Evolving with Nita Jain

Demo of the Spooniverse, a resource platform for patients and caregivers dealing with complex chronic illnesses like Long Covid, ME/CFS, POTS/dysautonomia, EDS, MCAS, and more.Explore here: https://www.thespooniverse.org/Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/VtKA8YTdZMY This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.nitajain.com/subscribe

In this episode of Evolving, Nita Jain talks with Richard Sprague, a software engineer, quantified self enthusiast, and co-founder of personal health tracking startups. Sprague discusses the complexities of the microbiome, the limitations of single-point microbiome testing, and the importance of longitudinal sampling.He shares insights from his extensive self-experimentation data collection, discussing fasting, probiotics, and the impact of alcohol on glucose levels. Sprague also touches on how personal science can empower individuals to optimize their health by tailoring approaches to fit their unique biological responses.The Journey into Personal ScienceRichard Sprague's journey into personal science began with his background in software engineering and an early fascination with computers. Observing the parallels between computer systems and human biology, he developed an interest in tracking genes and other biological markers. This led him to explore how personal experimentation can inform individual health insights—a theme central to the quantified self movement.Are We Human or Are We Computers?Sprague dives into the complexities of the human microbiome—an intricate system comprising trillions of microorganisms living in and on our bodies—and emphasizes that comparing the microbiome to a computer algorithm oversimplifies its complexity. The human microbiome is a dynamic system influenced by a myriad of factors, including genetics, environment, and lifestyle.Jain and Sprague discuss the challenges of microbiome testing and the importance of longitudinal sampling to capture a more accurate picture of the gut microbiome. Richard emphasizes that single-point microbiome tests can be misleading due to the natural diurnal variation and the inherent compositional problem in sampling.Promise & Pitfalls of Microbiome TestingOne of the key pitfalls in interpreting microbiome results is the variability introduced at multiple stages of microbiome testing, from sample collection to data processing. Sprague highlights the significance of working with the same lab using consistent protocols to ensure reliable results. He also emphasizes the importance of understanding that many factors can skew microbiome readings, leading to potentially misleading conclusions.The Power of Self-ExperimentationSprague introduces the concept of personal science, or n-of-one studies, where individuals engage in self-experimentation to find what works best for their unique biology. He shares insights from his own experiments with kombucha, probiotics, and dietary interventions like fasting, highlighting how these experiences have informed his understanding of his microbiome and overall health.Embracing Curiosity and MindfulnessSprague stresses the importance of maintaining curiosity and skepticism about health practices and recommendations and encourages listeners to be mindful of their own body and health, considering personal experimentation as a powerful tool for gaining insights and making informed decisions.Subscribe to the podcast at nitajain.com!Time Stamps00:00 Richard Sprague’s Background00:45 Journey into Tech and Personal Science02:32 Complexity of Human Biochemistry vs. Computers05:24 Microbiome Testing and Its Challenges06:52 Pitfalls in Interpreting Microbiome Results16:57 Personal Science and Self-Experimentation25:06 The Impact of Microbiome on Health25:47 Personal Microbiome Discoveries27:19 Critical Windows for Microbiome Development28:00 Manipulating the Microbiome31:58 Microbiome and Disease Hypotheses36:25 Fasting and Microbiome Health39:11 Personal Science and Self-Experimentation45:17 Surprising Personal Experiment Results47:19 Conclusion and Final Thoughts This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.nitajain.com/subscribe

In this week’s episode, Senior Vice President of Strategy at Brandwatch James Creech talks about creator monetization methods, parasocial relationships, video podcasts, content moderation, blockchain social media, AI applications, and more!Listen now on Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music, and YouTube. Find the full show notes at nitajain.substack.com This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.nitajain.com/subscribe

In this week’s episode, engineer, recruiter, and podcast host Andrew Baines talks about breaking into tech careers, representation in STEM, salary negotiation, cold-pitching your way to success, and overcoming bias during the hiring process!Listen now on Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music, and YouTube.Find the full show notes at nitajain.substack.com This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.nitajain.com/subscribe

