The Science of Self

Easily listen to The Science of Self in your podcast app of choice at https://bit.ly/ScienceOfSelfPodcast00:02:05 Nobel Prize–winning theoretical physicist Richard Feynman is one of the best-known and most-loved scientists of our time.00:05:22 Think Like a Martian00:12:11 Consider the example of inventor Martin Cooper00:14:42 Feynman’s Advice: Play More!00:24:05 An Unexpected Cure for Burnout00:29:38 The Scientific MethodHear it Here - https://adbl.co/3OsoIY1• Feynman was a brilliant scientist because of how he thought, not what he thought. Whatever your vocation, skill set, expertise, special interest, or personal challenges, your life can be improved by learning to learn.• To see the world anew and without stale old misconceptions, try to look at it as though you were a Martian arriving on Earth for the very first time. What do you see? What would the world look like to you if you had no pre-existing beliefs about it, no biases, no prior understanding to cloud your observations?• Knowing the arbitrary symbols assigned to a thing is not knowing it. Look beyond language. • Relaxation, daydreaming, creativity, and fun are not impediments to serious intellectual activity, but an important part of it. Your mind is naturally curious about the world. Curiosity and playfulness is a big part of how it survives and evolves. Work hard, let go, then work hard again. “Serious play” still requires domain knowledge and is focused and purposeful. Burnout can be helped by this kind of play. • The scientific method is a way to structure our thinking and our approach to observation, gathering data, making predictions and theories, and inching our way closer to truth and understanding using reason and empiricism.• First make a guess about a new law. Then compute the consequences of the guess, then compare the computation results to nature. If the results disagree with nature, then your guess is wrong, if they agree, you have support for your hypothesis. What you want to be true is irrelevant; a scientist asks a question because they want to know the answer, not because they want to confirm what they already believe is true.#Feynman #FeynmansMentalModels #MentalModel #RussellNewton #NewtonMG #PeterHollins #TheScienceofSelf #RichardFeynman’sMentalModels #PeterHollins

Easily listen to The Science of Self in your podcast app of choice at https://bit.ly/ScienceOfSelfPodcastHear it Here - https://adbl.co/3KWyCB0• It is important to ask the right questions when learning something new, especially if you want to learn it effectively. Empowering questions that are solution-oriented and begin with “how” will help you get started on the right foot. You should also avoid disempowering questions that focus on the negative aspects of a situation and begin with “why.”• Bloom's taxonomy offers a framework to define and classify the levels of human cognition, from basic to more in-depth thought processing. With self-learning, it is important to know how to self-question based on the following six categories: remembering, understanding, applying, analyzing, evaluating, and creating.• Remembering knowledge: This stage concentrates on retrieving information from memory that has been obtained through instruction and experience. To do this effectively, try using mnemonics or other memorization techniques.• Understanding: The second stage of knowledge is all about understanding the material rather than just memorizing it. Try discussing ideas within the material with others or forming connections between that material and related topics. • Application: The third stage of application is about taking what you have learned and being able to use it in a practical sense outside of lecture settings, such as solving math problems or creating detailed essays/plans.• Analyzing: The fourth stage of analysis consists of taking the knowledge gained from prior stages and using it to create something original, like writing a story or designing an experiment.#BloomsTaxonomy #CalNewport #LifelongLearner #Selfquestioning #Taxonomy #RussellNewton #NewtonMG #PeterHollins #TheScienceofSelf #TheLifelongLearner #PeterHollins

Easily listen to The Science of Self in your podcast app of choice at https://bit.ly/ScienceOfSelfPodcast00:01:04 Abraham Lincoln was perhaps not a genius in the conventional sense00:01:21 Doris Kearns Goodwin has written Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln.00:07:49 Unconventional Genius00:11:41 The Power of Mindsethttp://bit.ly/GeniusHollins• Lincoln’s genius traits included intellectual honesty, morality, non-conventionality, and soft skills such as empathy and communication.• Lincoln had little formal education and had an ordinary background, but was someone who possessed all the skills we associate with genius. He was most talented, perhaps, at working with the genius of others.• After he was elected president, Lincoln surprised everyone by appointing his “team of rivals” consisting of the men he had beaten in the election, and who often disagreed with him. But with this team, he was able to achieve the enormous accomplishments he is still known for today.• Like Darwin, Lincoln understood that success and learning come from challenge and the courage to consider alternate and conflicting viewpoints. Lincoln’s cabinet also allowed him to make use of people’s diverse talents.• Lincoln was also, unlike many in this book, a master at soft skills such as empathy, communication, and the ability to tap into a strong moral code of ethics to power his goals. • The five genius traits already covered are enhanced and transmitted more effectively when combined with these soft skills, as Lincoln demonstrates. Under his leadership, the Civil War ended with emancipation and the end of slavery, as well as a new and unified national spirit that defined the democratic principles of the country going forward. • To be like Lincoln, we need to know how to ask for help, to work with others, to engage our critics and competition strategically, and to take even our enemies as our best teachers. • Lincoln also teaches us the power of connecting not only with our own moral compass, but with other people via their values and principles, to become better communicators and more effective leaders.#AbrahamLincoln #AdamSmith #AmericanCivilWar #Confederacy #Darwin #Declaration #Descartes #DorisKearnsGoodwin #Edison #Einstein #Genius #Gettysburg #GettysburgAddress #IsaacNewton #Kentucky #Lincoln #Nonconventionality #PoliticalGenius #Socrates #SoldiersNationalCemetery #Tesla #RussellNewton #NewtonMG #PeterHollins #TheScienceofSelf #ThinkLikeaGenius

