The Power of Surprise - Chapter Five

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A five year old named Carol is on a horseback ride with her family in the hills of Wisconsin and at the top of a knoll with the stables in view her mother drops her scarf. The guide turns around to get it that causes Carol's horse to bolt, she remembers it was being this terrifying thing they're galloping at lightning speed. Eventually though as they get close to the stables people come up and they slowly slow down the horse and one of these people says wow you sure are some horse woman you're a real cowgirl. That would have led to a different narrative as an explanation of what she was experiencing following the surprise. She could imagine if she had arrived

In this episode, Micheal Rousell, author of The Power of Surprise, explains the science of surprise at the level of neurons and brain structures, and then talk about how surprises often lead to the stories we tell ourselves about ourselves, the different personal narratives that guide our behaviors and motivations and goals, and, perhaps most importantly, our willingness to be surprised again so that we can change and grow.

In the show, you will how we can use the current understanding of how surprise leads to learning, and how learning depends on interpretation, to improve our lives, and the lives of others