The Beauty of Human Consciousness and the Evolution of Fear
With a guy as smart as Jason in the house, I couldn’t help but dive straight into some really deep questions. I asked Jason what he thinks our biggest fear is as humans. That’s a huge question! But Jason has done his homework and learned a lot about this subject, so he had a great answer for me:
“Well, I think the fear is uncertainty. I think that’s the reason why there is a billion dollar industry now teaching people how to become more present, and the irony is if we would have been able to ‘live in the present’ 10,000 years ago, we would have gotten eaten by the lion that we didn’t see coming.” – Jason Silva
There’s a lot to talk about in there, so Jason broke it down for me. 10,000 years ago, the most important thing for humans was the ability to predict the future. 10,000 years ago, when we didn’t have all the technology and convenience we have today, the possibility of getting eaten by a lion was a very real possibility. So we adapted, and humans evolved to become more aware of how our everyday actions will affect our likelihood of survival. People who could predict that a lion might be nearby were a lot less likely to get eaten!
Today, of course, we don’t get eaten by lions very often. Our lives are, in many ways, much safer. Basic survival is not really an issue. But because of the way we evolved, we still have this tendency to try to anticipate the danger that we might find in the future.
Basically, we continue to fear that our lives are threatened, even though the immediate danger is not very high anymore.
But because of this fear, we try to plan out every single little detail of our lives. Jason says it’s like “the brain has become too ordered.” We feel this pressure to anticipate everything that might happen in the future, but when the future isn’t dangerous, we stop paying attention to what’s happening right now.
For many of us, this constant worrying about the future leads to mental health problems like depression and anxiety.
“… our brain is so effective at saying ‘I know what this is’ and making predictions about the future, and if the future is not dangerous we’re not even paying attention to what’s happening right now. So we live with this kind of perpetual low level hum of anxiety …” – Jason Silva
Fortunately, though, Jason has some great solutions to this problem.
Stop and Smell the Roses: Disrupt Your Thought Patterns
You’ve probably experienced some of that anxiety we’ve been talking about. I have, for sure. We get overwhelmed with thinking about the future, and we forget to enjoy our lives right now. So how can we overcome that tendency we’ve evolved to anticipate every danger we might or might not meet in the future?
“… perhaps the answer to the existential agitation of what to do with ourselves in the face of death is simply to stop and smell the roses, to learn to steward the contents of consciousness to the here and now.” – Jason Silva
We’ve all heard the expression, “stop and smell the roses,” but Jason really thinks there’s some truth in it. When we consciously slow down and take the time to enjoy what we’re doing, we disrupt our patterns of thinking. We stop our usual routine of constantly thinking ahead and worrying about the future. Instead, we appreciate the beauty around us.
But that’s easier said than done. It can be hard to consciously choose to stop and smell the roses. After all, the problem is that we’re trying to break thought patterns that are automatic for us, right? So I asked Jason about some ways we can do this.
“Travel … because it’s something new. Travel, art, certain drugs like cannabis [are] very effective for this. … ‘When you block all signals forwards and backwards you enter the flow of the present,’ in the words of Michael Pollan, ‘a present that is literally wonderful.’ Wonder being the byproduct of exactly that unencumbered first sight or virginal noticing.” – Jason Silva
So the key, according to Jason, is to deliberately experience something new. Going to a new place or experiencing something beautiful like a great piece of art can jog us out of our old thought patterns. That way, we can experience awe and wonder and our lives in the present.
Jason explained to me that one way can do this is by doing what he calls, “voluntary submission” or “voluntary killing of ego.” Basically, this means experiencing something close to death so that we can let go of our fear of death. This can be skydiving or bungee jumping or even a certain virtual reality experiences. Practicing for death can help us stop fearing potential danger. We can start to enjoy life more.
Go With the Flow
Okay, so let’s say you’ve followed Jason’s advice here. Maybe you take some time out to visit the nearest art museum, and you’ve taken in some beautiful art work. Maybe you’ve taken a trip to an unfamiliar place and spent some time enjoying the landscape or the culture there. Maybe you’ve even gone skydiving! And all that is awesome!
But you can’t do that all the time, right? You can’t spend every day touring museums and jumping out of planes and still expect to have any productivity in your life. You’ll do these things every once in a while, and then you come back to your normal routine. Life is a constant back and forth between those two things. And the real key, as Jason puts it, is that “you’ve got to constantly dance, learning to oscillate with that.”
After all, while it’s so important to stop worrying about all the bad things that might happen in the future, it’s also important to realize that the decisions we make today will affect our future selves.
Jason likes to think of this as a Venn diagram. So on one side you have a circle called “Discipline.” This is the side that represents your routine. It’s the part of your life that is oriented toward the future.
The other circle in the Venn diagram is called “Surrender.” This is the side that represents the things you do to disrupt your routine. You surrender to the chaos that can exist in the world and accept whatever might happen to you. Maybe you even come close to experiencing death, but even then you surrender to the awe and wonder of the moment.
Then in the middle of the Venn diagram, you have the part where the two circles intersect. Jason calls this part “Flow.”
“So, flow, for me, then, is that line between chaos and order … Flow is toeing that line.” – Jason Silva
So to truly be in a “flow” state of mind, we have to find the right balance. It’s important to find ways to experience the present moment. We have to try new things and have new and wonderful experiences, but we also have to make wise decisions that will set us up for the future we want.
Wonder and order; these things can exist together in our lives. And I think we’re living our best lives when we do the dance and keep those things in balance.
Why You Should Listen Right Now
Jason Silva has got to be one of the most thoughtful guys I know. As a professional thinker and just as a human who enjoys collecting great ideas, he has a lot of great wisdom to share.
I only had time to talk about part of our great conversation here, but Jason and I also talked about everything from the way art and design can affect our happiness to his experiences sharing grief with a community.
Of course, you could check out Jason Silva’s podcast, Flow Sessions with Jason Silva, to hear more about his philosophy. But our conversation was truly something special, and I think you’ll get a lot out of listening to this episode.
Just listen to Jason’s definition of greatness:
“I think what makes us great at our best is the refusal to cower down in despair, to experience the terror, the doubt, the fear, the fatalism, and with all the agitation still get up and make something happen. It’s not easy being human … it’s not easy to conceive that everything you love and everyone you love will be taken away from you in time, and to still make a contribution … to do something worthwhile in the world, there’s nothing greater than that.” – Jason Silva
Are you ready to be inspired? Are you excited to find more wonder and experience more awe in your life? Then check out Episode 785 with Jason Silva, and prepare to have your mind opened up to something beautiful.
To Greatness,
