Podcast Summary
Our Brains Seek Familiarity, But Can Be Confused by the Unfamiliar: Our brains are wired to adapt to the average and can be uncomfortable with the unfamiliar, but immersive experiences can help us gain insight and understanding.
Learning from this conversation with Beau Lotto is that our brains are wired to seek out the familiar and reject the unfamiliar, but this can also lead to anxiety and confusion when faced with the unexpected. Beau, a professor of neuroscience and founder of the Lab of Misfits, shared examples like hearing a delayed echo of one's own voice or seeing a face with two sets of eyes, which can cause discomfort and even stop us from communicating. He explained that our brains are constantly adapting to what's average, and this has implications for how we perceive the world and each other. In his work, Beau and his team use immersive experiences to help people understand these principles and gain insight, leading to greater freedom and understanding. They even turned a lab into a nightclub to study perception in a unique and engaging way. Overall, this conversation highlights the fascinating ways our brains process and make sense of the world around us.
Understanding Human Behavior Through Experimentation: Researchers measured cortisol levels, heart rate, and personality profiles to help individuals gain self-awareness and make informed choices. They discovered people's conversation styles in dancing and couldn't serve alcohol but could give it away for free.
The researchers conducted an experiment where participants were measured in various ways, including cortisol levels, heart rate, and personality profiles, to better understand human behavior and provide individuals with a deeper understanding of themselves. The experiment involved measuring responses to different situations, such as watching an actor panic, and people's behavior in a dark room. The researchers aimed to give participants agency, humility, compassion, and creativity, but revealing information can be challenging and may result in resistance. An interesting finding from the nightclub experiment was that people dance in a similar way they have conversations, switching partners frequently. Additionally, the researchers discovered that they couldn't serve alcohol during the experiment but could give it away for free. The ultimate goal was to help individuals gain self-awareness and make informed choices based on the data provided.
Authenticity matters in donations: Authentic donations, whether time, resources, or money, demonstrate genuine care and can positively impact relationships. Avoid perceived inauthenticity or showiness to build trust and foster strong connections.
Authenticity plays a crucial role in both personal and corporate relationships, particularly when it comes to philanthropy and donations. During an experiment, men who donated more publicly were rated as less physically attractive by women, potentially due to a perceived inauthenticity or showiness. Authenticity is important because our brains are wired to detect it, and inauthenticity can lead to negative consequences. A genuine donation, whether it be time, resources, or money, is a sign of authenticity and can positively impact relationships. The cost or effort put into a donation is also a significant factor in demonstrating authenticity. Companies and individuals should strive to be authentic in their philanthropic efforts and avoid perceived opportunistic behavior.
Founder's personality shapes startup culture: Retaining founding team preserves authenticity and continuity, leading to a successful business.
The personality and involvement of a company's founders and team members significantly impact the culture and success of a startup. Companies that acquire startups often overlook this, leading to the dissolution of the original team and culture, which can negatively affect the authenticity and creativity of the acquired business. The founder's personality acts as a "host" for the company, influencing its culture and identity. Successful companies like Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp have remained under their original teams to preserve this authenticity and continuity. The importance of retaining the founding team and their unique perspective cannot be overstated.
Maintaining founder's personality for awe and connection: Experiencing awe increases prosocial behavior, tolerance for risk, and decreases the need for certainty. Seeking awe-inspiring experiences can change our perception of ourselves and connect us to others and nature.
Maintaining the founder's personality in a company is crucial for creating a sense of awe, which is a powerful perception that leaves us in a state of surprise and wonder, leading us to shift our understanding of ourselves and the world. Awe increases prosocial behavior, tolerance for risk, and decreases the need for certainty. Experiences that evoke awe, like Cirque du Soleil, can change our perception of ourselves and even make us feel connected to others and nature. For those who spend too much time in their heads, seeking experiences that take them out of themselves, such as awe or being a sandbar for others, can be beneficial. However, in a society that values cerebral horsepower and individual success, it may be challenging to prioritize experiences that promote awe and connection.
Understanding and adapting to contexts and mindsets: Cultural background and social context shape our focus and emotions. Practicing mindfulness in different contexts can impact generosity and anxiety levels. Expanding one's ego can evoke feelings of awe. Silence is an understudied need with profound effects on well-being.
Our mindset and context significantly impact our behaviors and emotions. For instance, people from the far east tend to focus more on the background in images due to their cultural context, which affects the strength of optical illusions for them. Similarly, practicing mindfulness in a socially-oriented context increases generosity, while doing so in an individualistic context decreases it. Moreover, focusing too much on oneself can lead to anxiety and depression, while expanding one's ego through identifying with larger entities can evoke feelings of awe. Focus and distraction are common desires and ailments in today's world, and silence, an understudied yet deep human need, can have profound effects on our well-being. In essence, understanding and adapting to our contexts and mindsets can lead to positive emotional and behavioral outcomes.
