1 00:00:03,120 --> 00:00:06,000 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind from how Stuff 2 00:00:06,000 --> 00:00:14,600 Speaker 1: Works dot com. Hey, welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind. 3 00:00:14,640 --> 00:00:17,119 Speaker 1: My name is Robert lamp and I'm Julie Ducklas, and 4 00:00:17,440 --> 00:00:20,960 Speaker 1: this week we're talking about memory editing. And if this 5 00:00:21,120 --> 00:00:27,480 Speaker 1: were your average science journalism story, you would inevitably start 6 00:00:27,760 --> 00:00:30,120 Speaker 1: with a reference to Eternal Sunshine of the Spot Spot 7 00:00:30,160 --> 00:00:33,360 Speaker 1: was Mine. You know, have you have you noticed this trend? 8 00:00:33,600 --> 00:00:37,080 Speaker 1: Like any story that relates at all to changing memories 9 00:00:37,159 --> 00:00:39,879 Speaker 1: or racing memories, they will name drop that film in 10 00:00:39,960 --> 00:00:43,120 Speaker 1: the lead. Well, because it was such an intriguing idea 11 00:00:43,400 --> 00:00:47,800 Speaker 1: that you could, uh you could alter or completely remove 12 00:00:47,960 --> 00:00:52,280 Speaker 1: a memory that had been dogging you your entire life. Yeah, 13 00:00:52,360 --> 00:00:54,360 Speaker 1: it's true. But I you know, I feel like there 14 00:00:54,360 --> 00:00:58,480 Speaker 1: have been enough stories about like changing memories and and 15 00:00:58,480 --> 00:01:01,240 Speaker 1: and and what memories actually are, that we don't need 16 00:01:01,280 --> 00:01:04,480 Speaker 1: that film as the reference point anymore for an actual 17 00:01:04,880 --> 00:01:07,360 Speaker 1: story about the science of memory and the science of 18 00:01:07,400 --> 00:01:10,399 Speaker 1: altering memory. I always feel like a little bit insulted. 19 00:01:10,480 --> 00:01:12,640 Speaker 1: You know. It's like someone's like, hey, so if you've 20 00:01:12,640 --> 00:01:15,720 Speaker 1: seen let me tell you about space. You've seen Star Wars, right, Like, 21 00:01:15,760 --> 00:01:17,479 Speaker 1: you don't have to start with Star wars. We live 22 00:01:17,480 --> 00:01:19,959 Speaker 1: in a the world. We're surrounded by space, alright, Alright, 23 00:01:20,040 --> 00:01:22,800 Speaker 1: so I think, and maybe I'm projecting my own feelings 24 00:01:22,840 --> 00:01:25,960 Speaker 1: on here, is that the problem is that the spotless 25 00:01:26,000 --> 00:01:30,920 Speaker 1: mind idea is it's erroneous. And it takes this idea 26 00:01:30,959 --> 00:01:35,319 Speaker 1: that you could like return your mind to some pristine 27 00:01:36,120 --> 00:01:40,959 Speaker 1: platonic state, right where everything is completely new and fresh. 28 00:01:41,040 --> 00:01:43,440 Speaker 1: But that is not the case. Our minds are the 29 00:01:43,440 --> 00:01:46,360 Speaker 1: cages that we have. But it turns out that we 30 00:01:46,480 --> 00:01:50,320 Speaker 1: can actually tame them to a certain degree. We can't erase, 31 00:01:50,440 --> 00:01:53,160 Speaker 1: we can't make them spotless, but we can make them 32 00:01:53,200 --> 00:01:55,960 Speaker 1: a little bit more manageable. The problem is just just 33 00:01:56,000 --> 00:01:59,520 Speaker 1: this inherent misunderstanding of what memory is in the first place. 34 00:02:00,080 --> 00:02:02,760 Speaker 1: And I was looking at this survey that was published 35 00:02:02,760 --> 00:02:05,720 Speaker 1: in two thousand eleven by PLS so one found that 36 00:02:05,800 --> 00:02:08,640 Speaker 1: almost two thirds of Americans believe that memory works like 37 00:02:08,720 --> 00:02:12,560 Speaker 1: a video camera and that it's like we're recording events 38 00:02:13,080 --> 00:02:16,880 Speaker 1: so we can review them later. Yeah, it's not so 39 00:02:16,919 --> 00:02:19,079 Speaker 1: at all. And we've we've discussed the science of memory 40 00:02:19,400 --> 00:02:21,560 Speaker 1: um a good bit in previous episodes. Off to make 41 00:02:21,560 --> 00:02:23,359 Speaker 1: sure I throw some of those back up on the 42 00:02:23,720 --> 00:02:26,320 Speaker 1: website and on the social media pages around the time 43 00:02:26,360 --> 00:02:30,760 Speaker 1: this episode publishes. But indeed, we've talked before about the 44 00:02:31,480 --> 00:02:35,320 Speaker 1: seven Sins of memory. Uh. These of course were brought 45 00:02:35,360 --> 00:02:38,000 Speaker 1: to mind by Daniel Shackter, the former chair of Harvard 46 00:02:38,080 --> 00:02:41,320 Speaker 1: University Psychology Psychology Department and author of the book The 47 00:02:41,320 --> 00:02:45,000 Speaker 1: Seven Sins of Memories Cohen How the Mind forgets and remembers, 48 00:02:45,160 --> 00:02:48,520 Speaker 1: and he mentions, uh, these seven just seven ways that 49 00:02:48,919 --> 00:02:53,799 Speaker 1: all our memories are uh untrustworthy at the very least. 50 00:02:54,120 --> 00:02:57,160 Speaker 1: For instance, there's transience, So that's the weakening or loss 51 00:02:57,200 --> 00:03:00,280 Speaker 1: of memory over time. What you have for lunch eight 52 00:03:00,360 --> 00:03:05,480 Speaker 1: years ago today, the side of sweet potatoes there human 53 00:03:06,720 --> 00:03:08,880 Speaker 1: sprinkling on top. Okay, well that was a really good 54 00:03:08,880 --> 00:03:11,240 Speaker 1: sandwich apparently, so that was stuck with you. But for 55 00:03:11,240 --> 00:03:14,280 Speaker 1: the most part, these memories just fade over time. It's 56 00:03:14,280 --> 00:03:17,240 Speaker 1: just how it works. And then there's absent mindedness. Uh 57 00:03:17,440 --> 00:03:20,040 Speaker 1: so this involves attention in memory. We're just not paying 58 00:03:20,080 --> 00:03:21,920 Speaker 1: attention to what's going on around it, so we're not 59 00:03:21,919 --> 00:03:25,400 Speaker 1: getting all the data. There's blocking, that's the failed attempt 60 00:03:25,400 --> 00:03:28,480 Speaker 1: to recall tidbits of memory a face, a name, Etceterates 61 00:03:28,520 --> 00:03:30,200 Speaker 1: on the tip of my tongue. But I can't remember 62 00:03:30,200 --> 00:03:33,480 Speaker 1: what it is. Uh. There's misattribution. This is when we 63 00:03:33,520 --> 00:03:37,320 Speaker 1: recall an authentic memory, but then aspects of it are misattributed. 64 00:03:37,360 --> 00:03:40,240 Speaker 1: And this includes scenarios such as incorrect incorrect time or 65 00:03:40,240 --> 00:03:45,040 Speaker 1: place identity, misattribution, or confusion over the originator of an idea. 66 00:03:45,080 --> 00:03:48,000 Speaker 1: We've all had those conversations where you're telling a story 67 00:03:48,560 --> 00:03:50,640 Speaker 1: about something that you think happened to you and it 68 00:03:50,680 --> 00:03:52,960 Speaker 1: turns out it's happening to the person you you're you're 69 00:03:52,960 --> 00:03:56,680 Speaker 1: speaking to, or you have some very pivotal detail of 70 00:03:56,680 --> 00:03:59,160 Speaker 1: the story completely backwards, like oh, that trip that wasn't 71 00:03:59,160 --> 00:04:00,640 Speaker 1: a trip I took with this person, was a trip 72 00:04:00,680 --> 00:04:03,240 Speaker 1: I took with this person. It wasn't this past girlfriend, 73 00:04:03,280 --> 00:04:05,000 Speaker 1: it was this past girlfriend, or you know, whatever the 74 00:04:05,000 --> 00:04:10,119 Speaker 1: scenario might be. And then there's suggestibility. Our minds are 75 00:04:10,160 --> 00:04:14,920 Speaker 1: and our memories entirely susceptible yes to to suggestions. So 76 00:04:16,640 --> 00:04:18,880 Speaker 1: you were to say it enough times, I might either 77 00:04:18,920 --> 00:04:22,520 Speaker 1: actually get a astronomy sandwich for lunch or falsely remember 78 00:04:22,560 --> 00:04:26,080 Speaker 1: that I had one. There's bias, uh, and that you 79 00:04:26,120 --> 00:04:30,159 Speaker 1: see this all the time in people's memories of crimes. 80 00:04:30,400 --> 00:04:34,440 Speaker 1: If they have a particular bias in mind regarding uh uh, say, 81 00:04:34,560 --> 00:04:37,960 Speaker 1: the racial profiling of suspects, then that's going to have 82 00:04:38,040 --> 00:04:41,280 Speaker 1: an influence on how they remember the crime that occurred. 