The Stories We Construct

presented by

Stephen P. Anderson

www.getmentalnotes.com

www.getmentalnotes.com

FRAME HOW WE SEE OURSELVES IN THE FUTURE

GUIDE BEHAVIOR IN EVERY MOMENT

FRAME HOW WE SEE THE PAST NARRATIVES

GUIDE BEHAVIOR IN EVERY MOMENT

“Interesting, but...”

imagination or narrative?both are overlays on whatever is “real”

People assume that they perceive reality as it is, that our senses accurately record the outside world. Yet the science suggests that, in important ways, people experience reality not as it is, but as they expect it to be.—Jonah Lehrer

http://scienceblogs.com/cortex/2008/02/the_power_of_expectations.php

THE THINGS WE BUY,THE DECISIONS WE MAKE, HOW WE SPEND OUR TIME-- STORIES GOVERN ALL THESE ACTIONS.

THE THINGS WE BUY,THE DECISIONS WE MAKE, HOW WE SPEND OUR TIME-- STORIES GOVERN ALL THESE ACTIONS.

THE THINGS WE BUY,THE DECISIONS WE MAKE, HOW WE SPEND OUR TIME-- STORIES WE CONSTRUCT GOVERN ALL THESE ACTIONS.

“Essentialism”

How much would you pay for this pen?

http://www.nakaya.org/eindex.html

You had to be there! Video of my friend Steve talking about his Nakaya Pen

How much would you pay to have this shirt?

(Not a copy, but the actual one worn by Steve Jobs when he

announced the iPhone!)

How much would you pay to have this shirt?

(Not a copy, but the actual one worn by Steve Jobs when he

announced the iPhone!)

Do you want me to wash the shirt before I give it to you?

“Positive Contagion Theory”

http://books.google.com/books?id=g7qqPdaVrYgC&lpg=PA103&ots=idBa8Fs1uZ&dq=%E2%80%9CPositive%20Contagion%20Theory%E2%80%9D&pg=PA103#v=onepage&q=%E2%80%9CPositive%20Contagion%20Theory%E2%80%9D&f=false

“How much would you pay for [a famous serial killer]’s sweater?“

(In many states, home sellers are required by law to disclose if a murder previously

took place in the house.)

brain scans confirmed that people don't just think the more expensive (but identical) wine tasted better—it actually really did taste better…

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/brainstorm/200803/is-5000-prostitute-worth-the-price

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/04/AR2007040401721.html

...or Han van Meegeren?

Vermeer

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Han_van_Meegeren

FRAME HOW WE SEE OURSELVES IN THE FUTURE

GUIDE BEHAVIOR IN EVERY MOMENT

FRAME HOW WE SEE THE PAST NARRATIVES

GUIDE BEHAVIOR IN EVERY MOMENT

NARRATIVES

MEMORIESASSOCIATED METAPHORS

EXPECTATIONS

DIRECT EXPERIENCES

KNOWLEDGE

SELF-IMAGE

SOCIAL PROOF

SOMATIC MARKERS

PHYSICALASSOCIATIONS

FRAMING

MOOD/AFFECT

THE THINGS WE BUY,THE DECISIONS WE MAKE, HOW WE SPEND OUR TIME-- STORIES WE CONSTRUCT GOVERN ALL THESE ACTIONS. HOW ARE THESE STORIES CONSTRUCTED?

(Volunteers needed)

FIRST, AN INTRODUCTION TO THE BRAIN!

You had to be there! We role-played how the brain makes a decision.

EXTERNAL STIMULUS

Limbic Center(focus on the Hippocampus & Amygdale)(most primitive, seat of unconsciousness, drives)

MEMORY (REPRESENTATIONS)

Pre-Frontal Cortex(consciousness, meaning, choice)

“Cortext“ Long-term memory of representations

BEHAVIOR CONSCIOUS CHOICE(VIA MOTOR CENTERS)

PERCEPTION (VIA THE SENSES)

*which aren’t all that reliable!

COGNITION

REPRESENTATIONS& ASSOCIATIONS

(also why I started thinking about “how“ stories are constructed...)

REPRESENTATIONS& ASSOCIATIONS

Who is this?How do you know?

