put your attention somewhere else. Repeat this a few times. Suddenly the new device will see familiar and be easier to learn to use.

Our brains are wired to judge any perceived threat with a flight or fight response. Anything truly unfamiliar is perceives by the brain as a possible threat once a person reaches brain maturity at after twenty-six years of age. What is radically new, whatever one lacks perceptual memories of—or similar memories of—seems threatening as the brain has no data to recommend the thing as being safe.

When a new form off art comes along it can be difficult to see at first. Many of the well known Modern Art movements were first considered scandalous, or boorish, silly and even, were reviled by the establishment as not really being art at all! Impressionism, Cubism, Dadaism, Abstract Expressionism, Pop and Minimalism are a few examples of art that received little welcome and much derision at first by the established art community.

What’s Obvious?

Obvious is what wasn’t until it became so. Being the first to recognize what is obvious, and the championing it to others is the work of the geniuses in any field. However, those who are prominent in the field have a vested interest in maintaining the status quo.

When Andy Warhol first showed his works depicting cans of Campbell ‘s soup and Brillo box sculptures the critics and public were unable to see the work as art. They recognized the products, butt the works themselves were reportedly difficult to look at as people’s brains had to learn to see everyday images of products and the media as subjects for art.

While Warhol’s works remain the same as they were, more people now easily see and understand them as art. What changed was people’s brains as the works were shown in magazines, newspapers, galleries and finally museums they became familiar, safe and appreciated as people gained visual memories of the new Pop Art.

Benefits of Being an Early Adopter

While we are comfortable and interested in what is slightly new, or as they pitch in Hollywood , “It’s just like [insert hit film] but different”. What is radically new, or too different is seen by our brains as a possible threat—and therefore most adults are not early adopters.

The benefits of learning how to embrace the new and radical but acceptable media, inventions and art forms of contemporary life outweigh the learning curve of building new perceptual memories. Building new perceptual memories actually builds your brain and ability to comprehend and use more information.

You can consciously override your brain’s suspicions about the radically new through simple tricks to rapidly create perceptual memories. What is new to others can become incorporated into your life with ease.

The people who were the early adopters of new technology, media, developments in the arts and society tend benefit from it most. By finding ways to use what is radically new in their lives they find new profitable investments, create businesses and become leaders in their communities that others turn to for information.

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How Using Twitter Increases Intelligence

March 18th, 2009 by Admin | 13 Comments | Filed in Uncategorized

Why being active on Twitter is like can be like playing brain games to increase awareness, perception and intelligence

Among the Social Media sites Twitter stands out as unique for its short 140 Tweets (micro blogs) and totally visual presentation. While other social media sites rush to incorporate video, music, groups, games, and other applications, Twitter execs keep plodding along ignoring possible competition and just being twitter. Twitter is all sight, no sound, no video, and as its screen based so smell or taste – just messages with 140 characters.

According to Wikipedia : “Intelligence (also called intellect ) is an umbrella term used to describe a property of the mind that encompasses many related abilities, such as the capacities to reason, to plan, to solve problems, to think abstractly, to comprehend ideas, to use language, and to learn.”

Recent scientific discoveries in neuroscience have shown that a healthy human brain can continue to grow, by adding more connections and even mass throughout one’s lifetime. People can actually gain intelligence. What makes the difference is how one uses one’s brain on an ongoing basis. Stimulated, challenged and learning brains grow.

Spending time interacting on Twitter on an ongoing basis can foster growth in many kinds of intelligence.

Spatial, Visual and Kinetic Intelligence

Twitter is the most immediately interactive of all the major social media sites. Whether a person uses Twitter straight from the web (my personal favorite) or uses apps to break the streams up, such as TweetDeck , the stream continues to roll by. Blink and one may miss important information or a link, a great joke –or a comment in a fascinating conversation between other members.

Much like forms of instant messaging and chat, people hold real time conversations on Twitter. However, as the stream keeps moving the Twitter member must make quick decisions as whether and what to reply. This means that the type of viewing Twitter requires is not passive, but active and engaged. This is the type of viewing most aware and best suitable for learning.

Messaging back brings in the tactile or kinetic component as the Twitterer must use a keyboard and mouse quickly to message or copy and ReTweet (RT) someone’s message as the stream keeps relentlessly rolling along with new messages. While doing this many Twitters, have a second Twitter screen open to keep an eye out for other messages pertinent to the conversation while quickly composing one’s own reply.

This quick back and forth finding, reviewing and responding to several visual sources of scrolling information promotes greater skill with spatial, visual and kinetic (the typing) information. In a way this visually mirrors actively participating in a sport where one must follow a moving target, ball or player, access the situation and then take action in response.