In this week’s episode, Ryan Prior, author of The Long Haul, shares his insights on patient advocacy, long COVID, ME/CFS, healthcare technology, and precision medicine. We cover many questions, including:* What kind of symptoms does long COVID cause?* How has the pandemic highlighted the need for patient advocacy?* What is precision medicine?* What is the role of genomic innovation in healthcare?* How can we make healthcare technology more accessible?* What kinds of accommodations should be made for long haulers?* What does an inclusive society that embraces disability look like?Listen now on Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music, and YouTube. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.nitajain.com/subscribe

Are women naturally more nurturing or are these roles simply the result of social conditioning? Any discussion revolving around a given gender’s “natural” propensity towards certain roles is guaranteed to quickly get heated.In her book, Equal Partners: Improving Gender Equality at Home, Kate Mangino discusses how predefined gender norms hurt both men and women and outlines steps for how couples can move towards more equal partnerships. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.nitajain.com/subscribe

This week, I had the opportunity to chat with the multi-talented Natasha Mott, a neuroscientist, writer, and podcaster. We talked about her views on multiple intelligences, epigenetics, absurdism, acceptance commitment therapy, and more!Time stamps: 1:26 IQ and multiple intelligences2:50 Emotional intelligence (EQ)3:50 System 1 and system 2 thinking5:27 Impulsivity and emotional self-regulation8:02 Acceptance commitment therapy9:00 Epigenetics and transgenerational trauma10:14 Cancel culture12:19 The nature of science and falsifiability16:19 Postmodernism and absurdism18:34 Anti-intellectualism20:22 Absurdism as a counterculture movement23:08 Being present and living intentionally32:34 Effective altruism34:39 Natasha's daily dialectical bookSubscribe to Natasha's newsletter and follow her on Instagram and TikTok! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.nitajain.com/subscribe

Let’s talk about stress, babyAnd antifragilityLet’s talk about all the good things and the bad thingsThat may beLet’s talk about stress— My attempt at parodying a 1991 Salt-N-Pepa classicStress is an unavoidable part of our daily lives. How can we mitigate stress so that it doesn’t cause adverse health outcomes? How can we leverage the benefits of stress in order to help us stay motivated? Is there a sweet spot when it comes to stress exposure?A Stressed Out SocietyLast time, I briefly mentioned the stress hormone cortisol and the role it plays in appetite regulation. When we’re stressed or sleep-deprived, cortisol levels spike, increasing appetite and causing us to crave comfort foods. Unfortunately, modern society is chock-full of stressors.Constantly getting inundated with text messages, emails, and Slack notifications can overstimulate your “fight or flight” response, leading to chronically elevated cortisol levels. This in turn can impair proper functioning of your prefrontal cortex, the region of your brain responsible for good decision-making. Inhibition of the PFC can cause us to engage in risky behaviors like texting while driving.Continuous engagement of your sympathetic nervous system also causes your adrenal glands to release adrenaline and norepinephrine, which speed up your heart rate and raise your blood pressure, respectively. This is why chronic stress can contribute to hypertension over time.The autonomic nervous system in your brain communicates with the enteric nervous system in your gut, which explains how stress can lead to digestive issues. Cortisol allows for the mobilization of your muscles at the expense of “rest and digest” activities such as the normal rhythmic contractions that move food along your digestive tract. Stress can also change the composition of your gut bacteria, which can affect your digestive and overall health.Chronic stress can dampen immunity, making you more vulnerable to infections and slowing the rate at which injuries heal. Curbing chronic stress is even essential for longevity, as high levels of stress are associated with shortened telomeres, the shoelace tip ends of chromosomes that measure a cell’s age. Telomeres allow for DNA replication and shorten with each successive cell division. When telomeres become too short, a cell can no longer divide and dies.Mindsets About StressPsychologists define stress as the physical and mental response to events that we consider challenging or threatening. In other words, stress is a reaction to a disruptive stimulus, which means that the amount of stress we experience is largely dependent on how we appraise situations. When you miss a flight or someone schedules a last-minute meeting at work, you can either roll with the punches or get worked up.Stressful situations are inevitable, but the way in which we respond is what really matters. If we view stressful situations as challenges that we can control and master rather than as threats that are insurmountable, we will perform better in the short term and stay healthier in the long run.Stanford Psychology Professor Alia Crum describes mindsets as