mysteries@CANNES brought NEuroSCiENtiStS bEAu Lotto ANd tArLi ShArot to

Here’s wHat a couple

of fast-talking, well-

groomed, freakisHly clever

and utterly cHarming

neuroscientists believe

your brain is doing to

your reality, rigHt now:

of the human

mind

Unpack the

@CANNES 2014:unpack the mysteries

of the human mind

We don’tSEE rEALity Or, rather, we can’t. All information we come into contact with goes through our brain, which turns it immediately into meaning. Which is not necessarily the same as reality. Not even close.

1

@CANNES 2014:unpack the mysteries

of the human mind

We aredELuSioNAL Those internet quizzes where you have to read a sentence w th so e l tte s m ss ng? That’s your assumptions hard at work, deluding you into meaning. And not always the correct meaning.

2

@CANNES 2014:unpack the mysteries

of the human mind

SUrveySforCE uS iNto fiCtioN: When you ask someone to give you information about their behavior, there’s no way they can give you the correct answer, Because we don’t know why we do the things we do. So we’ll give you our best guess.

3

yoUr fUtUre iS(probAbLy) Not AS bright AS you prEdiCt All humans rate the probability of their future personal success much higher than that of their peers as a segment. This is statistically impossible. Someone is going to have a shitty life. We just don’t ever believe it will be us.

4 @CANNES 2014:

unpack the mysteries

of the human mind

@CANNES 2014:unpack the mysteries

of the human mind

Wiredto LikE CArrotS morE thAN StiCkSThe part of our brain that responds to encouragement is more developed and active than the part that responds to warnings (and, yes, they are different parts). This trait is even stronger in the young and the very old.

5

@CANNES 2014:unpack the mysteries

of the human mind

oUr inbUilt poSitivity givES uS motivAtioNThe happiest day of our holidays is, apparently, the day before we get on the plane. Before reality sets in. It is our relentless positivity that makes sure we “get on the plane” in hundreds of different ways, every day.

6

@CANNES 2014:unpack the mysteries

of the human mind“i WANt you to kNoW

LESS thAN you do NoW”A poem inspired by Beau Lotto’s slides at #CannesLions Life is nOt simpLe,

but it is straightfOrward.

we are bLind tO Our assumptiOns.

we are Like frOgs.

(nOt metaphOricaLLy. LiteraLLy

what makes the human mind beautifuL,

is that we are deLusiOnaL.

we becOme deaf tO what Others can hear.

and this is cuLture.

we have muLtipLe peOpLe inside us.

humans aLways change.

aLL infOrmatiOn is meaningLess.

we need tO ask ‘why?’

the answer is tO dO it in the wiLd.