Why Your Choices Aren't Really Yours
Summary
TLDRThis script delves into the fascinating concept of shaping behavior without conscious choice, exploring the idea that free will may be an illusion. It discusses neuroscientific evidence suggesting our actions are predetermined by brain activity, and consciousness is merely an afterthought. The speaker proposes that by understanding and manipulating these brain mechanisms, we can program ourselves to act more effectively. The video outlines several strategies, including leveraging the 'Readiness Potential', utilizing avoidance, performing postmortems on actions, and increasing 'Intentional Binding' through choices and predictions, to potentially improve behavior and success. It challenges the traditional notions of motivation and willpower, offering a fresh perspective on self-improvement.
Takeaways
- 🧠 The concept of free will may be an illusion, with decisions made by the brain before conscious awareness.
- 🔧 The idea of shaping behavior without personal choice by understanding and manipulating the brain's deterministic nature is explored.
- ⏱️ The 'Readiness potential' (RP) begins before a movement and is a neuroscientific indicator of the brain's pre-conscious decision-making process.
- 🕒 Research suggests that the brain can make decisions up to 10 seconds before we are consciously aware of them.
- 💡 Successful individuals often utilize subconscious mechanisms without realizing it, which can be observed in their behaviors and thought patterns.
- 🚫 Avoidance is a natural part of the brain's function; high performers channel it effectively, while low performers do not.
- 🛒 High performers tend to avoid future tasks by completing them promptly, whereas low performers procrastinate and avoid immediate action.
- 🤔 The act of making choices and predictions, rather than the outcome, is what reinforces behavior and increases 'intentional binding'.
- 🔮 Superstitions are a result of our brain's tendency to create associations between actions and outcomes, which can be harnessed for positive behaviors.
- 🔄 Taking time for transitions between actions allows the brain to build up the 'Readiness potential', making action more likely.
- 🤝 The combination of choice, prediction, and postmortem analysis of actions can shape behavior and improve performance.
Q & A
What is the core problem discussed in the script regarding human behavior?
-The core problem discussed is the discrepancy between what we think we should do and the choices we actually make, which often get in the way of achieving our goals, desires, and ambitions.
What does the script suggest about the concept of free will in decision-making?
-The script suggests that free will may be an illusion, as many neuroscientific theories propose that our actions are deterministic and decisions are calculations made by our neurons before we are consciously aware of them.
How does the script relate the concept of 'Readiness Potential' to successful behavior?
-The script relates 'Readiness Potential' (RP) to successful behavior by explaining that successful people tend to give themselves time to build up the RP, which is the neuroscientific correlate of 'working oneself up to an action'.
What is the significance of transitions between actions according to the script?
-Transitions between actions are significant because they are the moments when the brain decides what actions to take next. Successful people are said to focus on these transitions, while less successful people tend to focus on the actions themselves.
How does the script define 'avoidance' in the context of high and low performers?
-In the script, 'avoidance' is defined as a natural part of the brain's function. The difference between high and low performers is the direction in which they channel their avoidance — high performers tend to avoid negative outcomes in the future, while low performers avoid tasks in the present.
What role does 'superstition' play in shaping behavior according to the script?
-The script suggests that 'superstition' can be harnessed to shape behavior. Even though superstitions are known to be false, they are a part of human existence and can be used to reinforce positive behaviors through the brain's perceptual association between actions and outcomes.
How does the script connect the concept of 'postmortem' to the formation of superstitions and volition?
-The script connects 'postmortem' to the formation of superstitions and volition by explaining that spending time dwelling on an action and its outcome after it has been completed can reinforce the behavior, similar to how superstitions are formed.
What is 'intentional binding' and how does it relate to behavior reinforcement?
-Intentional binding is the concept where the timing between an action and its predicted outcome influences the likelihood of the action being repeated. It relates to behavior reinforcement by suggesting that making choices and predictions, rather than the outcome itself, increases the likelihood of repeating the behavior.
How does the script suggest we can program our brains to shape our behavior?
-The script suggests programming our brains by taking advantage of the 'Readiness Potential', harnessing avoidance, spending time in postmortems, and increasing intentional binding through making choices and predictions.
What are some practical steps the script recommends to improve one's behavior?
-The script recommends practical steps such as giving oneself time during transitions between actions, using avoidance to prevent future negative outcomes, conducting postmortems to monitor the outcomes of actions, and increasing intentional binding by considering choices and making predictions.