portals between conscious and subconscious processes. In the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, she conducted an experiment in which she asked volunteers to watch videos about the nature of stress. One group didn’t watch any videos, one watched videos that detailed the debilitating side of stress, and another group watched media that emphasized the enhancing nature of stress.The goal was to change people’s mindsets and observe the results. Crum found that just nine minutes of videos a week were enough to change people’s mindsets about stress and the incidence of physiological symptoms associated with stress like backaches, muscle tension, insomnia, and tachycardia.People who watched the enhancing videos reported better work performance and fewer symptoms compared to the group who watched the debilitating videos. Interestingly, those in the debilitating group didn’t report a worsening of symptoms, which could be because the idea that stress is debilitating is already the dominant mindset.The Comfort CrisisOf course, stress isn’t all bad, and a certain amount is actually required in order to keep your bodily systems humming along at peak performance. In his book The Comfort Crisis: Embrace Discomfort To Reclaim Your Wild, Happy, Healthy Self, journalist Michael Easter argues that our calorie-rich diets, perfectly temperature-controlled environments, and relatively sheltered lives could be the reason for many modern mental and physical ailments.Modern conveniences like fast food, air conditioning, and smartphones allow for easy access to both necessities and luxuries. Easter cites evidence from exercise scientists, economists, and spiritual leaders about the benefits of discomfort for our well-being and makes the case against sedentary activities that diminish challenge in favor of convenience such as:* choosing the elevator instead of taking the stairs* eating as a result of boredom instead of physiological hunger* spending an average of 95% of our time indoorsTo push back against the latter and test his physical and mental limits, Easter embarked upon his own 33-day wilderness journey to the Alaskan backcountry. Epic outdoor challenges mimic some of the stressors our ancestors experienced and may offer more tangible health benefits than activities like organized sports.Leaving our sterile, modern worlds and confronting new stressors can lead to improved self-esteem, character building, and psychological resilience. The well-known conservationist John Muir conveyed a similar sentiment in his writings on California’s High Sierra peaks:Few places in this world are more dangerous than home. Fear not, therefore, to try the mountain-passes. They will kill care, save you from deadly apathy, set you free, and call forth every faculty into vigorous, enthusiastic action. Even the sick should try these so-called dangerous passes, because for every unfortunate they kill, they cure a thousand.Transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau had an analogous idea when he decided to spend two years on the shores of Walden Pond:I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived…I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life.Muir and Thoreau both argue that we need to shake ourselves out of apathy and complacency in order to embrace our full potentials and realize just how much we’re capable of accomplishing. Reconnecting with wilderness can benefit us in more ways than one.Lack of exposure to natural environments can adversely affect gut microbiome diversity, the loss of which has been linked to almost all chronic diseases. The hygiene hypothesis posits that the loss of friendly ancestral bacteria could be driving our current epidemic of autoimmune diseases.What Doesn’t Kill You…Mark Seery, a psychologist at the University of Buffalo, has spent his life researching the edge of human comfort zones. While wading through the scientific literature, he came across a theoretical concept called “toughening,” which seemed to manifest among young squirrel monkeys that experienced transient separation from their families during early life as part of a 2004 study conducted at Stanford.Squirrel monkeys exposed to early life stress exhibited enhanced brain development and improved cognition compared to their non-stressed peers. Seery wondered whether this same phenomenon applied to humans and decided to set up an experiment of his own to find out.His research team recruited 2,500 everyday Americans across all ethnicities and socioeconomic backgrounds between the ages of 18 and 101. Half the participants were female; half were male. The demographic makeup of the research group resembled that of the United States.Researchers conducted surveys to ask these people about their experiences with stressors like natural disasters, serious illness, physical assault, death of loved ones, and financial hardship. Compared to those who had lived relatively sheltered lives, people who had faced some adversity reported higher levels of life satisfaction, presented with fewer physical and psychological symptoms, and were less likely to use prescription painkillers.Facing some challenges but not an overwhelming