The Value of Silence: Silence brings numerous benefits, including increased neurogenesis, lower heart rate, and improved well-being, yet our modern urban environments are filled with constant noise, making it essential to find ways to incorporate silence into daily life.
The importance of silence in our lives is often underestimated, despite the numerous benefits it brings. While external noise, such as industrial sounds or traffic, can be distracting and stressful, internal noise, like constant thoughts, can be even more disruptive. The sensitivity to noise and silence varies from person to person and can depend on one's state of mind. Silence, contrary to popular belief, is not just the absence of sound but also a lack of predictability and agency, making it a valuable commodity in our increasingly noisy world. Research shows that prolonged exposure to silence can lead to increased neurogenesis, lower heart rate, and improved well-being. However, our modern urban environments are filled with constant noise, leading to a significant loss of potential well-being across European countries. Therefore, finding ways to incorporate silence into our daily lives, whether through meditation, nature walks, or simply turning off electronic devices, can have a positive impact on our mental and physical health.
Our brains adapt to new environments and experiences: We can become accustomed to negative situations, making them seem normal, and it takes energy to resist change and maintain familiarity.
Our brains are constantly adapting to new environments and experiences, redefining what is considered normal for us. This process of adaptation helps us navigate various ranges of stimuli, from light to noise to ideas. However, it also means that we can become accustomed to negative situations, making them seem normal. This concept is evident in various aspects of life, from adjusting to changes in our physical surroundings to adapting to societal shifts. It takes energy to resist change and maintain familiarity, which is why we often prefer the known, even if it's unpleasant, over the unknown. Understanding this process can help us make conscious decisions about the things we choose to adapt to and the energy we invest in maintaining our comfort zones.
The Need for Certainty in Life and Business: Uber's success lies in providing certainty, while increasing uncertainty can create anticipation and excitement, but manipulating it negatively can lead to power imbalance
Humans have an inherent desire to decrease uncertainty in our lives. This need for certainty is present in various aspects of our lives, from our personal behaviors to our business practices. Uber's success lies in providing a sense of certainty by telling us when our taxi will arrive. In contrast, increasing uncertainty can be used positively, such as in cliffhangers or music, to create anticipation and excitement. However, manipulating uncertainty negatively can also be used to gain power in personal relationships or business situations. Understanding this fundamental human need can help us navigate various situations and interactions more effectively.
Become aware of thoughts, biases, and assumptions: Acknowledging uncomfortable truths about ourselves leads to self-awareness, which empowers us to align intentions, words, and actions.
Becoming perceptually intelligent, or aware of our thoughts, biases, and assumptions, gives us agency and the power to choose our actions. This awareness can be a challenging process, as it may involve acknowledging uncomfortable truths about ourselves. However, having the desire to become aware is the first step, and it's important to care enough about ourselves to face these truths. Once we have awareness, the next step is to act upon it, aligning our intentions, words, and actions. The context in which we live and the circumstances we face can also impact our behavior, and it's important to remember that our actions reveal the truth about us. The choice is between being ruled by our mental afflictions or becoming aware of them, and the power to make this choice lies within us.
Embrace uncertainty and admit 'I don't know': Humility and a question-seeking mindset lead to valuable learning experiences and growth. Conflict and mistakes offer opportunities for expansion and new insights. Recognize interconnectedness and stay open to learning.
Embracing uncertainty and admitting "I don't know" can lead to valuable learning experiences and growth. The speaker emphasizes the importance of humility and engaging in situations with a question-seeking mindset, rather than insisting on knowing or believing we have all the answers. Conflict and mistakes are opportunities for expansion and new insights, and attributing successes or failures solely to ourselves or external factors can limit our understanding of the complexities of life. The concept of wisdom, as opposed to intelligence, lies in recognizing the interconnectedness of events and our role in shaping them, while staying humble and open to learning.
Wisdom comes from experience and understanding, Intelligence can be taught: Seek understanding instead of validation in conflicts, Avoid manipulation, Express genuine desire to understand others' perspectives for successful negotiations
Wisdom is not something that can be learned from a book, but rather it comes from experience and understanding the context of the world. It involves humility, compassion, and a desire to understand rather than win arguments. Intelligence, on the other hand, can be taught in schools, but wisdom is not. When dealing with conflict, it's important to seek understanding rather than validation. Manipulation, such as finding common ground, should be avoided. Instead, expressing a genuine desire to understand the other person's perspective can lead to greater understanding and resolution of conflicts. Chris Voss, an FBI negotiator, advocates for this approach in his book "Never Split the Difference." By fully understanding and validating the other person's position, negotiations can be more successful and peaceful outcomes can be reached.