Outlines
🧠 Shaping Behavior and Free Will
The script introduces the concept of shaping one's behavior without personal involvement, challenging the idea of free will. It discusses how our choices may not be as free as we think, with actions being deterministic outcomes of neuronal calculations. The speaker proposes that by understanding and potentially altering these neural processes, we could program our brains to exhibit desired behaviors. The video promises to delve into neuroscientific research supporting the absence of free will and how successful individuals may unconsciously utilize these deterministic principles.
🧐 The Illusion of Free Will and Neuroscientific Evidence
This paragraph delves into the scientific research that suggests the absence of free will, referencing studies from 1983 and 2008 that indicate decisions are made by the brain before conscious awareness. The concept of 'Readiness potential' (RP) is introduced, which is a neuroscientific measure that precedes voluntary actions. The speaker suggests that successful individuals may be more adept at harnessing the RP to their advantage, whereas less successful individuals struggle with this aspect, often leading to procrastination and avoidance.
🕒 Harnessing the Power of Transitions and Avoidance
The speaker discusses the importance of transitions between actions and how successful people utilize the time to build up their 'Readiness potential' (RP). It's suggested that giving oneself time to mentally prepare for an action can increase the likelihood of performing it. Additionally, the paragraph explores the idea of using avoidance as a tool rather than trying to overcome it. High performers tend to avoid negative outcomes in the future, while low performers avoid less effectively, leading to different behavioral outcomes.
🎯 The Role of Superstition and Post-Action Reflection
The script examines the role of superstition in shaping behavior, despite the lack of scientific evidence supporting such beliefs. It suggests that the human brain forms associations between actions and outcomes, which can be harnessed to encourage positive behaviors. The paragraph also introduces the concept of post-action reflection, or 'postmortem,' as a way to reinforce actions. Successful individuals are more likely to engage in this reflection, which can lead to the strengthening of certain behaviors.
🔗 Intentional Binding and the Neuroscience of Behavior Reinforcement
This section explores the concept of 'intentional binding,' which is the brain's process of linking actions to outcomes. It discusses how the ability to choose among several possible actions increases intentional binding, regardless of the outcome. The speaker emphasizes that the act of making a choice and predicting outcomes, rather than the outcomes themselves, reinforces behavior. This concept is key to understanding how successful individuals may unconsciously reinforce their behaviors.
🤔 The Impact of Predictions and Choices on Behavior
The final paragraph focuses on how making predictions and considering choices can increase intentional binding and, in turn, reinforce behaviors. It challenges the traditional notion that only positive outcomes can reinforce actions. The speaker summarizes the research findings that suggest successful individuals often engage in behaviors that increase intentional binding, such as taking time to make choices and reflecting on outcomes, which can lead to more consistent and successful behavior patterns.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Free Will
💡Neuroscience
💡Readiness Potential (RP)
💡Avoidance
💡Superstition
💡Postmortem
💡Intentional Binding
💡Pavlovian Reinforcement
💡Behavioral Reinforcement
💡Volition
Highlights
The core issue is the gap between our ideas of what we should do and the choices we actually make.
Neuroscience suggests that free will may be an illusion, with actions being deterministic and choices pre-determined by neuronal calculations.
Successful individuals often unconsciously utilize neuroscientific mechanisms that shape their behavior, unlike those struggling with success.
Coaching can provide an external perspective to help individuals improve aspects of their life, such as motivation and goal achievement.
The concept of 'Readiness Potential' indicates that the decision to act occurs before conscious awareness, suggesting a lack of free will.
High performers tend to give themselves time to build up to an action, unlike low performers who have shorter transitions.
Avoidance is a natural part of the brain; the key is what one chooses to avoid, which differentiates high from low performers.
Successful people often use avoidance as a strategy to complete tasks promptly, to avoid future complications.
Superstitions, though irrational, can be harnessed to shape behavior by creating a strong association between actions and outcomes.
The brain's action selection, motor output, and monitoring mechanisms are essential for goal-directed behavior and can be influenced by superstition.
High performers spend more time in post-action reflection, or 'postmortems', which can reinforce behavior through increased intentional binding.
Intentional binding is increased by having choices, making predictions, and the act of choosing itself, not necessarily by the outcome.
The act of making a choice, regardless of the outcome, reinforces the behavior and can lead to repetition of that behavior.
Unsuccessful individuals often avoid making predictions and considering choices, which contrasts with the behavior of high performers.