amount had instilled a certain degree of resilience, allowing them to better cope with new stressors. These relationships can be plotted along U-shaped curves where both very low and very high levels of cumulative lifetime adversity are associated with less favorable health outcomes.Seery wondered if he would observe the same relationship in a controlled environment. He brought a group of undergraduate students into his lab and asked them about difficult life events and then asked them to immerse their hands in a bucket of ice water for as long as possible.As predicted, people who endured moderate levels of lifetime adversity reported feeling less intense pain and were less likely to catastrophize or ruminate over discomfort. This finding also translates to other types of stressors like giving a difficult exam or speaking in public. People who have experienced some adversity are less likely to feel overwhelming dread and more likely to view the experience as an opportunity.Antifragility and HormesisResilience means bouncing back to the same level you were at before. But what if we could take this idea a step further and become even better than we were before? People who emerge from tragedy functioning at a higher level than before exhibit a phenomenon known as post-traumatic growth.Social psychologist Laura King finds that some individuals who undergo incredible adversity not only display higher levels of happiness but also develop greater cognitive complexity as a result of their experiences. In contrast to post-traumatic stress disorder, post-traumatic growth is characterized by enhanced abilities and a propensity towards antifragility.In his book Antifragile, Nassim Nicholas Taleb describes the difference between robust and antifragile systems. Robust systems can take multiple hits and keep going. Eventually they break down, but it takes more than one shock to the system. Antifragile systems, on the other hand, become stronger when stressed. Taleb writes,Some things benefit from shocks; they thrive and grow when exposed to volatility, randomness, disorder, and stressors and love adventure, risk, and uncertainty. Yet, in spite of the ubiquity of the phenomenon, there is no word for the exact opposite of fragile. Let us call it antifragile. Antifragility is beyond resilience or robustness. The resilient resists shocks and stays the same; the antifragile gets better.Systems such as muscle fibers and adaptive immunity can be considered antifragile since they actively adapt and require stressors for optimal function. Lifting weights causes microtears in muscle fibers, allowing muscle to grow stronger. Adaptive immunity is the reason vaccines impart protection against future infection.The idea of antifragility is closely related to the biological concept of hormesis. The basic premise of hormesis is that what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, as long as the toxic exposure is in low, intermittent doses.Hormesis exhibits a paradoxical phenomenon known as a biphasic dose response, whereby low doses produce beneficial effects but high doses produces harmful effects. In other words, the dose makes the poison. Mithridatism, the practice of developing tolerance to a poison by taking gradually larger doses of it, is a similar concept.Within the region called the hormetic zone, the response to stressors and toxins is favorable. The threshold at which a given exposure becomes harmful varies considerably depending on the stressor and in accordance with individual biochemistry.Low amounts of certain stressors are thought to trigger protective cell responses. For example, sunlight exposure induces double-stranded DNA breaks, which then prompt cellular repair mechanisms to also fix any previous chromosomal damage.Hormesis is the reason that antioxidant-rich foods are considered healthy. Many plant-derived molecules, or phytochemicals, act as a defense mechanism against insects. When we consume these compounds, they cause our bodies to adapt appropriately by upregulating endogenous antioxidant production.Dietary phytochemicals that produce hormetic effects include resveratrol found in red grapes and wine, sulforaphane found in broccoli and other cruciferous vegetables, capsaicin found in chili peppers, and various polyphenols found in green tea, turmeric, blueberries, citrus fruits, and dark chocolate.Other examples of hormetic stressors include fasting, calorie restriction, alcohol consumption, and exposure to temperature extremes.Episode SummaryThe Stoics believed that adversity was inevitable and should be embraced. Seneca said the only people to pity are those who never experience difficulty because: “No one can ever know what you are capable of, not even you.”The true nature of stress is paradoxical, manifold, and complex. Chronic stress can impair immunity and our ability to make good decisions, but our bodies’ inbuilt stress response can help us respond to immediate threats by narrowing our focus and speeding up the rate at which we’re able to process information.Viewing stressors as challenges rather than threats allows your brain and body to respond more adaptively. Natural environments test our