Inviting understanding instead of judgment: Effective communication in negotiations involves understanding and empathy, not judgment and validation. Phrases like 'it seems like there's something on your mind' or 'how am I gonna make that work?' invite the other party in and make them feel understood, while embracing uncertainty is key to expanding perception.
Effective communication in negotiations involves understanding and empathy rather than judgment and validation. Instead of asking "what's wrong?" when noticing an issue, try phrases like "it seems like there's something on your mind" or "how am I gonna make that work?" These phrases invite the other party in and make them feel understood, rather than judged. However, it's important to make a distinction between understanding and validation. While understanding is essential for effective communication, validation is not always necessary. The most fundamental step in effective communication is the desire to understand and expand perception, which requires embracing uncertainty and uncertainty is an essential part of the process. To cultivate this desire, focus on wanting to engage and learn from others, rather than looking for quick fixes or formulas.
Authenticity and personal investment lead to success: Developing genuine desire and authentic purpose in personal and business endeavors leads to greater success and value. Encouraging curiosity and a growth mindset in an uncertain environment fosters innovation and improvement.
Developing genuine desire and authentic purpose in both personal and business endeavors leads to greater success and value, even if it requires more effort and self-awareness. This approach is not just altruistic or nice, but it has real-world impact on personal growth and the bottom line of a company. The IKEA effect and the sense of ownership that comes from immersive experiences further emphasize the importance of personal investment and discovery. Effective leadership involves creating an environment where uncertainty and questioning are encouraged, enabling the iteration process to uncover better questions and answers. In essence, authenticity, curiosity, and a growth mindset are the keys to success and fulfillment.
Leading with Trust, Diversity, and Competence: Effective leaders value diversity, admit mistakes, and demonstrate competence to build trust and motivate team growth. Integrating across diverse backgrounds requires finding principles that transcend context.
Effective leadership and successful companies value both diversity and the ability to integrate across that diversity. Leaders who lead by example, admit mistakes, and see qualities in others create a trusting environment where not knowing is good and diversity is celebrated. However, diversity alone is not enough. It's essential to find the principles that transcend context and integrate across diverse backgrounds to enable effective communication and collaboration. Three primary routes to status are fear, trustworthiness, and competence or virtue. Effective leaders demonstrate competence and allow their team to see their progression and performance on the same score sheet. This sense of progression and transparency builds respect and motivates team members to strive for their own growth and success. Incorporating these principles of trust, diversity, and competence can lead to a more effective and cohesive team or organization.
The importance of competence in building trust and respect: Effective communication and respect are built on a foundation of competence. Leaders should foster an environment where team members can learn and grow, balancing expertise and naivete for innovative solutions.
Competence is a crucial factor in building trust and respect, both in personal and professional relationships. Whether it's running a business, managing a podcast, or leading a team, having a deep understanding of the specific domain and the ability to use correct terminology can earn you respect and enable you to effectively communicate with others. However, it's important to remember that competence doesn't mean being an expert or focusing solely on efficiency. Instead, effective leaders create an environment where their team members can become competent, learn from their mistakes, and ask questions that challenge the status quo. Balancing the expertise of veterans with the naivete of newcomers can lead to innovative solutions and a more successful organization.
Exploring competence, self-awareness, and growth: Competence, self-awareness, and growth are crucial for personal and collective progress. Acknowledge biases, expand understanding, adapt to new situations, and embrace uncertainty to foster resilience and agility.
Competence and self-awareness go hand in hand. Being competent means not only having the skills and knowledge but also the courage to acknowledge biases and assumptions, expand your understanding, and adapt to new situations. This sense of competence leads to resilience and agility, both personally and professionally. Relationships and ideas that don't grow stagnate and eventually die. The speaker is currently exploring the power of touch, home, silence, chronic pain, and PTSD through experiments. He moved to Ibiza to live a nomadic life, study uncertainty, and write a new book. Competence, self-awareness, and growth are essential for personal and collective progress.
Sharing experiences from different locations: Stay connected and open to growth, even when unable to attend events together. Share experiences and invite others to join in, whether online or in person.
No matter the distance or location, everyone experiences things differently. The speaker in this conversation shares an anecdote about attending a party in a location far north on the island, which is quite different from the more popular and well-known southern part. Despite not being able to attend the event together, they remain optimistic about future possibilities and encourage their audience to stay updated with their personal and professional endeavors. The speaker, Boloto, shares various ways for people to connect with them, including their website, labomysfit.com, and their Lab of Misfits Instagram page. They also mention starting a personal Instagram account and embarking on a self-experiment, inviting others to join in. Boloto's openness to sharing their experiences and inviting others to participate highlights the importance of connection and growth, no matter the location or circumstances.
