Kind: captions
Language: en
everybody welcome to another episode of
after impact and I'm here with none
other than agent Smith Mr Bill you
welcome to the show good man I am very
excited about this episode I'm a total
freak for David Eagleman um rewatching
his episode I enjoyed as much as I
enjoyed recording it he really is fun
for me man that he's like a glimpse
inside what I find utterly fascinating
yeah I know this was a big one for you
this was yeah and really I think you
find most interesting the uh the
neuroscientists and researchers who come
on our show I really do because there's
something about studying the brain that
empowers me liberates me fascinates me
um it is utterly utterly interesting and
I had so um on the board of the
exerprise he so Peter's often times
Peter damis is oftentimes inviting
people he finds fascinating just to come
and like check it out so at an event a
lot of times you'll have people people
like David there and it was one of those
where I don't think anybody knew who he
was but me and oh my friend I knew who
he was so I like beine to him and it's
like oh is this SE taken and like I
literally I was like uh like a a
teenager sitting next to a beetle all
night and I just like yeah I was picking
his scare away which literally do you
know what kind of like self-control that
took I was like don't act like a psycho
don't act like a psycho don't be a
stalker so yeah I had to keep myself in
check but it is funny how you know for
anybody it's like whatever in your world
like who's the person who's interesting
fascinating famous whatever and so for
me it was like oh my God that's David
Eagleman that's the guy that wrote
Incognito like I can't believe I'm
sitting here talking to him well it was
a fun episode it was fun watching you
guys uh you guys chat nice Definitely so
you there's a quote from the episode
that you wrote down and I wrote down and
if I were reading in a book I would have
underlined it it is science is really an
understanding of the vastness of our
ignorance yeah hit me really hard I love
that quote yeah no kidding I found that
interesting so the if I remember right
the question that I asked him was
something like what draws you to science
what why are you interested and that was
his answer that you know for a lot of
people it's um he said I'm not
interested in telling people what they
don't know or where they're wrong that's
what he said I'm not interested in
telling people where they're wrong like
I'm interested in in that part of of it
and he said you know from the outside
looks like scientists really have it all
figured out and that there's really no
big questions left to answer and he said
once you get in science he said you just
realize like how little we actually
understand and that the you know there's
this huge world and it's funny because I
was talking to Dr Drew about that
yesterday yeah in the episode so we
filmed Dr Drew yesterday it was awesome
had so much fun with him but on this
question he takes a a very different
approach not approach but he has a
different feeling and he was saying that
the things that he doesn't understand
actually are a bit overwhelming for him
and so so his awe is derived from the
things that we do understand whereas I'm
the exact opposite like I find the awe
in the unknown I I
am humbled by excited by um fascinated
by all of the things that we don't know
and so that was something that really
really resonated with me and I think
that from just like the human standpoint
of what should you be cultivating in
yourself I think an enthusiasm for the
things that we don't know is the right
place to start um curiosity yeah yes yes
in fact one of the things that I find
most intoxicating in another human being
is curiosity like when they're just when
they're curious and excitable like those
are two qualities that I'm immediately
drawn to and how about transferring this
over into a business context so the
unknown can actually be very
overwhelming and um fear inducing in a
business context let's say you're trying
to um hit your sales goals or you know
make sure that the company culture is in
a good place um so how do you is should
you be cultivating that same sort of
mentality in business
context man are you ready for uh a
complicated answer yeah I love
complicated answers all right so here
here's the truth one of the things that
I have cultivated in my own personality
is the sense that at nothing is
performance and everything is practice
so I don't live in crippling fear of a
business failing or of looking stupid or
anything like that so for me um I want
success and I'm willing to work really
hard for it and I'm my whole phrase I'm
willing to break myself in half to
achieve something but in all of that
like I never see any one thing as the
final moment I never see any one thing
as like the game is about to end and if
I'm not winning now then I'm just not
winning like it's infinite for me and my
obsession with living forever means that
there is no Finish Line so I've
literally tried to remove the finish
line from my life there's no concept of
ever completing something so you know
I'm a big believer in Phil Jackson's
notion things come together Things Fall
Apart so because of that I know there
are going to be times where you're
winning there's going to be times where
you're losing and so to be overly
obsessed with that is to me crazy and
losing for me is a it's temporary and
it's simply an opportunity to figure out