The principles of intentional binding can be applied to behaviors like exercise to increase the likelihood of repetition.
The research on intentional binding suggests that considering choices and making predictions are key to reinforcing behavior, not just the outcome.
Transcripts
today we're going to talk about
something super cool how to shape your
behavior without involving
you so the core problem that we have is
that we have ideas of what we should do
but we keep on getting in the way so you
have certain goals you have certain
desires you have certain Ambitions but
the problem of choice enters the picture
right because you would rather do
something else and so the question is
can we remove you from the equation
because if we removed you from the
equation would you act in the right way
so this may sound kind of weird but if
we stop and sort of think about it a lot
of the problems that we have in life are
because of the choices we make so
there's like thing a that I should do
this is maybe study or work or work out
or eat healthy or something like that
and instead what happens is my mind or I
make a choice to do something else and
so a lot of our problems in life come
from the choices that we make and so if
we look at improving Our Lives can we
actually improve our lives by actually
removing ourselves from the
decisionmaking process and that may
sound like a weird goal to have but if
we look at some Modern theories of
Neuroscience basically a lot of
Neuroscience tells us that we don't have
free will that actions are deterministic
that the choices we make aren't real
choices but they're actually
calculations that are performed by our
neurons and if our neurons decide to do
something then we end up doing it that
Free Will is essentially an illusion so
I started thinking about this concept
quite a bit and started to realize okay
hold on a second if there is no Free
Will and everything is just neurons
making calculations can we change the
calculations that our neurons make can
we essentially program our brains in a
particular way to shape our Behavior
because there's no such thing as free
will there's no such thing as choice
which means everything is like levers
being pulled if I if I flick the light
switch on let's say the lights turn off
and if I hit another button the lights
turn back on can we basically do that in
our brain because that's what a lot of
neuroscientists claim so I started
looking into the research of the absence
of Free Will and what are the
neuroscientific mechanisms because
people must be making that conclusion
based on certain experiments we must
have learned certain things about the
brain and behavior
that allow us to conclude or hypothesize
that there's no such thing as free will
and if we understand the programming
inside the brain can we then utilize
that programming in the same way that we
can kind of program a computer to create
the correct actions so this is sort of
what I investigated and what I found was
absolutely fascinating because as I was
going through the literature and there's
a ton of it we'll share a couple papers
with y'all today but as I was going
through the the literature I started to
stumble upon realization so I work with
a lot of very successful people and I
also work with a lot of very
unsuccessful people and as I was looking
through this literature about
deterministic behavior from the brain I
started to realize that holy crap a lot
of my very successful clients patients
utilize these mechanisms and they don't
even realize it a lot of my very
unsuccessful clients and patients these
are people who are like degenerate
Gamers Failure to Launch even people who
are homeless do not utilize these
mechanisms and it was crazy how clear
this was because once I read it in the
literature I hadn't even realized that
my successful like my high performers
that I work with these are people like
CEOs like heads of billion dooll
companies content creators with millions
and millions of followers they all do
this stuff so today what we're going to
do is share those deterministic
principles and the crazy thing is that
this is not usually where we focus it's
not about motivation it's it's not about
convincing yourself it's not about logic
or anything like that they're actually
discret things that these people do that
aren't really things even we'll get to
it in a second I know it sounds kind of
weird that I see very commonly in people
who are very successful and we're going
to outline some of those principles for
you today when people hear that we offer
coaching at HG their first question is
like what on Earth even is that so
here's the basic problem when you
struggle with something in your life you
don't see the problem from the outside
you see it from the inside the value of
a coach is that they can look at your
life from the outside they can
understand what's going on and they can
help guide you to improve things like
motivation accomplish short-term goals
and even increase a sense of purpose in
life and over the long term we also see
improvements in feelings of depression
and anxiety and the best part is we've
had over 100,000 coaching sessions and
we incorporate that feedback to
continually improve our program so if
yall are interested in actually making a
change in your life check out the link
in the description below so just a quick
disclaimer that this is sort of a
combination of very basic science basic
science research and then also like
clinical experience and what I've tried
to do is tie the the two together so
let's start with this concept that there
is no such thing as free will so this
may sound kind of shocking but this is
actually an old idea so back in
1983 liet liet and colleagues made the
assertion that the conscious experience
of volition cannot trigger the
initiation of action it further suggests
