News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
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The Cohen Brothers’ movie, “The Matrix” is returning to the big screen. In the movie, humanity lives within the Matrix, where pleasant virtual reality daydreams have been substituted for reality, and self-aware machines farm the slumbering humans for energy. Neo and his compatriots manage to extricate themselves from the Matrix, fighting back against the artificial intelligence that has enslaved humanity. Perhaps the Cohen Brothers were onto something, that each of us lives within a matrix; not one fashioned by artif... Full story
An aging American workforce, along with a declining U.S. birthrate, makes the U.S. economy increasingly dependent on foreign-born workers to bridge the employment-labor gap and to finance programs such as Social Security. In 2006, foreign-born workers made up 15.3 percent of the labor market, but by 2023, the share of foreign-born workers in the labor market had increased to 18.6 percent. One of the attractions of employing foreign-born workers is that they are willing to occupy jobs often not desired by native-born... Full story
Hate reminds me of a thistle: once it invades the mind it quickly propagates, showing up everywhere, and choking out other, more wholesome mental states. Once established, hate is difficult to uproot. When I practice daily mindfulness meditation, I try to water the seeds of loving-kindness, compassion, happiness and joy, hope, and inner peace. Once germinated, these seeds have the capacity to transform the garden of my mind, creating a beautiful dwelling place. But I also water the seed of hate because, I tell myself, the... Full story
When did the choices get so hard with so much more at stake? Life gets mighty precious when there’s less of it to waste. Scared to run out of time. — “Nick of Time,” Bonnie Raitt My wife was waiting in the Pine Marten lift line at Mt. Bachelor, watching a beautiful skiier glide effortlessly down the mountain. He rode up the chairlift with her, giving my wife the opportunity to ask him whether the 90+ patch on the shoulder of his ski jacket signaled a new clothing company? No, he replied proudly, he was 93-years old, with da... Full story
We may not think of ourselves as storytellers, but each of us has crafted a unique story that reminds us of who we are, our place in the world, and what we can expect from others. To be human is to be both playwright, director, and lead actor in our own story. We perform a play of our own making, which gives shape to our life and colors our perceptions. But those stories that are constraining can, with a good rewrite, become liberating. We use the structure of our stories to give meaning to the actions and words of others.... Full story
When I feel utterly exhausted and every obligation seems overwhelming, I know I’m burned out. According to the Unease Modulation Model formulated by Joseph Apaia, M.D. and others, burnout occurs when we have exhausted our long-term energy reserves and we face substantial barriers to replenishing them. One way long-term reserves can be exhausted is through persistent unease, “that may be due to abuse, deprivation, distress in a primary relationship, or having to violate core values in order to maintain a work or living sit... Full story
Across the U.S., 60 percent of firearm deaths are suicides. In Oregon, 81 percent of firearm deaths are from suicide. More than half of the individuals in Oregon who take their lives use a firearm (with a 10 percent survival rate, firearms are extremely lethal). - In 2019, there were 466 firearm suicide deaths in Oregon, including 19 children and teens. - A disproportionate number of firearm suicide deaths occur in rural communities. - Among male military veterans, three of four who died used a firearm to take their lives. -... Full story
We are sense-making creatures, trying our best to understand the world we live in. But how do we make sense of mass shootings and gun deaths on the rise, a global pandemic endangering our health, Islamic militants who threaten our way of life, or natural disasters that occur with greater frequency and ferocity? Conspiracy theories are attractive because they provide a straightforward and satisfying explanation for events in the world while clarifying who the good guys and bad guys are. According to psychologist Daniel Romer,... Full story
The semiautomatic rifles that have been used in 23 percent of mass shootings in the United States are variations of the AR-15 “assault-style rifle.” According to an NPR report, “In 1963, the U.S. military selected Colt to manufacture the automatic rifle that soon became standard issue for U.S. troops in the Vietnam War. It was known as the M-16…Colt ramped up production of a semiautomatic version of the M-16 that it sold to law enforcement and the public, marketed as the AR-15…other manufacturers began makin... Full story
According to the Pew Research Center, social trust is a belief in the honesty, integrity, and reliability of others — a “faith in people.” “Levels of social trust, averaged across a country, predict national economic growth as powerfully as financial and physical capital, and more powerfully than skill levels…” Social trust is positively associated with life satisfaction and negatively associated with suicide. But social trust has eroded in the United States, due in part to a change in our body politic. Rather... Full story
The pandemic has revealed a growing rift in Sisters Country between those who trust government institutions and view state mandates as necessary to combat COVID-19, and those who generally distrust government and believe mandates only serve to restrict their personal freedom. This rift has led to a decline in local social capital, which requires trust in social institutions and reflects a community’s sense of solidarity and willingness to engage in collective action. Social capital is always built upon the strength of the r... Full story
Even before the pandemic, more than 50 million Americans suffered from a sleep disorder, most commonly insomnia — trouble falling or staying asleep, waking early or throughout the night, or poor sleep quality. Since the pandemic began, two in three Americans report they are sleeping either more or less than desired. Pandemic-related sleep problems have become so prevalent that sleep specialists coined the term “coronasomnia.” Several factors have contributed to coronasomnia — upended routines, more screen tim... Full story