83 00:04:41,839 --> 00:04:44,719 Speaker 1: And then there's persistence, and that's the unwanted recall of 84 00:04:44,760 --> 00:04:47,800 Speaker 1: information that's disturbing and that actually ties in a lot 85 00:04:47,839 --> 00:04:49,920 Speaker 1: with what we're gonna talk about in this episode. So 86 00:04:50,360 --> 00:04:53,480 Speaker 1: there are all these ways that our memory is pretty 87 00:04:53,520 --> 00:04:56,400 Speaker 1: much jack from the get go. And to your your point, 88 00:04:56,520 --> 00:04:59,240 Speaker 1: so many people think it's just all a bunch of 89 00:04:59,320 --> 00:05:02,960 Speaker 1: video information and stored in her head, which which couldn't 90 00:05:03,000 --> 00:05:07,040 Speaker 1: be further from the truth. Yeah, there's that great cognitive 91 00:05:07,680 --> 00:05:10,960 Speaker 1: psychology experiment that was done by Daniel Simon's and Christopher 92 00:05:11,080 --> 00:05:14,760 Speaker 1: Chebery's that showed how selective attention works. You probably heard 93 00:05:14,760 --> 00:05:19,080 Speaker 1: about this. There's a video of people with white shirt 94 00:05:19,160 --> 00:05:21,599 Speaker 1: song and a video of people with black shirt song 95 00:05:21,720 --> 00:05:23,920 Speaker 1: and they were playing I think basketball or something like. Yeah, 96 00:05:23,920 --> 00:05:26,160 Speaker 1: I watched it, but I really wasn't paying that much attention. Okay, 97 00:05:26,240 --> 00:05:28,800 Speaker 1: well then you if you were, if you were doing 98 00:05:28,800 --> 00:05:31,960 Speaker 1: it as as they instructed, you were probably looking at 99 00:05:32,240 --> 00:05:34,680 Speaker 1: the white shirted team, right. You were told to really 100 00:05:34,920 --> 00:05:37,760 Speaker 1: figure out how many passes were made between the members 101 00:05:37,760 --> 00:05:42,320 Speaker 1: of this white shirted team and you probably, as participants did, 102 00:05:42,600 --> 00:05:46,359 Speaker 1: did not notice the gorilla walking through the clutch of 103 00:05:46,440 --> 00:05:49,640 Speaker 1: white shirted and black short players. So this is a 104 00:05:49,640 --> 00:05:54,120 Speaker 1: good example of attention and selective attention and memory. Yeah, 105 00:05:54,160 --> 00:05:57,240 Speaker 1: there are a number of these type of pranks that 106 00:05:57,279 --> 00:05:59,320 Speaker 1: you see carried out and that you can find them 107 00:05:59,320 --> 00:06:02,080 Speaker 1: on YouTube once where they'll take say an individual will 108 00:06:02,120 --> 00:06:04,480 Speaker 1: be sort of in the background for a person and 109 00:06:04,560 --> 00:06:06,760 Speaker 1: then they'll like switch out the person playing that part 110 00:06:07,160 --> 00:06:09,360 Speaker 1: to see if they notice. And it's it's phenomenal how 111 00:06:09,400 --> 00:06:12,799 Speaker 1: how often people do not notice. Um. There's a British 112 00:06:12,839 --> 00:06:15,880 Speaker 1: television series called The Black Mirror, which we've mentioned before, 113 00:06:15,880 --> 00:06:18,800 Speaker 1: and there's an episode titled The Entire History of You, 114 00:06:19,720 --> 00:06:23,880 Speaker 1: and in this near future sci fi vision of reality, 115 00:06:24,320 --> 00:06:28,720 Speaker 1: most people have this little electronic device called a grain 116 00:06:28,880 --> 00:06:34,839 Speaker 1: implanted uh in their brain and it basically collects constant 117 00:06:34,920 --> 00:06:37,800 Speaker 1: video of their life and then you can go back 118 00:06:37,800 --> 00:06:41,400 Speaker 1: and replay the video, which of course ends up having 119 00:06:41,400 --> 00:06:45,560 Speaker 1: disastrous um consequences for the characters in this particular episode. 120 00:06:45,720 --> 00:06:48,479 Speaker 1: But it's it's very interesting that model because they they 121 00:06:48,600 --> 00:06:53,120 Speaker 1: in this episode they create a sci fi technological version 122 00:06:53,200 --> 00:06:55,919 Speaker 1: of memory that is in keeping with the with the 123 00:06:55,960 --> 00:06:59,159 Speaker 1: way most people think memory is right, and in fact 124 00:06:59,240 --> 00:07:02,279 Speaker 1: it's not. As you said, there are seven sins of memory. 125 00:07:02,800 --> 00:07:04,359 Speaker 1: And really, if you think about it, we are the 126 00:07:04,400 --> 00:07:09,039 Speaker 1: magicians of memory because we have misdirection and misp misperception, 127 00:07:09,640 --> 00:07:11,880 Speaker 1: and then we try to piece together this pattern that 128 00:07:11,960 --> 00:07:15,040 Speaker 1: makes sense to us, and boom, you have this manufactured 129 00:07:15,120 --> 00:07:18,920 Speaker 1: reality that comes out on a plate for you. Um. 130 00:07:18,960 --> 00:07:21,920 Speaker 1: And the thing is is that we continue to take 131 00:07:22,000 --> 00:07:25,200 Speaker 1: this memory out and look at it all the time. 132 00:07:25,640 --> 00:07:28,560 Speaker 1: In fact, every time you take out a memory, you 133 00:07:28,640 --> 00:07:31,480 Speaker 1: change it a bit. Yes, yeah, I've we mentioned before 134 00:07:31,560 --> 00:07:34,560 Speaker 1: that don't think of your memory as a little stone 135 00:07:34,640 --> 00:07:37,400 Speaker 1: sculpture that you keep in a drawer. It's a sculpture 136 00:07:37,440 --> 00:07:39,880 Speaker 1: made out of clay. Every time you take it out, 137 00:07:40,080 --> 00:07:42,600 Speaker 1: you're jabbing it, you're changing it. You're bringing new information, 138 00:07:42,640 --> 00:07:45,559 Speaker 1: new interpretation into that memory. And then you put it back. 139 00:07:46,000 --> 00:07:48,160 Speaker 1: And so so every time you draw it out, you're 140 00:07:48,520 --> 00:07:52,000 Speaker 1: you're changing, you're getting it a little bit further removed 141 00:07:52,000 --> 00:07:55,240 Speaker 1: from the actual reality. And here's the thing. These memories 142 00:07:55,560 --> 00:07:58,360 Speaker 1: are the foundation of the story of who you are, right, 143 00:07:58,960 --> 00:08:02,239 Speaker 1: and so this is where emotional health and something called 144 00:08:02,360 --> 00:08:05,800 Speaker 1: story editing comes in because there's this idea that you 145 00:08:05,840 --> 00:08:10,320 Speaker 1: can change your memory and maybe even alter your future. 146 00:08:10,920 --> 00:08:13,760 Speaker 1: And we'll get more into that, but before we do, 147 00:08:14,200 --> 00:08:16,400 Speaker 1: I want to discuss a little bit about why we 148 00:08:16,480 --> 00:08:18,160 Speaker 1: take these memories out in the first place and sort 149 00:08:18,160 --> 00:08:20,080 Speaker 1: of obsess over them. And in order to do that, 150 00:08:20,120 --> 00:08:23,160 Speaker 1: you gotta go to Papa Freud. Yeah, and it's great because, 151 00:08:23,160 --> 00:08:26,720 Speaker 1: in classic Freud's style, he goes right to your childhood, right, 152 00:08:26,840 --> 00:08:30,320 Speaker 1: oh yeah, yeah. In fact, um, in beyond the pleasure principle, 153 00:08:30,440 --> 00:08:34,960 Speaker 1: Freud actually documents his grandson's particular habit of taking his 154 00:08:35,040 --> 00:08:38,000 Speaker 1: toys and hiding them or throwing them away. And when 155 00:08:38,000 --> 00:08:41,560 Speaker 1: he does that, um, his grandson says forth, meaning gone. 156 00:08:41,960 --> 00:08:45,079 Speaker 1: And then he watches his grandson um taking them back 157 00:08:45,120 --> 00:08:49,240 Speaker 1: and saying, dah, they're here. So, in this one particular 158 00:08:49,240 --> 00:08:53,199 Speaker 1: instance and beyond the pleasure principle, his grandson has like 159 00:08:53,760 --> 00:08:55,559 Speaker 1: I think, it's just like a real with a string 160 00:08:55,600 --> 00:08:58,600 Speaker 1: tied to it, and he's in his crib and over 161 00:08:58,640 --> 00:09:01,520 Speaker 1: and over again he does the dog game. He throws 162 00:09:01,640 --> 00:09:03,760 Speaker 1: that spool away and then he reels it back in. 163 00:09:03,960 --> 00:09:07,480 Speaker 1: And so what Freud says is that the kid is 164 00:09:07,520 --> 00:09:12,880 Speaker 1: actually um marking a cultural achievement here because the kid 165 00:09:13,040 --> 00:09:15,320 Speaker 1: is equating this