physical and mental endurance in ways that expand creativity while taming burnout and anxiety.A certain degree of stress can enhance performance. Phytochemicals possess health-boosting properties because of their ability to upregulate our bodies’ cellular stress response. Moderate exposure to hormetic stressors can improve well-being by triggering inbuilt protective mechanisms and making us more antifragile.I leave you with this quote from neurobiologist Rita Levi-Montalcini: “Do not fear difficult moments; the best comes from them.” Things don’t always happen for the best, but we can always choose to make the best of the things that happen.If you’d like to support the show, feel free to share this post! Music for this episode, “New Beginnings” by Joshua Kaye, was provided courtesy of Syfonix. This episode’s audio was edited using Descript. Some links are affiliate and help support my mission to share actionable health insights with the general public at no additional cost to you. Thank you! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.nitajain.com/subscribe

Last time, we discussed the importance of loosening our attachment to our beliefs in order to have more productive discussions with people who disagree with us. Loosening our attachment to one belief in particular can alleviate mental suffering, boost our productivity through flow, and help us experience transcendence. What am I talking about?I’m talking about rejecting the idea of the self. No, I don’t mean those experiments where someone tries a series of progressively stranger tasks in order to become desensitized to the sting of rejection. I’m talking about letting go of the concept of the self completely.The Self Is an IllusionFrench philosopher René Descartes once famously said, “Cogito ergo sum”—I think, therefore I am. Or to be more precise, “Dubito, ergo cogito, ergo sum”—I doubt, therefore I think, therefore I am.Some philosophers and neuroscientists argue that Descartes’ statement may be a non-sequitur, and the insecurity of needing affirmation of self-existence is likely in vain. According to Buddhist and Taoist philosophy, the idea of a stable, continuous self is an illusion, and a sizeable body of neuroscience research affirms this viewpoint.The self is likely a social construct consisting of our values, interests, hopes, fears, dreams, and relationships. If the self doesn’t exist, any attacks on our personal character are rendered meaningless.In an amusing scene from Friends, Rachel and Monica take offense when Phoebe suggests that Rachel is a pushover and Monica is high maintenance. When Rachel and Monica counter that Phoebe is flaky, Phoebe remains unbothered and concedes that she is indeed flaky.How exactly is this illusion created?In his book No Self, No Problem, Chris Niebauer explains that the left side of the brain is responsible for processing language, interpreting meaning, and crafting stories. Consider the word ‘book.’ What exactly does it mean? We might say it’s a medium for recording information with writing and images, often bound by a cover.But we can’t assign a quality that is universal to all books. Language is a tool that we use in order to interpret and understand reality; it gives us the illusion that the names we assign to things have actual meaning. But these names are simply shorthands or proxies to understand our surroundings.Perhaps René Magritte was trying to convey a similar idea in his infamous painting The Treachery of Images, which features the phrase “Ceci n'est pas une pipe” (French for "This is not a pipe") under the image of a tobacco pipe. Explaining the reasoning behind his painting, Magritte said:The famous pipe. How people reproached me for it! And yet, could you stuff my pipe? No, it's just a representation, is it not? So if I had written on my picture ‘This is a pipe,’ I'd have been lying!The pipe in the painting is not an actual pipe but a visual representation of one. To borrow from Polish-American scholar Alfred Korzybski, “The word is not the thing.”Niebauer points out that the illusion of the self is similar to that of a mirage in a desert—you observe, visualize, and experience it; it’s just not actually there. If you try to answer the question “Who am I?,” your left brain will likely come up with a multitude of categories to define your selfhood such as gender, occupation, religion, values, and interests.But remove categories from the equation, and it becomes significantly harder to pin down the essence of who you are. The “I” is an illusion extrapolated from the language the left brain uses to process reality.Our left brains even assign meaning to various visual inputs. The Rorschach inkblot test is a way to conceptualize how this works. The Rorschach asks users to look at inkblot patterns on paper and report what they see. The act of ascribing meaning to these random images is a way to look at how the left brain works in real-time.Given an identical inkblot image, two people can have vastly different interpretations—informed by their own individual reference frames. Recognizing patterns can be helpful but can also lead to unnecessary suffering. Let’s consider a real-world example.If an