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently introduced an online tool at www.CDC.gov to help you decide whether to continue to wear a mask in indoor public spaces so that you can reduce your risk of contracting COVID-19. The CDC’s timing is excellent because Oregon is poised to lift its indoor mask mandate on March 12. The CDC’s COVID-19 “Community Levels” identifies risk levels in each county in the U.S. based upon current data on hospital beds being used, hospital admissions, and the total number of new... Full story
I am going to tell you about a magic elixir that if taken regularly will: 1.?Reduce the buildup of toxins in your brain. 2.?Control inflammation, which may reduce the likelihood of developing certain cancers. 3.?Boost your immune system. 4.?Restore energy and vitality. 5.?Promote creative problem-solving. 6.?Enhance concentration and improve memory. 7.?Support better regulation of your emotions. 8.?Help to process painful emotions and experiences. The magic elixir in question is a few weeks of good sleep. (“Why Do We S... Full story
You wish you could be more present in your relationships, to achieve deeper connections, but a nagging worry about what others think of you keeps getting in the way. Evolutionary forces that shaped our ancestors’ brains, enabling them to survive a harsh environment, may be creating a barrier to greater intimacy. Key to our ancestors’ survival was the amygdala, the home of the brain’s threat-detection system, alerting our ancestors to potential physical dangers and mobilizing their bodies to fight, flee, or when all else... Full story
If we strip away all of our differences, we discover that each of us shares a wish to be happy and content, free from hardship and suffering. How different groups go about achieving this end divides us, but these most fundamental motivations serve to unite us. Life is filled with ups and downs. Sometimes we experience success. Other times we are confronted with disappointment, setbacks, and failure. We strive to achieve the life that we imagined for ourselves but we may also “bump up against our limitations.” We forge int... Full story
I was entering Sisters’ Bi-Mart, holding the door open for a young man to enter. When he noticed that everyone else was masked, he grumbled that he would never shop at Bi-Mart again, and left. He is among a minority of Sisters Country residents who view mask mandates as an assault on their personal liberties and an usurpation of power by state and local officials. On an international level, some countries have fared better during the pandemic than others. Michele Gelfand of the University of Maryland observes that nations w... Full story
Judging by recent letters to the editor in The Nugget, some residents of Sisters Country who have been vaccinated against COVID-19 are running out of patience with those who resist vaccination and mandates to wear masks in public spaces, such as our local schools. But as Jonathan Haidt said in an interview in The Atlantic about the nature of political disagreements, “Does anyone really think we are going to win people over by insulting them and spouting hatred toward them? Or are we going to win them over by listening, one o... Full story
The false perception — spread through social media — that the local McDonald’s franchise in Sisters refused to feed hungry wildland firefighters led some in Sisters Country to respond with anger, moral outrage, and a desire to punish the offenders. We can understand this response by peering at our behavior through the lens of evolutionary psychology. We learn from Andrew W. Delton and his colleagues: “From prehistory to the present, human survival has depended on productive labor, much of which was carried out... Full story
When we live our lives according to personally meaningful values and goals — especially those that transcend self-interest — happiness usually follows. I love being silly with my granddaughters, following their lead in our play. I enjoy their always-changing, funny selves. Recently I decided that one of my life’s purposes was to dance with my granddaughters at their weddings. Since Charlee, Lizzy, and Luna are 4 years, 3 years, and 2 months old, respectively, and I am 68, my goal could be aspirational. To dance i... Full story
Imagine that you are standing in the middle of a tilled garden, watering can in hand, contemplating two types of seeds lying dormant in your soil. One seed, when watered, produces a toxic weed, from whose leaves a mild poison can be extracted. The second seed, when watered, produces a delectable and nourishing plant. Given the choice of which seed to water, you would naturally choose to water the plant that will nourish you, letting the toxic plant’s seed lie dormant. Now let’s imagine that you are standing in the tilled soi... Full story
Since 2005, residents of 153 nations have been asked each year by the Gallup World Poll to imagine their current position on a ladder with steps numbered from zero to 10, where the top represents the best possible life and the bottom the worst possible life for themselves. These “life evaluations” provide researchers with a measure of a nation’s well-being. The World Happiness Report averaged life evaluations from 2017 to 2019. When nations were ranked according to their average life evaluation scores, the United State... Full story
Governor Kate Brown of Oregon has relied upon a combination of public education and executive orders to fight the coronavirus pandemic. In contrast, Governor Kristi Noem of South Dakota told the Wall Street Journal, December 7, 2020, that: “Rather than following the pack and mandating harsh rules, South Dakota provides our residents with information about what is happening on the ground in our state — the science, facts and data. Then, we ask all South Dakotans to take personal responsibility for their health, the h... Full story
Like everyone else, early in the pandemic I was terrified of the “novel corona virus” as it hopscotched across the U.S. leaving bodies in its wake. The fact that so little was known at that time about how the virus was spread helped to fuel my panic. Someone emailed me what was reported to be the minutes of a Stanford University board of directors meeting in which facts and recommendations about the novel coronavirus were shared. I learned from these minutes that by simply holding my breath for 10 seconds and observing any... Full story
Reading The Nugget’s “Letters to the Editor” I have been struck by the frequency with which people of opposing political viewpoints find it so difficult to disagree without becoming disagreeable. I fear that the increasingly rancorous tone of our discourse in Sisters Country may damage the fabric of our social trust, defined by the Pew Research Center as: “…a belief in the honesty, integrity and reliability of others — a ‘faith in people.’” Can’t we have honest disagreements while maintaining a belief in each... Full story
