The Stories We Construct

The Stories We Construct presented by Stephen P. Anderson

www.getmentalnotes.com www.getmentalnotes.com

GUIDE BEHAVIOR IN EVERY MOMENT FRAME HOW WE FRAME HOW WE SEE THE PAST NARRATIVES SEE OURSELVES IN THE FUTURE GUIDE BEHAVIOR IN EVERY MOMENT

“Interesting, but...”

imagination or narrative? both are overlays on whatever is “real”

People assume that they perceive reality as it is, that our senses accurately record the outside world. Yet the science suggests that, in important ways, people experience reality not as it is, but as they expect it to be. —Jonah Lehrer http://scienceblogs.com/cortex/2008/02/the_power_of_expectations.php

THE THINGS WE BUY, THE DECISIONS WE MAKE, HOW WE SPEND OUR TIME-- STORIES GOVERN ALL THESE ACTIONS.

THE THINGS WE BUY, THE DECISIONS WE MAKE, HOW WE SPEND OUR TIME-- STORIES WE CONSTRUCT GOVERN ALL THESE ACTIONS.

“Essentialism”

How much would you pay for this pen?

You had to be there! Video of my friend Steve talking about his Nakaya Pen http://www.nakaya.org/eindex.html

How much would you pay to have this shirt? (Not a copy, but the actual one worn by Steve Jobs when he announced the iPhone!)

Do you want me to wash the shirt before I give it to you?

“Positive Contagion Theory” http://books.google.com/books?id=g7qqPdaVrYgC&lpg=PA103&ots=idBa8Fs1uZ&dq=%E2%80%9CPositive%20Contagion%20Theory %E2%80%9D&pg=PA103#v=onepage&q=%E2%80%9CPositive%20Contagion%20Theory%E2%80%9D&f=false

“How much would you pay for [a famous serial kil er]’s sweater?“

(In many states, home sellers are required by law to disclose if a murder previously took place in the house.)

brain scans confirmed that people don't just think the more expensive (but identical) wine tasted better—it actually really did taste better… http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/brainstorm/200803/is-5000-prostitute-worth-the-price

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/04/AR2007040401721.html

Vermeer ...or Han van Meegeren? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Han_van_Meegeren

GUIDE BEHAVIOR IN EVERY MOMENT FRAME HOW WE FRAME HOW WE SEE THE PAST NARRATIVES SEE OURSELVES IN THE FUTURE GUIDE BEHAVIOR IN EVERY MOMENT

DIRECT EXPERIENCES SOMATIC MOOD/AFFECT MARKERS SOCIAL PROOF SELF-IMAGE NARRATIVES EXPECTATIONS PHYSICAL KNOWLEDGE ASSOCIATIONS FRAMING MEMORIES ASSOCIATED METAPHORS

THE THINGS WE BUY, THE DECISIONS WE MAKE, HOW WE SPEND OUR TIME-- STORIES WE CONSTRUCT GOVERN ALL THESE ACTIONS. HOW ARE THESE STORIES CONSTRUCTED?

FIRST, AN INTRODUCTION TO THE BRAIN! (Volunteers needed)

You had to be there! We role-played how the brain makes a decision.

COGN ITION EXTERNAL PERCEPTION Limbic Center STIMULUS (VIA THE SENSES) *which aren’t all that reliable! (focus on the Hippocampus & Amygdale) (most primitive, seat of unconsciousness, drives) BEHAVIOR CONSCIOUS CHOICE Pre-Frontal Cortex (VIA MOTOR CENTERS) (consciousness, meaning, choice) “Cortext“ Long-term memory of representations MEMORY (REPRESENTATIONS)

REPRESENTATIONS & ASSOCIATIONS (also why I started thinking about “how“ stories are constructed...)

REPRESENTATIONS & ASSOCIATIONS

Who is this? How do you know?

What is this? Does the tree know that it’s a tree?

Why do we know these are all the letter A? A A A A A A A A A A A AA A A A AA A A

What is this? How do you know?

