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Hey guys, Julia here for DNews.
A recent poll by the National Sleep Foundation found that most parents understand that sleep
is important for their kid’s growing brains.
Yet 90% of kids aren’t getting enough sleep.
In order to get kids to sleep better, the researchers encourage parents to adopt bedtime
routines.
Reading before bed rather than letting them play with a tablet device for example.
Alright, yeah so going to bed and getting up at the same time every day is good for
us.
But this made me ask why?
Why are we so obsessed with habits?
I mean, how many listicles are on the internet about “habits of highly successful people”?
it’s like we see magic in routines.
Writers often stick very strictly to their routines, they feel it opens them to be a
conduit for creativity.
Routines aren’t just for writers, how many of us make the same cup of coffee in the same
mug and sit in the same chair.
How many of you go through your morning routine in a fog?
how many us drive to and from work without too much thought?
Well thank your infralimbic cortex and the basal ganglia for that.
These two parts of the brain work together to form our most cherished routines.
The infralimbic cortex, which is located in the prefrontal cortex, is the decider.
the basal ganglia and the brainstem work together to execute your actions.
the basal ganglia are responsible for positive reinforcement.
While learning a new habit, this part of the brain is influxed with dopamine, which reinforces
the behavior.
These actions are then stored in the striatum and its circuits.
Over time, as your perform these habits, your brain goes on autopilot mode.
This nifty autopilot feature isn’t because you need more caffeine but it keeps the brain
from feeling overwhelmed.
During the routine, the prefrontal cortex isn’t as active, leaving you able to think
about other things.
Imagine if you have had to consciously decide where to put your feet or which side of the
sink you should stand on.
These small decisions would take up so much brain space.
Life would be very difficult.
Writer Alva Noe suggests that habits are what make daily life possible.
That habits allow us the freedom to pursue other thoughts or actions while getting stuff
done.
He even suggests we design robots or AI with habits.
Habits, routines and rituals all play through this positive feedback track.
Rituals are just routines granted meaningful significance.
There’s comfort in routine.
Indeed they apply some modicum of control over our lives.
When faced with anxiety we turn to the things we can control.
Faced with a big game?
Wear your lucky jersey.
Faced with the illness of a loved one?
Go to the store, buy some soup and crackers, turn on a favorite movie.
To ward off nightmares as a kid I would kiss my dream catcher every night before I went
to bed.
A recent study shows that rituals boost confidence and temper the effects of feelings of grief
or even less intense emotions like disappointment.
Whether a large religious ritual or a small bedtime routine, humans are creatures of habit.
And it’s not all magic and superstition.
Some of it’s science.
And switching gears for a second, our sister show TestTube is getting super close to 250,000
subscribers!
Go check out this video the amazing Chastity hosted on whether or not vaccinations should
be mandatory.
Check it out, subscribe, and we’ll see you next time on Dnews
Alright dudes, throwing it back you, what are some your habits or routines?