and just stay with me on this, 166 00:09:16,080 --> 00:09:19,760 Speaker 1: uh that this fort doab has gone and back with 167 00:09:20,000 --> 00:09:23,960 Speaker 1: his mom and his mom leaving him but coming back 168 00:09:24,000 --> 00:09:26,760 Speaker 1: and saying that he's getting far more pleasure from the 169 00:09:26,920 --> 00:09:30,960 Speaker 1: daw part the coming back part, and so he's mastering 170 00:09:31,080 --> 00:09:36,240 Speaker 1: control over his emotions at his mother sometimes disappearing or 171 00:09:36,280 --> 00:09:39,079 Speaker 1: having to leave the room. And this idea that that 172 00:09:39,200 --> 00:09:42,920 Speaker 1: you know, your your main caregiver might not come back 173 00:09:43,120 --> 00:09:47,760 Speaker 1: or come back, that's that's pretty fascinating uh interpretation, and 174 00:09:48,280 --> 00:09:52,480 Speaker 1: especially since the father of a nearly two year old 175 00:09:52,480 --> 00:09:55,560 Speaker 1: who's really into that the whole casting of objects and 176 00:09:55,559 --> 00:09:58,320 Speaker 1: then also playing hide and go seek with like a 177 00:09:58,360 --> 00:10:00,520 Speaker 1: stuffed cat and that we have in the house. It 178 00:10:01,000 --> 00:10:03,120 Speaker 1: really loves to be who go, Where's where's fat cat? 179 00:10:03,120 --> 00:10:05,120 Speaker 1: Where's fat cat go? Oh? Well, fat cats under the 180 00:10:05,160 --> 00:10:08,960 Speaker 1: slide and then it's you know, tremendously um entertaining to 181 00:10:09,040 --> 00:10:12,240 Speaker 1: him defined the cat that was barely hidden. Yeah, So 182 00:10:12,280 --> 00:10:15,400 Speaker 1: this is a huge lesson for humans that life is ephemeral. 183 00:10:16,000 --> 00:10:19,160 Speaker 1: Things come, things go, people come, and people go, And 184 00:10:19,760 --> 00:10:24,120 Speaker 1: this really ties into the idea of repetition compulsion and mastery, 185 00:10:24,160 --> 00:10:27,360 Speaker 1: and maybe, just maybe that's why we continue to take out, 186 00:10:27,960 --> 00:10:32,440 Speaker 1: in particular traumatic memories bother some memories, and we look 187 00:10:32,480 --> 00:10:35,920 Speaker 1: at them and examine them over and over again, each 188 00:10:35,920 --> 00:10:40,760 Speaker 1: time hoping to get a better understanding. But the problem 189 00:10:41,000 --> 00:10:46,199 Speaker 1: is that, especially according to Freud, those memories are unconscious. 190 00:10:46,280 --> 00:10:49,440 Speaker 1: They are buried and they are hidden, and so you 191 00:10:49,559 --> 00:10:52,320 Speaker 1: just kind of get these little crumbs of your unconscious. 192 00:10:52,760 --> 00:10:56,679 Speaker 1: But then you have someone by the name of Timothy D. Wilson, 193 00:10:57,080 --> 00:11:00,240 Speaker 1: this is a University of Virginia psychologists, who says this 194 00:11:00,400 --> 00:11:03,679 Speaker 1: unconscious or unconscious as he calls it, is off limits 195 00:11:03,720 --> 00:11:07,319 Speaker 1: to us. So it's really only through conscious thoughts that 196 00:11:07,360 --> 00:11:13,040 Speaker 1: we can change the mechanisms of the unconscious world for us. Mm. 197 00:11:13,120 --> 00:11:16,120 Speaker 1: So he has this idea of, for instance, if you 198 00:11:16,240 --> 00:11:20,160 Speaker 1: establish regular acts of kindness, that you could tease out 199 00:11:20,200 --> 00:11:26,720 Speaker 1: progressive changes in behavior as determined by your unconscious. So 200 00:11:26,800 --> 00:11:31,280 Speaker 1: now we're talking about changing your behavior through your story 201 00:11:31,440 --> 00:11:35,679 Speaker 1: of yourself. Yes, yes, yeah, And this is what this 202 00:11:35,720 --> 00:11:38,360 Speaker 1: is where everything really gets interesting here, because essentially we 203 00:11:38,400 --> 00:11:41,600 Speaker 1: are getting into that eternal sunshine of the spotless mind territory. 204 00:11:41,679 --> 00:11:45,240 Speaker 1: But instead of changing your memories through the use of 205 00:11:45,320 --> 00:11:48,319 Speaker 1: lasers or or a little bit of a little tiny 206 00:11:48,360 --> 00:11:51,559 Speaker 1: electronic device that goes in your brain as in Black Mirror. 207 00:11:52,120 --> 00:11:54,120 Speaker 1: It's about thinking about it is that I'm using your 208 00:11:54,160 --> 00:11:58,920 Speaker 1: actual mental architecture as it exists, your actual mental machinery, uh, 209 00:11:59,000 --> 00:12:01,280 Speaker 1: that you have in your head, and using it to 210 00:12:01,520 --> 00:12:05,160 Speaker 1: alter memory, using the weakness of memory as a strength. 211 00:12:05,200 --> 00:12:08,720 Speaker 1: Really yeah, and it's really effective, as we will discuss UM. 212 00:12:08,760 --> 00:12:12,119 Speaker 1: Wilson in his two thousand eleven book Redirect, The Surprising 213 00:12:12,160 --> 00:12:15,280 Speaker 1: New Science of Psychological Change, looks at why programs like 214 00:12:15,360 --> 00:12:19,400 Speaker 1: Scared Straight, you know, the taking the at risk youth 215 00:12:19,480 --> 00:12:22,320 Speaker 1: to prisons and trying to scare them straight, why those 216 00:12:22,320 --> 00:12:26,079 Speaker 1: sort of programs fail, and why story editing just having 217 00:12:26,080 --> 00:12:29,880 Speaker 1: those kids change their story, their narrative maybe a far 218 00:12:30,000 --> 00:12:33,360 Speaker 1: more effective strategy. Yeah. Yeah, I've been reading a little 219 00:12:33,400 --> 00:12:35,800 Speaker 1: bit about this, uh to it in regards to children, 220 00:12:35,840 --> 00:12:39,280 Speaker 1: like the dangers of labeling um, particularly reading an article 221 00:12:39,360 --> 00:12:42,680 Speaker 1: on biting and about how just the one thing they 222 00:12:42,760 --> 00:12:45,640 Speaker 1: always advises and dealing with biting, which which is a 223 00:12:45,679 --> 00:12:49,720 Speaker 1: pretty common occurrence with with children, especially as their acquiring 224 00:12:49,760 --> 00:12:53,360 Speaker 1: language and learning how to better express themselves, uh than 225 00:12:53,480 --> 00:12:56,160 Speaker 1: by simply you know, fighting into something is that. But 226 00:12:56,200 --> 00:12:58,560 Speaker 1: there's there's always this danger of referring to them as 227 00:12:58,600 --> 00:13:01,040 Speaker 1: a bitter, because then that comes their story and they 228 00:13:01,280 --> 00:13:03,520 Speaker 1: can interpret interpret that, even at a very young age, 229 00:13:03,760 --> 00:13:05,600 Speaker 1: and they say, oh, I'm a buyer, So I bite 230 00:13:05,720 --> 00:13:07,280 Speaker 1: in the same way that one might think, oh, well 231 00:13:07,320 --> 00:13:09,880 Speaker 1: I'm you know, I'm destined to wind up in a 232 00:13:09,960 --> 00:13:12,240 Speaker 1: in a prison, so I guess I will. This is 233 00:13:12,280 --> 00:13:14,000 Speaker 1: the this is what I am. I guess that's what 234 00:13:14,040 --> 00:13:16,440 Speaker 1: I'm going to be. Well, you know that's interesting because 235 00:13:16,840 --> 00:13:19,000 Speaker 1: this is that is exactly at This is this idea 236 00:13:19,040 --> 00:13:20,960 Speaker 1: that you you put this narrative in place and then 237 00:13:21,000 --> 00:13:23,600 Speaker 1: you follow it to the letter and you become it. 238 00:13:24,080 --> 00:13:28,320 Speaker 1: And Wilson first discovered this power of story editing in 239 00:13:28,320 --> 00:13:31,480 Speaker 1: the eighties when he found that struggling students had fallen 240 00:13:31,520 --> 00:13:34,920 Speaker 1: for the same old narrative, I'm bad at school, which 241 00:13:34,960 --> 00:13:38,280 Speaker 1: was driving this sort of self defeating cycle. And he 242 00:13:38,480 --> 00:13:41,400 Speaker 1: gave forties students, these students who were not doing well 243 00:13:41,440 --> 00:13:47,079 Speaker 1: in school a new narrative, which was everyone fails at first. Okay, 244 00:13:47,080 --> 00:13:50,120 Speaker 1: so that recast the whole idea, Wait, what I may 245 00:13:50,160 --> 00:13:52,240 Speaker 1: not be bad at school? Everyone fails at first. This 246 00:13:52,360 --> 00:13:55,840 Speaker 1: is a thing. So suddenly these students are being introduced 247 00:13:55,880 --> 