Enhanced Creativity

Every great artist knows the luxury of rules and limits. Constraints foster creativity, as one seeks to get around them or at least transform them through one’s choices.

The Twitter rule of 140 characters per Tweet fosters creativity. One’s best idea or comment must be condensed to 140 characters and if one is in a conversation this must happen quickly. Plus if the message has a chance of being RTed and going viral, the maximum it can be is 128 characters. This extra shortening leaves space for one’s own Twitter ID, such as mine, @judyrey, plus the letters RT and a space.

The 140 character rule has prompted many creative abbreviations and terms within the Twitter community. For instance, the hashtag (#) sign is used to congregate messages on a topic, such as #pray4 or the most popular one, #TCOT (Top Conservatives On Twitter). Using a site such as http://search.twitter.com or http://tweetchat.com one can follow the separate # conversation much like a chat room.

While Twitter also incorporates texting abbreviations, terms, apps and many hash tag abbreviations are subset of English unique to Twitter, which fosters language learning skills.

Interpersonal and Emotional Intelligence

Twitter is a social site that fosters relationships. Aside from the celebrities and gurus who are followed for obvious reasons, the people who have the most followers often follow back and busily interact and build relationships. Just as in any real village, people who are popular are helpful, interested in other people, fun and busily interacting with others.

In order to explain #TCOT above, I turned to the Twitter stream at about 2 AM EDT on a Sunday evening and asked, “ What does #TCOT actually stand for T C O T? Needed for an apolitical blog article on Twitter & how it can promote intelligence.”

Within a minute I had five replies. When I Direct Messaged the people who replied asking permission to use their account ID’s in this article four immediately replied, while the fifth seemed to have stopped tweeting for the evening. In alphabetical order credit goes to @Bass_ @eMarv @you_count @vanityfairer and @AngelaVCampbell for being helpful, knowledgeable and demonstrating how Twitter helps bring people together and fosters relationships.

What is interesting is that I have not had any or much of a relationship with these specific Twitter members prior to asking this question. Partially, this is due to the time I asked it. Yet a reply came in from another member I have conversed with asking that I tell her answer to what TCOT is as she has wondered also.

As the information flowed in the stream as I publicly thanked those who replied, members who follow me and were present saw the interaction from my side and were introduced to the IDs of these Tweople.

No one in the Twitter village drives a really fancy vehicle, lives in a mansion, dresses well, or has any real world trappings that can impress someone. It’s impossible to show any of that in the stream. Everyone is reduced to using 140 characters, one avatar (which can be changed, but only one at a time), plus one bio page and URL link; that’s all, there is no visible gold, glitter or bling.

Tweets enter into the stream in an orderly fashion on a first come first served real time way. It is impossible to out shout, shove or bully anyone in the stream. Each tweet is just as loud and has the same space and visual importance as any other. Whatever one’s race, sex or creed, everyone gets a chance and is accorded the same space.

People who have a victim or nasty attitude soon either change their ways or discover that they have few followers and few people who are willing to engage in conversation with them. Their messages are not RTed.

Although there’s no body language and the only Twitter visual aids are each user’s avatar and whatever is used for a background on their Twitter Bio page, after a while people one follows become easier to read. It is a process that takes time. This can be a social learning lesson for those who tend to rush into relationships full steam. On Twitter it’s easy to spot obsessive behavior—even one’s own.

Everyone can easily see who follows who and how many people follow each member. Moreover, every single message tweeted is kept in a log of updates, which is also open to every other Twitter member. Thus, Twitter naturally fosters transparency.

Since the majority of conversations must occur in the stream as Twitter has limits for the number of direct messages allowed we witness each other’s behavior. The people who are successful on Twitter, who use it to foster relationships, including ones for business are opening doing their thing. Anyone can learn how to interact, spot phonies and users by watching and participating on Twitter.

Using TweetDeck type applications means a person may have three or more streams moving simultaneously as one interacts in several conversations on different topics with different members of the Twitter village at the same time. It’s a visual and metal juggling act that top Twitters with many followers who follow back many have learned to do well.

In prior generations men and women hunted for game, watching for movement or searched for food to gather. Visually Twitter supplies some of our natural need or enjoyment for spying out discoveries or even prey.

Visual and Logical Intelligence

Thus just following the Twitter stream forces a person to concentrate, skim relevant information, and make quick appropriate choices as to what links to follow, bookmark for a later time (by using a favorites star) or ignore.

This is the type of information sorting teachers try to instill when explaining how to take outline notes – only on Twitter the information seems more relevant than classroom learning ever did. Increasing one’s recognition of what is important and what is less so is a way to directly increase functional intelligence.

