Mind Over Matter: Navigating Ideological Polarity with Neural Plasticity
Are you ready to reshape your mind and challenge your deepest beliefs? In this episode, we embark on a journey into the realm of neural plasticity, unraveling the repercussions of ideological divide, and offering actionable insights on fostering a mind ripe with openness and curiosity. Because merely transforming our own perspectives is not enough, we’ll also traverse the pathway of personal evolution, revealing how we can spark a ripple of flexibility in those around us.
Listen in as I explore the phenomenon of hyper-identification with certain ideas, ideologies, or worldviews, and the negative effects that come along with this polarity. From conflict, echo chambers, weakened social cohesion, and poor decision-making, to personal fragmentation, isolation, and emotional distance, I’ll shed light on how this lack of openness impacts both individuals and societies. I’ll also discuss the concept of ‘neural plasticity,’ and explore how our brains are not static, but continually change and adapt throughout our lives, how the brain processes information, and how we can leverage this understanding to change how our brain predicts the future – and ultimately, how we act.
And as with everything I share on the podcast, this is what I believe based on what I’ve read and researched. But please don’t take my word for it. Keep what sticks, discard the rest and for goodness sakes, go out and test drive it!
What You’ll Learn In Today’s Episode:
The importance of seeking out diverse viewpoints.
How to critically evaluate our own thoughts and beliefs.
How to overcome confirmation bias and actively seek contradiction.
How to embrace the possibility for beliefs to evolve over time.
How to inspire others to change their perspectives.
What Was Mentioned:
Seven And A Half Lessons About The Brain by Lisa Feldman Barrett
Ideas Worth Sharing:
“It is so easy to overlook the personal costs when we become emotionally identified with a position.” – Christina Sestan
“How we think creates our experience of life. And we can change how we think at any time.” – Christina Sestan
“We can’t change our past, but we can change how our brain will predict the future leading to different outcomes.” – Christina Sestan
“Our failure as a culture to keep pace with scientific discoveries is, of course, not uncommon.” – Christina Sestana
“People in the West feel more comfortable with the idea that our emotions and rationale are distinct and separate because that allows for the illusion of control.” – Christina Sestan
“The brain is a network, and the network is always on.” – Christina Sestan
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Speaker 1 0:01
Hey, it's Christina. Thanks for joining us. And welcome to the Squeeze. We can't change our past, but we can change how our brain will predict the future, leading to different outcomes, we When was the last time you had a change of heart about something? I'm talking about a time when you thought one way about something or someone, and then suddenly your perspective changed. For years I thought sushi was the dumbest idea going. I'm not kidding. People waxed on and on about how great sushi was, and where the best sushi could be found, and frankly, I wasn't buying it. The whole sushi phenomenon gave me that same kind of feeling that I get when my spouse watches golf on TV, like he's just pretending to enjoy it, because honestly, I mean, really, it's golf on TV, which kind of reminds me of a joke. So, I'll just digress for a second here. If I ever found out that I had only one day left to live, you know what I'd do? I'd spend it watching golf on TV, because, well, then it would feel like an eternity. Insert laugh track. Okay, so I used to tell people that there was a sushi conspiracy, and that anyone who ate at a sushi restaurant was forced at knife point, because don't they use really sharp knives in sushi restaurants, to sign something that made them swear to tell anyone and everyone they met that they loved sushi. Clearly, I was not a fan. And then I was. I made a lot of fuss my first time eating sushi. I don't like the taste of the seaweed. Wasabi burns my nose. Just give me a California roll. But sitting there in that Japanese restaurant, for the first time, something else was happening, the ambiance, the decor, the vibe. Beautiful little pink paper flowers draped from wooden lattice strung across the ceiling. Wooden booths with Japanese tapestries hung between for privacy. Delicate ceramic pots and bowls holding sauces and soups, tiny pottery bottles, and thimble-sized cups for sake, stone stands to rest chopsticks on, bottomless teapots filled with green tea. The whole vibe just captivated me. And while I didn't quite leave the restaurant, declaring my undying love for sushi that day, my prior position had evaporated entirely, replaced with something different, and now all these years later, sushi is part of my regular restaurant rotation. Go figure. What does it take for our brain to change like that? And more importantly, how can we leverage our understanding of the mechanics of change in relationships, and that's what this podcast is about, changing our minds, or at the very least, being more open every day. I see more and more examples of hyper identification with certain ideas, ideologies, or worldviews, and less and less curiosity and openness to contrasting viewpoints that challenge those beliefs. I'm talking about polarity, division, opposition. You're either here or there, pro or con, with us or against us. And while it's probably already quite apparent, when society becomes more polarized, we tend to see more conflict, less trust, more echo chambers. We have a