what is it that I don't understand what
is it that I'm not able to execute
against where have I made a foundational
mistake that I need to now go back
repair rebuild start over build
something a new way whatever I'm always
trying to look at it from the
perspective of that that there's
something profound to be learned in here
and if the business crumbles it crumbles
and I can always rebuild that's why the
only things that scare me are brain
damage and losing my wife right those
are things that I don't see a way back
from so anything else like you can fight
and Claw your way back and refigure it
out and and I find that really really
interesting and something you know for
anybody who follows follows Gary
vaynerchuk the most interesting thing to
me that he says is this really cocky it
is so cocky and I love it where he's
like I kind of hope one day I lose
everything so I can show people I can
build it back that and it's like I love
that I love that
because if you're thinking like that
where you don't have a crippling fear of
something failing and going wrong and
you have enough the arrogance of belief
in yourself that you can figure it out
that you can reexecute you can rebuild
the stuff back up then you can find the
awe in the unknown you can find the like
you can be filled with a sense of wonder
at just I have to figure this out right
there's something in here oh [ __ ] like
this is an opportunity for me to
recognize there's something in here I
don't understand there's something in
here that I don't know I'm going to go
out I'm going to figure out this piece
of knowledge I'm going to add it to my
Arsenal and I'm going to become that
much more impervious in the future like
I love that so much now that doesn't
mean i' I'd get freaked out like if
things were going wrong here and I had
like pressure and it's like oh my God
like we're going to lose the um the
company or [ __ ] like we're going to go
broke whatever right like it would be a
moment of fear it would be a moment of
stress and anxiety no question but I
would deal with that by reminding myself
this is all practice it's not
performance and Things Come Together
Things Fall Apart I'm going to do my
best I'm going to rebuild and I have
faith in myself and I have the arrogance
of belief to know that I can rebuild
that skill set and in just refocusing on
that you'll keep moving forward and
would you would you agree that once you
uh once you get to that level where
you're where you're no longer afraid
where you're now it's exciting to you
and you know that you can rebuild the
fear has been removed would you agree
that you're actually even more
Unstoppable then that you're kind of
accessing a different gear no question
yeah and that's ironic right super
ironic and so here's one of the things
about it people that take Grand
adventures in their life whatever that
may be starting a company moving away
from home studying
abroad they say that the people that do
that usually have the strongest like
root system the strongest home life so
the people with like one of the reasons
that I've been able to take the kind of
risks that I've taken in my life is
because of Lisa and because I have her
and I have that support system and I
remember like in our Diest of times
where it was like are we ever going to
find success are we going to be broke
forever like what is what does that
really look like I thought my worst case
scenario the whole world may hate me but
this woman loves me right the whole
world may be burning down around me but
I have this relationship so it was like
if that's the worst things ever get like
I'm okay with that and one of my things
is to always look at the worst case
scenario which normally people lie to
themselves about the worst case scenario
but if you can really be honest about
the worst case scenario which is usually
pretty catastrophic but if you can
really look at the worst case scenario
and say I'm okay with that it's not
great I'm not rushing towards it but I'm
okay with it um then you're able to to
Really roll the dice and get out there
so got to have that that strong base
that's crazy it's great I love it um I'm
just we've had several neuroscientists
on the show now why do you think it is
so many of them who've come on the show
are also so deeply interested in the
Arts the humanities poetry music I mean
vs ramachandran he's quoting Shakespeare
Jimmy wheel was quoting Yates um David
Eagleman has written fiction yeah what
what is it Dr Drew yesterday was talking
about um he was quoting Aristotle he's
deep in philosophy and used was an opera
singer at one point yeah what is that
what's going on there so I'm going to
have to I don't have an answer I've
never thought about that before it's
utterly fascinating to me why is that
um I think what draws them to the brain
is the sense of wonder because you don't
turn to the brain I think most people
you don't turn to the brain because it's
a um some people might but I don't think
most people turn to it because it's a
sense of pain um it's not like the guy
who has arthritis who you know wants to
study joints and all of that to
alleviate the pain it's it is the most
complicated thing in the universe it's
so vast and currently unknowable and yet
every small thing that you learn about
it is more fascinating than the one that
came before it and that feeling you get
of awe of joy of excitement are all the
things that are elicits yeah and I'm
going to give you oh God this is