Twitter for Learning

Like a book, Twitter lacks sound, and so mimics a streamed book current life in its stream of ongoing Tweets.

Many of the Tweets contain links to articles that range from fast breaking news to arcane knowledge. Information can be found on health, childrearing, business, investing, the arts, religion, self help, books, and of courses how to use Twitter. At times Hanging out on Twitter can seem like a stroll through a library where links in Tweets are book titles.

Using Twitter to Increase Intelligence is Fun!

Studies in neuroscience continue to indicate the benefits of mental challenges, especially those that involve the perception of vision, socializing and social networks, hand eye coordination exercises, etc.

Twitter can be so much fun and so interesting that it has not been noticed as a brain enhancing tool. Brain enhancement was not the purpose or goal of Twitter’s founders, but Twitter definitely succeeds at it when a member uses it to interact and build community. Community is what sets Twitter apart from other brain enhancing programs on the web as on Twitter one is never alone.

Judy Rey Wasserman is the founder of Post Conceptual UnGraven Image Art theotry at http://ungravenimage.com. Discover how this new way of painting using symbols for strokes can actually change your vision by adding visual memories we noramlly lack to your brain. This in turn has an amzing and freeing effect in realtion to unwanted, negative and reative emotions. See more at http://artofseeingthedivine.com.

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What Are the Three Stages of Awakened Vision?

February 3rd, 2009 by Admin | 3 Comments | Filed in Brain & Perception, Inspirational Stuff, Uncategorized

Awakened Vision is a genuine experiential change in one’s sight. The person with Awakened Vision can actually see more energy, everywhere, always. This perceptual change can have dramatic and lasting results, including allowing for more emotional freedom (relief from unwanted negative emotions and reactions).

There are three stages in the process of gaining full Awakened Vision. It is easy, fun and interesting to do.

Awakened Vision is gained by focused looking at a new kind of art that was especially developed to show the energies of the universe as they create our world. This new art theory is Judy Rey Wasserman’s Post Conceptual UnGraven Image Art. This Contemporary Art uses a unique set of symbols for all the strokes to represent the strings of elementary physics. The symbol-strokes also simultaneously represent the letters of the words of The Divine (Genesis 1:3), and concepts of duality held by most of the world’s
spiritual paths and religions.

When a person consciously focuses on the art, seeing more energy, visual memories are created.

Gaining Awakened Vision is unlike most previous coaching or counseling methods that relieve unwanted emotions, reactions and thoughts. Most other methods involve letting go or changing one’s behavior or confronting and reviewing painful incidents or thoughts from one’s memories.

Awakened Vision does not require letting go, reviewing, confronting or dealing purposefully with the past, emotions, behavior or thoughts at all, which is sometimes referred to as “peeling the onion”.

Instead, one puts more into one’s life, creating and gaining very specific visual memories. These memories help the brain recognize what the eyes actually already see: energies. Actually, all the eyes can see is light, which is energy.

First Stage

This stage is the Acquiring stage. It is when a person is looking at Post Conceptual UnGraven Image pictures to gain memories that the brain can use to create the enhanced vision.

Like any self improvement program this takes time. How much time differs from individual to individual just as our minds differ due to our different memories and life experiences. It seems best to limit the amount of each session as after a while the attention wanders and the potential for gain decreases.Gaining enough visual memories of seeing the energies can be accomplished through Visual Exercise/Experiences (and soon to be available DVDs) , paintings, prints and online images. The best resource is to see actual paintings.

Having an actual painting or print displayed in a place you frequent at least once a day, such as your bedroom has an added bonus. It will visually remind you on a daily basis that the energies are everywhere.

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For a spiritual person it is also a reminder the words of The divine are everywhere. Pause for a moment and look about the room (even the place you are in now while you are reading this) and remind yourself that everything you see is really energy, in more or less solid form.

During this stage the Visual Exercise/Experiences and information in the books, plus any first hand experience with investment quality limited edition prints or paintings are the source of visual information used to gain the memories necessary for Awakened Vision. It becomes obvious that owning this art is a good investment in many ways!

The completion of this stage sort of sneaks up on you. In our busy day to day activities we tend to be focused on what we want to see and miss really seeing what is in our periphery vision and anything we’re not concentrating on.

One day, after gaining many, many memories, so that seeing the energies will not be novel, but almost “normal” to you, you’ll be a bit defocused and realize that the world seems more vibrant or tingly. It will remind you of the Post Conceptual Ungraven Images only the energy sort of vibrates and is much tinier. It is very subtle and will seem natural but also new.

The more you look at it, the more it is there. Plus, you retain all the vision you had. Congratulations! You have Awakened Vision.

Second Stage

This stage begins when one has attained Awakened Vision.

