Feel First Think Second: Is Our Brain Really Cut Out For The Modern World? : Big Think

Feel first, think second: is the brain really cut out for the modern world?
, with Paul Bloom, Dan Ariely, Daniel Dennett and more
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The brain's job is not to pass a math test, get a promotion at work, or win a Nobel Prize. The brain's only job is to make sure we survive today, and that we live to see another. The brain' system worked well for when humanity's only job was to hunt for food and fight for survival. But enter into the modern-day, the brain is not working so well as we have to rationalize problems like genetically modified foods and climate change.

This is something we have to accept about the minds and better understand how the brain works in order to better avoid pitfalls in the future. In the coming years, because of modern technology, we will be able to better identify weaknesses in the rationality and thought patterns. Once we flag these weaknesses, we can make changes to the thinking patterns so that the brains have the tools to make more rational decision-makers.

So, how do we start thinking more rationally in the 21st century? Experts tell that we will have to think from an outsider's perspective. To better adapt the fight or flight brains to the modern-day, we will have to step outside of the emotions, reframe the thoughts, and see things from a new perspective.

Read the video transcript: bigthink.com/videos/rational-thinking

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Chapters:
0:00 David Ropeik - Is the brain equipped for modern day thinking?
0:51 Daniel Dennett - Can rationality be avoided by future thinking tools?
1:33 Dan Ariely - Looking from an outsider's perspective
2:53 Julia Galef - Rationality in careers and relationships
3:12 David Ropeik - The brain chemistry on why we act from emotions
4:22 Julia Galef - Bayes’ Rule
4:51 Daniel Dennett - Blind spots in the own thinking
6:17 Paul Bloom - Are we prisoners of the emotions?

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Read more of the stories on rational thinking:
Extending Descartes to Embody The Social Rational Souls
►► bigthink.com/life/extending-descartes-to-embody-our-social-thinking-souls/
Why do smart people do dumb things?
►► bigthink.com/neuropsych/why-do-smart-people-do-dumb-things/
Creativity is the subconscious mind combined with intuition and rationality
►► bigthink.com/videos/scott-barry-kaufman-on-intuition-and-rationality/

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