that conscious volition is an
afterthought and not any part of the
action generating process at all so
people did a series of an experiments
and we'll show you what that is in 1983
and they basically concluded that the
the decision to act happens before any
conscious decision is made or any
awareness of a decision is made so that
the brain decides ahead of time what
you're going to do and then later your
Consciousness is thinks that it
basically makes a decision but this is
essentially an illusion of the mind so
what people were sort of looking at they
they were doing a uh this is a schematic
of liit findings and so this is um the
case of like some kind of motor movement
they were making and what they basically
noticed was that there's this thing
called a Readiness potential so like the
decision in your brain gets made between
one and two seconds before you act and
then they ask people okay like tell us
when you decide to move and the the the
decision to move was about 200
milliseconds before you move so
basically they ask people like okay
anytime you're going to like move your
hand just tell us when you've made the
decision tell us when you've decided to
move and so what happened is people
would decide okay like I'm going to move
now and that would happen about 200
milliseconds before they actually move
but what these this experiment showed is
that they could actually detect the
movement the decision to move about one
second before the actual movement and so
this is how they kind of concluded that
we can detect that your brain has made
the decision before you're even aware or
before you believe you've made the
decision now this isn't the only
experiment that has shown this this
experiment has been sort of carried out
in different ways so we'll sort of show
you all a more recent experiment I think
this is from 2008 or 2018 where soon at
Al concluded that the outcome of a
decision can be encoded in the brain
activity of prefrontal and prial cortex
up to 10 10 seconds before it enters
awareness so this is kind of crazy but
more recent research has shown that you
can detect this decision up to 10
seconds before someone thinks that they
made it so the experiment that soon did
was very interesting they just basically
said here's a lever and you can press
the lever with your right hand or your
left hand and then what they did is they
measured blood flow to different parts
of the brain so we have this thing
called the motor cortex which is like
how we move move our fingers and stuff
and so what they were able to do is
predict up to 10 seconds in advance they
would see blood flow go to a certain
part of the brain and they would be able
to predict which hand the person would
choose to push the lever with so they
could see that okay blood flow is going
to the right hand so this person is
going to make a choice that they're
going to press the the lever with the
right hand as opposed to the left hand
and they couldn't predict with 100%
accuracy but if you look at like what
should be the prediction it's basically
a coin flip right it's random whether
you pick right hand or left 10 they were
able to predict with about 60% accuracy
which hand someone would pick before
they even knew which one they were going
to pick and the key thing still remains
that if our brain works like this how
can we program ourselves so that our
neurons move in the right direction and
we can essentially remove free will or
Consciousness or motivation or any of
that crap from the equation so the key
takeaway here is that there does seem to
be some evidence that conscious decision
making is not actually what happens what
a lot of people believe what a lot of
neuroscientists believe is that your
brain makes a decision and the conscious
the the idea of Free Will is essentially
an illusion that happens afterward that
your brain sort of concocts some idea of
choice but the decision is already made
so we're going to start with the
original 1983 experiment and this idea
of something called a Readiness
potential or in the original German the
ber potential okay so this is super cool
so the ber potential or Readiness
potential okay is is this thing that
begins 1 second or more before the onset
of movement and continues to rise up
until just before the onset of muscle
contraction so what this basically means
is that there's this weird thing called
the Readiness potential which is sort of
subjectively I would kind of describe
this as working yourself up to the
action so if we look at people who are
very successful they are able to work
themselves up to the action whereas
people who are struggling with things
like procrastination and delaying things
and not doing the right things they have
difficulty working themselves up to it
so we have a subjective experience of
this and it turns out that there's a
neuroscientific correlate so the first
thing that we want to do is harness the
potential for our benefit and then you
may be wondering how the hell do we do
that and that's where it's cool because
people have figured that out so the more
that the the participant thinks about
the action the earlier and larger is the
RP longer interaction intervals were
were associated with earlier and larger
RPS suggesting that the time available
for the Preparatory buildup may have a
major influence on RP okay so what does
this mean in our brain we have this
thing called the bches potential or the
RP the RP determines whether we act or
not and so what we want to do is
increase the RP because the larger that
the RP is the more likely that we are to
act and this is what I've noticed about
successful versus unsuccessful people
the high performers are the ones who
give themselves a lot of time to work up
to something whereas people who are low
performers less successful have very