This stage provides a boost to the job of attaining more and more visual memories of seeing the energies that are everywhere always.

First, continue creating more visual memories by lolling at Post Conceptual UnGraven Image Art and also through Visual Exercise/Experiences. This is an important activity as you are purposefully putting visual information into your brain.

Also, pause during the day to also purposefully see the energies and consciously remind yourself that you are seeing energy. Also, remind yourself that you are seeing the words of The Divine.

At this stage when bad news or unwanted situations occur take a deep breath, look around and see the energies. See that the universe is still here, you’re still here and nothing is as solid as it seems to be. Everything is only energy.

For those for whom the basic energies of the universe are also the words of The Divine (Creator) this stage is especially significant. There is a huge difference between understanding that the words of The Divine are everywhere, always and actually seeing this for oneself. During a time of difficulty or trial seeing the energies can be an awesome comfort and encouragement.

Again thinking and telling oneself that what you are seeing is energy, or energies (both are correct) helps give the brain the memories you need to achieve stage three.

Third Stage

Just as suddenly realizing that you’re seeing the energies, stage three happens and at first you may not realize it.

It may take days before you realize you are happier and there is really no reason for it. You just feel better. As if a weight was lifted. Except, nothing in your life has changed much. What changed is you.

Perhaps you notice that something that would have made you feel upset, didn’t or that you are far less upset. For instance someone you care about says something unkind, but this time you don’t feel the upset of all those other times that unkind things were said to you. You find yourself just dealing with what is happening now.

Also, something can happen that should have disturbed you, but doesn’t. It is almost puzzling. Except, that you see the energies so you experience little things as less important and larger problems as not as solid.

However, your experience will be a step beyond that understanding, the weight of old, unwanted negative emotions from past similar feelings, just will not be as strong if they are there at all. Plus, emotions, feelings and thoughts that are attached or a part of the visual memories that your brain uses to decode the impressions of light received from your eyes will be recognized as being only energy.

Since once you recognize things that would have upset you previously you will also consciously recall why to a greater degree you will have a choice. You can choose to be upset—or not. It is a choice that you had previously only theoretically, not consciously. The best choice is obvious as feeling upset will not help you or anyone at all, but will limit your effectiveness and happiness.

It also seems that as one continues to see with Awakened Vision and moves through the stages, continuing to purposefully see the energies, one gains more ability at consciously using one’s brain, rather than being used by it. You become more aware of memories and are less likely to mistake them for your own conscious thoughts.

To discover more about Awakened Vision and how you can easily gain its benefits visit the Art of Seeing The Divine web site: http://artofseeingthedivine.com

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Landscapes Can Improve Cognition and Short Term Memory

January 9th, 2009 by Admin | 1 Comment | Filed in Uncategorized

Businesses, schools, homes for the elderly, and many offices could benefit the people who visit or work in them by having images of natural scenes decorating their walls. Is it possible that we can all improve our cognitive performances by displaying images of natural environments on our homes?

New studies again show that vision, and what one sees strongly impacts memory and cognitive ability.

At two studies conducted at the University of Michigan , Marc G. Berman and colleagues tested the effect of a walk’s scenery on cognitive function ( Berman, Jonides & Kaplan, 2008 ; PDF ).

In the first study participants were given a 35 minute task involving repeating loads of random numbers back to the experimenter, but in reverse order. After this special task in cognitive psychology the subjects went for a walk. One group walked around an arboretum and while the other walked down busy city streets. Both groups were tracked with GPS devices.

The memory tests were repeated upon their return.

The results showed that the test group which took a walk in the tree lined natural surroundings improved in memory performance by almost 20% The subjects who walked in the busy urban scene did not improve to a reliable extent.

The arboretum is located in the City, near the university as the selected urban street. Thus the traffic sounds, sirens and noise were similar. Being outside on the same day within walking distance the groups experiences the same weather, and many of the same scents.

Judy Rey Wasserman’s
Summer Tree Aleph

What differed significantly was what each group perceived visually.

Judy Rey Wasserman’s
Fall Tree Aleph

The second study honed in on that difference. This time participants remained in the lab. One group of participants was shown images of natural scenes of trees and fields while others looked at urban images of lampposts and streets.

Then they were again tested in relation on short term memory retention using random numbers.

Once again the study subjects who were exposed to the images of natural environments of trees and fields showed marked improvement over the other study group; however, the improvement was slightly less.

In the second study participants weren’t even allowed to leave the lab but instead some stared at pictures of natural scenes while others looked at urban environments. The improvements weren’t quite as impressive as the first study, but, once again, the trees and fields beat the roads and lampposts.

