How to take full advantage of your mind
With the teachings from Daniel Levitin’s “The Organized Mind”
Our brain is not perfect. That’s painfully apparent every (damn) time you forget something. But, if we can just learn how it’s wired, perhaps we can use it better.
Remember learning the laws of physics? If you’re anything like me, you learned the hard way. Perhaps you‘ve experienced some derivation of throwing a ball in the air and not realizing it might come down directly on top of your head and give you a bad headache for the next week. Or thinking its a good idea to pedal furiously hoping to catch some air off of a speed bump.
But once we “get it,” we stop making such painful mistakes.
Given that our brain is the central thoroughfare for all thoughts, actions and sense of being, wouldn’t it make sense that we should fully grasp the way that works too?
Daniel Levitin’s “The Organized Mind” is a great way to get up to speed on what our brain has to offer. It is an expansive exploration of the human condition in the modern age, infused with teachings from cognitive psychology to philosophy. Mainly, it is about the great potential and shortcomings of the human mind.
Take the time to soak in the seven takeaways below, and you’ll be operating at peak performance in no time. No more cognitive speed bumps.
Takeaway #1: Your memory is less than stellar
The most prominent recurring theme in the book is that human memory is fallible. Our conscious attention informs what we remember, and since that attention has its limits, so does our ability to remember. Levitin proposes a strategy of externalizing our memory to the physical world — taking the burden out of our heads and into our environment. Write it down! Use notecards and sticky notes.
At the end of the day, memories are fiction. They can be edited upon recall due to your environment at the time and your preconceived biases. Why, then, do we rely so heavily on eyewitness testimony?
Takeaway #2: New information latches on to old information
Our brains are organization machines and are great at relating new information to previously learned information. So, in order to commit new information to memory, we must relate it to previously learned information. The mind is a large, interconnected network of categories. We inherently associate new information with already learned information.
Takeaway #3: Daydreaming isn’t so bad
The “default” state of mind is the “daydreaming mode,” during which thoughts come and go freely. The opposite of this mode is the central executive mode, during which we have a distinct focus on a specific task.
In order to be successful, we must spend plenty of time in our default mode. This is when breakthroughs happen — do you ever wonder why so many great ideas come to you in the shower or when you’re just taking a break? Our ability to complete tasks that require intense focus sharply declines as we spend more time in the central executive mode.
Creativity is achieved when you are calm and in a place where few distractions are present. It is helpful to be in a place that is familiar, so you don’t have to deal with new stimuli.
Takeaway #4: We blame people, not the situation
If someone drifts into your lane, what do you call them? The correct answer, or the one that comes to mind instinctually, is “asshole.” Us humans are very quick to judge one another based on perceived character, rather than situational facts. This is referred to as “fundamental attribution error.”
Sure, the guy that drifted into your lane may be an asshole, but it’s also highly likely that he was simply distracted for a moment. Or he’s running on fumes since he was consoling a crying baby all night. Point is, it’s more likely than not the wrong conclusion to say he’s an asshole.
Takeaway #5: Negativity rules
Negative information is more impactful than positive information. Failure is crushing, but success is relatively neutral. Generally, we are very risk averse. The most successful people, however, embrace failure as an opportunity to get better.
Takeaway #6: Sleep is good
Sleep is incredibly important. “A night of sleep more than doubles the likelihood that you’ll solve a problem requiring insight.” The best sleep is consistent sleep. Try to fall asleep and wake up around the same time. Naps are important — they recharge worn-out neural circuits. About 5–10 minutes of napping can be enough. More than that, however, causes sleep inertia.
Takeaway #7: We weren’t built for empathy
In-group/out-group bias is real. Whether you consider yourself an empathetic person or not, you have a sub-conscious inclination to be skeptical of those who speak, look or act differently than you. It’s very difficult to truly get into other people’s shoes. Not everyone is your size.
We tend to think of “others” as misinformed, out of touch and unable to relate to us. This is merely a biological condition, not necessarily governed by facts. “We wrongly believe that the people we don’t know are less complex and diverse,” says Levitin.
Tidbits
Here are some other interesting snippets from Levitin’s book:
- The optimal amount of time to spend on a difficult task is ~50 minutes. This allows enough time for you to settle into the task, but is the limit of your attention.
- It takes one day per time zone to adjust your sleeping pattern.
- Being agreeable is an important trait — one that makes you more likable.
- Switching attention comes with a cost. Cognitive loss from multitasking is worse than that from smoking weed.
- Parts of the brain are not always awake. In order to make sure we are at the optimal state, we need to incorporate mindfulness.
- The rejection of new technology and ideas is innate.
Further questions
- What tools/items do I use every day and what locations do I always go to? (Use the answer to help you remember stuff)
- Do we truly remember everything, but just have trouble with recall?
- Can you download information into the brain? Would you want to?
- What role does our evolutionary history play in our current mindset?