embarrassing but true it's going to give
you maybe a glimpse into my psyche or B
TMI going to um art exhibits for me is a
low form of
sexuality like that art actually turns
me on and it's like I often wonder like
is it uh cross wirring is it like a
bizarre mild form of synesthesia or is
it actually just it's so like heightens
my emotions and each you know especially
visual art for me not necessarily
abstract but like paintings like of
things um like that to me is is is so
stimulating emotionally that it gets
confused with the same way that I feel
about sex so I remember in the early
days because my wife is very much not
like that which is fascinating because
she is such a talented artist oh my God
so it is did I ever tell you that at 19
I said I will either marry somebody who
can sing or Draw yeah so I just I am so
turned on by that talent that that just
wasn't a mystery to me so I used to drag
her to museums and stuff because for me
it was like it was you know basically
foreplay and I'm like looking at her
like waiting for that you know reaction
and she's
like so it was such a disconnect but
yeah so I remember went through artist
foreplay you you heard it here
first uh well you really want to get
into artist foreplay so when I was
working at awareness Technologies and my
wife did not have a job she was taking
her art very very seriously and so I
would come home every day and she would
have been working on some master workor
and I would just I couldn't wait to get
home to see like what she had done it
was such a turn on such a turn on so
that's my guess is it it it's that same
level of heightened excitement of um
what it is it a like when you hear a
song lyric and it gives you the chills
or you look at a painting and it
captures something like my um Jordan the
flu game how it's one still frame and
yet all all this stuff comes rushing at
me about what it means and my identity
and how it's tied up in that and one of
the things that I really hope we're able
to um capture and further in the art
that we will eventually create at impact
theory is Illusions not not Illusions
allusions right so exactly like literary
allusions are where a whole universe of
stuff comes rushing in on that thing
because it references it right so when
you watch The Matrix and you realize
this is basically the Bible um it's like
w like all of those Illusions come
crashing together and it's in you know
an hour and whatever 50 minutes that the
movie is there's like this whole
universe of religious thought and
imagery and all this stuff that just
comes together and it becomes this it's
such a a total intellect experience
emotion and ideology it's just
incredible I got to ask if you were in
Einstein's dream and had wait that
that's the book where you can live
forever right that's one of the short
stories short stories all right and
you're living forever um is one of the
things that you would Master after
impacting the world with through
Commerce and after being a filmmaker
would it be the brain would you become a
researcher there yeah 100% so there are
a few things that that I know I would do
that's one and then
um call it theoretical physics um
cosmology uh that to me like thinking at
that grand of a scale is is utterly
fascinating time and what that means and
what it implies like yeah awesome all
right I want to pull a question from
their Facebook live
audience so this is
from Joe Cross he says what impact
theories play for capitalizing on
Eagleman upcoming six
sense more time the six sense I think
he's talking about and Joe if you're
still listening if you could add some
detail here I think he's talking about
how David he has the vest that he's
rolling what was the beginning of that
question something about impact Theory
impact is does impact Theory have a play
for capitalizing on David's upcoming
success yeah just break it down for you
nice and simple not even a little bit um
not that I'm not interested I think it's
utterly fascinating but um haven't even
begun to think about that and and he
said something in the episode where um
he said it's never going to catch on
brain implants and all that um I think
he's wrong about that and I think that
that is our future and I think
that a it's already happening so let's
start with that when does it become just
day rer I'm going to give
it in less than 40
years pretty much everyone will have
some sort of implant for sure much
everyone yeah like 80% 90% you you will
have to to keep up for sure yeah plus
because of the machines you'll have to
that's what I'm saying like everyone
thinks machines are going to take over
they're not going to take over we're we
will people just won't let let it happen
we're too jealous so you will uh begin
to as as robots gain more general
intelligence because they can already
beat us at at any like not anyone
specific thing but you can take like as
long as it only has to be chess or go or
you know something has very structured
rules they're always going to beat us at
that um so that's already happening but
they're terrible at general intelligence
as they get better and better at general
intelligence watch you will get people
that it's like okay well we can already
give somebody Vision you can already
give somebody hearing um what happens
when you can start doing things like
what David Eagleman is doing with the
vest but you start implanting it um and
you can see an infrared you can feel
electrical Fields um you can read the
stock market or there's this Black Box I
