(More things my brain finds fascinating about the brain)

1. Brain Fact 1
2. Brain Fact 2
3. Brain Fact 3
4. Less scary Life
5. Insight into people

It’s a Thief

The brain is only 2% of our body weight but uses 20% of our energy

• National Institute of Health (.gov)

Umm, excuse me what?

To Infinity and Beyond

It has theoretical infinite storage capacity

Technically, according to my 5 minute Reddit research, some scientists believe there could be a theoretical limit given the density of neural connections in our brain and the physical constrictions of our skulls… it’s basically infinity.

I first heard this statistic years ago and was flabergasted. Infinite? You can just keep shoving shit in there like Mary Poppins bag and it’ll retain it. You can go deeper and deeper, learning more and more. The only restraint seems like reflection and sleep. With both of those, our learning can be essentially infinite.

Storing Capacity

‘Neanderthals were bigger and stronger but we outperformed them by storytelling and working together’

• My friend who read Sapiens

It’s fascinating to me that our ability to work together not only has a competitive advantage, but quite literally integral to our survival. The way we outperformed Neanderthals was by working together. Pretty sure none of that changed. I find we still do best when taking individual specializations and then putting us all in a room to solve some problem. That diversity and friction in though creates super unique outcomes.

Vocalize the Feeling

“It looks like you’re afraid” – Labelling deregulates the amygdala

Labelling, ie “It seems like…” or “It sounds like…”. By labeling an emotion, we can decrease how much our brains react. Thanks to perhaps my favorite book of all time, Never Split the Difference by FBI Hostage Negotiator Chris Voss, the second phrase uses Labeling and literally deregulates the fear response in the brain. By vocalizing feelings we can decrease the severity of the feelings.
“It seems like you’re angry”
“It looks like you’re terrified”
“It feels like you’re sad”

I’ve found this tremendously useful in negotiations. The amygdala is a part of the brain that deals with fear and regulating emotions. The brain doesn’t understand feelings all the time… by verbalizing the actual emotion (or someone else’s), amygdala deregulates… ie the brain phsyically calms itself down once it understands itself. Wtf brain.

“Oh, people, gross”

“Teach others how to treat you”

I’m pretty sure we’re all at bit dumb… just a bit (trust me, I know). Everyone comes with their own sets of problems and preloaded with their own biases and their own baggage. Friends, parents romantic relationships – It seems the more we understand self, the better we can interact with others.