small transitions I'll give you all just
a very simple example so if you like
look at like I'm thinking about my life
when I was a degenerate I would bounce
from one form of procrastination to
another I would never sit still during
the day I did nothing all day but I
wasn't actually sitting with myself
right I'd play a game for 4 hours and
then I'd like be like okay this is crazy
it's been too long I'd hop in the shower
right it's hop it's not like move
mindfully and slowly and carefully into
the shower it's hop into the shower
order some food go pick it up jump into
a queue even the language that that we
use suggests that our transitions are
very small and if you pay attention to
your life what you'll find is that there
is a correlation between rapid
Transitions and doing the wrong thing
I'm dating this person and then I just
broke up and instead of spending time
with myself and learning how to be
healthy on my own I'm going to rebound
into another relationship so it's so
crazy that we sort of see this already
in our lives and when I work with people
people who are very successful what I
see is that they give themselves time
and this is going to be a key theme that
we're going to focus on today is that
successful people focus on the
transitions between action and a lot of
people who really struggle to do the
right thing focus on the actions
themselves and that's what's really
crazy is it seems like our brain really
decides the right things in between
actions so that's the first thing is
give yourself time very practically
spend a few minutes before you go from
one activity to another activity now
this may sound kind of weird because you
may be thinking what do I do in those
two minutes do I need to think a
particular thing we'll get to those
things but basically this is the crazy
thing is if the brain is deterministic
it's not clear to me that you need to
think any particular thing it's not like
there is a right way of thinking or a
wrong way of thinking it is simply
giving your brain the space to build its
RP and then let's see what happens so
we're now going to dive into something
super cool so if you look at a lot of
people who struggle to be successful or
be high performers they struggle with
avoidance right we do things like
procrastinate I don't want to do this
task this time you know I I I I'll take
care of it tomorrow we all know about
avoidance and procrastination and then
we had this stupid idea we had this idea
that oh my God what I need to do is
overcome avoidance right because then I
can be like these disciplined people who
are not avoiding tasks at all so it
turns out that this is wrong it turns
out that the reason that procrastination
is so uniform is because avoidance is
baked into our brain the difference
between High performers and low
performers is high performers utilize
their avoidance in One Direction and low
performers utilize their avoidance in
the wrong direction the big difference
is what is it that they're choosing to
avoid so someone who is a high performer
or very successful is much more likely
to avoid wanting to do something in the
future so the way that they literally
think is I have this task to do I don't
want this task hanging over my head over
the next week I don't want to have to do
take care of this tomorrow I want to
avoid waiting so this is key what
research shows us is that a huge part of
volition is the avoidance of waiting and
I want you to think think about things
that you've done where you haven't
procrastinated if you really stop and
pay attention sometimes it's passion
sometimes it's inspiration but a lot of
times it's just I don't want to deal
with this [ __ ] tomorrow so I might as
well take it off today take care of it
today right and this is the same idea
behind ripping a Band-Aid right off we
don't want to belabor this over a long
period of time that is extensive pain so
we just want to take care of it just get
it done I don't want to deal with with
it tomorrow and that's literally what
the science shows us that some people do
this so participants made volitional
actions as a means of avoiding random
and potentially long waits for stimulus
onset in a per perceptual
decision-making task so I want youall to
understand this the task isn't really
that important okay the key thing here
is that volitional actions are made as a
means of avoidance this is crazy right
we have have to really stop and think
about this this is not conquering
avoidance this is utilizing avoidance so
if we want to be more successful if we
want our performance to increase we
don't need to conquer avoidance we
actually need to channel it in the
opposite direction so spend a little bit
of time thinking about avoiding this in
the future ask yourself hey wouldn't it
be fantastic if I didn't have to worry
about this crap tomorrow this is a
question that I utilize a lot with my
coaching clients especially not the high
performing ones but the low performing
ones where I ask themselves what is the
world that you want to wake up in
tomorrow right this is a key key
question to ask yourself how do you want
to wake up tomorrow do you want to have
your your fridge stocked with food this
is something that I did a lot so when
when I when my wife and I first had kids
what I sort of noticed is that I had to
go to the grocery store like at 10:00 at
night I was exhausted I didn't want to
go I didn't feel like doing anything
except for playing video games or
falling asleep or whatever but the main
thing that got my ass to the grocery
store is when I wake up tomorrow morning
do I want to have nothing healthy and
nutritious to eat am I just going to
order am I going to go pick up breakfast
tacos which are delicious but are not
very good for me and so is even the
avoidance of the problems tomorrow that
actually got me to get my ass up and go
