Joel goes on long rides every time he’s to make a major decision. He says it helps him think and make better decision and this is my breakdown of what could be the reason
How can we take so many time trying to decide what college major to pick and take so little time when choosing where to step when running down a mountain?
Two systems of thinking
- Conscious thinking
- Associated with the pre-frontal cortex which can process ~120 bits per second
- Subconscious thinking
- Associated with using the Basal Ganglia and Amygdala to process nearly 400 billion bits per second
Exformation
The explicit disregard of information (exformation) is a necessary methodology to prevent the brain from over processing things.
- Simply because the subconscious mind can process so much more info, it’s better to leverage it to make important decisions (To Confirm)
- Transient hypofrontality is a temporary decrease in activity in the prefrontal cortex, potentially leading to a more relaxed and creative state.
Thinking about it, even Rakshith does this, he looks at a problem, really tries to understand it and goes about doing other things. Later when we are doing something else he suggests a solution of the blue.
Methodology
- Define the root problem, write it down
- Enter pleasurable flow states (e.g., walking, showering) unrelated to the problem
- Return to the original question, write down answers in a flow state