I'm definitely at the edge of of what I
understand but there's like this black
mystery box somewhere that every now and
then it and I don't I forget what it's
picking up on what they tell you it's
picking up on is sort of the the general
Vibe of the world and every now and then
it'll blip and then they found that
those blips correspond with major
catastrophes the tsunami uh 911 yeah now
whether or not my gut instinct is if you
really look at it there's like all kinds
of weird little things and then when
some something happens you sort of
retrospectively
go oh that that was a big blip but if
nothing had happened you would have said
oh that was nothing um so it's probably
horseshit but it's like that kind of
thing like as we get better at actually
building devices that can detect that
kind of stuff like again with Dr Drew
what he's talking about where you do
sync up with somebody and the easiest
one that I think is pretty
non-controversial if you put women in a
house their periods will all regulate
and they all be on their period at the
same time so obviously they're picking
up on something um you definitely can
feel something when somebody's off like
whether it's just the way that they're
carrying themselves their facial
expression whatever there you get the
vibe from somebody so if everyone is
giving off a vibe that you can pick up
on if you can look at them and see them
clearly there's something that they're
giving off and so is there a device in
the future where we could begin to
interpret this stuff and then Jack it in
in a way that becomes truly um
interpretable that that's really his
thing is talking about the vest and I
think that ultimately you could plug it
into the brain you know that there are
already monkeys right now that can
control robotic arms with their mind
right no you just you just melted my
brain a little no no no for sure so what
they do is they pin the monkey's real
arm behind its back they've implanted
electrodes which I know you're not going
to love but they've implanted electrodes
and the monkeys just think like I want
that grape and the robotic arm reaches
out it's crazy dude fun it's crazy I'm
telling you this stuff is already real
so I'm I'm being hyper conservative to
say that 40 years it's probably less
it's just that's Mass adoption but now
you want to get really crazy and I think
this is one of the notes that I took I
can't remember exactly what I wrote but
it's oh it was about where he said um
there's I said uh so the vest can give
essentially hearing to death people by
translating um words into vibration
patterns that are consistent so the word
cat would always be one vibration
pattern word dog so on and so forth and
he said I said do they like it or is it
just like a cacophony where they can't
make any sense of it and he said well
there's a subset of deaf people that
actively are not looking for a solution
and so they hate it and that one I wish
I it didn't hit me on set when he said
it but rewatching it that that caught my
attention even more than the vest that
why because you've read for Fahrenheit
451 right okay so in that um dystopian
future where I have totally modded
myself you refuse to mod yourself and
you live out in the woods right that's
on brand for you it's on brand for me
like we both know that's what's going to
happen we'll see we'll see but yeah more
than likely I'm going to live in the
woods right so some people are going to
say okay no way like it's about sort of
the purity of The Human Experience and
like let's not be ridiculous and so
those two factions will arise because
that's a human thing like that's a trait
that the the I haven't thought enough
about it to know where that Springs
forth from but it is self evident to me
that in anything you will have people
who love it and then people who hate it
and whether it's just it's popular and
so I reject it because it's popular or
like you initially rejected Facebook
because it was elitist I felt it was at
the time yeah yeah so there that's like
you're always going to have stuff like
that and so the fact that there are even
deaf people who say not only is this not
a hindrance I don't want a solution this
is part of my identity this is part of
who I am they have worked so hard to not
view themselves is handicap that it's
become part of their identity to have
that in in their minds is actually
better beneficial and not something that
they want to change so as we begin to
mod think that's a a justifiable stance
I think it's Madness it is madness and
that is where identity begins to work
against you because if you said hey Tom
um I've got this thing that's going to
let you read electrical Fields okay
obviously like if I can if I can make
use of it and do something with it of
course I want it uh heat Fields yep like
slather them on the only time I'm going
to stop you is if it becomes like
problematic right if it begins to mess
with me in some way and begin to damage
my ability to find happiness which at
the end of the day is you know
fulfillment is the real driver for
anybody so if like that was messing me
up somehow it was making it impossible
to have like quality relationships okay
then I don't want it but to say like
hearing is somehow bad like crazy what
what uh six sense would you want to have
first wow I love it when you ask me
things that I haven't thought about okay
my initial gut reaction which I reserve
the right to change my mind my initial
gut reaction is the ability to read um
