Full transcript
0:05I want to begin by asking have you ever
0:08been trapped in a dark room
0:10this isn't my attempt to start with a
0:12joke
0:13and I'm also not going to begin with
0:15some captivating anecdote
0:17you might be one of the many people in
0:18the world myself included who feel
0:20you've lived your life in a dark room
0:23my research tries to bring a little
0:25light into our homes
0:27and we're going to do this by telling
0:28you about the science of metacognition
0:31for my PhD I research metacognition
0:34which is a fancy word for how we can
0:36understand and control our own minds and
0:39the enormous benefits that can come from
0:40it
0:42first I'm going to tell you why this is
0:44important
0:45and especially why this is important
0:48right now
0:49the thing is we humans have never fully
0:52understood our own minds just as until
0:54recently we've never understood our own
0:56bodies
0:57humans have been around for millions of
0:59years before we had the slightest idea
1:01of what any of our organs did
1:04we had no clue that we even had an
1:06immune system
1:08so it's as if we've spent our entire
1:10lifetime on this planet as strangers to
1:13ourselves
1:14just think of the harm caused by this
1:17it's gruesome to picture what medicine
1:19was like in the past
1:21really
1:22it's a very good thing doctors no longer
1:24prescribe drinking Mercury to pregnant
1:26women
1:27and as absurd as this is it's likely
1:29that people in the future will look back
1:31at our understanding of the Mind as if
1:33we're in the Dark Ages
1:35we now mostly understand how our bodies
1:38function
1:39and because of this we can interact with
1:41them better
1:42we know how to keep out harmful things
1:45and take in the right nutrients
1:47we can even remove parts of the body
1:49that don't work and replace them with
1:51parts that work better
1:54so here's my point
1:56just like our bodies we've also never
1:59understood our own minds
2:01we haven't had an inkling into any of
2:03its inner mechanisms
2:05and because of this we haven't
2:07interacted well with them at all
2:09but now
2:10finally we're beginning to
2:14just as when we learned about our
2:15physical makeup we're now glimpsing our
2:17own mental processes
2:19and so we're learning to interact with
2:21them better
2:23if it this way
2:25it's as if we've been living inside a
2:27dark house
2:28now picture what someone looks like as
2:31they walk through a dark home
2:34with no idea what's inside the rooms
2:37can you picture them stumbling grasping
2:40in the dark
2:41can you imagine they don't feel
2:42particularly happy about their situation
2:45and after years of living in a dark
2:47house it's understandable that they'd
2:50become anxious or depressed or drawn to
2:53whatever easy pleasure they can find
2:57living in a dark house is how people the
2:59world over feel inside their own minds
3:03trying to move through spaces they've
3:05never seen
3:06not living as well as they could in a
3:09room that is lit
3:11so here's my point
3:14just as science has illuminated the
3:16human body we are now brightening the
3:18rooms of the Mind
3:20so this is an exciting time in human
3:21history when we are finally coming to
3:24understand our own mental home
3:26we're learning how the mind can
3:28understand itself and how it can
3:30interact with itself better
3:33okay
3:34I have a quick confession to make
3:37there's a good reason why I chose this
3:39research
3:40it's because I was born with ADHD
3:42attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
3:45and as you may have heard this condition
3:48makes it pretty difficult to regulate
3:50attention in fact only five percent of
3:53students with ADHD Graduate University
3:56how I got by was by practicing
3:58metacognitive techniques
4:01and that's why I studied metacognition
4:02for my PhD with the goal of giving the
4:05same tools that helped me to other
4:07people
4:10metacognition is when the Mind controls
4:13itself
4:15that's just a word for something we all
4:17do naturally it's like using a sciency
4:19word for something as simple as studying
4:21how your body moves
4:23for example do you routinely Focus your
4:25attention
4:26I bet you're focusing right now
4:29how about this
4:30have you ever been working on something
4:32while trying to control an emotion
4:34have you ever resisted urges like I
4:36really don't feel like doing this I'd
4:38rather be scrolling through my phone but
