http://www.vexen.co.uk/self/psychoso...

New edition of this page is launched, the conclusion reads:

There seems to be no limits to the seriousness of possible physical problems resulting from subconscious mental dysphoria; but there are many benefits also from certain mental exercises and from holding a positive mental attitude. Good reactions to stress are an indicator of long-term health, both physical and mental. Willpower and determination sit alongside hopeful thinking as elements of a reverse psychosomosis mechanism; helping protect the body against disease. Meditation, self-reflection and having a 'fighting spirit' against health problems all contribute to actual physical health.

Summarizing the techniques and conclusions drawn on this page, it follows that various good practices can increase the health of individuals and of entire nations.

* "Therapists of all persuasions agree that reducing anxiety or anger is the best way to alleviate suffering from psychophysiological disorders"

* Good reactions to stress facilitate long-term health

* Maintaining strong willpower, a fighting spirit, and a positive attitude towards your own body help against diseases that seem purely physical, such as cancer, because our immune system and our body's maintenance are linked to our nervous system, and can therefore be effected by emotional factors.

* Many psychosomatic diseases and somatoform disorders can be avoided (and sometimes cured) through education. The promotion of critical thinking and hysteria-awareness can prevent symptoms appearing in the first place.

http://www.vexen.co.uk/self/psychoso... contains full references and discussion of related topics.

I've added some text to http://www.humantruth.info/split_bra... :

The philsopher Thomas Gilovich explains studies where two different pictures are presented to a split-brain patient. The language center in the left hemisphere gives responses according to its interpretation of the right's actions. A patient can point to a picture in accordance with what one eye has seen, but the left-hand side of the brain couldn't see, and the person tries to explain their selection of photo in accordance with the wrong input. For example a picture of a snow-filled field is shown to a patient's non-verbal right hemisphere, and they select a shovel from a list of pictures. But the left-hand side of their split-brain doesn't know what input they have seen. When asked, they construct a rational-sounding reason and when quizzed, believe that this made-up reason is the actual reason whey they selected it. The most important philosophical issue is that the person does not realize that they are inventing a reason. It teaches us that our brains\interprets our own behaviour and gives us an illusion of agency even when there is none. Further examples and discussion held in Crabtree "Free Will & Determinism" (1999) include cases of hypnotism and other sociological experiments where people give wrong reasons for their own behaviour, revealing that people in general are more like observers than we can admit.

http://www.humantruth.info/split_bra... contains the full text, and http://www.humantruth.info/free_will... contains the full discussion of free will vs. determinism.

I have added the following text to http://www.vexen.co.uk/countries/eu.html

It is a Governments' job to protect people against forces beyond their control, so, legislating on working conditions is appropriate. But political interference in normal market forces isn't democratic. It is light totalitarianism. One way in which politicians control and skew market forces is by setting corporate tax rates. The standardisation of corporate tax over multiple countries has many benefits. "European politicians began puzzling over tax harmonisation in 1962".

“Now European Union plans for a common tax base have begun to gain pace and may even take wing, in spite of several countries' efforts to stop them. On May 2nd the European Commission gave an upbeat report on its progress towards legislation on a common consolidated corprate tax base. László Kocács, the EU's tax commissioner, said a proposal would be ready in the first half of 2008 and tentatively suggested that a common base could be in place some time "after 2010". Under the commission's rough plans, companies would adopt a tax base for their EU-wide activities, rather than face a tangle of 27 different regimes. [...] Many of the details, such as the delicate issue of how to split revenues between countries, are still to be hammered out. But one red line has been drawn: national exchequers will continue to set their own rates.”
[The Economist 2007]

The benefits are numerous. (1) Companies would simply "adopt a tax base for their EU-wide activities, rather than face a tangle of 27 different regimes". This would massively decrease the accounting costs for multinational companies. Accounting is one of those non-productive expenses that wastes money. With standardized rates, overall efficiency will increase. (2) Politicians would have one less tool to artificially manipulate markets. (3) European companies would be more competitive globally as overheads decreased. (4) The single-market would benefit. (5) Less overheads means lower prices for consumers.

But implementing this is difficult as Governments such as Irelands' will not want to lose a tool they use (low corporate tax) to attract business. General centralisation-phobia will also impede progress. Here comes another useful application of a potential multispeed Europe approach: "A core group could advance" and standardize rates. This would grant fractions of the benefits listed above and prove the principle. But, countries such as Ireland would temporarily have an even bigger advantage, so, there is an argument that all 27 EU countries should be compelled to proceed together. In either case, the benefits of corporate tax normalisation are clear: the toes that are stepped on are only the ones who were politically manipulating the market.