I often talk about the importance of paying attention to what you are paying attention to in conflict resolution, and in life. Because I think it is so important, the A in the acronym of my CARVE Disputes Model™ stands for Attention.
In case you have not seen CARVE, here it is:
C - Curiosity
A - Attention
R - reflection
V - Value
E - Ensemble
A - Attention
R - reflection
V - Value
E - Ensemble
In fact, I often describe mediation as attention choreography. Why is attention so important? One reason is that it changes your brain. Jeff Schwartz recently sent me a chapter he coauthored that explains how that change occurs in terms of quantum physics; he sent it because he thinks it is a particularly good explanation of attention density and how it changes the brain.
I will quote here the relevant section of the chapter with Jeff's permission and link to the whole article at the end. The topic of the article is pain but the principles of attention being described apply to any state or feeling to which you attend, whether positive or negative. Here's a short lesson in the quantum Zeno effect.
One important and well-verified law in quantum physics called the quantum Zeno effect is a key to understanding how focused attention can systematically alter the brain’s response to environmental inputs. Quantum Zeno effect was first described nearly 30 years ago and has been extensively studied many times since then. One classic example of it is the fact that rapid repeated observation of a molecule will hold the molecule in a stable state. It does this by markedly slowing the rate of fluctuation demonstrated in molecules when they are not measured (i.e., observed) in a repetitive fashion. This is a basic principle of quantum physics — the rate of observation has marked measurable effects on the phenomenon being observed.
The quantum Zeno effect for neuroscience application states that the mental act of focusing attention can hold in place brain circuits associated with what is focused on (e.g., pain versus pain relief). Focusing attention on mental experience maintains the brain state arising in association with that experience. What this means is that if one focuses attention on an experience, the set of relevant brain circuitry with which that experience is associated will be held in a dynamically stable state. For example, an expectation of pain relief can elicit a focusing of attention on actual experiences of pain relief that are associated with patterns of activity in a given brain circuitry. When sufficient attention is focused on the experience of pain relief, the associated brain circuitry becomes dynamically stable. This acute effect of focused attention can then enable the well-validated principle of Hebb (1955), namely that repeated patterns of neural activity can
The quantum Zeno effect for neuroscience application states that the mental act of focusing attention can hold in place brain circuits associated with what is focused on (e.g., pain versus pain relief). Focusing attention on mental experience maintains the brain state arising in association with that experience. What this means is that if one focuses attention on an experience, the set of relevant brain circuitry with which that experience is associated will be held in a dynamically stable state. For example, an expectation of pain relief can elicit a focusing of attention on actual experiences of pain relief that are associated with patterns of activity in a given brain circuitry. When sufficient attention is focused on the experience of pain relief, the associated brain circuitry becomes dynamically stable. This acute effect of focused attention can then enable the well-validated principle of Hebb (1955), namely that repeated patterns of neural activity can
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