employee sees her fellow coworkers congregated together in the break room while whispering and casting glances in her direction, she may assume that her colleagues are conspiring against her. But they could just as well be planning a surprise in her honor.Our brains seek out patterns to explain reality. But these patterns only exist in our minds, and we need to realize that in order to reduce mental suffering.What’s the antidote?How then can we quiet our left brains? If the left brain is the language processing center, then the right brain is the spatial center responsible for movement-based activities. Yoga and exercise are both great ways to tap into right-brain consciousness. The right brain is also responsible for our sense of intuition or that “gut feeling” we get when we have a hunch but can’t exactly explain the reason for it.Practicing compassion and gratitude are two additional ways to engage your right brain. Buddhism defines compassion as “the ability to see another person as ourselves.” Compassion originates in the RTPJ, which sounds like a Myers-Briggs personality type but isn’t. The RTPJ, or right temporoparietal junction, allows us to consider things from someone else’s point of view.Gratitude also activates the right brain. A 2014 study published in Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience found that individuals who regularly practiced gratitude had more gray matter volume in the right inferior temporal gyrus. So the next time you find yourself stuck in rush-hour traffic or the middle of a rainstorm, remember that your perception of these experiences as ‘unfortunate’ is simply a byproduct of one half of your brain. Rejecting this interpretation and replacing it with gratitude for the time to yourself will help prevent needless stress, anxiety, and mental suffering.In the same way that quieting the left brain can have health benefits, so too can deactivating the default mode network (DMN), which comprises several regions of the brain. The DMN is involved in activities of “wakeful rest” such as daydreaming or planning for the future. Research suggests that deactivating the DMN can help reduce stress and the risk of developing dementia.Uitwaaien, the Dutch term for unwinding, refers to the practice of spending time in natural environments and has been proposed as a method to modulate DMN hyperactivity. Along a similar vein, a 2019 study examined how playing sports can help athletes cut through “brain static” in order to better interpret audio inputs. Researchers hypothesized that the athletes’ ability to tune out background noise could help prevent injuries and cardiovascular disease.Tapping Into Flow Means Letting GoAnother reason to reject the self is to boost productivity by tapping into flow, that state of being “in the zone.” When you refer to yourself as “I”, you invoke the ego (a construct of the left brain), but ego death allows us to focus more intently on creative pursuits.In order to tap into flow, we have to let go of our sense of self. That means releasing ourselves of any doubts, anxieties, fears, or insecurities. Flow is necessary for mastery of creative, artistic, and athletic endeavors.C. Wilson Meloncelli describes flow as a state between the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems. In other words, flow lies somewhere between “fight or flight” and “rest and digest.” Flow occurs when you are disengaged from your sense of self and work becomes effortless.Athletes, artists, and musicians frequently tap into the flow state when practicing their craft. Wide receiver Jerry Rice, soccer legend Pelé, cellist Yo-Yo Ma, and violinist Itzhak Perlman are all prime examples. Author and coach Brad Stulberg explains,Releasing from such a tight attachment to one’s self is a hallmark of flow, or that highly sought after state of being fully in the zone. Losing oneself is also the goal of most spiritual disciplines. (And athletic and creative ones, too.) The more you forget about yourself, the better you’ll feel, the better you’ll do, and the better you’ll be.It’s no wonder then that self-absorption is strongly correlated with clinical depression, anxiety, and other mental health conditions. And the modern-day ethos unfortunately encourages self-absorption through influencer culture and appeals to the importance of building a personal brand.But Stulberg offers a couple ways to escape the perpetual cycle of self-consumption:* Pursue mastery in any discipline: In his book Drive, Daniel Pink explains that autonomy, mastery, and purpose are deeply critical to high performance and life satisfaction. Psychologist Carol Ryff discovered that people who exhibited “a feeling of continued development” ranked higher on measures of life satisfaction and self-esteem than those who did not.* Practice kindness: While devoting oneself to mastery is immensely powerful, devoting oneself to others may be mightier still. Sonya Lyubomirsky, one of the world’s foremost happiness researchers, finds that individuals who regularly engage in volunteering, mentoring, coaching, or writing letters of gratitude report more positive emotions, both in the short-term and long-term. Psychologist Daryl Van Tongeren has corroborated her findings, reporting that altruistic acts give people a sense of meaning in their lives.When we take our attention off ourselves and our personal problems and dedicate ourselves to helping someone else, we gain so much in return.