These results replicated a previous study by Berto (2005) , which concluded that just viewing pictures of natural scenes positively effected cognitive function. This study noted that an individual’s performance was soon restored by picture of trees, fields and hills, but not by streets, industrial units or even complex geometric patterns.

Clearly, our environments influence us visually. We can influence our own lives, and those of our family, friends, clients, customers and teammates by displaying images that do more than decorate. Once again, proof that art can change lives. Art can enhance brain functioning.

For information on how a new kind of art can easily and effectively change your life click here to download a free booklet.

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How Awakened Vision Can Transform Your Life

January 3rd, 2009 by Admin | No Comments | Filed in Uncategorized

If you can read this message on your screen you can easily and painlessly transform your life.

Imagine if instead of having experiences of past upsets, (negative emotion) flit below your consciousness — or come up to consciousness these feelings were simply understood as basic, benign energy by your brain. Imagine the freedom of experiencing less negativity, doubt, fear, anger, etc.For spiritual and religious people, imagine if you were aware of seeing the Words of God, everywhere, now and always – not theoretically, but because you are actually seeing more energies! How would you feel? More peaceful? Inspired? Happier?

These results can easily be yours. While it may seem or feel like a miracle, there are actual scientific explanations for how you can easily gain enhanced vision and how that will transform your life.

Several amazing discoveries occurred when ancient spiritual wisdom (that is also Bible based ) was applied in a new form of art known as Post Conceptual UnGraven Image. This new art has an impact on vision and how one actually sees the world. This then impacts one’s visual memories resulting in greater emotional freedom from unwanted negative feelings and thoughts.

These discoveries were then found to be science based, according to neuroscience, medical science, and elementary physics.

While the results for one’s life may seem like a miracle, they can be gained by “normal” people easily and effectively if they can read this text (in English) on a screen. [Note: "normal" means people who have medically termed normal eyesight with or without corrective lenses, and who also have healthy brains and eyes. Currently the information is only available in English, through an e book and booklet, and artwork that can be collected.]

A normal person’s vision can be actually enhanced — changed — to see more of the energies in the physical universe. These energies, or essences are everywhere.

Basically, the new Post Conceptual UnGraven Image Art depicts more of these energies, which are revered by many spiritual people as the very words of the Creator. The art is a new vision for the brain, which is always eager to gain distinctly new perceptual memories.

We have all experienced looking at someone or something and thinking it reminds us of something else. That is being conscious of the brain’s decoding process.

The brain uses visual memories to decode the impressions of light received from they eyes. Ninety percent of visual perception occurs in the brain as it decodes impressions received from the eyes by using visual memories.

The eyes already see more energies, but the brain has few if any memories it can use to decode or make relevant sense of the information. The understandings of how visual perception can change and brains can expand with additional information comes from recent scientific discoveries about neuroplacticity and vision.

The experience of seeing more of the energies is especially relevant for spiritual people. Many faiths, including Christians and Jews of all branches and denominations, believe that the basic energy and pre-matter of the world (as in string, M, and quantum theories) are the words (actually the letters of the words) of the Creator. These original letters are also binary (again a scientific corollary) and as such also refer to important concepts in most of the world’s faiths and paths.

For spiritual people seeing more of the essences — the energies, which are the Words of the Divine, everywhere always is an immensely comforting, inspiring and life transforming experience.

And God said, “Let there be light…”

Yet, there is more. Possibly the best is yet to come.

Neuroscience has proven and can now measure how emotions and thoughts are energy.

Something more amazing and wonderful occurs after you have fully gained the ability to see more of the energies whenever and wherever you look. You begin to experience far less negativity and unwanted feelings and thoughts in daily life.

Here is why:

The brain continues to collect more visual memories of the energies through both the images of art that continue to be purposefully used and from one’s daily experience. Finally the brain has enough visual memories of the energies (essences).

Next, the brain begins to simply decode memories of emotions (including unwanted, unresolved and negative emotions) as energy. These emotions are associated or attached to visual memories that the brain uses to decode impressions of a daily basis. [Note: more about how this works is explained in both the book and booklet. ]

Finally, you can easily experience greater freedom from unwanted or negative emotions and thoughts as you go through your days. Of course, anyone can always decide to be upset or focus on things that seem upsetting. But, at least it upsetting memories from what is seen will have lessened or ceased. Sixty percent of the brain is dedicated to the perception of vision, to this can be quite a relief!

Through easy and fun Visual Exercise/Experiences that are in The Art of Seeing the Divine Introductory Booklet, you will gain visual memories that your brain can use to decode the impressions of more of the energies that your eyes already see. You do not experience seeing these energies now as your brain has not built up specific memories of them.