and I don't even know what would be
giving off I want to I want to more
accurately be able to capture somebody's
State of Mind to feel it okay
interesting so like if you were buming
out that I would be like dude what's up
yeah so if there were an indicator that
you could which there are I just don't
know what what um outputs you would
capture like is it purely visual did you
know did you know these are always my
favorite did you know that there is a
there is a uh therapist bot that records
I think 60 inputs from the um the
patient so they're looking at like micro
Expressions they're looking at posture
they're listening to the way that you're
talking not the words you're saying but
the way that you're talking talking and
the the stats on how much people like
talking to that bot are crazy first they
don't feel judged and then second it's
picking up on so many cues that like a
normal human wouldn't be able to pick up
on that it it's pretty accurate at
getting to it probably can't go much
Beyond like okay you might be telling me
all the happy things in the world but
you're actually sad depressed whatever
but it so accurately identifies what
you're really going through that people
feel scene that's super interesting and
really powerful yes so that's where uh
the machines can can do a lot of good
right and so that's where I want my
implants because I can't consciously pay
attention to 60 inputs but if I had
something that was synthesizing those 60
inputs and giving it to me so it was
like this overall sense of you know
there's something you're not telling me
you're holding like 82% more tension in
your left shoulder you know like
whatever that's going to be but that as
somebody who's interviewed as many
people as I've interviewed I know how
you
that would be when people feel like you
can read their mind it is it's
unbelievable what that does yeah it can
be unnerving but it can also be like
whoa I feel really connected well I
think what it could do to an individual
who's trying to understand more abouts
so now you have something that's reading
something and giving you that feedback
so taking the Quantified Self movement
to its next Evolution so now you know
cuz there's a lot of things happening
subconsciously that we're not even aware
of unless we really tune into it that
could be powerful very true all right uh
there's a followup here on our current
discussion so this is from
Joshua uh durksen I believe these things
sound incredible but what are the moral
implications of taking Evolution into
our own hands I think we are too naive
about the side effects of brain implants
the question is should we go down this
road Joshua is a skeptic yeah so and
fair enough here's here's my answer to
that you can't stop it sure so um hope
hope is a one-way Street you're always
going to move towards hope and you know
a better future and all of that and
technology is merely hope that's it
technology is Hope and as long as it is
Hope and that you know people can take
an anti-st stance on brain implants
until their mother has Alzheimer's and I
come and say with this implant not only
can I stop her Alzheimer's I'll reverse
it and in 30 days she'll be exactly the
person you remember do you want me to do
it yes or no absolutely for sure yeah
right or your wife for your daughter
your son and then you say but you have
to also implant this thing so we can
track your data right right there's
going to be some sort of exchange and
then I'd have to do it because you got
to you got to do those things for the
people you love right so I I just think
that um that that is The Human Condition
and the only way to stop hope is a
Draconian future and and now let's
really get controversial I would rather
see us um destroy ourselves in the
Pursuit Of Hope then live these
horrifying 1984 Futures where you're not
even allowed to have certain thoughts
and it even flashes across your face
you're put in prison and you know I mean
it's it it I'm already terrified enough
with how much surveillance there is so
you know when I think about that stuff
that's where it gets freaky where we
become so afraid of each other and so
protective of sort of life at all costs
um that you know we're keeping people
who are literally saying kill me kill me
kill me alive on a ventilator just
because it's like you know the sanctity
of life so um I I think people need to
flourish um and if that means that we
have to take a certain amount of risk
I'm I am open to that and I think it's
good I don't make policy uh because I
don't know that I represent the majority
of what people think but just as my own
where I'm at that's where I'm at I don't
need anybody to adopt that that's where
I'm at there's a there's a dystopian
novel that's rather that's fairly new
called the circle that's now movie
that's coming out I heard about that
Emma Watson and yeah and Tom Hanks nice
and it's uh it touches on a lot of the
the sort of privacy surveillance issues
that I think we're going to be dealing
with very soon here in RDR um okay I
want to remind everyone on Facebook we
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good question and if Cindy were also
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love it cool uh this question is from
Laura defrain Laura good old Laura
defrain always ask questions great love
that what is the most powerful thing
you've learned about the brain that
changed your entire perspective on how
you interact with the world that the