Easily listen to The Science of Self in your podcast app of choice at https://bit.ly/ScienceOfSelfPodcast00:02:33 Preferring Simplicity 00:05:52 Relying On Contrast 00:08:16 Avoid All Loss 00:12:46 Reduce Risk 00:16:29 The Resulting Trap 00:21:35 Confirmation Bias 00:25:08 Gambler’s Fallacy 00:27:51 Rosy RetrospectionHear it Here - http://bit.ly/DecisionMakingHollins• Through no fault of our own, there are many ways our brains can actively fool us into suboptimal decisions.• The first cognitive bias is a preference for simplicity and a distrust for complexity. Sadly, life isn’t always so simple. This can lead us to prefer the simpler, more direct option over options that are perceived to be more complex and have hidden factors. • The second cognitive bias is a reliance on contrast and relative value. This makes us susceptible to terrible decisions because relative value is meaningless to us—the only thing that should matter is objective and absolute value.• The third cognitive bias is a tendency to avoid losses. The psychological harm of a loss is exponentially that of the psychological benefit of a gain—thus, we seek to avoid losses in decisions whenever possible, even when it is illogical.• The fourth cognitive bias is a tendency to reduce risk. This is similar to the tendency to avoid losses. We act to reduce risk because it feels psychologically more comfortable and less stressful, despite usually being a poorer decision overall.• Cognitive biases are actually the most natural and instinctual way of thinking, which is bad news for your decision-making muscle. This chapter represents four more common cognitive biases that will cause suboptimal decisions.• Confirmation bias is when you see or interpret things only to bolster your pre-existing assumptions and beliefs. This can cause, in a word, blindness. • The gambler’s fallacy is when you try to find patterns in random, chaotic events that you have no control over. There is a lack of using actual evidence. • Rosy retrospection is when you emphasize the positive nature of a past experience and apply that incorrect assessment to a current situation. Your biased memory calls the shots here, not your wealth of past experiences.#Cacioppo #ConfirmationBias #Cullen #Eeyore #Gambler #JohnCacioppo #Kahneman #ReduceRisk #Retrospection #RobertSutton #RosyRetrospection #Simplicity #Snyder #StrategicDecisionMaking #Sutton #Toyota #Tversky #RussellNewton #NewtonMG #PeterHollins #TheScienceofSelf #TheArtofStrategicDecisionMaking

Easily listen to The Science of Self in your podcast app of choice at https://bit.ly/ScienceOfSelfPodcast00:05:26 The WOOP method can help you get through these tough moments.00:06:24 Created by Dr. Gabriele Oettingen of NYU and the University of Hamburg00:07:13 The WOOP method helps you plan for the hard moments.00:07:54 Wish: Figuring Out Ambitions and Setting Goals 00:10:43 Outcome: Understanding What’s to Come 00:15:40 Obstacle: Running into Problems and Visualizing Hurdles 00:19:22 Plan: Finding Strategies to Overcome Errors Hear it Here - https://adbl.co/3KWyCB0• WOOP (Wish, Outcome, Obstacle, and Plan) is an evidence-based intervention that guides you through an investigation of hurdles and barriers while introducing you to goal-setting. This evidence-based approach is great because it allows individuals to create a plan that addresses any difficulties they may face while also considering their desired outcome. Practicing the WOOP method helps to build confidence, increase motivation, and foster a sense of self-efficacy, which can be beneficial when striving to attain personal goals.• First, identify your wish or goal in detail, being clear about how you know when you’ve achieved it. Consider something in your life that you wish to improve: your career, education, relationships, or anything else. It should be challenging, realistic, and achievable.• Next, flesh out this outcome in your mind’s eye, visualizing both the good and bad aspects. Visualizing your outcome helps you understand why you want to accomplish this specific goal. Specificity here is important because you won't be nearly as motivated to carry out your ideas if you have a hazy sense of what success would feel like or how your life would improve.• Carefully consider the obstacles in this plan, being honest and realistic about the unavoidable effort and challenge involved. Consider what it might look and feel like to have your objective met. Spend some time thoroughly imagining, seeing, and feeling what it would be like to achieve the finest potential outcome.• Finally, make a plan that addresses these obstacles so you’ll know what to do when setbacks occur. This is important because keeping your options open will help you get up when things don’t go your way. #Christiansen #DrGabrieleOettingen #Fritzsche #Krott #LifelongLearner #Visualizing #VisualizingHurdles #WOOP #RussellNewton #NewtonMG #PeterHollins #TheScienceofSelf #TheLifelongLearner