00:13:58,199 Speaker 1: to this new idea. And he had the students read 248 00:13:58,240 --> 00:14:01,440 Speaker 1: accounts from other students had who had struggled with grades 249 00:14:01,559 --> 00:14:04,920 Speaker 1: and then improved. There's also videotape footage of other students 250 00:14:04,920 --> 00:14:08,640 Speaker 1: who relay their tales of eventual academic success. And the 251 00:14:08,720 --> 00:14:12,199 Speaker 1: results were pretty astounding. The students who received the information, 252 00:14:12,240 --> 00:14:16,040 Speaker 1: compared to those who did not A were significantly less 253 00:14:16,080 --> 00:14:18,640 Speaker 1: apt to leave college by the end of their sophomore year. 254 00:14:18,920 --> 00:14:23,080 Speaker 1: Be they had a significantly greater increase in grade point 255 00:14:23,160 --> 00:14:27,120 Speaker 1: average even one year after the study. And see they 256 00:14:27,120 --> 00:14:30,760 Speaker 1: performed significantly better on sample items from the g r 257 00:14:30,800 --> 00:14:34,400 Speaker 1: E or the Graduate Record Exam. And this is all 258 00:14:34,520 --> 00:14:38,040 Speaker 1: from a thirty minute session, one thirty minute session which 259 00:14:38,080 --> 00:14:41,080 Speaker 1: had staying power even one year after. And this just 260 00:14:41,120 --> 00:14:44,080 Speaker 1: shows you how important priming is really. And I was 261 00:14:44,120 --> 00:14:48,360 Speaker 1: thinking about this University Michigan study, and this study they 262 00:14:48,360 --> 00:14:51,240 Speaker 1: had students with the same abilities and perform its splinter 263 00:14:51,280 --> 00:14:54,080 Speaker 1: into two groups. The first was told that men performed 264 00:14:54,120 --> 00:14:57,240 Speaker 1: better than women on math tests. The second was told 265 00:14:57,280 --> 00:14:59,600 Speaker 1: that no matter what they might have heard, there was 266 00:14:59,680 --> 00:15:03,200 Speaker 1: no difference and abilities among the two genders than they 267 00:15:03,200 --> 00:15:05,960 Speaker 1: were given the math test, and in the first group, 268 00:15:06,160 --> 00:15:09,440 Speaker 1: men outscored women by twenty points. In the second group, 269 00:15:09,480 --> 00:15:11,360 Speaker 1: the one that was told no matter what they had heard, 270 00:15:11,960 --> 00:15:15,640 Speaker 1: that the abilities are the same, they were outscored only 271 00:15:15,680 --> 00:15:18,400 Speaker 1: by two points. I mean, that's a huge difference. And 272 00:15:18,440 --> 00:15:23,160 Speaker 1: that's just from that one priming example and indeed stressing 273 00:15:23,200 --> 00:15:26,760 Speaker 1: the point of thinking for yourself and questioning authority, not 274 00:15:26,840 --> 00:15:28,920 Speaker 1: questioning authority in the sense that I'm going to, you know, 275 00:15:29,000 --> 00:15:31,200 Speaker 1: break a law, just because if they were questioning the 276 00:15:31,360 --> 00:15:34,800 Speaker 1: established script that is handed down to us about who 277 00:15:34,840 --> 00:15:37,200 Speaker 1: you are, what you are, what you're capable of achieving. 278 00:15:37,640 --> 00:15:41,040 Speaker 1: And uh, and yeah, there's just something almost endlessly powerful 279 00:15:41,240 --> 00:15:44,080 Speaker 1: about being able to to sort of break free of 280 00:15:44,080 --> 00:15:46,280 Speaker 1: those chains. Yeah. I mean if you think about it, 281 00:15:46,320 --> 00:15:50,480 Speaker 1: like in in Um some of your most um, how 282 00:15:50,520 --> 00:15:54,360 Speaker 1: shows it the delicate situations in life where you were 283 00:15:54,400 --> 00:15:59,040 Speaker 1: really struggling with someone or something, if someone came and 284 00:15:59,120 --> 00:16:04,040 Speaker 1: gave you as script or just even this this idea, 285 00:16:04,200 --> 00:16:09,360 Speaker 1: this other narrative of hey, another perception, how could that 286 00:16:09,440 --> 00:16:13,760 Speaker 1: have changed your life? That's how powerful this is. Now 287 00:16:14,000 --> 00:16:17,120 Speaker 1: another area that this becomes important again you mentioned earlier 288 00:16:17,160 --> 00:16:19,920 Speaker 1: how arguably a lot of the stuff is going on 289 00:16:19,920 --> 00:16:23,600 Speaker 1: into some subconscious level. There's there's say a bad memory, 290 00:16:24,000 --> 00:16:27,800 Speaker 1: scarring memory, traumatic memory, even that is keeps popping up 291 00:16:27,800 --> 00:16:31,880 Speaker 1: again and again, this persistent memory, and it's it's kind 292 00:16:31,880 --> 00:16:34,160 Speaker 1: of like a Rubic's cube, but not a Rubics cube 293 00:16:34,160 --> 00:16:35,840 Speaker 1: that you ever sit down and say, all right, I'm 294 00:16:35,840 --> 00:16:37,800 Speaker 1: gonna sit down and solve this thing. But it's one 295 00:16:37,800 --> 00:16:40,240 Speaker 1: that's just always sitting on your desk or is in 296 00:16:40,280 --> 00:16:42,480 Speaker 1: the drawer that you're always opening, and it's there. It's 297 00:16:42,640 --> 00:16:46,200 Speaker 1: it's it's seemingly unsolvable and uh, and you may tinker 298 00:16:46,240 --> 00:16:47,520 Speaker 1: with it for a minute and then put it back. 299 00:16:47,720 --> 00:16:51,120 Speaker 1: You're right, So your mind is tinkering with it mostly 300 00:16:51,200 --> 00:16:53,640 Speaker 1: the unconscious level, but every once in a while it surfaces. 301 00:16:54,120 --> 00:16:56,040 Speaker 1: Can you become aware of this thing that's bothering you? 302 00:16:56,320 --> 00:16:59,360 Speaker 1: So it just this this persistent um a bit of 303 00:16:59,360 --> 00:17:04,520 Speaker 1: annoyance or or even just nagging depression. Anytime when we 304 00:17:04,520 --> 00:17:06,280 Speaker 1: we cover a topic like this, always think back to 305 00:17:06,600 --> 00:17:11,240 Speaker 1: Alan Robe grulay novel Jealousy, and it's a it's an 306 00:17:11,320 --> 00:17:15,439 Speaker 1: experimental novel. Um. I don't recommend picking up and reading 307 00:17:15,440 --> 00:17:18,159 Speaker 1: it unless you know what you're getting into. Just style 308 00:17:18,200 --> 00:17:20,719 Speaker 1: wise because it's a it's a little unorthodox. But the 309 00:17:20,920 --> 00:17:24,800 Speaker 1: entire novel is this this man who owns a banana plantation, 310 00:17:25,240 --> 00:17:29,600 Speaker 1: and he's looking through Venetian blinds observing his wife and 311 00:17:29,840 --> 00:17:32,960 Speaker 1: trying to figure out if she's having an affair with 312 00:17:33,119 --> 00:17:37,000 Speaker 1: the guy who runs the neighboring banana plantation. And and 313 00:17:37,040 --> 00:17:40,040 Speaker 1: so it's just him poring over what he knows and 314 00:17:40,080 --> 00:17:43,399 Speaker 1: how little he knows, over and over again, uh, and 315 00:17:43,440 --> 00:17:47,679 Speaker 1: occasionally observing a smeared centipede on the wall and trying 316 00:17:47,720 --> 00:17:50,600 Speaker 1: to decide what he should do. And the in spoiler, 317 00:17:50,640 --> 00:17:53,880 Speaker 1: the entire novel passes and he doesn't decide what he's 318 00:17:53,880 --> 00:17:58,200 Speaker 1: gonna do. He's just this just this endless nagging frustration 319 00:17:58,720 --> 00:18:01,320 Speaker 1: over how little he knows and now and and that's 320 00:18:01,400 --> 00:18:03,720 Speaker 1: kind of what happens in these cases. We have limited 321 00:18:03,760 --> 00:18:06,800 Speaker 1: amount of information. It's kind of like the cock Snowflake 322 00:18:06,840 --> 00:18:09,440 Speaker 1: that we talked about Snowflake episode. There's only so much 323 00:18:09,440 --> 00:18:12,119 Speaker 1: information you may know about a given situation, and unless 324 00:18:12,160 --> 00:18:16,560 Speaker 1: you actually were to go outside of that bubble of knowledge, um, 325 00:18:16,800 --> 00:18:20,600 Speaker 1: you're never going to solve it. So so again, these 326 00:18:20,640 --> 00:18:25,440 Speaker 1: these problems, these memories, these uh, they just exist there 327 00:18:25,440 --> 00:18:29,160 Speaker 1: in the in the peripheries, and and it's only through 328 00:18:29,240 --> 00:18:32,119 Speaker 1: actually tackling them that we can alter