BAR-ILAN UNIVERSITY:

The Self-Fulfilling
Prophesy Of
Success

Where Brain Science
and Jewish
Come Together

W

e begin a new year
tantly, when you encounter a glitch
—2015. Amazing! It
(there are always glitches) — the
seems like just yesterday
furnace goes out or a family emer-
we were pondering our fate when
gency arises resulting in unplanned
1984 arrived - and on what would
expenses — you deal it with, realign
happen on the Y2K crossover to
the plan and continue — you do not
2000. Poof, it's 2015!
abandon the ship!
What should be our expectations?
If the goal is to adopt a plan for
There were many disturbing events
your parents' elder-years issues, the
in 2014: Ferguson/New
key is to take action and
York, the Hamas conflict
to follow through on the
and tunnel terrorism, ISIS,
plan. Scheduling is never
MH370, Asia Air's loss of
convenient. You need to
Flight 8501, Ebola and so
involve your siblings and
on. Given the chaos we
parents when it comes to
witness daily, it is easy
addressing their issues,
to approach the world
and it demands your time
and U.S. events with low
and effort. Don't abandon
expectations.
the plan when family
Expecting less, how-
members don't cooperate
ever, is a mistake. We've
on things such as schedul-
Gross
all heard the notion of a
ing a meeting. Don't say
"self-fulfilling prophecy,"
to yourself, "See, I knew
which is a prediction that
it would never work."
directly or indirectly causes itself
Instead, call them and say, "Give
to become true as a result of posi-
me three dates and times and I will
tive feedback between behavior and
make it work."
belief.
For U.S. and world affairs, let's
The concept has been the subject
work to advance human rights and
of significant study in areas ranging
reduce the threat and instances of
from self-perception theory, educa-
terror. Again, we must stick to the
tion reform, economic policy and the
plan and realign it as problems
"inevitability of war." If you look to
occur, but we cannot abandon the
the dark side, you inevitably see dark. goal. We hear it all the time, "Stuff
Sports psychology consultant
happens" (or words to that effect).
Larry Lauer notes that the self-ful-
The most difficult aspect here is that
filling concept embodies pessimism
we, individually, are not in control
and closely aligns with "seeing the
of our destiny because we are distant
glass half empty." To battle such
from controlling such events.
emotions, Lauer emphasizes the
The next time Congress fails to
need for athletes to adopt a positive
accomplish anything because of
outlook and to focus forward and
partisan politics, we're not in a posi-
not on mistakes as they arise.
tion to say, "Oh well, we'll do better
So for 2015, let's flip the concept
next time" because we are not the
to a "self-fulfilling prophesy of suc-
actors. We should, however, exercise
cess."
our right to express our frustration
On personal matters, we are in a
by writing our Congressional rep-
far greater position to control our
resentatives, posting our views on
destiny and attain our objectives.
Facebook and other media to let our
We can give greater focus to achiev-
elected officials know we demand
ing our goals (and perhaps some
more. In such matters, the mecha-
of those New Year's resolutions) by
nism to effectuate change is to make
refusing to abandon the goal just
our voices heard.
because we encounter bumps along
Ken Gross is an attorney with Thav Gross
the way.
and host of Law and Reality that airs
For example, if your goal is to
weekly at 8:30 a.m. Saturdays on WDFN
increase savings and decrease debt,
1130 AM, "The Fan" and 11 a.m. Sundays,
you must stick to the campaign by
on TV20.
defining the steps now. More impor-

: tt

Creating a DNA vaccine
for Alzheimer's disease

is the mission of Dr. Eitan Okun and his team at
the Leslie and Susan Gonda (Goldschmied)
Multidisciplinary Brain Research Center at Bar-Ilan
University. By researching why people with Down
syndrome are more prone to getting Alzheimer's,
Dr. Okun is making strides to develop a vaccine
that will prevent Alzheimer's in this high-risk
group. The success of this project could lead to a
general use vaccine.

Dr. Okun is also conducting research to provide a
better understanding of other neurodegenerative
disorders, including Parkinson's disease, Huntington's
disease and ischemic brain stroke.

An ardent Zionist who lives on a kibbutz near the
Gaza border, Dr. Okun says in part his research is
driven by fulfilling the mitzvah of honoring the
elderly — and most especially his father, who has
dementia. He says, "It is my hope that by gaining
a fuller understanding of what happens to our
brains as we age, we will be able to help more
people live fuller, more cognitively healthy lives."

To learn more about Dr. Okun's research to prevent
neurodegenerative diseases, go to www.afbiu.org
or contact Ari Steinberg at 847-423-2270
or at ari.steinberg@afbiu.org

❑

Jewish and Zionist values are central to Bar-Ilan's initiatives
in the sciences, law, nanotechnology, engineering, business,
the humanities and its Medical School in Safed.

NSF

American Friends of

Bar-Ilan University

1962

January 8 • 2015

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