I want to kick today off with a classic riddle: If a tree falls and no one is around to hear, does it make a sound?
(Pause - How would you answer this?)
The answer is no. In the physical world, there is no sound. The tree's descent merely creates vibrations in the air and the ground. These vibrations become sound only if there is something present to receive and translate them. It needs an ear. The outer ear gathers changes in air pressure and focuses them on the eardrum, producing vibrations in the middle ear. These vibrations move fluid in the inner ear over little hairs that translate the pressure changes into electrical signals that are received by the brain. Without this special machinery, there is no sound, only air movement.
Next, you translate that sound into a tree falling. And if you've never heard a tree fall before, you might not even understand what the sound is! You need previous knowledge to construct your answer.
A sound is not an event DETECTED in the world. It is an experience CONSTRUCTED when the world interacts with a body that detects changes in air pressure, and a brain that can make those changes meaningful.
Let's go one level deeper with another question: Is an apple red?
(Pause - How would you answer this?)
Again, our interpretation of color is just taking a visual sensation and experiencing it as a color. In reality, different people divide up the colors in different ways.
"Red" is not a color contained in an object. It is an experience involving reflected light, a human eye, and a human brain. We experience red only when light of a certain wavelength (say, 600 nanometers) reflects from an object, and only while a receiver translates this contrasting array of light into visual sensations. Our receiver is the human retina, which uses its three types of photoreceptors, called cones, to convert the reflected light into electrical signals made meaningful by a brain. In a retina that's missing a medium or long cone, light at 600 nanometers is experienced as gray.
For the brain to convert a visual sensation into the experience of red, it must possess the concept "Red." This concept can come from prior experience with apples, roses, and other objects you perceive as red, or from learning about red from other people. Without this concept, the apple would be experienced differently. For instance, to the Berinmo people of Papua New Guinea, apples reflecting light at 600 nanometers are experienced as brownish, because Berinmo concepts for color divide up the continuous spectrum differently.
These riddles invite us to wrestle with two conflicting points of view. On one hand, common sense tells us that sounds and colors exist in the world. We detect them with eyes and ears and carry information to the brain. On the other hand, we are architects of our own experience. We do NOT passively detect physical change in the world. We are active participants in constructing our experience, even through we are mostly unaware of this fact.
You can see "color" in your mind's eye on demand. Try it now. Close your eyes and try to see the green of a forest. You can do it. Neurons in your visual cortex change their firing. You are simulating green. Every perception is constructed by a perceiver, usually with sensory input from the world as one ingredient.
Are you feeling tripped out yet?
Now, let's get to the final riddle. Are emotions real?
This concept also explains why people from different cultures might interpret and express emotions in vastly different ways. What is considered a sign of happiness or respect in one culture could be seen as disrespectful or completely misunderstood in another. For example, in some cultures, direct eye contact is seen as confidence and honesty, while in others, it can be perceived as rude or confrontational. Barrett's theory suggests that our brains are constantly using bits of information from our surroundings, along with our personal and cultural memories, to construct how we feel at any given moment. This is why two people can experience the same event but have completely different emotional reactions to it. Our understanding of emotions as subjective and made up underscores the importance of context, background, and individual differences in shaping how we feel.
So if you take anything away from today, let it be this: since reality is constructed, you can take control of yours- starting with your emotions and moods.
On the simplest level, emotions are individual and moods are social.
For instance, in this course I want to create a mood that communicates, "We're all beginners! It's okay." I want to create a mood of lightness, and of not taking ourselves too seriously. Yes, we're here to work on ourselves. But we're also here to have fun.
Emotionally, I might be feeling a little bit tired or confused. Someone else might be angry. But overall, we as a group have a collective mood! And hopefully, we're all positively impacted by that.
Politics are a great example of how moods work collectively. One side of the political spectrum might say that their candidate is right, and the other is crazy. And the other side of the spectrum might say that their candidate is the best, and the other side is an idiot!
Both of these opinions are extreme. Yet they're coming from the same mood of the country- which is one of mistrust and stress.
These politically passionate people probably don't realize that they're being influenced by the mood of their country. They think that they're operating from their own, independent place! But we're all swayed by the mood of where we live. It's like the weather, or a song that's playing in the background. We can't help but be influenced by it, and it impacts everything we do.
Yet we can also use this law of human nature to our benefit! Think about the quote, "You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with." We all have the power to choose the people we want to have in our lives! So think about the mood of the people around you. Are you surrounded by hopeful, optimistic, curious people? Or judgmental, closed, angry people? Their mood is going to influence you, and therefore your life!
This is why staying in Silicon Valley for a few weeks might make you motivated to start a company, while living in a wartorn country would make you feel distrustful of anyone around you. Humans synchronize with one another. Our breaths synchronize and even our heartbeats during an engaging conversation. Our predictions synchronize. Is there any wonder that who you are around effects you so strongly?
Moods and emotions are hidden most of the time. We don't talk about them! You don't walk into a room and say, "I'm in an ambitious mood." In the real world, it's hidden. No one talks about it!
For example, I work with a writer to help me create this course. She has a client who, every time he starts a session, is stressed out. Yet the writer wants to create a mood of possibility and ambition. By holding this mood, she can pull him out of his funk and into a more positive state. By the end of the call, he's in a totally different place!
A writer I love, Fernando Flores, says, "We don't pay attention to the mood, we pay attention to the situation." By this he means: we blame our feelings on the day-to-day activities of our lives. "I'm in a good mood because I got a raise." "I'm in a bad mood because my partner yelled at me." But there are so many more moving parts to how we feel than that!
For example, are you working for a company that has an upbeat mood, or an anxious one? Does your workspace have a mood of inspiration, or hopelessness? Do you frequently put yourselves in surroundings that have an open mood, or a closed one?
All of these factors can play a part in how we feel, outside of what is actually happening in the nitty gritty details of our lives!
This is not to say that we don't have individual choice in our collective mood. We do! Every one of our actions has a ripple effect, and has a positive or negative impact on the people around us.
For example, a passionate teacher can create a mood of curiosity and wonder in their classroom. A great leader can help their teammates feel hopeful, confident, and accepting.
Every group has social contagion. There are unspoken rules of what is acceptable, and what is not. So, on purpose, how can you create a positive mood?
Feeling like you have agency over your own life empowers you to shape your experiences and those of the people around you. When you believe in your ability to make choices and take actions that have real effects, it not only boosts your self-confidence but also your overall satisfaction with life. This sense of agency allows you to approach challenges with a proactive mindset rather than feeling helpless or stuck.
By understanding that you can influence your environment and the mood of those around you, you're more likely to engage in positive behaviors and make decisions that reflect your values and goals. Ultimately, having agency means recognizing your role in crafting a positive narrative of your life and the communities you are part of.
What do you want the mood of your team to be like? What's one simple action that you can take to achieve that mood?