weakening of our social cohesion, political gridlock, and poor decision making, and that's to say nothing of the psychological impact on our relationships, because in the absence of curiosity or tolerance for diverse perspectives, people tend to become more fragmented, isolated, emotionally distant polarity tends to give rise to stereotyping, dehumanization, and othering, to say nothing of a lack of shared goals or vision. There's a pedestrian bridge that I drive under quite frequently that often has people standing above traffic, waving Canadian flags, and I know that if later on I reference those flag wavers to my friends, I'm going to hear some very fast opinions about it all. In the midst of the zeitgeist of woke culture, the zealousness with which people hold their positions can be fierce. People just seem generally more comfortable saying what they think, and that produces an equal and opposite reaction on more than a handful of occasions, I've heard people say that they're holding their cards closer to their chests, not really saying anything, because they want to avoid any anticipated vitriol that may accompany those divergent positions, look, beliefs in and. Themselves are not the problem when it comes to navigating life.
Speaker 1 5:03
We need to explore the big issues that we face and enter into a kind of ongoing discourse with ourselves to determine what we think. That's just part of effective adulting, where we get into trouble is when we become emotionally identified with our position, in effect seeing ourselves and our belief or position as interchangeable, and this is particularly easy to do if we've been hurt in the past. Imagine being negatively impacted by a governmental policy that had detrimental impact on your financial stability. The personal and emotional toll could easily lead you to be deeply critical of the political party or ideology associated with the policy. In any kind of political discussion, you likely hold a staunch position and firmly oppose alternate viewpoints. This prevents you from being able to engage in constructive discussion, thus limiting your influence to actually affect the positive changes that you so desire. Your overriding need to expose the injustice is probably straining your relationships, and you've inadvertently taught people not to bring up politics around you for fear of your emotional diatribes, and as a result, you're feeling a lot of emotional distress from simply not feeling listened to or validated, or imagine being negatively impacted by gender discrimination and inequality. You faced unequal treatment, and you've had opportunities limited based on your gender. As a result, you've developed a fervent commitment to advocating for equal rights and promoting inclusivity, but you may have unconsciously slipped into an us versus them mentality that creates sharp divisions, which limit your exposure to different approaches or levels of awareness about gender inequality. Your overall understanding of the broader social context and potential solutions could be limited, leading to a lack of nuance in your analysis of the situation, and chances are good you're emotionally exhausted from the continuous effort of confronting bias and pushing for change. It is so easy to overlook the personal costs when we become emotionally identified with a position, we tell ourselves we just want to protect others from facing similar hardship, but instead we may end up internalizing that injustice. Florida seems to be a state determined to internalize the very injustice it seems intent on destroying. It has become a lightning rod for anti-wokeness, with its policies and political climate serving as a rallying point for those opposed to what they perceive as excessive political correctness and social justice extremism. Governor Ron DeSantis appears to be sowing the seeds for a state that only contains people who think the same way. Think about that possibility for a moment, because what the governor is actually promoting is more conflict, less trust, and a general weakening of overall social cohesion. Gosh, that sounds fun. Where do we sign up? But never mind the state level, when you consider hyper identification with ideologies or worldviews more locally. If we're not able to bring a small amount of cognitive flexibility into our relational conversations, be they personal, professional, or otherwise, we might be inviting a bunch more conflict than we want. I have a hypothesis, and I've had it for a very long time now, and it goes something like this. How we think creates our experience of life, and we can change how we think at any time. I know there's some built-in assumptions there, not to mention it just sounds so dang easy, but said another way, and this comes from Lisa Feldman Barrett's book, Seven and a Half Lessons About the Brain. We can't change our past, but we can change how our brain will predict the future leading to different outcomes. Whoa, okay, like that's quite a statement to unpack. And to do so, I'm going to start with a bit of a high level and what I actually consider fascinating primer on the brain. So to begin, no more three part brain theory. First of all, we need to disavow ourselves of the so-called triune brain theory once and for all. What I'm referring to is the commonly held belief that there are three distinct parts to the brain, one for survival, often referred to as the lizard brain, one for feeling, we call this the limbic brain, and one for thinking, we call that the cerebral cortex. What's incredible to me is how persistent this theory is, even though it was roundly. Debunked over 20 years ago, I myself am guilty of referencing the triune brain theory in that not too distant past.