Easily listen to The Science of Self in your podcast app of choice at https://bit.ly/ScienceOfSelfPodcast00:02:13 To understand Galileo, we must understand Polish astronomer Nicholas Copernicus00:10:46 Navigating Rejection 00:12:02 Modern day Japanese authors Ichiro Kishimi and Fumitaki Koga wrote a book called The Courage to Be Disliked.00:17:40 Have Faith In Yourself 00:22:00 Let's wrap up today's episode with The Takeaways.http://bit.ly/GeniusHollins• Copernicus’s and Galileo’s genius traits included intellectual honesty and non-conventionality.• Copernicus was an astronomer who has been credited as being the first to put forward the idea of heliocentrism. It was Galileo who popularized and expanded these ideas after Copernicus’s death, but Galileo also had many other accomplishments, including the invention of a telescope and the discovery of many great ideas in astronomy and mathematics. • Galileo’s ideas directly challenged the predominant religious worldview at the time, earning him scorn and even resulting in him being tried and convicted of heresy. He was forced to retract his statements under penalty of death.• Galileo may have submitted to the church’s persecution, but his ideas were revived by other scientists in non-Catholic countries, until eventually the heliocentric model was taken as fact by the end of the 18th century.• Both Galileo and Copernicus possessed an uncommon originality and independence of thought, and pursued facts and evidence despite resistance from others. They both achieved what they did because they were intellectually honest and wiling to pursue what they knew was right.• We can follow in this spirit by understanding that sometimes success comes with a willingness to be disliked. If we can relinquish ideas of a deterministic fate, own our actions and our agency, and foster self-esteem for who we are, then we are less susceptible to the judgments and criticisms of others. • To be independent thinkers, we need to lower the value we give to social approval and increase the value we place on our own vision.• To cultivate courage in ourselves, we can regularly check in with our own values and principles, and align with them always. Many geniuses are powered by an unflinching commitment to their own path. What is yours? #Adlerian #Copernican #Copernicus #Determinism #Fumitake #FumitakeKoga #Galilean #Galileo #GalileoGalilei #HeavenlyBodies #Ichiro #IchiroKishimi #IsaacNewton #JohannesKepler #Kishimi #Koga #NicolausCopernicus #PopeJohnPaulII #PopePaulIII #Ptolemaic #RussellNewton #NewtonMG #PeterHollins #TheScienceofSelf #ThinkLikeaGenius

Easily listen to The Science of Self in your podcast app of choice at https://bit.ly/ScienceOfSelfPodcastHear it Here - http://bit.ly/DecisionMakingHollins• We are always battling our laziness in all aspects of life. With decisions, implementing a simple checklist of sorts can help.• First, travel into the future with the 10/10/10 rule. This implores you to consider three different timelines in the future and how you’ll feel about your decisions at those three points—that is, ten minutes, ten days, and ten months from now. Ideally, you want all three timelines to be positive; if not, can you live with the informed decision that one timeline might be negative or detrimental? This technique will help you play out decisions in your mind, rather than focusing only on immediate results. • Another mental check-in is to examine whether or not your options are in line with your worldview, and this is accomplished by asking a series of questions that both alleviate you of your blind spots and make clear the reasons you have for engaging in certain actions. There are few absolute, objectively good choices—rather, the right choice is the right choice for us, relative to our values and goals. • Setting your own arbitrary boundaries can help with decisions because they narrow your options. This gives shape and structure to your decision-making process. You can set limits and use deal breakers or requirements—they all work to clarify your intentions and work more quickly.• Look beyond pros and cons. Making pro and con lists is usually inaccurate and too subjective, since there’s no way to weigh up each item, and we may be unconsciously biased one way or another. • Are you satisficing or unknowingly trying to maximize every decision you make? Ninety-nine percent of daily decisions don’t require maximization and suffer greatly from the law of diminishing returns. Satisficing, a combination of satisfaction and sufficing, is the key.#HerbertSimon #Maximization #Pareto #Satisficing #StrategicDecisionMaking #RussellNewton #NewtonMG #PeterHollins #TheScienceofSelf #TheArtofStrategicDecisionMaking