brain is a liar now did you learn that
from in
Incognito can I reveal a secret yeah I
ne almost never remember like what book
I got any one piece of information um so
I don't remember okay I try to read in
like swarms so when I'm reading about
the brain I read a bunch of books about
the brain from a bunch of different
authors and so it all like starts to
like the ideas are there but like who
gave it to I don't remember and I do
feel bad cuz I know these guys pour
their heart and soul and I'm so grateful
and at least I could give them credit so
when I remember I do like he's the one
that gave me that notion of the brain
exists in total darkness total silence
and yet it creates this experience where
you're seeing things and hearing things
that was definitely him um so I don't
remember where I got this but uh
certainly um this is something that
David talks about which is the brain is
constructing reality and once I realized
that reality was being constructed that
it isn't objective and who oh uh we have
a guest that we looking at um getting on
the show and so I was watching one of
his talks and he went blind and he
talked about he said imagine the
Jumbotron at your local stadium and how
it's made up of all these pixels and he
said the disease that he has is where
those bulbs just start going out one at
a time and he said you get to the point
where at first it's just like kind of
hard to see and then he said after a
while your brain starts jumping around
and like At first it's um uh God what
was an example at first it's uh like a
giraffe and then no it's a forklift and
he was like you real like you're
actually seeing a giraffe and then
you're actually seeing a forklift and
he's like whoo then he realized my brain
is guessing and that really what we see
as objective reality is is an
individualized VR
experience okay drink that in for a
second living in a VR experience it's
amazingly consistent so you think it's
real and that is where people get [ __ ]
up because once it starts becoming like
your um beliefs and that person is
attacking me this bad thing happened to
me those are all lies they are all
guesses it's all made up and once you
realize that then you can decide you can
use a different filter so rather than oh
it's objective reality I have to believe
it objective reality doesn't exist I
could Phineas gagee Phineas gagee look
him up Amazing Story he drove a what's
called a tamping rod through his brain
shot up through his jaw so he was
working on the railroad back in 1892 or
whatever and they used like controlled
explosions with like gunpowder and
somebody put too much on one or
something and he hit it and it shot like
a 3-ft rod up through his jaw out the
top of his head he never lost
Consciousness wa crazy but it took like
what they say like a a teacup full of
brain
matter not the amount of brain matter I
would ever want to lose and they said
his personality changed in an instant
and he went from like this really nice
guy was really cordial really helpful
and that's how he CU he was one of the
like um managers on the railroad or
whatever he had like a pretty high
position and then he was just like a
jerk and nobody wanted to be around him
and they're like what on
Earth you change the structur of your
brain everything changes so my whole
thing is like once you realize that that
you are the sort of um the sum total of
your experiences your
hardwiring uh genetics
like that you can then take control of
that really put it on A New Path learn
different things believe different
things then you can get yourself going
in a much more useful Direction I find
that most people think well it's real
and therefore like I have to abide by
uh once you break out of that you really
start breaking out of the Matrix and
that was something that um to call back
to one of our first episodes Moran surf
talked in depth about was the ability to
um change that thinking change your
narrative by first changing your
memories by re reconstructing what
you've think of the past because already
it's a reconstruction already it's a
story you're telling yourself so why not
make it a good one yep David Eagleman
talked about that he said your memories
change and weird and wonderful ways cuz
every time you pull a memory forward
think about this for a second every time
you pull a memory to think about it
whatever you rewrite it just a little
bit when you put it back mhm and so
that's why your memories evolve and
change over time that's why people
conflate things um and they think oh I
remember my parents telling me that at
Disneyland or whatever and your parents
like we didn't tell you that at
Disneyland that was like your you know
seventh birthday party and you're like
no no no I can imagine it pely and then
they pull out a photo and they like this
remember and you're like whoa and it's
like very jarring and disconcerting and
so yeah understanding that about your
brain is critical and is it also that
you're bringing to Bear all of the
experiences you've had since that memory
like everything that's shaped you from
that time up until the current point
where you're drawing back for the memory
yeah I don't know if it's that holistic
but certainly the person that's doing
the rewriting is now that new version of
you that is that so you would shape it
in a different way than maybe you would
have shaped it 10 years ago and so like
basically it's you know kind of what
happens to a Hollywood screenplay when
eight different people have touched it
