The Weekly Circle #31
Welcome to the thirty-first episode of The Weekly Circle! A free Circles in Time newsletter released every Sunday.
Hey everybody,
I went for a hike in the mountains above my house this morning.
I had water with me, but the temperature was hotter than expected, and the streams were all dry. I should’ve known better. As a result of my lackadaisical planning, I ended up dehydrated.
Dry mouthed, and with a light daze, I entered the cafe at the trail's exit point.
I scanned the space and, with a mask-induced murmur and clumsy pointing of my right index finger, communicated to the shop teller that I was interested in acquiring one of their finest bottles of ice-cold water.
A sudden spurt in energy got me through the choreographed payment dance, accompanied by the adaptable teller, who probably saw the urgency of the task in my mannerisms.
The bottle of water was mine!
I could feel the cool condensation underneath my palm and fingers as I moved swiftly to a quiet, shade-covered bench. Once there, I proceeded to open the bottle and move its icy-cold goodness toward my lips, anticipating that Coca Cola-iconised ‘ahhhhh’-response, which seems to have become a universal sign of refreshment.
And then, at that moment, something extraordinary happened.
As the bottle of liquid gold closed-in on its docking station, a memory popped into my mind. A clear memory. A strong memory. Not like the ones that swim past in the background, easily ignorable. This memory appeared on the frontstage in my theatre of mind.
Is was the memory of something I had learnt from the neuroscientist Lisa Feldman-Barrett. Don’t ask me where I learnt it. I have no idea. I just remember the observation being explained by her.
What I remembered her explaining was a set of situations we all have access to. These situations are unique in that they provide an opportunity to experience how our brains actually work, according to the latest research findings from cognitive psychology and neuroscience.
The key take out from this research is that the brain works as a predictive processing system rather than an information retrieval and compression system.
The idea here is that we actively and continuously construct our world (visual representations, emotions, sensations, meaning, etc.) rather than passively receiving it.
Sensory information doesn’t provide us with a window opening onto the world. Rather it simply provides the brain with feedback on where it has gone wrong (where prediction errors have been made).
This model of the mind is counter-intuitive and can be quite tricky to grasp. This is largely because our brains do so much work to make it feel like we are receiving the world (as if we were looking at the world), when in fact, the reality is quite the opposite.
There are, however, situations in which we have the opportunity to see behind the curtain. To observe the mechanics of the magic trick in action, rather than just theorizing about it.
With the icy cold water about to hit my dry, dehydrated lips, I had found myself in one such situation. A situation in which I had the opportunity to experience the predictive brain in action.
With the memory recalled, contemplated and top of mind, I took a sip.
The cold water moved into my mouth, down through my throat and into my stomach. I felt an almost immediate wave of relief. My heart rate and breathing slowed, and my tense muscles relaxed. A smile came over my face, and a sense of gratitude arose, leaving me feeling happy and content.
Within the snap of two fingers, a transformation in my physiological and psychological state had occurred.
And all the while, I had Lisa Feldman-Barrett’s observation in mind.
The observation that at that very moment that the sip of water had occurred, I was still dehydrated. Osmosis, the process by which water is diffused into our blood, is a fast-acting process, but not that fast.
What I felt was not the resolving of my dehydration but rather a constructed representation generated by my brain’s prediction that I would be hydrated very shortly. The first sip was a placebo-induced expectation of how I ought to feel, rather than the direct experience of hydration itself.
Conceptually I have known for a while that this is what our brains are up to, but very rarely have I had the chance to watch the process so vividly in action.
What peculiar and wonderful creatures we all are.
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WISE WORDS
THE QUOTES I CIRCLED AROUND THIS WEEK
“The idea that the future is unpredictable is undermined every day by the ease with which the past is explained.” ~ Daniel Kahneman
“The greatest personal limitation is to be found not in the things you want to do and can’t, but in the things you’ve never considered doing.” ~ Richard Bandler
“In an age of permissionless leverage, judgement, not work, determines success and failure. Good judgement is the product of a calm and curious mind, reasoning without motivation and attachment. Whatever strengthens your ego weakens your judgement, and ultimately, your success.” ~ Naval Ravikant
SOMETHING TO PART WITH
Until next week,
Take care,
David
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