What is this?Does the tree know that it’s a tree?

Why do we know these are all the letter A?

A A A AAA A A

A A A AA

A

AA A A A A

What is this? How do you know?

(close your eyes)

What is this sound?How do you know?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/49503002894@N01/3680138/

What is this girl feeling?

What happens if you touch this?

What happens if you touch this?

METAREPRESENTATIONS

CONCEPTUAL METAPHOR

IMAGE SCHEMA

CONCEPTUAL BLENDS

CONCEPTUAL FRAMES / SCHEMA

CHUNKING

SCHEMAS

SITUATION MODELS

EPISODICREPRESENTATIONS

MIMETIC REPRESENTATIONS

MYTHIC REPRESENTATIONS THEORETIC

REPRESENTATIONS

OBJECTS

SYMBOLS

PATTERNS

SOMATIC MARKERS

?

REPRESENTATIONS& ASSOCIATIONS

Video clip from Ratatouille (Anton Ego’s nostalgia scene)

Remember mind maps?

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LIST A FEW MOVIES PIXAR HAS MADE.

a person reads a list of words including the word table...

later: “complete a word starting with tab”

(probability that subject answers table is higher than for non-primed people.)

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“aesthetic” associations

Bouba-Kiki Effect

http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/104/moto.html

Ready for the freaky stuff?literal-metaphorical confusions

Students who had recently been cradling the warm beverage were far likelier to judge the fictitious character as warm and friendly than were those who had held the iced coffee.

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/14/this-is-your-brain-on-metaphors/

Volunteers would meet one of the experimenters, believing that they would be starting the experiment shortly. In reality, the experiment began when the experimenter, seemingly struggling with an armful of folders, asks the volunteer to briefly hold their coffee. As the key experimental manipulation, the coffee was either hot or iced. Subjects then read a description of some individual...

Those who read about scary bacteria before thinking about the U.S. as an organism were then more likely to express negative views about immigration.

Subjects either did or didn’t read an article about the health risks of airborne bacteria. All then read a history article that used imagery of a nation as a living organism with statements like, “Following the Civil War, the United States underwent a growth spurt.”

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/14/this-is-your-brain-on-metaphors/

Volunteers were asked to evaluate the resumes of supposed job applicants where, as the critical variable, the resume was attached to a clipboard of one of two different weights.

Subjects who evaluated the candidate while holding the heavier clipboard tended to judge candidates to be more serious, with the weight of the clipboard having no effect on how congenial the applicant was judged. After all, we say things like “weighty matter” or “gravity of a situation.”

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/14/this-is-your-brain-on-metaphors/

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“designated driver”

“Stories, powerful stuff. Got it. What next?”

http://www.poetpainter.com/thoughts/article/classifying-experiences

presentation layer

communications layer

perceptions

The ‘thing’ itself

COMPANY SPACE

PERSONAL SPACE

presentation layer

communications layer

perceptions

The ‘thing’ itself

ENGAGINGTRANSACTIONAL

COMPANY SPACE

PERSONAL SPACE

EMPHASIS ON BRAND BUILDING

EMPHASIS ON

DIRECT

MESSAGING

APPEALS TO

EMOTIONS

APPEALS TO REASON

presentation layer

communications layer

perceptions

The ‘thing’ itself

EMOTIONALRATIONAL

COMPANY SPACE

PERSONAL SPACE

EMPHASIS ON BRAND BUILDING

EMPHASIS ON

DIRECT

MESSAGING

APPEALS TO

EMOTIONS

APPEALS TO REASON

presentation layer

communications layer

perceptions

The ‘thing’ itself

http://www.poetpainter.com/thoughts/article/classifying-experiences

http://www.poetpainter.com/thoughts/article/classifying-experiences

WE SEEK TO UNDERSTAND THE WORLD THROUGH COHERENT STORIES.

STORIES ARE IN OUR HEADS AND CHANGING ALL THE TIME.

STORIES ARE CONSTRUCTED THROUGH ASSOCIATIONS.

STORIES DRIVE BEHAVIOR.

“What is your story?”

Thanks!!Stephen P. Andersonwww.slideshare.net/stephenpa @stephenandersonwww.poetpainter.comwww.getmentalnotes.com