Judy Rey Wasserman’s Post Conceptual UnGraven Image Art helps people to see the world—actually see it — in a new way. You’ll see everything that you see now. You’ll just see more. This is enhanced vision.

The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance. ~Aristotle

There has never been a program or information like this before. This is a brand new discovery. It is the result of how a new kind of artwork (Post Conceptual UnGraven Image) impacts human vision.

This new way of seeing compliments your faith, consciously held beliefs and other personal motivation and improvement programs.

This special 30 + page booklet includes bonuses of the unique Visual Exercise/Experiences. These help you create and build new visual memories by looking at art.

There is only one way to discover if it you can change how you see the world, easily and effectively. Try it out. That’s why this 30 + page booklet is free. So you can try it out without cost or obligation.

Simply fill in your primary email address in the purple rectangle in the left hand column. A link to the download of the exciting, life transforming and easy to do e booklet will quickly be sent to you. Begin today! [Note: we will never share your info. The newsletter is sent about once a month. You can easily opt out.]

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How Do Older Brains View Memory Differently Than Younger Ones?

December 22nd, 2008 by Admin | No Comments | Filed in Uncategorized

A study by neuroscientists from Duke University Medical Center reveals differences in how older and younger people use their brains when it comes to storing memories, particularly those associated with negative emotions.

Older adults, average age 70, and younger adults, average age 24, were shown a series of 30 photographs while their brains were imaged in a functional MRI (fMRI) machine. Some of the photos were neutral in nature and others had strong negative content such as attacking snakes, mutilated bodies and violent acts.

While in the fMRI machine, the subjects viewed the photos and ranked them on a pleasantness scale. Following that they completed an unexpected recall task following the fMRI scan to determine whether the brain activity that occurred while looking at the pictures could predict later memory. The results were sorted according to the numbers of negative and neutral pictures that were remembered or missed by each group.

The scientists believe that the study showed that the older adults have less connectivity between an area of the brain that generates emotions and a region involved in memory and learning. But they also found that the older adults have stronger connections with the frontal cortex, the higher thinking area of the brain that controls these lower-order parts of the brain.

“The younger adults were able to recall more of the negative photos,” said Roberto Cabeza, Ph.D., senior author and Duke professor in the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience. If the older adults are using more thinking than feeling, “that may be one reason why older adults showed a reduction in memory for pictures with a more negative emotional content.”

“It wasn’t surprising that older people showed a reduction in memory for negative pictures, but it was surprising that the older subjects were using a different system to help them to better encode those pictures they could remember,” said lead author Peggy St. Jacques, a graduate student in the Cabeza laboratory.

Young adults employed more of the brain regions usually involved in emotion and recalling memories.

The emotional centers of the older subjects were as active as those of younger subjects — it was the brain connections that differed.

There are various possibilities as to why there are these differences.

Older people have more visual memories of unpleasant images, such as snakes, than younger ones. This is especially true for the current generations thanks to photography, film and video access that other generations lacked.

“If using the frontal regions to perform a memory task was always beneficial, then the young people would use that strategy, too,” Cabeza said. “Each way of doing a task has some trade-offs. Older people have learned to be less affected by negative information in order to maintain their well being and emotional state – they may have sacrificed more accurate memory for a negative stimulus, so that they won’t be so affected by it.”

Another possibility is that an older person looks at something to decide what to do with or about it; the brain may not remember it as well since keeping the information is irrelevant. What is relevant is the response to it.

Why remember what is already largely remembered in previously stored visual memories that pose no possible current danger?

Young people are still visually (and in other ways) learning about the world. Thus their responses would be different from an older person’s.

Healthy normal brains use visual memories to decode the impressions of light received from the eyes. Only ten percent of the process of visual perception occurs in the eyes, which see impressions of light. The bulk of visual work happens in the brain as it decodes the information received from the eyes by using memories of visual experiences that seem to compare to the current impressions of light.

At some point the brain has enough visual memories of a specific person, place or thing so unless there is a change – an update — it eases off on collecting more. Top brands understand this so the slightly change their packaging, which gets them attention, otherwise a product is actually see, but not “noticed” as no update is needed.

My personal experience with consciously creating new visual memories of energy and helping other do so also come from my work as an artist. As the founder of Post Conceptual UnGraven Image Art Theory, I work to create works that show the energy, the essences that are the building blocks of the physical universe.

When a person has enough visual memories of my art, they begin actually experiencing seeing more of the energy that is everywhere always. Our eyes see this energy, but until now, our brains have had no way to decode these perceptions. This new way of seeing was discovered as the works changed my visual experience, allowing me to see more energy, everywhere, always and now.

