R. Beau Lotto: The Humility and Courage to Not Know
Video: "Context is Everything", Lab of Misfits, 2020(link)
"A brain that is open, that embraces humility, that can let go of what it thought to be true in the past, in order to seek understanding. That is a brain that is a movement. And that brain, and that person, will thrive in the very place, that we are most afraid, the darkness of uncertainty." ~ R. Beau Lotto
"There is little that is interesting that begins with knowing. Almost all new insights and discoveries began in the same way: with the humility and courage to not know." ~ R. Beau Lotto
"The key is to embrace the fact that your brain did not evolve to see the world in front of you as it really is... Your brain instead evolved to see something else. It evolved to see what was useful to see in the past. And not just your past, the past of your family, of your culture, of your evolutionary ancestry." ~ R. Beau Lotto
"...all of us can expand our perceptions... This is what enabled the human brain to thrive... the most successful brains were adaptable.... Which is why you feel that intrinsic reward of pleasure and excitement when you create or discover an understanding that transcends you." ~ R. Beau Lotto
"A brain that is indifferent to understanding that ignores context, engages in the world with certainty. That brain's perception will be rigid, unhealthy and explicitly intolerant because it is implicitly afraid of change." ~ R. Beau Lotto
"There is little that is interesting that begins with knowing.
Almost all new insights and discoveries began in the same way:
with the humility and courage to not know.
They began with a question.
If you're a misfit, then we are inviting you to question at the deepest level. The key is to embrace the fact that your brain did not evolve to see the world in front of you as it really is, though the physical world does indeed exist.
Your brain instead evolved to see something else. It evolved to see what was useful to see in the past. And not just your past, the past of your family, of your culture, of your evolutionary ancestry.
This is because the world is constantly changing and your brain evolved to change with it. So when it comes to perception, which underpins everything it is to be human. Everything it is to be, this human.
Context is everything.
No matter who you are, where you are, how old you are. No matter if you're an individual or an organization. But what you think you know, all of us can expand our perceptions and you need to.
This is what enabled the human brain to thrive during evolution. Where the most successful brains were adaptable. Which is why you feel that intrinsic reward of pleasure and excitement when you create or discover an understanding that transcends you.
A brain that is indifferent to understanding that ignores context, engages in the world with certainty. That brain's perception will be rigid, unhealthy and explicitly intolerant because it is implicitly afraid of change.
A brain that is open, that embraces humility, that can let go of what it thought to be true in the past, in order to seek understanding.
That is a brain that is a movement.
And that brain,
and that person,
will thrive in the very place,
that we are most afraid,
the darkness of uncertainty." ~ R. Beau Lotto