(close your eyes) What is this sound? How do you know?

What is this girl feeling? http://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/49503002894@N01/3680138/

What happens if you touch this?

EPISODIC MYTHIC REPRESENTATIONS REPRESENTATIONS THEORETIC MIMETIC REPRESENTATIONS REPRESENTATIONS SCHEMAS CHUNKING ? CONCEPTUAL BLENDS METAREPRESENTATIONS CONCEPTUAL FRAMES / SCHEMA CONCEPTUAL METAPHOR IMAGE SCHEMA PATTERNS SITUATION MODELS SYMBOLS SOMATIC MARKERS OBJECTS

REPRESENTATIONS & ASSOCIATIONS

Video clip from Ratatouille (Anton Ego’s nostalgia scene)

Remember mind maps?

www.getmentalnotes.com www.getmentalnotes.com

LIST A FEW MOVIES PIXAR HAS MADE.

a person reads a list of words including the word table... later: “complete a word starting with tab” (probability that subject answers table is higher than for non-primed people.)

“aesthetic” associations www.getmentalnotes.com www.getmentalnotes.com

Bouba-Kiki Effect

http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/104/moto.html

Ready for the freaky stuff? literal-metaphorical confusions

Volunteers would meet one of the experimenters, believing that they would be starting the experiment shortly. In reality, the experiment began when the experimenter, seemingly struggling with an armful of folders, asks the volunteer to briefly hold their coffee. As the key experimental manipulation, the coffee was either hot or iced. Subjects then read a description of some individual... Students who had recently been cradling the warm beverage were far likelier to judge the fictitious character as warm and friendly than were those who had held the iced coffee. http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/14/this-is-your-brain-on-metaphors/

Subjects either did or didn’t read an article about the health risks of airborne bacteria. All then read a history article that used imagery of a nation as a living organism with statements like, “Following the Civil War, the United States underwent a growth spurt.” Those who read about scary bacteria before thinking about the U.S. as an organism were then more likely to express negative views about immigration. http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/14/this-is-your-brain-on-metaphors/

Volunteers were asked to evaluate the resumes of supposed job applicants where, as the critical variable, the resume was attached to a clipboard of one of two different weights. Subjects who evaluated the candidate while holding the heavier clipboard tended to judge candidates to be more serious, with the weight of the clipboard having no effect on how congenial the applicant was judged. After all, we say things like “weighty matter” or “gravity of a situation.” http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/14/this-is-your-brain-on-metaphors/

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“designated driver”

“Stories, powerful stuff. Got it. What next?”

http://www.poetpainter.com/thoughts/article/classifying-experiences

communications layer presentation layer The ‘thing’ itself perceptions

COMPANY SPACE communications layer presentation layer The ‘thing’ itself perceptions PERSONAL SPACE

COMPANY SPACE EM PH AS S IS ON IS O EMPHA BR AND N ECT communications layer BUI DIR G LD AGIN ING M ESS presentation layer TRANSACTIONAL The ‘thing’ itself ENGAGING perceptions AP PE TO AL RE S TO AS A LS ON PE S AP T ION E MO PERSONAL SPACE

COMPANY SPACE EM PH AS S IS ON IS O EMPHA BR AND N ECT communications layer BUI DIR G LD AGIN ING M ESS presentation layer The ‘thing’ itself RATIONAL EMOTIONAL perceptions AP PE TO AL RE S TO AS A LS ON PE S AP T ION E MO PERSONAL SPACE

http://www.poetpainter.com/thoughts/article/classifying-experiences

WE SEEK TO UNDERSTAND THE WORLD THROUGH COHERENT STORIES. STORIES ARE IN OUR HEADS AND CHANGING ALL THE TIME. STORIES ARE CONSTRUCTED THROUGH ASSOCIATIONS. STORIES DRIVE BEHAVIOR.

“What is your story?”

Th an ks!! Stephen P. Anderson www.slideshare.net/stephenpa @stephenanderson www.poetpainter.com www.getmentalnotes.com

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