Others are benefiting also, and there’s a new Art of Seeing The Divine e book and free e booklet that helps one make easy rapid progress with creating the necessary visual memories.

When older people made more stronger connections with the frontal cortex they were deciding what to do about the visual stimuli rather than what to do with it. Older people also have more experience with seeing photographs and images.

Younger people are still discovering reality and who they are. This is why younger people flock to Horror and Action pictures that can take a hefty amount of suspended belief (or the ability to pretend), while older people enjoy other fare with more emotional and perceptual nuances.

“Perhaps at different stages of life, there are different brain strategies,” Cabeza speculated. “Younger adults might need to keep an accurate memory for both positive and negative information in the world. Older people dwell in a world with a lot of negatives, so perhaps they have learned to reduce the impact of negative information and remember in a different way.” According to Cabeza, the results of the study are consistent with a theory about emotional processes in older adults proposed by Dr. Laura Carstensen at Stanford University , an expert in cognitive processing in old age.

“One thing we might do in the future is to ask subjects to try to actively regulate their emotions as they look at the pictures,” St. Jacques said. “Would there be a shift in the neural networks for processing the negative pictures when we asked younger people to regulate their emotional responses? How would that affect their later recall of the negative pictures?”

The study appears in the January issue of Psychological Science.

Some of the material in this article is adapted from a news release issued by the Duke University Medical Center .

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Scientific Proof of Images in Memory Affirms Enhanced Vision Breakthrough

December 15th, 2008 by Admin | No Comments | Filed in Uncategorized

New scientific proof that the brain holds actual images in memory affirms the work of counselors and artists. This new discovery further supports the understanding that one can change one’s brain and vision to experience greater emotional freedom from unwanted or negative thoughts by simply adding unique visual memories of energy.

Researchers from Japan ‘s ATR Computational Neuroscience Laboratories announced that they developed new brain analysis technology, which can reconstruct the images inside a person’s mind and display them on a computer monitor.

At present, the system is only able to reproduce simple black-and-white images. Dr. Kang Cheng, a researcher from the RIKEN Brain Science Institute, believes that improving the measurement accuracy will make it possible to reproduce images in color.

“These results are a breakthrough in terms of understanding brain activity,” says Dr. Cheng. “In as little as 10 years, advances in this field of research may make it possible to read a person’s thoughts with some degree of accuracy.”

ATR chief researcher Yukiyasu Kamitani says, “This technology can also be applied to senses other than vision. In the future, it may also become possible to read feelings and complicated emotional states.”

This further points to the understanding that the brain functioning that applies to vision also applies to emotion. Emotion is energy. When the brain learns to actually see more energy, it begins to decode emotions and feelings as energy, rather than replaying the experiences and feelings. Changing one’s perceptions, especially vision can be the key that the average person can use to unlock more emotional freedom and success.

In the human brain, emotions and perceptions are linked. Lower emotions, such as fear, anger, hurt, anxiety, etc. are part of the flight or fight response that is linked to perception.

Sixty percent of a normal person’s brain is dedicated to the perception of vision. Ninety percent of vision occurs in the brain as it decodes impressions of light received from the eyes. Through this same system memories of emotions, especially unresolved (unwanted) ones that are consciously or unconsciously associated with the people, places or things perceived can be restimulated. So, as a person goes through the day, an ongoing unconscious barrage of negative or unwanted emotions can be experienced without the cause being consciously recognized. A new unique practice of creating visual memories through art can bring relief.

The scientists analyzed changes in cerebral blood flow; they were able to reconstruct various images viewed by a person. Then using a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) machine, the researchers first mapped the blood flow changes that occurred in the cerebral visual cortex as subjects viewed various images held in front of their eyes.


People were shown 400 random 10 x 10 pixel black-and-white images for a period of 12 seconds each. While the fMRI machine monitored the changes in brain activity, a computer crunched the data and learned to associate the various changes in brain activity with the different image designs.

Then, when the test subjects were shown a completely new set of images, including one of the letters N-E-U-R-O-N, the system was able to reconstruct and display what the people were viewing based solely on their brain activity.

This scientifically also validates previous understandings of psychotherapists and hypnotists who uncover visual images and emotions as their clients describe what they see and feel throughout an incident their memory.

Through a series of simple Visual Exercises /Experiences and also by looking at a works of Post Conceptual UnGraven Image art, which depicts the energies, the essences that surround us, always and now, anyone can easily create and accumulate the new transformative memories. For further information see The Art of Seeing The Divine.

The research results appear in the December 11 issue of US science journal Neuron.