Speaker 1 10:06
Our failure as a culture to keep pace with scientific discoveries is, of course, not uncommon. In my recent three-part series on the cult of the self, I presented the story of the self-esteem movement, a huge educational and bureaucratic rollout in the US in the 80s funded entirely on false research, and this was in spite of the fact that the real experts were singing a different tune shortly thereafter. What's most important to note is that we've chosen to cling to the assertion that self-esteem is essential for solving social problems, and that belief persists to this day. When, in effect, self-esteem is what results, not the other way around. So, back to the brain again. Even though the triune theory has been discredited, I have a hypothesis about why it persists. I think that people here in the West feel more comfortable with the idea that our emotions and rationale are distinct and separate, because that allows for the illusion of control. Our cultural zeitgeist favors rationale and logic, while emotions are perceived with something like suspicion and perhaps discomfort. Separation allows for the fantasy that maybe, just maybe we can filter out those pesky emotions and hold on to our credibility as logical and rational people. I mean, how many people do you know who proudly admit to being highly emotional? But as we already know, separate parts of the brain don't bear out in the research, and Feldman Barrett provides a good down-to-earth example. Do you ever tell yourself that scrolling through social media is important? Well, that's a form of emotional rationality. You're using your logic to defend doing something that is more emotional in nature, i.e. you want to do it. Conversely, being afraid while swimming with a crocodile is a rational form of emotionality, as much as we insist upon compartmentalizing thought from feeling, the brain simply doesn't comply. The brain is a network, and the network is always on all neurons. By some estimates, 128 billion do not speak to all the other neurons, but rather the whole thing operates more like a global air travel system with connections through hubs. Some clusters serve local traffic, and some serve as hubs for long distance connections. Neurons don't have single psychological functions and are not limited to doing just one thing, which leads to very high levels of complexity, you see, the brain can reconfigure itself quite easily, which turns out to be great news if you're wondering how to change your mind, which I'll get into in a little bit. Hey, you're listening to the Squeeze, and if you like what you're hearing, there's a whole world of citrus couching to discover. We've got an online leadership program, it's called Citrus You, and it features those three key tools you need to be a better leader, well, to be a better human. We also have a number of mini learning bundles that you can get into, and there's plenty more. If you're interested, you can follow us on Instagram, or check out our website@www.citruscoaching.com and the show resumes now. But first, How does your brain actually go about changing? Perhaps you've heard the term neuroplasticity. This means that the brain is not static and continually changes and adapts throughout your lifetime. Feldman Barrett provides a good metaphor. Imagine your brain is a big puzzle, and each piece of the puzzle represents a connection between neurons. Neuroplasticity is like the brain's ability to rearrange those puzzle pieces over and over again, and this kind of complexity allows for flexibility in all kinds of situations. Brain scientists use the terms tuning and pruning to describe how the brain makes those changes. Tuning happens when connections between neurons are strengthened from greater use. Neurons that fire together wire together, and as a result, the more efficient the connection becomes. Think of long-standing habits that you have, like brushing your teeth. You can do it with your eyes closed while you're thinking about something else. Pruning, on the other hand, refers to the less used connections weakening and dying off. Think if you don't use it, you lose it. Remember that time you learned Spanish all those years ago, but now when you're in Mexico, you can't remember how to ask where the bathroom is to save your life. Pruning divested your brain of the burden of those unused Spanish language connections to be more efficient. So, how does your brain pro. Assess information.