them into a 329 00:18:32,160 --> 00:18:36,080 Speaker 1: shape that fits in and kind of vanishes into the background. Okay, 330 00:18:36,200 --> 00:18:38,200 Speaker 1: we're gonna take a quick break, and when we get back, 331 00:18:38,280 --> 00:18:40,680 Speaker 1: we're going to talk about how you can actually get 332 00:18:40,720 --> 00:18:43,560 Speaker 1: outside of that bubble of knowledge, change your narrative, and 333 00:18:43,600 --> 00:18:53,720 Speaker 1: perhaps change your life. All Right, we're back, Julie. Have 334 00:18:53,800 --> 00:18:57,120 Speaker 1: you read The Secret, The Secret, The Secret, the one 335 00:18:57,119 --> 00:19:01,000 Speaker 1: with the little like the red wax seal on the cover. Uh? No, 336 00:19:01,280 --> 00:19:04,159 Speaker 1: is that is that a new novel? That's like, you know, 337 00:19:04,200 --> 00:19:06,560 Speaker 1: the self help thing? Right? Oh? Is this the thing 338 00:19:06,600 --> 00:19:08,800 Speaker 1: about like if you put a positive vibe out in 339 00:19:08,840 --> 00:19:10,840 Speaker 1: the world, someone will give you a million dollars? I 340 00:19:10,880 --> 00:19:13,000 Speaker 1: think so. I have not read it myself, so I'm 341 00:19:13,040 --> 00:19:15,239 Speaker 1: not privy to the actual secret, but I understand that 342 00:19:15,240 --> 00:19:18,480 Speaker 1: that's basically the secret that if you put out that 343 00:19:18,480 --> 00:19:21,640 Speaker 1: positive intergy. I think it is. But it kind of 344 00:19:21,800 --> 00:19:23,359 Speaker 1: gets into the same area that you see with a 345 00:19:23,359 --> 00:19:25,320 Speaker 1: lot of self help books, and that's the idea that 346 00:19:25,400 --> 00:19:28,320 Speaker 1: if you if you believe in something, you can make 347 00:19:28,359 --> 00:19:32,159 Speaker 1: it real, that you can you can change yourself or 348 00:19:32,160 --> 00:19:35,320 Speaker 1: even change reality through the strong sense of belief and 349 00:19:35,400 --> 00:19:38,080 Speaker 1: positive vibes and uh, you know, to a certain extent, 350 00:19:38,119 --> 00:19:40,159 Speaker 1: there's often a lot of kind of New age hokery 351 00:19:40,240 --> 00:19:42,320 Speaker 1: going on in that. But as we're going to discuss here, 352 00:19:42,440 --> 00:19:45,280 Speaker 1: there's also this core of reality as it comes to 353 00:19:45,440 --> 00:19:49,320 Speaker 1: our ability to manipulate memories. And in this case, it's 354 00:19:49,400 --> 00:19:53,439 Speaker 1: not necessarily believing in your narrative, it's understanding your narrative. 355 00:19:53,480 --> 00:19:56,080 Speaker 1: And again, this is why that memory keeps knocking around 356 00:19:56,440 --> 00:19:59,840 Speaker 1: and saying, hey, look at me, I'm flagged because I'm important. 357 00:20:00,080 --> 00:20:02,879 Speaker 1: Don't quite understand what's going on here. This is troublesome 358 00:20:02,920 --> 00:20:08,479 Speaker 1: for me. Right, So there's this other approach to story editing, 359 00:20:08,680 --> 00:20:12,200 Speaker 1: and it is to write and then rewrite your narrative. 360 00:20:12,359 --> 00:20:15,600 Speaker 1: James Penna Baker of the University of Texas has pioneered 361 00:20:15,640 --> 00:20:19,040 Speaker 1: a really expressive writing technique that helps people recover from 362 00:20:19,160 --> 00:20:23,400 Speaker 1: past traumas by helping them reframe and reinterpret those events. 363 00:20:24,119 --> 00:20:27,760 Speaker 1: And there's a link that if you just search for 364 00:20:27,840 --> 00:20:30,679 Speaker 1: writing and help some practical advice, you will see this 365 00:20:30,880 --> 00:20:33,480 Speaker 1: prompt for writing in the idea is that for four 366 00:20:33,560 --> 00:20:37,480 Speaker 1: days in a row, fifteen minutes each you take a 367 00:20:37,560 --> 00:20:41,399 Speaker 1: topic that you that's been bothering you, um, that you 368 00:20:41,440 --> 00:20:43,960 Speaker 1: really want to explore more about, and you just write 369 00:20:43,960 --> 00:20:48,200 Speaker 1: about it, and you write really as honestly and as 370 00:20:48,240 --> 00:20:50,760 Speaker 1: fully as you can. Yeah, and now what would you 371 00:20:50,760 --> 00:20:53,080 Speaker 1: write about? Some of the examples they give would be 372 00:20:53,119 --> 00:20:56,040 Speaker 1: to write about something that you're thinking or worrying about 373 00:20:56,080 --> 00:20:59,400 Speaker 1: too much. So maybe you're worrying about, you know, taxes 374 00:20:59,400 --> 00:21:01,359 Speaker 1: coming up and to you know, settle down and figure 375 00:21:01,400 --> 00:21:05,040 Speaker 1: those out. Or uh, you're something that you're dreaming about, 376 00:21:05,320 --> 00:21:08,080 Speaker 1: Say you wanted to actually do something about that nagging 377 00:21:08,160 --> 00:21:10,800 Speaker 1: dream where you forgot that you signed up for a 378 00:21:10,880 --> 00:21:14,960 Speaker 1: class in school until right at the end at finals, 379 00:21:15,000 --> 00:21:17,200 Speaker 1: you know, or or the the you know, the wearing 380 00:21:17,280 --> 00:21:19,720 Speaker 1: underwear or nothing to your math class kind of dream. 381 00:21:20,560 --> 00:21:23,720 Speaker 1: Other possibilities to write about include something you feel is 382 00:21:23,720 --> 00:21:27,119 Speaker 1: affecting your life in an unhealthy way, be it something 383 00:21:27,359 --> 00:21:29,560 Speaker 1: you know, like a personal habit, or something outside yourself, 384 00:21:29,680 --> 00:21:32,080 Speaker 1: or something that you have been avoiding for days, weeks, 385 00:21:32,160 --> 00:21:35,400 Speaker 1: or years. Tackling at fifteen minutes a day for four 386 00:21:35,480 --> 00:21:39,280 Speaker 1: days in writing form. Okay, so it's interesting because what 387 00:21:39,400 --> 00:21:42,280 Speaker 1: happens is that the first time you write, you will 388 00:21:42,520 --> 00:21:44,600 Speaker 1: might write the thing that's bothering you, and you might 389 00:21:44,640 --> 00:21:47,480 Speaker 1: touch on the thing that is actually the thing that's 390 00:21:47,480 --> 00:21:50,160 Speaker 1: bothering you, because most often when you think that there's 391 00:21:50,200 --> 00:21:53,719 Speaker 1: a topic that that's really the problem, there's an underlying issue, 392 00:21:54,280 --> 00:21:56,879 Speaker 1: and so returning to that issue four days in a 393 00:21:57,000 --> 00:22:00,119 Speaker 1: row it gives you more insight. You're peeling away the 394 00:22:00,440 --> 00:22:04,080 Speaker 1: layers of the onion of of that actual problem, and 395 00:22:04,280 --> 00:22:08,440 Speaker 1: in the process you're creating some sort of understanding for yourself. 396 00:22:08,480 --> 00:22:11,280 Speaker 1: You are reframing that narrative so that it makes sense. 397 00:22:11,320 --> 00:22:14,520 Speaker 1: If something bad happened to you in your past and 398 00:22:14,600 --> 00:22:17,760 Speaker 1: it keeps coming up again and again, writing about it 399 00:22:17,800 --> 00:22:21,600 Speaker 1: really forces you to reflect on it and not say, oh, 400 00:22:21,720 --> 00:22:25,080 Speaker 1: this was justified, it should have happened. That's not what 401 00:22:25,119 --> 00:22:28,320 Speaker 1: we're saying here. It just gives you more of an 402 00:22:28,440 --> 00:22:34,080 Speaker 1: understanding of why it happened, and hopefully people suffer less 403 00:22:34,080 --> 00:22:38,040 Speaker 1: as a result. That's the idea. Yeah, it's um. It's 404 00:22:38,080 --> 00:22:41,600 Speaker 1: interesting because anyone who's ever engaged in your writing, you 405 00:22:41,640 --> 00:22:45,680 Speaker 1: see versions of this, say, in trying to create poetry, 406 00:22:45,720 --> 00:22:48,520 Speaker 1: like any kind of poetry that has like a personal um, 407 00:22:48,640 --> 00:22:50,879 Speaker 1: a bit of energy to it, And I feel like 408 00:22:50,920 --> 00:22:53,880 Speaker 1: most poetry of any work does. But one of my 409 00:22:53,960 --> 00:22:58,040 Speaker 1: poetry professors in college I remember them saying, and this 410 00:22:58,119 --> 00:23:01,960 Speaker 1: wasn't like a across the board rule, but they tended 411 00:23:02,000 --> 00:23:04,879 Speaker 1: to imply that you're generally better off removing the first 412 00:23:04,920 --> 00:23:07,400 Speaker 1: four lines or so of your poem, because the first 413 00:23:07,440 --> 00:23:10,119 Speaker 1: four lines are your poem. Are you trying to write 414 00:23:10,200 --> 00:23:12,240 Speaker 1: what you think you're going to write about, and then 415 00:23:12,280 --> 00:23:14,399 Speaker 1: after you get past those first four lines, then you 416 00:23:14,440 --> 00:23:19,080 Speaker 1: start writing about what's really going on. So so the 417 00:23:19,240 --> 00:23:22,160 Speaker 1: first four lines are in this case are the thing 418 00:23:22,400 --> 00:23:24,680 Speaker 1: that you think you're afraid of, and then you begin 419 00:23:24,760 --> 00:23:27,240 Speaker 1: to get after that into what you're actually afraid of. 420 00:23:27,320 --> 00:23:28,920 Speaker 1: I think about it is the quick and dirty way 421 00:23:28,960 --> 00:23:31,920 Speaker 1: to psychoanalysis. Yeah, yeah, because and I'm not going to 422 00:23:32,000 --> 00:23:33,840 Speaker 1: share with you what I wrote about, because that would 423 00:23:33,880 --> 00:23:36,280 Speaker 1: be like revealing a dream and everybody would get bored. 