4:41no I have to focus on this one important
4:43thing
4:45sound familiar
4:46that's because controlling your mind is
4:48as normal as controlling your body
4:51unfortunately
4:52it's not always that easy
4:55but it is how we get the most important
4:57things done in life and the better you
4:59are at it the better you can achieve
5:01your goals and greater fulfillment
5:04the neuroscientist Stephen Fleming
5:06showed that insight into your own mind
5:09metacognition can generate Higher
5:11Achievement in every domain
5:14growing evidence shows that this skill
5:16can improve human performance in sports
5:19education therapy and even business
5:23you name the field and there are
5:25metacognitive techniques that can help
5:26you improve
5:27how
5:28because of this General principle
5:31understanding your mind helps you direct
5:34it better
5:35I'll repeat that
5:37understanding your mind helps you direct
5:39it better
5:41and there's never been a more important
5:43time to learn metacognitive techniques
5:46as you probably know from your personal
5:47experience
5:49surviving and thriving in the modern
5:50world requires that you in some way
5:53control your own mind
5:55have you ever gone on an information
5:57diet right there you're controlling your
6:00own mental input
6:01have you ever turned off your internet
6:04or resisted a distraction so you can
6:06focus there again you're controlling
6:09your emotions and your attention
6:10naturally
6:13these days people are finding it
6:16increasingly important to be deliberate
6:18about their own minds
6:19and this is becoming more and more
6:21important because
6:23our brains were not built for modern
6:25times
6:26our primate brains evolved for very
6:29different environment
6:30and this has been called the problem of
6:32ancient brains in a high-tech world
6:37one side effect of modern technology is
6:40that apps games social media and online
6:43content can hijack the learning Pathways
6:46of the human brain
6:47and when this happens people become
6:50captive to Compulsive behaviors
6:51attention and emotional problems
6:55the pandemic has been pouring gasoline
6:58on this Mental Health crisis
7:00it has forced many people into social
7:02isolation and an even greater Reliance
7:04on devices for socializing and
7:06entertainment
7:07and this is added to a tsunami of
7:10debilitating mental health issues that
7:12affect over half a billion people
7:13worldwide with a financial toll in the
7:16trillions
7:18but there's good news
7:20Decades of Empirical research have shown
7:23that metacognition is effective at
7:25decreasing addictive behaviors and
7:28improving attention and emotional
7:29well-being
7:31because again understanding your mind
7:33helps you direct it better
7:36understanding your mind helps you direct
7:37it better
7:39for example
7:41we can use metacognitive training to
7:44boost our mental performance
7:46metacognition is a skill we can all
7:48improve
7:49and even become an expert at
7:52first
7:54the science shows that you can train
7:56your attention
7:57daily Focus exercises and meditation
7:59actually do allow you to be more focused
8:02in general
8:04second
8:05we can learn to better control our
8:07emotions
8:08if you find yourself giving in to
8:11impulses whether it's binging a whole
8:13box of cookies or checking that same web
8:15page repeatedly there are practices that
8:18can increase your control over them
8:21third
8:23you can train your memory
8:25and expand your ability to remember
8:27complex things more easily
8:30mental training is a lot like physical
8:33training
8:34anyone who spends a few minutes at the
8:36gym and then tries to flex in the mirror
8:38will be disappointed
8:40you don't see results in a few days
8:42but over weeks you find the growth of
8:45new muscles you didn't have before
8:48like this regular mental training helps
8:51you develop new and improved
8:52capabilities that allow you to think and
8:54act with greater control and clarity
8:59we can all learn to be more deliberate
9:02with our thoughts attention and emotions
9:05it's possible to have a toolkit and
9:07mental strategies that can help us
9:09flourish
9:11and has there been a more important time
9:12to understand your mind and learn to
9:14direct it better
9:16just as our physical health relies on
9:19being intelligent about our bodies
9:21the future of our mental well-being
9:23depends on us getting smart about our
9:25own minds