Speaker 1 15:01
This is where things start to get really interesting, and perhaps, if I'm being honest, a little unsettling, because you start to realize how much of your experience is derived not from some kind of objective reality, as in I am walking through the woods and I see something slither on the ground in front of me, and I think snake and jump back, but in fact, how much of your experience comes down to guesswork on the part of the brain? Jumping back is not a reaction to the snake itself, it is the result of the brain's lightning-fast reconstruction of bits and pieces of past experience and assembled bits of memory, all used to check against current sensory data from the environment, so it can make the most educated guess possible of what to do in this case. Jump back. In other words, the last time I encountered a similar situation, when my body was in a similar state and was preparing this particular action, what did I see next? What did I feel next, your brain is plumbing your so-called memory banks and comparing its findings with the sensory data to predict what you should do next, all before you are even consciously aware of what is happening. Pavlov's dogs, they weren't reacting to the bell, they were predicting it, and every time they got it right, the neurons already firing in that pattern to match the sensory data, they got reinforced, and over time the sensory data itself is of no further use. However, if your brain gets it wrong and it turns out the snake was just a stick, your brain learns from this, and its prediction improves next time. This is how your brain learns. You see, we think that we sense first and act second, but actually the brain preps for action first, that's all based on previous memory, and senses second. We're wired to initiate actions before we're even aware of what's happening. If this doesn't make you realize you're not driving the bus, I'm not sure what will, and that's the unsettling part I was referring to earlier. Again, from her book, Seven and a Half Lessons on the Brain, Feldman Barrett describes the meaning your brain gives to the combination of sense data combined with a lifetime of bits of memory as a quote carefully controlled hallucination end quote in Bayesian inference theory. Your lifetime of brain-stored memory is referred to as your priors, as in prior experience. Priors encapsulate all of your existing knowledge, expectations, or assumptions regarding likelihood of different outcomes or what we expect to be true based on our prior experiences, they are our best guesses and are constantly being updated or reinforced depending upon our experiences and new sensory data. In Bayesian theory, sensory data interacts with your priors to form something called a posterior probability. A posterior probability is really just an updated prior. Remember, this cycle is going on all the time, around and around. Your brain has either had its original prior reinforced or it has been updated through learning, as in, it was not a snake, just a stick, which means the next time you're less likely to mistake a stick for a snake. Now, let's talk about how to change our minds intentionally. The reason I've gone into all this detail is to highlight how we can change our mind. Feldman Barrett writes, quote, you can't change the past, but you can change how your brain will predict the future. End quote. She's talking about intentionally shaping your priors to shift habitual or routine ways of seeing the world. If we continue to have the same experiences or engage in the same kinds of conversations with the same kinds of people think echo chambers, our priors will remain fairly consistent, and will keep thinking and doing the same things. Imagine that you grew up in a small town where everyone shared similar beliefs and perspectives. Your set of common assumptions were rarely challenged. As a result, you never actively sought out diverse perspectives or engaged with people who held different opinions. As a result, your priors remained largely unchallenged, and you formed a worldview based solely on the limited information you encountered within your homogeneous community. Without exposure, you've probably developed a skewed and incomplete view of complex issues, you may hold biased or stereotypical views without even realizing it, because you've never had your beliefs tested.