but in this case it's eight different
versions of yourself rewriting that same
memory over time at different is it
epics or
Epoch epics epic it's weird EPO CH so it
should be Epoch in my opinion um but
then I refuse to say texted that sounds
that sounds ridiculous to me even though
I know it's real uh so epics like it's
you know that version of you and those
different epics um rewriting it so it's
pretty interesting all right let's jump
over to Facebook again for another
question um let's see by the way W he
looks that up if anybody is here in la
oo uh Cindy maybe you'll know better I
don't know why you would but uh as the
voice of the community um I'm going to
be speaking tonight at the secret
Entourage event does anybody know can I
invite people to that um it's a bar it's
a bar right so so anybody should be able
to come um I'm going to pretend that
anybody can come if you're here in La
it's in Santa Monica uh we'll post the
details Cindy can we post details that
would be amazing um I'll be there at
7 7 p.m. tonight so this is for that
live audience 700 p.m. tonight come as
always whenever I speak barring any
weird thing with my schedule which
tonight I do not have other than I have
an episode tomorrow is the episode
tomorrow really
early
um
I don't think so so I'll stay and answer
questions until the last question is
answered so if that takes us till 2: in
the morning then till 2 in the morning I
shall stay um so come check it out uh
get any and all questions answered that
you want so details to come keep your
eye on Facebook uh for the wins and
Wares all right I'm going to actually
ask you one of my own questions nice so
uh David says that the way we create new
connections and expand our brain is
through new experiences so he was big on
that um how important is it for you that
you're putting yourself in new
situations and experiences I know you
read a lot but are there other ways you
seek novelty in order to create
connections you know it's interesting
not nearly enough I would say um and I
was rewatching the episode I was
thinking about that and I thought man
like do so the examples that he gives um
brushing your teeth with your left hand
driving home a different way um I've
done the left-handed brushing a lot um
driving home a different way I've done a
few times but now I mean now with ways
it's like I'm always just trying to take
the fastest way which can be different
it's also Los Angeles so yeah truth um
so that is I
think good but it gets way more
interesting when you start talking about
learning Samba or like something that's
really dramatic and really novel that
keeps your brain fresh and I don't do
enough of that um reading really is my
my answer to that with ideas in equal
ideas out um but it's sort of to the
side it's one of those amazing pieces of
advice that I'm not taking it would be
an interesting question to ask Tim
Ferris I think yeah that kid is always
doing super novel stuff trying different
things cool all right uh here's a
question from again Joshua durksen he
says perhaps we've always been heading
towards this hive mind experience do you
feel that this is a possibility in the
future uh what would it do I don't know
like when he says hive mind I think of
like literally coming together where
it's um so uh I think that humans
so I'm So speaking now from a western
perspective and I'm I'm at least aware
of it um I think that certainly from a
western standpoint we so Embrace
individuality and reject the notion of
being consumed by the The Hive as a
whole I don't see that and that with my
own Western perspective is so dystopian
for me um that I just can't see us
naturally coalescing around that like I
read a story once I do not remember
where in what book when but there was
this really fascinating thing where when
two people and this is I say this
because this is where I think we're
headed where when two people come
together that they could instantly
transfer like their entire universe of
knowledge feeling everything so that it
wasn't me like trying to articulate like
this is what I've been through and all
that like we would Jack in like they had
a way to to there was this thing like
tendrils or something that would come
and connect and then you would have an
instant brain melt and that always stuck
with me as like how amazing would that
be to like be so raw and open and
understood by that person that there is
no need to um spin or couch or anything
it's just boom it's there like they they
get it so you would really become the
sum total so it's like you may have done
things that are a bit ass holy at times
and I think we all have but like they
would feel in the sum total but I still
get who you are at like the core of your
being and that always fascinated me and
I think that would be interesting where
you don't have to be transparent if you
don't want to be but that if you wanted
to be you could be it so profoundly that
you could have these
truly amazing connections with people
cool
all right this question is from Chris
Barry do you think that the Insight that
our reality is constructed can be used
to increase emotional intelligence
specifically emotional
self-awareness I've never thought of it
as leading specifically to
self-awareness because I think it takes
self-awareness to really understand
that but it
becomes incredibly
usable and when you start thinking about
what you want to do like I will give you
that
one of the um this this gets complicated