to the grocery store at 10 p.m. at night
this is something that high performers
do they're just as avoidant as you or me
the big difference is it is what they
choose to avoid so start to choose to
avoid different things and what you'll
find is that it is very easy for you to
do that because you're not trying to
conquer the circuit in your brain the
brain naturally wants to do it and we
want to move in line with that the next
thing we're going to talk about is
superstition and I love this so much
this is what I found so fascinating
about looking at these like research
studies on volition and action and human
choice so Superstition is Dum we all
know that superstitions are false we
have tons of scientific evidence that
show us that if you wear your lucky
scarve a sports team is not going to win
or lose right like we know we know this
this is something that we know 100% And
yet superstitions are a fact of human
existence and we have to understand why
right so what is going on why do human
beings believe in superstitions even
though we know scientifically that
they're false and it turns out that we
can harness this Superstition circuitry
which is actually a CO cognitive bias in
our favor so let's take a quick look at
the science moreover asking people
directly whether they are responsible
for an outcome is notoriously
problematic because of self-serving bias
people routinely report agency over
positive events but deny it over
negative events regardless of whether
they actually cause those events so this
is basically talking about Superstition
this amounts to an enhanced perceptual
association between action and outcome
which presumably highlights the
experience that one's actions cause the
outcomes duh right when I do thing a it
causes thing B so we're going to talk
about like why is Dr K talking about
this so let's understand this so the
goal here is to shape your behavior
right the goal here is to remove Free
Will from the equation so if I go to
someone who is superstitious about
wearing a particular scarf when their
favorite team is playing let's
understand what's going on there's a
particular outcome in the outside world
which then shapes their behavior and
then if I tell this person hey like help
me understand what the science of
wearing the scarf is the person is like
there is no science and then I'll say
okay fine bro so take it off and they're
like no never I will never take it off I
will no no no no and I'll tell me why
why I don't know I just won't do it so
let's just stop and think about this
this is not free will their [ __ ]
brain is telling them you cannot take
off the scarf and so this is the
beautiful thing about Superstition we
actually know the science through which
superstitions form it is a weird thing
in our brain where we observe a
particular outcome and then we kind of
track it back to a particular action and
the beautiful thing about this is if we
manipulate this Behavior we may be able
to induce the same not discipline the
same
stubbornness of a Superstition for
positive behaviors we can be very very
stubborn about our behaviors and our
behaviors feel very very automatic so
let's understand how to harness this
principle so that we can shape our
behaviors and be stubbornly attached to
something that we actually want to do so
let's take a look at that to produce
goal directed action the brain needs
three essential processes an action
selection mechanism to select an action
a motor output mechanism to execute the
action and the monitoring mechanism to
confirm that the goal has been achieved
now this is the last thing that really
focuses on Superstition so if you if you
look at how a Superstition is formed
after an event happens what people
usually do is a postmortem so one day
I'm wearing a scarf and my team wins and
I don't really think about it the next
time my team plays they lose and then I
spend a lot of time thinking about it
I'm like oh my God they lost oh my oh I
didn't wear my scarf that's why they
lost it's not about the particular
conclusion and this is what I've seen
from my high performers is they spend a
lot of time after an action is completed
doing a postmortem what went wrong with
this relationship how did I screw up
this presentation what do I need to do
to better do perform better in an
interview they spend a lot of time after
the action is complete monitoring and
thinking about the outcome of the action
and what we know from research on
Superstition and volition is that the
more more time we spend dwelling on
something the more likely we are to
re-engage in some kind of action so this
is where very practically what we want
to do is spend time doing a postmortem
and I encourage you all to think about
the times in your life when you screw up
and we may dwell on things in a very
negative way but if you're like me we we
don't really dwell on it's so hard to
describe but we don't really do a
postmortem right we don't really think
about things in a very logical way or
what we tend to do is actually avoid it
so anytime that I would take a test for
example and the test did not go as well
as I wanted I was so frustrated that I
would jump immediately into something
else if you break up with someone and
there's a very very bad breakup let's
get drunk and have a rebound we don't
spend any time doing a postmortem and
what we literally do when I work with
people who are low performers or less
successful what I force them to do in my
office is a postmortem let's
unemotionally look at the situation
let's not jump into a reflexive behavior
let's just spend some time monitoring
the outcome of our actions and what I
tend to find is there's two camps of
people one person who just jumps right
into the next thing once again really
short transition and other people spend
time doing a postmortem so you should
