James Doty

James Doty

James Doty is an American neurosurgeon and neuroscientist on the faculty of the Stanford University School of Medicine, in the Department of Neurosurgery. He founded the Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education (CCARE) at Stanford in 2008, and his work focuses on compassion, self-compassion and meditation. He is the author of Into the Magic Shop and Mind Magic.

Who they are

Doty appears on this site as the author of Mind Magic (2024), a book on intention and visualisation which this publication has read in full and audited.

This page records only what the papers and their published records state. Biography beyond the cited work is not given here.

Key papers

Mind Magic: The Neuroscience of Manifestation and How It Changes Everything (2024).** Avery. A six-week programme on intention, visualisation and self-compassion. On p. 233, in a self-compassion practice, the book states that negative self-talk gravely impacts health and mental well-being.

Into the Magic Shop.** His earlier book, not read for this page.

Key ideas

The idea this site draws on is that the way people speak to themselves matters. Research supports that broad point, and adds detail the book does not give. A 2008 review led by Susan Nolen-Hoeksema found that rumination, repetitive negative thinking, predicts the onset of depression. Joanne Wood's 2009 study found that friendlier wording is not reliably better. Research on distanced self-talk suggests that addressing yourself by name or as "you" can calm people a little, independent of tone.

Sources

  1. Doty, J. R. (2024). Mind Magic: The Neuroscience of Manifestation and How It Changes Everything. Avery. p. 233.