I understand that but depression one of
the most important things you can do to
combat depression is to understand a
it's just neurochemistry and B learn to
pump different chemicals by choosing to
focus on something upbeat uplifting and
they've done studies on this what you
focus on will dramatically affect your
neurochemistry so look there are times
where the depression is just so
ingrained and so wired that this isn't
going to work but I think especially in
the early stages is you're sort of first
going down a depressive or um anxious
Road and this is how I've combed anxiety
in my own life like to focus on instead
of all the ways that it could go wrong
you start focusing on all the ways that
it could go right and just knowing that
the your brain is telling you a Lie by
focusing on the obsessively like this
could go badly this could go badly and
so okay well if my brain is going to
focus on a lie because it's just as big
of a you know sort of Lie to say it's
going to go right and obsessively focus
on that but I know that if I focus on on
the negative that my brain is going to
wire for that I'm going to get more and
more anxious the anxiety Then begins to
build towards a panic and so now you've
really got this problem over here or I
can focus hey it's going right and I'm
forcing myself to focus on it so it
feels super artificial but in doing that
in really focusing on that um then it's
like I feel empowered and I'm excited I
can't wait and so one of those is useful
and one of them is not and so that's
what you get out of really focusing on
the fact that you know you can choose
which of those to let your brain do
instead of just going like letting your
mind wander to the negative without
saying I don't have to do that like I
can force my mind over here yeah um if
there were one thing one takeaway from
this episode um that people could could
use and apply to their lives what do you
think it would
be um from this episode in particular I
mean there's really uh two things so and
we've talked about them both already but
one to be excited by the vastness of
what we don't understand
and what I want people to take away from
that is to remain open right always be
open so rather than and I remember
asking him the question
um he was interviewing a guy
named sad Guru sad Guru sad
Guru that have you seen that interview
no so visually it was so arresting
because sad Guru is he is like a
caricature he's like these big flowing
robes this huge white beard um if I
remember I think he's wearing a turban
but it was like he looks like a
stereotype of a guru like if you were
going to draw a guru for a cartoon you
would draw this guy so I was like a
neuroscientist with like the most Guru
look Guru ever um like this is going to
be weird it was so awesome and sod Guru
was amazing and I want to get him on the
show because he is unbelievably
interesting and I think has he is like
the definition of when I say like there
is clearly something I don't understand
okay so man when I say I'm not religious
but like there's something I don't know
what it is like I can't conceive of
infinite time I can't like if every
universe is like a soap bubble floating
in a froth what's the froth like there's
you can be as recursive as you want and
eventually you get to and there's
something I don't understand right so
just saying that it's uh oh there's more
Dimensions it's multi-dimensional okay
well what are those Dimensions sitting
in or who created those Dimensions or
what is time what what exists outside of
time like clearly we don't understand
something and this guy has the ability
to to go back and forth from like just
raw spirituality to science like he
could sit there with a scientist and not
be saying the scientists don't
understand what they're talking about
and David Eagleman was hyper capable of
talking to sad Guru and be like yes like
this is amazing thank you for that
insight and science doesn't know
everything so it was so so cool and so
it was two people that have an open mind
right they just want to better
understand this Human Experience and
there are things like um David Eagleman
has said many times like you want to
remove things from the sphere of
possibility you want to be able to say
like okay we can eliminate that it's
false path it doesn't make sense but
that you want to embrace that there's a
vastness of things that you just don't
yet understand and to to be open
and I felt the same from sad gurus that
that was just like when people are truly
open to that it's beautiful um and then
the other thing is your brain is lying
and we've gone into so much detail but
those like those are two incredibly
powerful tions awesome well I think
that's it for today no more questions
from our audience but uh just a reminder
everyone you can win the impact Theory
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web forever I think yes yeah indeed so
all right guys thank you so much for
joining us I had a lot of fun with this
episode I hope you guys have all seen
David Eagleman on the show it was so so
much fun his insights into the brain
just the way the human minds work is
unparalleled I've learned so much from
him uh it was really a lot of fun and I
think just the the mechanics of the
interview went very very well um and I
think the overall show was great so
hopefully you guys have seen it um this
is a weekly show so if you haven't
already be sure to subscribe and until
next time my friends be legendary take
care