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Increase Visual Awareness to Gain Functional Intelligence

December 1st, 2008 by Admin | No Comments | Filed in Uncategorized

Purposefully increasing one’s ability to visually perceive has the added benefit of increasing one’s functional intelligence. Visual perception is easily increased by exposure to new and interesting sights and visual l experiences. These can be gained from brain games, seeing art, travel and by basically exposure to new visual stimuli that one consciously focuses upon in order to experience and visually comprehend.

Recent discoveries in neuroscience and medicine reveal that ninety percent of the perception of vision occurs as the brain decodes the impressions of light received from the eyes. All that the eyes can see is impressions of light. The brain decodes these impressions by comparing them to memories of previous impressions.

When a person’s brain is injured in an area that is used to store a specific kind of visual memory the person is rendered blind in relation to that type of visual perception. For example, one brain injured man cannot see and recognize faces, although he can see bodies, things and landscapes. He recognizes his family members based on his other perceptions.

Science has also revealed that sixty percent of the average person’s brain is dedicated to the perception of vision. This leaves the senses of hearing, touch, taste and scent, plus other mental functions to the rest of the brain. Vision is our most dominant sense.

The ability to decode information and most especially visual information is related to intelligence. While prescriptions for corrective lenses allow the eyes to clearly perceive, they do not increase perception or ability beyond the intake of raw data. What is most important is how your brain decodes and uses that impressions of light received from the eyes.

The brain can continue to grow, and people can actually become more selectively intelligent throughout life. Selective intelligence means perceptual and cognitive understandings and mastery in a specific area or subject. Thus, Einstein was a genius when relation to physics and mathematics, but he was far less brilliant in other areas.

The brain can continue to grow, and people can actually become more selectively intelligent throughout life. Selective intelligence means perceptual and cognitive understandings and mastery in a specific area or subject. Thus, Einstein was a genius when relation to physics and mathematics, but he was far less brilliant in other areas.

While challenging our minds through new ideas, puzzles and brain games, reading, hobbies, etc. can help us maintain and even grow our brain’s functions (and selective intelligence) there is only one way to growing one’s visual intelligence is only possible through new visual stimulus or experiences.

Ironically new visual understandings and knowledge are based on prior visual memories.We only experience seeing what our prior visual memories enable the brain to decode into meaningful data. Apparently there is a tipping point of visual memories that allows something to be easily seen and recognized. Thus a person who is first exposed to something or someone truly needs multiple visual exposures in order to better see the person, place or thing.

What Do You See?

Discover the book that can help you transform your life by helping you build visual memories to change the way you see the world. See More

We only experience seeing what our prior visual memories enable the brain to decode into meaningful data.

We all know that when we see people often they are easier to recognize. When we have a new model of a gadget, such as a cell phone, it takes a period of time before we are comfortable with the new model. During that period we are creating and storing memories that our brains can the use. When we have enough memories for ease of perceptual decoding we feel comfortable.

A person with many kinds of visual memories can actually see more because have more visual references in their memory. The more we move out of our comfort zones to experience people, places and things that are new, the more we expand our comfort zones.

In industrialized society we are bombarded with images at a rate that is unprecedented in the history of humankind. In one day an average middle class middle aged urban dweller sees more new and vastly different images on screens (such as PCs, TVs and Cell phones), on billboards and signs, in printed media, and in store windows and on populated streets than a village dweller in an undeveloped country might see in a year.

Both the urbanite and village dweller in an undeveloped country may have their eyes open for roughly the same amount of time, yet the urbanite’s brain has adapted and has developed differently than the brain of the village dweller. The urbanite has greater visual intelligence and is able to decode more, and visually comprehend new information faster as it is more experienced.

Studies have proven that visual exposure to a subject produces more recognition. However, the best kind of exposure involves active looking, the kind of looking you are doing now in order to decipher this text. Contrast this with the kind of looking one might do as one hurries along a street, focuses only on one’s forward path and purposefully ignoring much else—there is not much conscious deciphering or inquisitive involvement..

A hobby such as bird watching benefits the brain as it involved focused visual learning and attentiveness. People attend games to watch fast paced sports on a regular basis see nuances and understand movements that casual fans miss. However, when one watches on a TV, especially a large screen TV the focused factor is lost as the camera actually shows one where to look, and viewing is visually more passive.

We can purposefully visually train out brains at any age. In fact, visual brain stimulation, including games helps to slow and even reverse the brain’s aging process. Museums where one is visually stimulated through new sights are wonderful exercise studios for the brain and if a person actively focuses on and investigates the art or items displayed.

For the average healthy person fitness needs to include brain fitness. The fastest and most effective way to improve the brain is through focused visual stimulation. This means active looking, which is focused and inquisitive. The more we learn, especially visually, the more knowledge that we can apply, the more our brains actually grow by creating memories and links and so we become functionally smarter.

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