Written by: Leif Rasmussen, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
Humans have traveled into space and to the depths of the oceans. We create music and medicine. Build skyscrapers and design artificial Intelligence. Yes, we humans can do amazing things, but at times we forget this and great opportunities are lost.
I have witnessed the extraordinary and inspiring change when people begin to explore what they can actually do, so I want to give you a chance to be inspired... with yourself. In the spirit of Albert Einstein: “Make things as simple as useful” ¹ I am going to share 4 things about the extraordinary mind and also give you a quick insight into how the mind actully operates, which interestingly enough seems to surprise people.
This is slightly rephrased from Albert Einstein's quote. The quote is “Do not make things more complicated than they need to be, but on the other hand, if they are too simple, they will not make sense or be understood.
1. Your brain works faster than you think
It is very complex to estimate the brain's exact calculation speed, but current scientific estimates
are at around 1 billion billion calculations... per second. ² Only the largest and most powerful supercomputers in the world can do that and you already have this extraordinary mind.
2. Extraordinary storage capacity
The brain is currently estimated to have the equivalent of 2.5 Petabytes of information. ³ If your brain worked like a digital video recorder, that would be enough to hold 3 million hours of video. Here is another way of thinking about it. in 2016 the 2.5 Petabytes was estimated to be equal to the size of the entire Internet at the time.
The extraordinary mind has enormous storage capacity
3. Self changing
Your brain can physically change itself. This is called Neuroplasticity ⁴ and can happen throughout your entire life. An example of this is when you go on a holiday in a new place. Since things are different than at home your mind opens up to figure out where to find food, where to put your clothes, explore the area and similar and you learn this quite quickly
Your brain can adapt out of necessity, such as adjusting to a new place, or deliberately, like incorporating new information into your life.
4. Your brain predicts the future
Here is what the newest science tells us about how the brain is working. Humans have spent 100.000’s of years in environments with predators close by and often not quite enough food available. Our entire system, body and brain have adapted to this.
In order to survive in that environment our brains consistently make qualified guesses, predictions, of what is about to happen and then adjust for that. If we didn’t we would lose too much energy but running away from predators that aren’t there or hunting animals we simply can’t catch.
.. but how does your brain predict the future?
Ever seen an older picture of you and feel like you are “in” that moment again? Or heard a song and found yourself “back” in that moment?
Your brain pays attention to what is going on (the input from your senses) and compares that with your memories. When it finds a memory that seems similar to the input, it reconstructs ⁵ that memory and predicts what is likely to happen now. Your brain then adjusts your chemistry to the predicted future situation. For instance, you hear a sudden loud sound and if your brain goes “This means Danger” it instantly releases the chemistry (including adrenaline) to get you ready to fight or run.
Or you are bored at an event and unexpectedly notice your best friend in the crowd and you feel happy. That is because your brain gives you a quick summary of your memories with that person and you enjoy it. Your brain is predicting all the time and whatever the prediction is, your brain prepares you by adjusting your chemistry... creating what it predicts to be the most useful chemistry for what is about to happen.
What happens when the mind prediction is wrong?
This can also happen, but remember with which speed the brain works? Your brain constantly picks up on input and when it notices that the input is different from the prediction it adjusts to the new expected situation. It makes a new prediction and the process keeps running.
This explains what is happening when you get disappointed. Your memories + your predictions is creating an expectation for what is about to happen, but when you get a less positive result (negative prediction error) you get disappointed and have to re-adjust your predictions. BUT It also works the other way around, if you don’t expect much and are positively surprised (positive prediction error) You get a rush of feel good hormones when your brain re-adjust the chemistry.
It’s a brilliant system, especially when you know how to make it work FOR you.
Your memories are the key to your success
With the knowledge of how the brain works, Imagine if someone had several wonderful experiences of talking to new people. They had great conversations. Made good friends. Was introduced to new business opportunities and so on. If a person like that attends an event and notices someone new, their brain would say something like this “Go say hi. It's going to be wonderful” and start the useful chemistry, a wonderful feeling.
You can probably imagine that the likelihood of that conversation to be a good experience is much higher, than for a person who mostly had bad experiences with new people (and now feel bad about the very idea of meeting any people)
So how to use the extraordinary mind you already have and change everything?
Now that you understand the importance of memories, here are a few examples of how to use that to change things for the better. Consistently creating situations like these sets the foundation for useful ongoing and future predictions. If we expect good things will happen, we are more inclined to want to engage in it. I have made the examples fairly “open” so you can adjust them freely to your situation.
There is a new colleague at work?
Invest time into making sure they have several good experiences with you and other colleagues. Grab a coffee, go for lunch and introduce them to other colleagues. Creating these memories of course works both ways. You should enjoy it as well.
You want to start a good habit?
Do a little bit of it, while making sure you actually enjoy the experience. Then repeat that several times. Building positive memories. Enjoying a new experience can be done by adding something you already enjoy. When I started doing Fitness I brought my favorite music (of which I have great memories). 15 years later and I still enjoy fitness, even without my music.
You met someone special?
You want to create experiences that both you and they enjoy. You probably know what you like, so ask them and pay close attention to what they enjoy (their positive memories) then do some of that combined with what you like. Making it your common good memories.
For instance if you like nature and they like the outdoors and delicious food, you can do a nice nature hike ending up in a great restaurant that you like.
Of course do things you also enjoy or expect to enjoy, otherwise you are building expectations (memories + predictions = expectations) into your new partners way of thinking about you that will lead them to be disappointed at you, when you stop doing those things.
Bringing it all together
With this knowledge you are well suited to make positive changes. The extraordinary mind (Your mind) has extraordinary capacity and is also extraordinarily complex, but when you simply focus on the main driver, building useful memories, you can create much better results and change everything for the better.
The common thread to success in this?
Be aware that everything you do can become a memory for both you and the other people involved. So make the memory useful. And for the insider tips on how to make your extraordinary mind serve you Even better, connect with me. On Instagram, LinkedIn, via my homepage and feel free to simply call me.
I create skills, share insights and more that you benefit from. Science based and personalized. Specifically for you.
I wish you the very best with Building useful memories and many of them
Leif Rasmussen
Founder of Mind Skills.
Building the skills you need for the life you want.
Leif Rasmussen, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
How do I create better results for you? Because I do not limit you to some "theory" of how your mind is supposed to work.
Most do not know this, but Science have "pulled the rug out" from underneath virtually all of existing psychology.
It happend when scientist had the high-precision tools and started measuring what actually goes on in the human mind. The proof is absolutely clear. Everyone is completely unique, more unique than our fingerprints.
Here is the problem: No one is giving you the full advantages from this fact. I want to change that.
References:
[1] This is slightly rephrased from Albert Einstein's quote. The quote is “Do not make things more complicated than they need to be, but on the other hand, if they are too simple, they will not make sense or be understood.
[2] Speed of brain calculations Source: NIST.gov
[3] Storage capacity Source: Scientificamerican.com
[4] Self changing (neuroplasticity) Source: Massachusettsinstituteortechnology(MIT)
[5] Reconstructing memories Source: Nature Communications
Main source for the article
Professor of psychology and Neuroscientist Lisa Feldmann Barrets work on emotions and the book “How emotions are created”
Lisa Feldman Barrett, PhD, is among the top 0.1% most cited scientists in the world for her revolutionary research in psychology and neuroscience. She is a University Distinguished Professor of Psychology at Northeastern University. She also holds appointments at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital, where she is Chief Science Officer for the Center for Law, Brain & Behavior.