— Kathryn LubowLose Yourself to Live Life to the FullestYou better lose yourself in the music, the momentYou own it, you better never let it goYou only get one shot, do not miss your chance to blowThis opportunity comes once in a lifetime, yo— Eminem, “Lose Yourself”Losing ourselves allows us to be fully present and live in the moment, and self-transcendent experiences have been shown to make us happier, kinder, and less stressed. We experience self-transcendence when we offer ourselves in service to others but also when we stand rapt in awe.We experience the feeling of being awestruck when we witness the sheer magnitude of formations like the Grand Canyon, phenomena like the Northern Lights, and structures like the Taj Mahal. In his webseries, Shots of Awe, Jason Silva defines awe as “an experience of such perceptual vastness you literally have to reconfigure your mental models of the world to assimilate it.”Arizona State University psychology professor Dr. Michelle Shiota explains, “The experience of awe involves feeling very small and insignificant yet also connected to something much greater than the self.” Experiences of awe have been shown to bolster resilience and increase feelings of compassion, empathy, altruism, and well-being.To recap, rejecting the notion of the self can make us happier, help us tap into the flow state for improved productivity, and experience the benefits of awe. The brain’s left hemisphere, responsible for interpreting reality and recognizing patterns, creates the illusion of a stable, continuous self and often distracts us with inaccurate interpretations of reality.To counteract the left brain’s chatter, we can engage our right brain through activities such as exercise, yoga, meditation, and gratitude practices. Rejecting the self frees up cognitive load, which allows us to enter the flow state, essential for mastery. Losing ourselves in awe-inspiring experiences enriches our lives for the better. Thanks for reading!Listen to “Evolving with Nita Jain” on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Soundcloud, Deezer, TuneIn, or iHeart Radio! Music for this episode, “New Beginnings” by Joshua Kaye, was provided courtesy of Syfonix. Some links are affiliate. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.nitajain.com/subscribe

We’ve all experienced the flood of negative emotions when someone says or does something triggering. It can often be difficult to remain calm when faced with attacks on our personal character. Sometimes criticism has less to do with us and more to do with the lens through which someone is looking—in light of their own values, hardships, and experiences. Before we rush to defend ourselves in the heat of the moment, we might consider the following:Man in the MirrorThe self-serving bias describes our tendency to attribute positive events and successes to our own character traits but blame negative results on external factors unrelated to our character. Thinking this way can place your self-esteem on an emotional roller coaster, bobbing up and down with the ebb of the tide.When things are going well, you’re God’s gift to humanity and deserve praise. When things fall apart, you’re the victim who deserves better. This constant sense of deserving is mentally draining and unconducive to personal growth. If we don’t acknowledge our shortcomings, we’re less likely to learn from our mistakes and avoid repeating them in the future.Besides affecting individual behavior, self-serving bias presents with systemic effects on a global scale as well. A study conducted by researchers at Carnegie Mellon University examined the role of self-serving bias in climate change negotiations and found that college students in both China and the United States held nationalistic beliefs about which countries should reduce greenhouse gas emissions and by how much.However, when researchers disguised the problem and the identity of the parties involved, students in both countries had similar ideas about what constitutes a fair distribution of burdens. Similarly, if we try to judge situations more impartially by removing ourselves from the equation, we can come up with more equitable solutions.A similar but closely related concept is the actor-observer bias. The main difference is that the actor-observer bias focuses on both our behaviors as well as the behaviors of others while the self-serving bias only addresses our own behaviors. Fundamental attribution error, which we discussed last week, similarly addresses just one half of the equation, the behavior of others, while actor-observer bias incorporates both.Actor-observer bias explains our tendency to judge others by different standards than we judge ourselves. The hypocrisy of actor-observer bias means that if you run a red light, it’s an honest mistake, but if someone else runs a red light, they are recklessly endangering the lives of others. Your actions are always