Easily listen to The Science of Self in your podcast app of choice at https://bit.ly/ScienceOfSelfPodcast00:01:11 In 2018, Daniel Pink released a book entitled Drive.00:03:45 If I ask you to sum up your life with one sentence only, would you be able to do it?00:08:19 How to Ignite Your Intrinsic Motivation to Reach Your Passion 00:09:09 The Clear Path 00:09:50 Todd Henry, author of The Accidental Creative and Louder Than Words00:18:57 That is from Peter Holland's book The Lifelong Learner.Hear it Here - https://adbl.co/3KWyCB0If I asked you to sum up your life with one sentence only, would you be able to do it?#AmauryGuichon #Compassion #CompassionateAnger #ConstructivePassion #CreativePassion #DanielPink #Guichon #IntrinsicMotivation #KarenPutz #ToddHenry #RussellNewton #NewtonMG #PeterHollins #TheScienceofSelf

Easily listen to The Science of Self in your podcast app of choice at https://bit.ly/ScienceOfSelfPodcast00:01:22 Let's begin with Nikola Tesla00:03:10 Both Tesla and Edison shared a passion for lateral thinking00:04:28 Enter young Serbian scientist Nikola Tesla00:10:41 If Tesla can teach us the power of switching tasks and taking breaks, what can Edison teach us?00:11:08 Edison might have lacked in humility and intellectual honesty00:12:53 Alex Osborne, a thinker considered the father of brainstorminghttp://bit.ly/GeniusHollins• Edison’s genius traits included diverse interests, non-conventional thinking, hard work and self-discipline.• Tesla’s genius traits included curiosity, non-conventional thinking, and intellectual honesty.• Edison and Tesla were two inventors engaged in the so-called current wars of the late 1800s. Tesla was an employee of Edison’s, but became his rival when he took new ideas to a competitor, George Westinghouse, and found success there. While Edison had dominated the market with his DC-powered systems, eventually the war was won by Tesla and the new AC electricity. • Edison was a prolific and productive inventor who also manufactured and marketed his products across the country. His approach was to make gradual improvements to things that already existed, and he eventually amassed over 1000 patents to his name.• Tesla’s approach was slightly different, in that he was less prolific but more innovative, and able to seize the AC technology wave where Edison could not. Tesla was said to have had his greatest insights away from work, when he was relaxing or out walking.• Both men were enormously successful individuals, and both possessed many genius traits, including determination, self-discipline, and the willingness to pursue their own interest even when it bucked conventions. Both men were also willing to keep pushing and challenging themselves to be better, rather than settling for mediocrity.• We can cultivate both Edison’s and Tesla’s approaches into our own lives: firstly we can make sure we have a wide range of interests to switch between, and take regular breaks to refresh our minds and change our perspectives. Secondly, we can use the SCAMPER technique to manipulate our subject and arrive at new ideas and solutions step by step.• SCAMPER stands for substitute, combine, adapt, magnify or modify, put to other use, eliminate, and rearrange or reverse.#RussellNewton #NewtonMG #NikolaTesla #Tesla #ThomasEdison #Edison #SCAMPER #substitute #combine #adapt #magnify #modify #puttootheruse #eliminateand #rearrange #reverse #PeterHollins #TheScienceofSelf

Easily listen to The Science of Self in your podcast app of choice at https://bit.ly/ScienceOfSelfPodcast00:01:16 The Wrap Methodology00:11:36 The 3 P Technique 00:18:44 The ICE Scoring Model Hear it Here - http://bit.ly/DecisionMakingHollins• The WRAP method was devised to specifically address blind spots. WRAP stands for widen your options, reality-test, attain distance, and prepare to be wrong. As you can see, these are not typical ways to approach a decision, though they can serve you well because they represent what is likelier to happen in the real world.• The 3P technique was created by poker player Annie Duke. It consists of preferences, payoffs and probabilities. Preferences refer to your goals and what you’re actually hoping to achieve, payoffs are the potential benefits of different outcomes, and probabilities speaks to the confidence you have in certain predictions of the future. It’s these informed predictions that allow us to make good decisions. • The ICE scoring model also rests on considering three key components of any decision. The first is impact (the potential for you a choice, idea, action, or decision to serve your main life goals), the second is confidence (how sure you are that this outcome will follow your action, bearing in mind that luck and chance play a role), and ease (how easy it is to make the particular decision). A subjectively good decision is one in which has a high probability of having a high impact on your goals, whilst being easy to achieve. The bad decision is the opposite.• There is overlap between ICE and 3P, and both have limitations, i.e. they depend on our accurate assessment of the three aspects! #AnnieDuke #ConfirmationBias #GrowthHackers #SeanEllis #ICEScoringModel #StrategicDecisionMaking #WRAP #RussellNewton #NewtonMG #PeterHollins #TheScienceofSelf #TheArtofStrategicDecisionMaking