Speaker 1 19:48
Your lack of exposure limits your ability to critically analyze and make well-informed judgments, and you may struggle to relate to people from diverse backgrounds. You could in a. Certainly, be contributing to social divisions and making life harder for others. Now, imagine what an actual encounter could look like with someone who holds a different belief than you, and remember that your brain is not reacting so much as predicting what you should do and say, largely influenced by your priors. Your actions are to a large extent already determined. So, let's say it's early 2020 and you've just heard about a new mandated vaccine program at work. You're angry, you can't believe it. How can your employer get away with this? Everyone in your family, in your community, have been up in arms for weeks, anticipating and fearing a mandate. It goes against everything you stand for. And so, when you hear the news, you turn to a colleague seeking validation. The day has finally come, you say, I can't believe they're forcing us to get vaccinated or lose our jobs. Your colleague turns to look at you, clearly sensing you're upset. Yeah, I understand where you're coming from, but I think it's a pretty smart idea, actually. Vaccines are pretty good at keeping transmissions down, and I've got two elderly parents I'd like to keep safe. They might not be going about it in the best way, but ultimately I think it's a good thing. Bam, you're speechless, you've been protesting and going to rallies for weeks now, trying to get the word out. You want to make people wake up and stay safe. Your younger sibling almost died from a vaccine when they were two. What? You're kidding, right? Vaccines are super dangerous, you say. They just want you to think they're safe. Wait, I'll send you an article to read. You're obviously, you know, you're misinformed. You've been absorbing, like, do too much fake news. You attempt to laugh to soften your words a bit. They smile a bit awkwardly. Yeah, right. But they go on. But seriously, it sounds like it might be difficult for you to consider a different point of view at this point, you're starting to see red after everything you and your family have been through. You have to stand here and listen to this idiot. You can't help yourself. Literally, your priors are screaming. Oh, Ian, you say, "Are you really serious? He sure got to you. You're spouting garbage, and you don't even know it. And in some small way, you're actually kind of feeling sorry for this person for being so misguided. Well, they say I happen to think it's important to have an open discussion to understand different perspectives, even if we don't agree. Why don't you just ask me why I hold this point of view? You're so obviously opposed to I know I'm curious about how you came to think what you think. I mean, you sure seem upset, but you stare at them open mouthed, it's like they're just trying to be mean now. Why would I be interested in listening to lies? You say this conversation is pointless. It's people like you who are responsible for driving this country backwards, but they're not done. Don't you even want to try and find any common ground? They ask the absolute nerve, you think, as you start to walk away. Why would I? And you leave this conversation with your priors even more intact and most assuredly unchanged. There's no difference in your mind between your position on vaccines and who you are as a person. Remember, this isn't about the topic of vaccines. This is about identification with the topic. Have you ever seen anything like this in real life? What about online? Can we all agree that justification of past hurts aside, we can't go on as a healthy community if we can't even talk about it. This leads us to how do we change our priors? So, remember the beginning of the podcast. I started by talking about my bias against sushi. Well, my bias was largely shaped and reinforced because I never encountered any new sensory data or experiences to shift my priors, and that was all within my control. But then one action changed everything. I actually went to a Japanese restaurant in order to change my prior. I had to actually experience something new.
Speaker 1 24:08
As long as I avoided Japanese restaurants, my priors about sushi would remain unchallenged. But the moment I walked through the door of the restaurant, my brain was being inundated with all kinds of new sensory data, which was in turn reshaping my priors, and let's get real here. This episode is about much more than just how I shifted my sushi bias, though arguably that could have some small benefits if you too have been avoiding sushi. No, we, we actually need to wake up to the polarity that exists in our current cultural discourse right now, and we need to consider the attendant impacts that I mentioned at the opening of the episode, things like more conflict, less trust, persistent echo chambers, weakening of social cohesion, political gridlock, poor decision making, personal fragmentation, isolation, and emotional distance. It means that the next time you hear reference. First to QAnon and the cabals of liberal elites sacrificing children for their blood. You no longer have to sit there scratching your head, wondering how on earth something so preposterous could take root. Just think priors. Same goes for flat earthers or fake moon landing folks. Just picture an echo chamber of reinforcing experiences. So, what can we do about it? I'm going to tell you some things that you can do to keep your priors supple and pliable. Sounds like a bloody skin cream commercial, but before I do, let's pause for a second