absolutely do that now a lot of people
may be wondering but what is the right
way to do a postmortem and that's the
crazy thing there isn't a right way or
wrong way I mean I guess the right way
is to really think about it as logic as
you can but the research actually shows
that it isn't a particular kind of
postmortem that leads to positive
reinforcement in Behavior it is just the
fact that you do a postmortem and this
is kind of where we tap into this idea
that your neurons are making their
calculations we just need to give them
the space to make the calculations the
last thing that we're going to talk
about is intentional binding so anytime
we take an action there's a particular
outcome and we think that depending on
the outcome the action is reinforced or
not reinforced but now we understand
through this concept of intentional
binding that there are certain things
that you can do to encourage the repeat
of the action so if I go to workout
today so I know this sounds kind of
weird but let's say that there are two
people one both of them go to the gym
for the first time now for one person
this is the first and the last time that
they go to the gym for this year but for
the second person this is the first of
100 times that they go to the gym this
year but at the end of that first day at
the gym both of these people are equal
right but something changes between
these two people one person doesn't ever
go again and the second person decides
okay this is great I'm going to go again
and again but they don't actually decide
that's the whole point there's no free
will there's no decision something
happens in their brain that causes them
to go again and again and again and this
is the concept of intentional binding
the more that we increase our
intentional binding the more that we
will actually repeat behaviors so now
we're going to look at the Neuroscience
of how to increase intentional binding
and the crazy thing is that we all have
these ideas of pavlovian reinforcement
we have all these ideas that the first
person who went to the gym has a
negative experience therefore this is
not rewarded therefore they don't go
again and the first the second person
has some kind of reward that increases
the action this is the crazy thing right
so when we think that we think okay when
I act I need the right reward to
re-engage the behavior dopamine all this
other crap turns out that isn't the case
several studies confirm that the ability
to choose among several possible actions
increases intentional binding so what
does this mean the first thing that
increases intentional and binding is
having lots of choices that's number one
second thing is that interestingly this
effect of free choice was found both
when all possible actions led to the
same outcome and when they led to
different outcomes so we're going to
stop for a second and really digest what
this means because this is very
different so what this research suggests
is that the outcome actually doesn't
matter if I give someone all the same
choices let's say I give them a choice
of do you want this piece of cake this
piece of cake or this piece of cake and
the cakes are all the same we tend to
think that it is the size of the cake
that determines my decision and if there
are all equal outcomes then
there should be no reinforcement but
what the research on intentional binding
shows us is that making a choice
reinforces the behavior it's not even
the outcome of the choice it is the fact
that you stop and make a choice this is
absolutely true for high performers
versus low performers High performers
stop between actions and consider all of
their choices low performers jump from
one thing to another they don't consider
all the options they're just I feel like
doing this so I'm going to do this they
actually try to avoid thinking about all
of the choices and what the research in
intentional binding shows us is that
simply pausing reflecting and selecting
something increases the likelihood of
the behavior so let's apply this to
something like exercise rushing to the
gym is unlikely to result in a repeat of
going to the gym sitting down for 5
minutes and asking yourself okay I want
to exercise today what are my options if
you go through this cognitive exercise
that cognitive exercise is sufficient to
increase your intentional binding and
make you more likely to go to the gym in
the future so let's look at one other
aspect of intentional binding in another
study uh compared conditions in which
the same action choices either did or
did not predict action outcomes
intentional binding was stronger in the
form mer than in the latter case there
is a element of Behavioral reinforcement
based on outcomes when we go to the gym
if you have a good experience you're
more likely to go again that's
absolutely true the key thing about
intentional binding is that that's not
the only thing involved right which kind
of makes sense because if we sort of
think about it we'll sometimes do things
in life where we do have a positive
outcome I went to the gym and I felt
great and yet we don't go again the next
day so what's missing why why not if
there is that pavlovian reinforcement
that is not sufficient to shape your
behavior so this is where intentional
binding comes into play so making uh
choosing between a lot of options is the
other thing that increases intentional
binding and there's a third thing which
is making a prediction it doesn't matter
what the prediction is but in that
process of making a choice if you stop
and predict the outcomes that process of
making a prediction whether that
prediction is right or wrong seems to
increase intentional binding so once
again what I see between High performers
and low performers is low performers
tend to not really think too much about
the consequences of their actions in
