TED@Cannes brought neuroscientists Beau Lotto and Tarli Sharot to unpack the mysteries of the human mind Here’s what a couple of fast-talking, well-groomed, freakishly clever and utterly charming neuroscientists believe your brain is doing to your reality.

1. mysteries
@CANNES brought
neuroscientists Beau Lotto
and Tarli Sharot to
Here’s what a couple
of fast-talking, well-
groomed, freakishly clever
and utterly charming
neuroscientists believe
your brain is doing to
your reality, right now:
of the human
mind
Unpack the

2. @CANNES 2014:
unpack the
mysteries
of the
human mind
We don’tsee reality
Or, rather, we can’t. All information we come
into contact with goes through our brain, which
turns it immediately into meaning. Which is not
necessarily the same as reality. Not even close.
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3. @CANNES 2014:
unpack the
mysteries
of the
human mind
We aredelusional
Those internet quizzes where
you have to read a sentence w
th so e l tte s m ss ng? That’s
your assumptions hard at work,
deluding you into meaning. And
not always the correct meaning.
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4. @CANNES 2014:
unpack the
mysteries
of the
human mind
Surveysforce us into fiction:
When you ask someone to give you
information about their behavior,
there’s no way they can give you the
correct answer, Because we don’t
know why we do the things we do.
So we’ll give you our best guess.
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5. Your
future is(probably) not as bright
as you predict
All humans rate the probability of their future
personal success much higher than that of
their peers as a segment. This is statistically
impossible. Someone is going to have a shitty
life. We just don’t ever believe it will be us.
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@CANNES 2014:
unpack the
mysteries
of the
human mind

6. @CANNES 2014:
unpack the
mysteries
of the
human mind
wiredto like carrots
more than sticks
The part of our brain that responds to
encouragement is more developed and
active than the part that responds to
warnings (and, yes, they are different
parts). This trait is even stronger
in the young and the very old.
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7. @CANNES 2014:
unpack the
mysteries
of the
human mind
Our inbuiltpositivity gives
us motivation
The happiest day of our holidays is,
apparently, the day before we get on
the plane. Before reality sets in. It is
our relentless positivity that makes
sure we “get on the plane” in hundreds
of different ways, every day.
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8. @CANNES 2014:
unpack the
mysteries
of the
human mind“I Want You To Know
Less Than You Do Now”
A poem inspired by Beau Lotto’s slides at
#CannesLions
Life is not Simple,
but it is straightforward.
We are blind to our assumptions.
We are like frogs.
(Not metaphorically. Literally
What makes the human mind beautiful,
is that we are delusional.
We become deaf to what others can hear.
And this is culture.
We have multiple people inside us.
Humans always change.
All information is meaningless.
We need to ask ‘why?’
The answer is to do it in the wild.