What Makes Your Brain Happy — and Why You Should Do the Opposite
Curiosity Weekly
Warner Bros. Discovery
4.6 • 935 Ratings
🗓️ 24 April 2018
⏱️ 39 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
What your brain wants and what your brain needs aren't always the same. In fact, the shortcuts our brains take can lead to biases and distortions that make us our own worst enemy. Science writer David DiSalvo, author of "What Makes Your Brain Happy and Why You Should Do the Opposite," discusses our brain's shortcomings and how we can identify and conquer them.
Additional resources from David DiSalvo:
- "What Makes Your Brain Happy and Why You Should Do the Opposite"
- "Brain Changer: How Harnessing Your Brain's Power to Adapt Can Change Your Life"
- "The Brain in Your Kitchen: A Collection of Essays on How What We Buy, Eat, and Experience Affects Our Brains"
- David DiSalvo's website
- David DiSalvo on Twitter @Neuronarrative
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | I'm curious, why is it importance to not listen to our brain sometimes? |
| 0:04.3 | It's a bit of a paradox, right? Everything we do requires us to rely on our brains, obviously. |
| 0:10.8 | But at the same time, this same incredible organ that is the embodiment of all these amazing abilities also embodies this set of biases and thinking distortions and really frankly delusions that can lead us |
| 0:27.2 | astray and frequently do. So we have to always balance between our reliance on the amazing capabilities of our brains while |
| 0:35.7 | also acknowledging that there's these tremendous drawbacks. Hi, I'm Cody Gough with the amazingly capable Curiosity.com. |
| 0:51.0 | And I'm Ashley Hamer. |
| 0:52.0 | Today we're going to learn about the shortcuts our brains take and what we can do about them. |
| 0:56.0 | Every week we explore what we don't know because curiosity makes you smarter. |
| 0:59.0 | This is the Curiosity Podcast. |
| 1:02.0 | The human brain is a double-edged sword. |
| 1:05.0 | The same parts of our brain that let us learn, love, and achieve |
| 1:08.0 | can also make us compulsive, impulsive, and addicted. |
| 1:11.0 | And the energy that fuels drive and passion |
| 1:14.0 | is the same energy that fuels impulsiveness and rage. |
| 1:17.2 | So how do we control it? |
| 1:18.4 | David DeSalvo is the author of, |
| 1:20.2 | what makes your brain happy and why you should do the opposite. |
| 1:23.4 | And he just released an updated 2018 edition |
| 1:25.8 | with new research about how our brains respond to rewards |
| 1:28.8 | designed to address the age of the smartphone. |
| 1:31.0 | Today, we'll learn how to be aware of our brain's biases and how to overcome them. |
| 1:35.6 | Your book is called What Makes Your Brain Happy and Why You Should Do The Opposite. |
... |
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