424 00:23:36,640 --> 00:23:38,200 Speaker 1: But I can tell you that when I did this, 425 00:23:38,760 --> 00:23:40,520 Speaker 1: you know, it was about this one thing that I 426 00:23:40,560 --> 00:23:42,920 Speaker 1: thought it was about, but really it was about social rejection. 427 00:23:43,280 --> 00:23:45,880 Speaker 1: And then it became like, well, what are my relationships 428 00:23:45,880 --> 00:23:47,720 Speaker 1: like in my life? How's how has this colored this? 429 00:23:47,840 --> 00:23:50,520 Speaker 1: And when did this happen? And when I was a teenager, 430 00:23:50,640 --> 00:23:52,960 Speaker 1: was it like this, And we've discussed about the teenage brain, 431 00:23:53,000 --> 00:23:56,359 Speaker 1: about how social rejection is processes actual physical pain, and 432 00:23:56,400 --> 00:23:58,359 Speaker 1: maybe these things stay with you and so on and 433 00:23:58,400 --> 00:24:01,200 Speaker 1: so forth. And those four days I got a lot 434 00:24:01,320 --> 00:24:04,480 Speaker 1: out of this one tiny little thing that I thought 435 00:24:04,520 --> 00:24:07,880 Speaker 1: I was bothered by, but I couldn't figure out why 436 00:24:07,920 --> 00:24:11,520 Speaker 1: I kept dreaming about this thing. And that is really 437 00:24:11,600 --> 00:24:15,240 Speaker 1: a very effective strategy at trying to get at your 438 00:24:15,280 --> 00:24:20,240 Speaker 1: memory and trying to re contextualized your your narrative in 439 00:24:20,280 --> 00:24:24,160 Speaker 1: your life and ultimately perhaps solve this Rubik's cube or 440 00:24:24,640 --> 00:24:27,280 Speaker 1: create a solved Rubik's cube out of these memories and 441 00:24:27,320 --> 00:24:28,680 Speaker 1: then you can put it on the shelf and it's 442 00:24:28,680 --> 00:24:31,719 Speaker 1: not gonna bother you anymore. Uh. When we were prepping 443 00:24:31,720 --> 00:24:34,639 Speaker 1: for this one, we brought up the whole situation of 444 00:24:34,800 --> 00:24:37,560 Speaker 1: why does why does it bother us so much when 445 00:24:37,560 --> 00:24:41,240 Speaker 1: we overhear part of a conversation. We've talked about this before. Uh. 446 00:24:41,320 --> 00:24:44,520 Speaker 1: The reason supposedly is that you're not getting all the 447 00:24:44,520 --> 00:24:47,240 Speaker 1: information about the scenario, and your mind desperately wants to 448 00:24:47,280 --> 00:24:49,719 Speaker 1: make sense of this nugget of weirdness that you just 449 00:24:50,800 --> 00:24:53,639 Speaker 1: listen in on. And that's what some of these memories 450 00:24:53,640 --> 00:24:56,680 Speaker 1: are like that were our mind wants to understand why 451 00:24:56,720 --> 00:24:59,560 Speaker 1: did this happen to me? Why? Why am I afraid 452 00:24:59,600 --> 00:25:02,200 Speaker 1: of this? You know, these questions linger with these troubling, 453 00:25:02,240 --> 00:25:05,960 Speaker 1: persistent memories. Our brains want to figure out the puzzle. 454 00:25:06,040 --> 00:25:08,440 Speaker 1: They want the extra information to make it, make it lock, 455 00:25:08,560 --> 00:25:12,480 Speaker 1: to make the Rubik's Cuba clear out. Uh and uh. 456 00:25:12,520 --> 00:25:15,280 Speaker 1: And what these experiments are about are about taking the 457 00:25:15,320 --> 00:25:17,879 Speaker 1: time to fill them out and to and to add 458 00:25:18,040 --> 00:25:20,760 Speaker 1: the necessary information to make them whold. Yeah, And that's 459 00:25:20,760 --> 00:25:24,200 Speaker 1: why these why these writing pumps are are so effective. Now, 460 00:25:24,280 --> 00:25:27,359 Speaker 1: Wilson says, a third approach is the do good, be 461 00:25:27,560 --> 00:25:31,199 Speaker 1: good method. And it's the principle that our attitudes and 462 00:25:31,240 --> 00:25:35,000 Speaker 1: our beliefs follow from our behaviors rather than precede them. 463 00:25:35,680 --> 00:25:39,240 Speaker 1: So if you want to change your narrative, then you 464 00:25:39,280 --> 00:25:42,320 Speaker 1: should change some of the things that you do so 465 00:25:42,359 --> 00:25:44,919 Speaker 1: that it sort of informs your unconscious Like I'm a 466 00:25:44,960 --> 00:25:47,440 Speaker 1: good person and I volunteer you here, and I'm doing this, 467 00:25:47,520 --> 00:25:51,040 Speaker 1: and you know, I'm trying to cultivate the following traits 468 00:25:51,040 --> 00:25:55,119 Speaker 1: in my life and everything else should follow well. And 469 00:25:55,160 --> 00:25:58,000 Speaker 1: then I mean also that, in my opinion, often has 470 00:25:58,080 --> 00:26:01,000 Speaker 1: the added benefit if you are if your your problem 471 00:26:01,040 --> 00:26:03,320 Speaker 1: is that you're too much inside your own mental space, 472 00:26:03,680 --> 00:26:06,520 Speaker 1: if you start concerning yourself with other people, then you're 473 00:26:06,520 --> 00:26:09,520 Speaker 1: getting out of that that that self inflicted cage of 474 00:26:09,560 --> 00:26:12,280 Speaker 1: self a bit so, and it is the cage of 475 00:26:12,359 --> 00:26:16,400 Speaker 1: self really really, uh So why does this work? There? 476 00:26:16,440 --> 00:26:18,879 Speaker 1: You know, there's no definitive like it's it's doing this, 477 00:26:18,920 --> 00:26:22,080 Speaker 1: it's engaging the following part of your brain. Probably this 478 00:26:22,160 --> 00:26:24,840 Speaker 1: is the best guess is that it works because again, 479 00:26:24,880 --> 00:26:27,720 Speaker 1: you are completing that picture for yourself. So your brain, 480 00:26:28,200 --> 00:26:30,240 Speaker 1: if you if it doesn't have to red flag and 481 00:26:30,359 --> 00:26:34,200 Speaker 1: memory because it understands it in the context that you've 482 00:26:34,200 --> 00:26:36,239 Speaker 1: put it into the narrative and it's happy with that. 483 00:26:36,480 --> 00:26:38,200 Speaker 1: It can move along and go to the next thing 484 00:26:38,240 --> 00:26:41,760 Speaker 1: that you flagged in your brain. So that's the idea 485 00:26:41,800 --> 00:26:43,800 Speaker 1: of why it works. Yeah, I guess you just need 486 00:26:43,840 --> 00:26:47,200 Speaker 1: to make sure you form the correct, a helpful, finished 487 00:26:47,280 --> 00:26:49,240 Speaker 1: version of that memory. So like if I was concerned 488 00:26:49,280 --> 00:26:52,320 Speaker 1: about the guy about a hot dog from yesterday being grumpy, 489 00:26:52,680 --> 00:26:55,040 Speaker 1: like I would want to frame that in the forum 490 00:26:55,080 --> 00:26:57,400 Speaker 1: of well he was he was probably having a bad 491 00:26:57,480 --> 00:26:59,600 Speaker 1: day and just took that out on me, rather than 492 00:27:00,280 --> 00:27:03,280 Speaker 1: I'm a bad person, and therefore hot dog vendors are 493 00:27:03,280 --> 00:27:06,000 Speaker 1: mean to me. They are generally like they I don't 494 00:27:06,000 --> 00:27:07,280 Speaker 1: know if you know, but they have a little slip 495 00:27:07,320 --> 00:27:10,240 Speaker 1: that they circulate among them. That says Robert