Your Brain isn’t a Computer…

Now I love me computers… but are our brains like a computer? Eh… not so much!

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Transcript
Jonathan Stewart:

When talking about productivity and organization, a common analogy used is our brain is like a computer. This is based on a particular form of science that says that our brains have an input. So things come in. we capture our ideas. So we capture it. We process it and then do some magical stuff with it. And then it comes out.

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It's an output. It goes in, we do stuff. We store it in our memory or we put it somewhere so we can remember, and then we push it out and it's done. But as our brains fill up, we run out of RAM and space in our brain slash hard drive. But the problem is the idea that our brain is a computer is overly simplified. It's not quite like that, although there is some truthiness to it and there are some examples where it might seem like it. It doesn't hold all of the possibilities and it doesn't talk about the possible. Other alternatives. It's the kind of thing that they talk about in productivity or the time. You just store your tasks, write your tasks down, do your tasks, do your things. You store an X amount of things in your head. But. It's not quite enough now, do we know how the brain works? No, not fully, which is why I've not said it's completely not true but for me, this doesn't seem to fit that analogy is not quite enough. There is so much more nuance to this conversation. A little nerdy fact for you years and years before computers exist, there were multiple different things that our brain was compared to going back a fair ways. It was first documented in the Bible that the brain was dirt and clay and some form of being be it soul. was put in there. Then we moved to the third century where we figured out how to collect store and transport and use water. So our brains, and also how we functioned was compared to the movement of water, such as things like water pumps, which believe it or not last for 1,600 years. Holding us back quite considerably. We also had other comparisons with the creation of self operating machines in the 15th and 16 hundreds alongside lots of other wonderful and fascinating comparisons, including a Telegraph I'm. Going back to this now. A computer. To summarize a brain was compared to the latest modern advancement at the time. We really don't actually understand what our brain can do, but comparing it to a computer. Is oversimplified. The thing that excites me most about this is that it opens up opportunities to rethink what our brain actually is and how it can support us. When you see science in the business world. It's often based on research that it's at best is over-simplified or worse. Completely debunked. When I'm trying to figure new things out, I look. Into sports psychology. Because, although there are still some issues I do enjoy being on the cutting edge and realizing things are nowhere near, as simple as people in the business world commonly make it out to be. And that is delightfully freeing. We are bombarded by science advice that has been grossly simplified. Don't take everything you hear on face value. I believe that starting from you allows you to figure out how you work. As there is still a lot. We still don't know. And starting from you it's a good place to begin. Don't want to go it alone, reach out to me at simplicity. Dash specialist.com. Ford slash s f y

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