The Occupational Adventure (tm)

Believing is seeing: Top-down processing and the 10 to 1 ratio

I've been on an organizational rampage lately, and recently came across an article on hypnosis I had cut out and saved a couple years ago.

What fascinated me about the article was not so much the hypnosis element, but what it had to say about how we interpret our world, and how our reality is what we see, not necessarily what really is:

Bundles of nerve cells dedicated to each sense carry sensory information. The surprise is the amount of traffic the other way, from top to bottom. There are 10 times as many nerve fibers carrying information down as there are carrying it up.

These extensive feedback circuits mean that consciousness, what people see, hear, feel and believe, is based on what neuroscientists call "top-down processing." What you see is not always what you get, because what you see depends on a framework built by experience that stands ready to interpret the raw information - as a flower or a hammer or a face.

The top-down structure explains a lot. If the construction of reality has so much top-down processing, that would make sense of the powers of placebos (a sugar pill will make you feel better), nocebos (a witch doctor will make you ill), talk therapy and meditation. If the top is convinced, the bottom level of data will be overruled.

"If the top is convinced, the bottom level of data will be overruled." In other words, what you believe, you see. That has so much potential to be either an amazing asset, or an excruciating obstacle.

Take a look at your life. More specifically, take a look at the idea of creating a life that feels fun, meaningful, and fulfilling. How do you see it? Is the top convinced that it's possible, or a pipe-dream? With a 10 to 1 ratio of information going down as coming up, you can see why - however you see it - you're probably right.

The good news is that even if your top-down perception is negative, you can reprogram it. When you recognize it, you can start building a new reality. But that's fodder for another post on another day.

Brought to you by Curt Rosengren, Passion Catalyst.

---

Please visit my new blog:
The M.A.P. Maker
"Crafting a Life of Meaning, Abundance, & Passion"

---

Time for a career change?

Launch it with The Occupational Adventure Guide!

---

Need to re-energize your career (and your life!)?

Do it with 101 Ways to Get Wild About Work!

This / Not this

mapmaker.curtrosengren.com

Over on the Possibility Virus blog, Michael Bungay Stanier talks about an idea he calls "This/Not this" He started focusing on it while getting ready for an upcoming trip to India, but the concept is just as applicable each day we get up and step out the front door into life. He says...

For all the excitement I was feeling about the trip, I realised I was taking on one of my least favourite personae: The Uptight Traveller.

When travelling - and particularly when stepping into an unknown situation that I can't control - I start to take on a range of ways of thinking and behaviours to try and exert control as much as possible.

Which is fine, except of course that
1. I couldn't control very much anyway and
2. these behaviours, this persona, only ever result in me not really enjoying my travels.

When I finally caught myself - it took a while - I used a simple tool to shake me out of my funk. It's based on the most powerful coaching question I know - What are you saying Yes to? What are you saying No to? - and it is called This/Not This.

Its brilliance lies in two things.

First, it forces you to make an explicit choice: both what you want and what you don't want.

Second, often you articulate that choice in metaphor, which enriches and makes more subtle the choices you are making.

So, for example, his This/Not This list for his trip to India included things like...

This: Open up      
Not this: Close down

This: Laughing      
Not this: Fretting

This: Meeting others
Not this: Solo Man

This: Welcome what comes
Not this: Walled city

This: Loose
Not this: Tight

After he made the list, it occurred to him that it wasn't a bad list to apply to life in general.

Take a look at your own life. How do you want it to look? How do you want to be? Who do you want to be? What do you want to do? Why not start making a This/Not This list to help guide you along the way?

--


Brought to you by Curt Rosengren, Passion Catalyst ^TM

 

What would you do if you were brave?

mapmaker.curtrosengren.com

If there's one thing I've discovered over the years, it's that just about anything we set our minds to is possible. Moreover, one of the biggest - if not the biggest - obstacle we face lies smack dab between our ears.

We're often so overcome with fear of what might go wrong that we don't dare to even take a step.

Back in November Jodee Bock asked a great question on her blog..."What would you do if you were brave?"

What would you do if you could look that fear in the face and giggle? What would you do if you could feel that fear and just plow ahead anyway? Where would your dreams take you? What would your reality look like?

Not a bad question to ponder as we start nudging up against the new year.

So...what would you do?

--

 

Brought to you by Curt Rosengren, Passion Catalyst ^TM