fact if you're like me you avoid making
predictions you try very hard to not
think about what the consequences of
your actions are because you know
they're going to be bad and if you know
they're going to be bad why doesn't your
brain avoid them it's because we're
missing this per this section of
prediction so anytime we make a
prediction about the outcome if I do
this what will happen tomorrow literally
that cognitive
exercise increases intentional binding
so let's take a quick look at one last
bit of research so interestingly doostan
colleagues did not find Reliable
differences in intentional bindings
between rewarded and unrewarded actions
so this is the point that I made earlier
this is very interesting right so
whether the action turns out good or not
does not affect intentional binding the
most important things is considering all
of your choices and making predictions
those are the two things that actually
correlate with an increase in Behavior
now I realize I've made a lot of weird
contradictory statements so I said on
the one hand the reward doesn't matter
the outcome doesn't matter on the other
hand there is pavlovian conditioning so
like what's the deal here Dr K how the
[ __ ] does this work so what I'm pointing
out to y'all is that if we look at
people who are successful or
unsuccessful what's the difference so
what we tend to find is that successful
people it's not the outcome itself which
there may be some degree of
reinforcement and remember that
sometimes studies can have conflicting
uh findings right so how can we make
sense of this so this is what I've
observed when people are very successful
they utilize these principles of
intentional binding without even
realizing it they pause and they think
through things before they act they make
intentional predictions they stop and
think about what the consequences of
their actions are going to be whereas
unsuccessful people don't do that right
what they actually try doing is avoiding
predictions and if we look at this study
and we say that hold on a second the
study is telling us that the important
thing to reinforce behavior is not the
outcome it is the prediction does that
track with your experience does that
track with what I have seen in my office
absolutely because sometimes things go
well for people who who are lazy but
they don't change their behavior and
sometimes things go poorly for people
who are highly successful but they keep
trying so if we stop and think about it
it's not the outcome that is significant
and alone the only thing that reinforces
the behavior there are other factors at
play and it turns out that the research
on intentional binding tells us what
those are and it tracks perfectly some
people make predictions some people make
intentional choices some people follow
whatever the [ __ ] they feel like doing
and try to avoid thinking about the
consequences of their actions and those
are the things that correlate with
success or failure so just to summarize
there's this idea that our behavior is
deterministic there's no choice you
don't get to decide what you do your
brain makes a decision up to 10 seconds
before you even realize it and I also
see this in my patients who have
addictions when I really tunnel down and
I talk to them they know they've made
the decision to relapse before they
consciously make the decision to relapse
their brain is decided for them so does
that mean you're [ __ ] does that mean
you can't control your life at all well
let's see if we can actually program
ourselves in the right way which gets
into some weird Paradox of is this
actually free will or is this
programming is it possible that simply
watching this video has planted a seed
in your mind and that your B potential
is starting already to move in the right
way I don't know we don't have a final
answer but let's hope so there are a
couple of principles which you can
absolutely engage in which will
correlate with improved behaviors the
first is take advantage of
theti which is give yourself time in
transitions the second thing that we
want to do is harness avoidance instead
of conquer it avoid the weight avoid
dealing with it tomorrow try to save
yourself the trouble of dealing with
this crap and just get it done right
like a Band-Aid one movement take it
right off this is what successful people
do the third thing that we really want
to focus on is a monitoring mechanism
for the outcome of our actions the more
time we spend doing a postmortem the
more these
illogical and controlling superstitious
circuits in our brain will activate the
easier it will be to act in a stupid way
in the future so we have to be a little
bit careful there because if you don't
do the postmortem in the right way you
can sort of arrive at the wrong
conclusions but we absolutely do know
that spending more time is better than
spending less time the last thing that
we want to consider is this concept of
intentional binding where if you
consider your choices and make a
prediction the these two things will
reinforce the behavior it is not the
outcome itself so a lot of people will
wonder oh why should I bother doing this
this didn't work this didn't work this
didn't work how do I keep going how do I
keep going how do I motivate myself and
it turns out that the what you need to
do is just have lots of choices and make
predictions and those will increase your
intentional binding so I hope this has
been helpful to you'all I know it's kind
of weird but let's just stop and think
for a second if there's no such thing as
free will we should be able to program
our brains and what I really want youall
to do is try this stuff right maybe it's
not even your choice anymore so go ahead
and implement it do as much of this as
you can and report back
[Music]
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