A while back I went to a talk about our brain and how we learn about people and the world around us. These are some of the points I found to be quite interesting so I thought I would share them as food for thought.
- A study on learning and motivation shows our brain wires associations with people who are curious and/or those that boss us around from the first interaction we have with them. When we see the person later, those same parts of our brain fire remembering fear or comfort, even when the person acts the opposite way from our first interaction.
- Fear destroys the capacity to learn. Studies have show that when people are in situations or relationships that evoke fear, the capacity to learn is significantly depleted and diminished.
- The brain is hyper alert to control and status and scans for cues related to hierarchy. This is another remnant of our reptilian brain (Note: the reptilian brain is the ancient, survival oriented part of the human brain).
- Humans are very literal ~ For example a study showed that we feel warmer towards someone who gives us a warm drink more so than someone who gives us a cold drink.
Our brains are wired to think certain ways yet at the same time we do have the power to change the way we think with the practice of using different parts of our brain. For example doing things that require both our right and left brain can help is be more aware. Things like writing poetry, doing art and practicing meditation and mindfulness practices can help us un-wire old ways of thinking that no longer work.