Lamb. Yeah, 496 00:27:10,400 --> 00:27:12,600 Speaker 1: all right. There's a great article called Revising Your Story 497 00:27:12,640 --> 00:27:16,159 Speaker 1: by Kirsten Weir and uh. She says, basically, if you 498 00:27:16,160 --> 00:27:20,480 Speaker 1: you doubt the story um powers here in these story prompts, 499 00:27:20,480 --> 00:27:23,840 Speaker 1: you should look at this um example by researcher Daphne 500 00:27:23,920 --> 00:27:27,480 Speaker 1: being Nicktoll at the University of California, Santa Barbara. She 501 00:27:27,600 --> 00:27:30,080 Speaker 1: works with parents who are at risk for child abuse, 502 00:27:30,640 --> 00:27:34,000 Speaker 1: and she added some story prompting to home visits of 503 00:27:34,119 --> 00:27:37,800 Speaker 1: parents with newborns, and the prompt involved getting parents to 504 00:27:37,920 --> 00:27:41,280 Speaker 1: reinterpret why their babies were cranky or difficult. So parents, 505 00:27:41,320 --> 00:27:44,520 Speaker 1: for instance, might blame their babies babies and say, oh, 506 00:27:44,560 --> 00:27:47,720 Speaker 1: he's just trying to provoke me. So the home visitor 507 00:27:47,760 --> 00:27:50,919 Speaker 1: would ask parents if they could think of any other reasons, 508 00:27:50,960 --> 00:27:54,560 Speaker 1: prompting them to attribute their baby's behavior to situational factors 509 00:27:54,560 --> 00:27:57,320 Speaker 1: were talking about like maybe you didn't burp him enough, 510 00:27:57,440 --> 00:27:59,920 Speaker 1: so on and so forth, giving them a different narrative 511 00:28:00,680 --> 00:28:04,080 Speaker 1: and among both a control group and those who participated 512 00:28:04,640 --> 00:28:10,560 Speaker 1: in this program about of the parents physically abused their children. Now, 513 00:28:10,600 --> 00:28:13,440 Speaker 1: in the group that got the story prompt giving them 514 00:28:13,440 --> 00:28:15,879 Speaker 1: these these other versions of why their babies might be 515 00:28:15,920 --> 00:28:19,920 Speaker 1: acting the way they were, their percentage dropped to four. 516 00:28:21,320 --> 00:28:24,600 Speaker 1: That's again how powerful it is to replace one narrative 517 00:28:24,640 --> 00:28:28,560 Speaker 1: with another. Very cool, Very cool. Now this flows in 518 00:28:28,760 --> 00:28:32,439 Speaker 1: nicely to this idea that Carol Dweck presents, this idea 519 00:28:32,480 --> 00:28:35,520 Speaker 1: of fixed versus growth mindset. You want to lay that 520 00:28:35,520 --> 00:28:39,600 Speaker 1: out for everyone here. Yeah, we've talked about Carol Dweck before. UM. 521 00:28:39,640 --> 00:28:42,520 Speaker 1: She she's a psychologist who has talked about the praise 522 00:28:42,520 --> 00:28:46,960 Speaker 1: paradox um. You know this idea that empty praise can 523 00:28:47,000 --> 00:28:50,320 Speaker 1: give your child this for self esteem problem. You think 524 00:28:50,320 --> 00:28:52,120 Speaker 1: the opposite. You think you're saying, hey, you're doing great, 525 00:28:52,160 --> 00:28:54,080 Speaker 1: that your kid's gonna have tons of self esteem, But 526 00:28:54,120 --> 00:28:58,240 Speaker 1: really empty praise isn't constructive and anyway, it builds up 527 00:28:58,280 --> 00:29:01,040 Speaker 1: this whole idea that your kids might be doing something wrong. 528 00:29:01,520 --> 00:29:03,760 Speaker 1: Carol Dwet kind of goes a little bit further into 529 00:29:03,800 --> 00:29:07,480 Speaker 1: this idea of self esteem and um success and she 530 00:29:07,480 --> 00:29:10,600 Speaker 1: talked about how some people have a fixed mindset. They 531 00:29:10,640 --> 00:29:14,360 Speaker 1: believe their intelligence and traits are set in stone, and 532 00:29:14,520 --> 00:29:16,760 Speaker 1: this actually gets in the way of how they see 533 00:29:16,760 --> 00:29:18,840 Speaker 1: the world and they move through it. And she said 534 00:29:18,880 --> 00:29:21,920 Speaker 1: that these people they typically try to to look smart 535 00:29:22,640 --> 00:29:25,520 Speaker 1: um and not make any mistakes, and as a result, 536 00:29:25,560 --> 00:29:28,400 Speaker 1: they don't take any risks. And now, she says, on 537 00:29:28,440 --> 00:29:31,320 Speaker 1: the other hand, you have something called a growth mindset, 538 00:29:31,880 --> 00:29:34,560 Speaker 1: and this means that you're willing to change your narrative 539 00:29:35,320 --> 00:29:39,320 Speaker 1: and cultivate new ideas and talent through effort and instruction. 540 00:29:40,040 --> 00:29:42,640 Speaker 1: So in this way, you see obviously there's a flexibility. 541 00:29:42,680 --> 00:29:44,640 Speaker 1: There's this willingness to say I don't have all of 542 00:29:44,680 --> 00:29:47,520 Speaker 1: the information and I'm going to change my story. And 543 00:29:47,600 --> 00:29:50,720 Speaker 1: she says this allows people to be both more resilient 544 00:29:50,920 --> 00:29:53,920 Speaker 1: and vulnerable at the same time, and able to take 545 00:29:53,920 --> 00:29:56,680 Speaker 1: on more challenges and just kind of, like I said, 546 00:29:56,880 --> 00:30:01,480 Speaker 1: change that narrative of what you your life to be. Yeah, 547 00:30:01,560 --> 00:30:03,480 Speaker 1: I think it's a it's it's a really interesting way 548 00:30:03,520 --> 00:30:06,160 Speaker 1: to look at to two types of people. You know, 549 00:30:06,200 --> 00:30:09,400 Speaker 1: the idea that am I looking at myself as I 550 00:30:09,440 --> 00:30:12,680 Speaker 1: am now, as the finished product, you know, or or 551 00:30:12,760 --> 00:30:14,880 Speaker 1: is it an ongoing journey? And that's kind of I mean, 552 00:30:14,960 --> 00:30:16,320 Speaker 1: I guess that kind of sounds a little new a 553 00:30:16,400 --> 00:30:20,200 Speaker 1: g and hippy dippy, but but really, I mean, life 554 00:30:20,320 --> 00:30:24,800 Speaker 1: is a journey. We continue to change. We're always changing physically, emotionally. 555 00:30:24,840 --> 00:30:26,520 Speaker 1: The person we are now is not the same person 556 00:30:26,560 --> 00:30:29,640 Speaker 1: we were a month ago, a year ago. And and 557 00:30:29,720 --> 00:30:33,320 Speaker 1: so if you if you try and approach your life 558 00:30:33,880 --> 00:30:36,120 Speaker 1: as a fixed object, yeah, you're just going to run 559 00:30:36,160 --> 00:30:41,360 Speaker 1: into increasing um frustration because you're gonna come up against challenges. 560 00:30:41,680 --> 00:30:43,680 Speaker 1: And if you if you think that this is what 561 00:30:43,720 --> 00:30:45,560 Speaker 1: I am and this is all I am, then a 562 00:30:45,680 --> 00:30:48,320 Speaker 1: challenge is an affront to your strength. But if you 563 00:30:48,360 --> 00:30:52,480 Speaker 1: see yourself as changing, as you see yourself as perpetually evolving, 564 00:30:52,800 --> 00:30:55,920 Speaker 1: then a challenge is just another opportunity to grow. Yeah. 565 00:30:56,000 --> 00:31:00,200 Speaker 1: She says that some people have fixed mindsets for for 566 00:31:00,240 --> 00:31:02,240 Speaker 1: some of the things in their life, and then growth 567 00:31:02,320 --> 00:31:06,480 Speaker 1: mindsets for for other things. Yeah. So it's sort of 568 00:31:06,480 --> 00:31:08,800 Speaker 1: one of those self checks of well, you know, my 569 00:31:08,840 --> 00:31:11,240 Speaker 1: flexible in this one area of my life and inflexible 570 00:31:11,280 --> 00:31:13,920 Speaker 1: in the other. But the main thing, she says is 571 00:31:13,960 --> 00:31:18,320 Speaker 1: that things do not come naturally, and that thinking that 572 00:31:18,400 --> 00:31:22,240 Speaker 1: they do is a male adaptive mindset of mal adaptive 573 00:31:22,280 --> 00:31:26,800 Speaker 1: mindset and that we we are looking at it entirely wrong. 