and consider how differently what I'm about to say might land if I hadn't provided the brain theory behind it. If you were free to imagine that rationale and logic really were king, and it really was just as simple as deciding to change our mind. Perhaps these next suggestions then would sound a little like well-intentioned, if not predictable, but nonetheless like platitudes. But now that you know that, while you can't change the past, you can change your priors, which will change how you'll predict the future, and ultimately how you'll act. Maybe they'll land a little differently, and maybe just maybe you understand that you have an opportunity, and perhaps even responsibility, if you're listening to this, to actively consider your own priors and how they could be contributing to some of the less than savory outcomes that we see in the world around us today. Here we go. Here are some things you can do to be more flexible. Pull out your inner kid and get curious. Get rid of that t-shirt that says been there, done that, and instead lean on I don't know, and I really want to know. I double dare you to seek out a radically opposite viewpoint today. Get out there, watch the movie Yes Man, and take a page from that playbook. Participate in new and different conversations or communities, and listen and observe. Be like a tourist in another country. Here's another one. Don't trust everything you think. Seriously, I mean it. In fact, the more emphatic you feel about a position or issue, the juicier the opportunity to unpack something potentially revolutionary for your outlook. Not always, of course, but often. Just remember to bring your critical thinking skills along for the ride to help you evaluate evidence and arguments, both for and against what writers or scholars have looked at this issue. How credible is your own evidence? What reputable sources are writing about and researching this issue? Here's another one. Watch out for confirmation bias, whether you know it or not. You have a strong inborn tendency to favor evidence that confirms what you already believe. Ask someone to find the holes in your thinking. Actively seek contradiction, and remember that, above all, intelligence and beliefs can evolve and develop over time. Think plasticity. Okay, but in discourse you are only half the equation. So, how can you actively inspire flexible priors in others? Well, I've got some tips for you here. Number one, earn the right. This may come as a bit of a surprise, but if you really want to foster the conditions for someone else to expand on their priors, you really need to build connection and trust. The secret sauce is in your ability to genuinely respect value and take the time to understand them. People have walked on water for less. Number two, walk a mile in their shoes.
Speaker 1 28:42
It should come as no surprise that your ability to try on another person's perspective without judgment promotes a massive sense of psychological safety that invites them to reflect on their own beliefs. Number three, be neutral. It should go without saying that you can hardly invite someone else to flex their priors. If you are not also doing it simultaneously, this means that all of the suggestions I've already given to you about how you can shift your own priors should be embedded in your intentions before you go looking to change someone else's point of view. This also means that you need to be prepared to shift your own beliefs based on the conversation you have, are you, are you really okay? Next, tell stories. One of the fastest ways for understanding is through story. It has been astounding to me the number of times I've disagreed with someone's position, while simultaneously feeling great compassion and understanding for them, because I understand their story. Okay. Lastly, be patient, young Jedi. Sometimes the greatest gift you can give another human being is simply to listen. Honestly, I've never seen anything shift the dynamic between people as powerfully as listening, and yes. Yes, it really is that simple. Embracing a practice of holding our positions more lightly offers us profound and tangible personal rewards. When we approach our beliefs with flexibility and an open mind, we're creating space for personal growth, self-discovery, and intellectual curiosity. We become active participants in our own evolution, breaking free from the confines of rigid thinking and expanding our capacity to learn, adapt, and connect with others by holding our positions lightly. We invite the beauty of nuance and complexity into our lives. We uncover new perspectives, insights, and possibilities that would otherwise remain hidden. We become more empathetic, compassionate, and understanding individuals capable of fostering genuine connections. Additionally, the act of holding our positions lightly grants us the invaluable gift of intellectual humility. None of us possesses all the answers. True wisdom lies in our willingness to listen, learn, and evolve, and we can be liberated from the burden of dogmatism and empowered to engage in meaningful conversations, collaborative problem solving, and collective progress. This episode is just the tip of the iceberg, so expect to hear more from me on the subject in upcoming podcast episodes until next time. So you've been listening to The Squeeze. Thanks for joining us today. If you want to continue tuning in, don't forget to click subscribe, and as always, we want to hear your thoughts, your comments, your feedback, and challenges, if there's anything you don't agree with. Thanks for joining us, and see you next time.
Unknown Speaker 31:47
Bye.