#72 A Manual for Thinking | Dr. Matthew Prull

I just upgraded my MacBook to iOS 11.5.  I’m told it will deal with bugs that the last upgrade couldn’t.

Meanwhile, my brain and the brains in all of us haven’t really had an upgrade for about 35,000 years. Despite all the incredible strengths of this version of our brains, there are plenty of bugs including issues with memory, biases, and other shortcomings.  But what’s exciting is if we are aware of those bugs, we can make far better use of what we have.

To walk us through this insight, I called on my friend, Dr. Matthew Prull.  Matt is a cognitive psychologist and a professor at Whitman College. His extensive research on how our brains work—and how they don’t—is widely published.  You will appreciate Matt’s ability to convey complex information in a very understandable and user-friendly manner.

And a funny side note: Matt and I were in the same high school garage band, Café of Regret! He was an incredible guitarist, and we touch on the fact that, long after I had left the band, they kept going and even once opened for A Flock of Seagulls!  He describes that event using certain cognitive psychological terms that will help you better understand your brain.  He also describes a fascinating finding called the Reminiscence Bump that explains why the music of our teens may have a stronger emotional hit than other music.

So, listen in as Matt and I have an entertaining and information-packed discussion to help you with your very own Brain Owner’s Manual!