574 00:31:27,160 --> 00:31:29,360 Speaker 1: And I can't help but think of the stories that 575 00:31:29,400 --> 00:31:32,200 Speaker 1: we consume, that we feed feed on, you know, to 576 00:31:32,200 --> 00:31:34,600 Speaker 1: to inform who we are and how we fit into 577 00:31:34,600 --> 00:31:37,960 Speaker 1: the world, because there are certainly we can think of 578 00:31:38,000 --> 00:31:42,520 Speaker 1: any number of movies, TV shows, stories, myths in which 579 00:31:42,520 --> 00:31:45,160 Speaker 1: there's an individual with a natural talent, and then how 580 00:31:45,200 --> 00:31:49,320 Speaker 1: healthy is that too? To absorb that story and then 581 00:31:49,360 --> 00:31:51,360 Speaker 1: compare it to our own. Well, I mean, you know, 582 00:31:51,400 --> 00:31:53,360 Speaker 1: it's the matrix, the one. Are you the one? Were 583 00:31:53,360 --> 00:31:56,240 Speaker 1: you born? The one? But then that idea is very 584 00:31:56,240 --> 00:32:00,080 Speaker 1: old and has been perpetuated for for for thousands the 585 00:32:00,120 --> 00:32:03,600 Speaker 1: thousands of years, and I think it's ultimately why we 586 00:32:03,600 --> 00:32:05,720 Speaker 1: we want a film where where we want a story 587 00:32:05,760 --> 00:32:08,600 Speaker 1: where a hero has to work for it, uh, where 588 00:32:08,600 --> 00:32:11,120 Speaker 1: a hero has to has to actually go through a 589 00:32:11,120 --> 00:32:13,920 Speaker 1: training montage in order to defeat the villain, because that's 590 00:32:13,960 --> 00:32:15,960 Speaker 1: more in keeping with life. You're gonna have to work 591 00:32:16,000 --> 00:32:18,080 Speaker 1: for the things that you achieve well and not to 592 00:32:18,120 --> 00:32:19,760 Speaker 1: keep going back to Star Wars and I feel like 593 00:32:19,800 --> 00:32:22,880 Speaker 1: that's been the theme today. But Luke Skywalker, right, didn't 594 00:32:23,000 --> 00:32:25,280 Speaker 1: just fall on the womb, you know, with the force. 595 00:32:25,600 --> 00:32:28,440 Speaker 1: He had to work at it, and Yoda made him 596 00:32:28,440 --> 00:32:31,360 Speaker 1: look a fool over there in Dagoba. Yeah, he lost 597 00:32:31,360 --> 00:32:33,960 Speaker 1: a hand, he did made him a lot of the 598 00:32:34,040 --> 00:32:37,640 Speaker 1: characters in his hands really dark. Did they lost hands? 599 00:32:38,080 --> 00:32:41,280 Speaker 1: If you go through again my daughter's encyclopedia, you will see, 600 00:32:41,520 --> 00:32:45,040 Speaker 1: you know, so and so had their hand repaired. But well, yeah, 601 00:32:45,040 --> 00:32:48,640 Speaker 1: there's Luke, there's Vader. Yeah, um, some dude in the 602 00:32:48,640 --> 00:32:51,920 Speaker 1: bar and the first one Lungin. Maybe I don't know. 603 00:32:53,600 --> 00:32:55,440 Speaker 1: I think you just got run through that one. I'll 604 00:32:55,440 --> 00:32:58,640 Speaker 1: ask my daughter, Okay, get home, all right, Well there 605 00:32:58,680 --> 00:33:01,040 Speaker 1: you go. Story editing. I think this is a great 606 00:33:01,040 --> 00:33:05,120 Speaker 1: episode because it really lays out a very achievable way 607 00:33:05,640 --> 00:33:08,720 Speaker 1: to uh to to do something that might otherwise seem 608 00:33:08,760 --> 00:33:11,120 Speaker 1: like something out of science fiction, a way to change 609 00:33:11,400 --> 00:33:13,880 Speaker 1: our memories, to change the way that we interpret the past. 610 00:33:14,400 --> 00:33:17,240 Speaker 1: Um and uh and so I challenge, you know, anyone 611 00:33:17,280 --> 00:33:21,080 Speaker 1: who is is dealing with with some sort of problem 612 00:33:21,120 --> 00:33:23,600 Speaker 1: in their life to consider trying this out. You know, 613 00:33:23,640 --> 00:33:26,959 Speaker 1: don't see it as your only solution, but but give 614 00:33:27,000 --> 00:33:29,240 Speaker 1: it a go and see what what can be done. Yeah, 615 00:33:29,320 --> 00:33:30,959 Speaker 1: and if you again, you want to check out that 616 00:33:31,040 --> 00:33:35,320 Speaker 1: story prompt by James Penna Baker. Just google his name 617 00:33:35,480 --> 00:33:39,880 Speaker 1: and then perhaps writing and health some practical advice. All right, 618 00:33:40,000 --> 00:33:41,760 Speaker 1: let's call the robot over here and do a quick 619 00:33:41,760 --> 00:33:45,880 Speaker 1: bit of listener mail. All right, we have a quick 620 00:33:45,880 --> 00:33:48,480 Speaker 1: one from Alex. He says, Hello, Robert and Julie. I 621 00:33:48,520 --> 00:33:49,920 Speaker 1: hope your day is going well. I've been a listener 622 00:33:49,960 --> 00:33:51,680 Speaker 1: of stuff to ab All your Mind for about four months. 623 00:33:51,720 --> 00:33:53,440 Speaker 1: I loved your podcast so much I even went back 624 00:33:53,440 --> 00:33:54,920 Speaker 1: as far as two years ago and listen to your 625 00:33:54,960 --> 00:33:58,120 Speaker 1: allowing your podcast. H First off, let me thank you 626 00:33:58,240 --> 00:34:01,160 Speaker 1: for being so respectful when you talk about cultures and religions. 627 00:34:01,160 --> 00:34:02,840 Speaker 1: This personally means a lot to me. I am not 628 00:34:02,960 --> 00:34:05,360 Speaker 1: religious really, but I am very aware and sensitive when 629 00:34:05,360 --> 00:34:08,160 Speaker 1: talking about religion or culture. Also have a topic for you. 630 00:34:08,160 --> 00:34:14,319 Speaker 1: Guys are sociopath slash psychopaths biologically and neurologically doomed. Is 631 00:34:14,320 --> 00:34:17,120 Speaker 1: there any hope for these unlucky people born this way? 632 00:34:17,480 --> 00:34:22,360 Speaker 1: Is a sociopath psychopath the ultimate apex predator of our species. 633 00:34:22,680 --> 00:34:24,719 Speaker 1: I think this would be a really interesting study, to 634 00:34:24,719 --> 00:34:28,200 Speaker 1: say the least. And Uh. Alex goes on to say, 635 00:34:28,320 --> 00:34:30,440 Speaker 1: thanks for your time, keep doing what you do. Thank you, 636 00:34:30,480 --> 00:34:33,680 Speaker 1: Alex That is very interesting because we talked recently about 637 00:34:33,760 --> 00:34:36,359 Speaker 1: how Luis c. K has a bit in his stand 638 00:34:36,440 --> 00:34:38,680 Speaker 1: up about how we're really lucky that we got out 639 00:34:38,680 --> 00:34:41,480 Speaker 1: of the food chain. We are the apex predator. Now 640 00:34:41,560 --> 00:34:44,600 Speaker 1: we don't have to worry about it, but you know 641 00:34:45,520 --> 00:34:47,400 Speaker 1: one another, we're sort of a problem. We know that 642 00:34:47,440 --> 00:34:49,879 Speaker 1: we tend to main and kill each other. And then 643 00:34:49,880 --> 00:34:53,640 Speaker 1: there's this idea psychologically, is someone who's a sociopath who 644 00:34:53,719 --> 00:34:58,920 Speaker 1: has no community ties, a lack of empathy a predator 645 00:34:58,960 --> 00:35:02,080 Speaker 1: in a sense. Yeah, that's it's certainly a topic we 646 00:35:02,120 --> 00:35:04,560 Speaker 1: could explore. I know they were for certain there were 647 00:35:04,640 --> 00:35:07,839 Speaker 1: at least a couple of really interesting studies to come 648 00:35:07,840 --> 00:35:11,399 Speaker 1: out on sociopaths uh in the in the past year 649 00:35:11,800 --> 00:35:13,759 Speaker 1: that that I'd looked podcast on at some point in 650 00:35:13,760 --> 00:35:16,600 Speaker 1: the future. Indeed, yes, and maybe that will show up 651 00:35:16,640 --> 00:35:20,000 Speaker 1: fairly soon. All right, So there you have it. If 652 00:35:20,000 --> 00:35:21,520 Speaker 1: you have anything you would like to add on this 653 00:35:21,560 --> 00:35:23,879 Speaker 1: topic on other topics, then you know where to find. 654 00:35:23,920 --> 00:35:25,520 Speaker 1: It's got to stuff to blow your mind dot com. 655 00:35:25,600 --> 00:35:28,760 Speaker 1: That's the mothership. That's where you find all the podcast episodes, 656 00:35:28,800 --> 00:35:31,880 Speaker 1: all the videos, all the blog posts, all the lists, 657 00:35:31,880 --> 00:35:34,720 Speaker 1: all the galleries, and links out to our various social 658 00:35:34,719 --> 00:35:38,400 Speaker 1: media sites, including Facebook, Twitter, and Tumbler and Julie. If 659 00:35:38,480 --> 00:35:40,600 Speaker 1: one wanted to get in touch with us UH in 660 00:35:40,600 --> 00:35:43,439 Speaker 1: a more old fashioned way, where would they find us? Ethan? 661 00:35:43,480 --> 00:35:45,600 Speaker 1: Send your narrative to us that blow the mind at 662 00:35:45,680 --> 00:35:52,080 Speaker 1: discovery dot com for more on this and thousands of 663 00:35:52,120 --> 00:36:01,040 Speaker 1: other topics. Is it how Stuff Works dot com