Brain's Virtual Reality Enables Progress Beyond Objective Truth

Key Quotes

"I learned very early in my business career that the thing that... because I looked back, there was a bunch of us at Awareness Technologies that were given the same spiel. Don't think of yourself as an employee, think of yourself as a partner. If you act like a partner and, you know, achieve certain results, we'll actually make you a partner. And nobody did it. And so I was just like, why am I the only one that's doing this? And I realized that my ability to self-soothe was a huge part of that."

Lewis Howes explains that his early career taught him the importance of self-soothing. He observed that while others were derailed by frustration, his ability to return to a centered state allowed him to maintain focus on his goals. This skill proved crucial in navigating high-pressure situations.

"How do you soothe under chaos? The, the big thing for me was recognizing that I'm having a biological experience. And then I need to understand the brain. Like the brain, not just the mind, which is incredibly important, but the brain. What is the brain doing? How does it hijack me? What is neurochemistry? What triggers it? Like, what are all the things that evolution has sort of primed me to do?"

Lewis Howes emphasizes the need to understand the biological and neurological underpinnings of our experiences, particularly under stress. He suggests that recognizing these processes, rather than just focusing on the mind, is key to managing chaotic situations. This involves understanding how the brain functions and what evolutionary factors influence our reactions.

"And he goes, think about this, your brain is enclosed in a dark box. Light never touches your brain, sound never reaches your brain. And everything you experience is being in the world out there beyond you, is all happening in your brain. It is a virtual reality that your brain creates for you. Even though I don't think we're actually living in a simulation, your brain is creating a simulation of the real world."

Lewis Howes shares an insight from neuroscientist David Eagleman, illustrating that our perception of reality is a construct of the brain. The brain creates a "virtual reality" based on sensory input, rather than directly experiencing the external world. This highlights that our experience is an internal simulation, not a direct representation of objective reality.

"So knowing the, the heuristics that my brain is using, the rules of thumb, the shorthand. It's not true, but it has this massive influence on my life. So something bad happens and you take it on as negative, it makes you feel badly about yourself. And so I just put in all these rules of like, well, that's not objectively true."

Lewis Howes discusses how the brain uses heuristics, or mental shortcuts, which can significantly influence our lives even if they are not objectively true. He notes that interpreting negative events as personal failures can lead to negative self-feelings. To counter this, he adopted a rule to question the objective truth of these automatic interpretations.

"And for me, the north star became utility. What's useful? So once I shifted away from trying to like be objectively true about myself, realizing I'm probably not gonna ever nail that, but I can get to something that's very, very useful. And so then I wrote my, my beliefs down and sort of started thinking about value system and recognizing that brain plasticity is real."

Lewis Howes explains his shift in focus from seeking objective truth to prioritizing utility as his guiding principle. He realized that aiming for perfect objectivity was less attainable than focusing on what is useful and beneficial. This led him to re-evaluate his beliefs and value system, acknowledging the reality of brain plasticity.

"And I love this quote, so great, that you can't make a racehorse out of a pig, but you can make a really fast pig. And I thought, okay, cool. So maybe I'll never be a racehorse, but I can be a really fast pig. And so whenever I'm feeling badly about myself or something knocks me off center, I just come back to that idea of what's useful? How do you move forward?"

Lewis Howes uses the analogy of a "fast pig" to illustrate the concept of maximizing one's potential within inherent limitations. He suggests that even if one cannot achieve the highest possible level (a racehorse), they can still strive to be exceptionally good within their own capabilities. This perspective helps him regain his center when feeling discouraged by focusing on progress and utility.