justified, and your motives are always pure. But if someone else exhibits the same behavior, they are malicious and corrupt.We tend to attribute our negative behaviors to external forces outside our control and assume that the negative behaviors of other people are the result of internal factors under their conscious control. If you fail a test, it’s because the teacher didn’t explain the material properly. If someone else fails, it’s because they didn’t study hard enough.Stephen Pinker describes a phenomenon known as the “moralization gap.” During conflicts, we tend to unconsciously inflate perceptions of ourselves and underestimate the goodwill of others. Psychology studies have shown that both victims and perpetrators distort the facts of a situation to fit their respective narratives. Moreover, close friends of victims (third parties) are usually less forgiving than victims themselves (first parties).Keeping cognitive biases in mind can help us reorient our perspective and remind us that the things we experience are not necessarily personal. When you fail at something, it doesn’t mean you are a failure as a person; it simply means you are a person who happens to fail sometimes. Criticisms can be seen as opportunities for improvement rather than personal attacks on our character.Putting Perspective Into PracticeNow that we understand the psychology behind how we think, how can we practically apply this knowledge in our daily lives? Neuroscience offers a couple of techniques that might help us out during times of stress. The first is called affect labeling.Affect LabelingOn The People’s Scientist podcast, neuroscientist Stephanie Caligiuri of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai explains that the logical part of our brain can inhibit more emotional reactive parts like the amygdala (involved in fear, aggression, and anxiety) and the medial zone of the hypothalamus, which regulates defensive behaviors.The prefrontal cortex, responsible for decision making and judgment, can be engaged by the simple yet effective practice of affect labeling, which consists of several steps:* Stop and take a deep breath to inhibit autonomic arousal and reduce stress.* Label the emotion you are feeling, and be as specific as possible, e.g. “I feel angry” or “I feel afraid.”* Identify the source of the emotion, and ask yourself, “Why do I feel this way?”Going through this exercise helps inhibit emotional reactivity. In studies, the practice of affect labeling has been shown to reduce the intensity of negative emotions as well as heighten the experience of positive emotions.Physiological SighNeuroscientist Andrew Huberman of the Stanford School of Medicine takes this advice a step further and advocates using the “physiological sigh” to reduce autonomic arousal and impulsive reactivity. The physiological sigh consists of two deep inhales in a row (without exhaling in between) followed by a full exhale through the mouth to empty the lungs.The action of the double inhale serves to “pop” the air sacks, or alveoli, in the lungs open, allowing oxygen to enter and carbon dioxide to be exhaled during the sigh out. Our bodies naturally perform this pattern of breathing every 1-5 minutes during sleep and waking hours.A brain region called the retrotrapezoid nucleus is responsible for triggering these sighs whenever carbon dioxide builds up in the brain or blood. Huberman explains that meditation practices also help create a gap between external stimuli and our impulse to respond to them.Stay NourishedPaying attention to our nutritional status can also help modulate our stress response. Up to 86% of us may not be getting adequate amounts of magnesium in our diet despite normal plasma levels. Magnesium insufficiency can present with irritability, fatigue, anxiety, muscle weakness, and a lowered ability to cope with stress.Magnesium counteracts stress responses by antagonizing NMDA receptors, increasing GABA release, reducing cortisol levels, and facilitating the production of serotonin. Lack of sufficient dietary magnesium can therefore perpetuate the stress response signal in the brain. Consuming too much alcohol or caffeine can further exacerbate the problem by causing rebound hyperexcitability and increasing anxiety.Magnesium-rich foods include pumpkin seeds, dark chocolate, cashews, spinach, and black beans. During times of physical or psychological stress such as prolonged fasting, sleep deprivation, or intense exercise, our demand for magnesium may be higher than normal. Supplementation may sometimes be necessary to meet our daily requirements.Used in conjunction, these strategies of affect labeling, physiological sigh, and magnesium replacement can help us to respond more rationally when provoked. Now, I’m not saying we need to be as Stoic as Spock or perfectly in control at all times, but implementing these simple tools can go a long way towards better understanding and more fruitful conversations. Next week, I’ll cover tips for more productive disagreements. Until then! 👋Disclaimer: Some of the links in this post are affiliate, which means I may receive a small commission from any qualifying purchases at no additional cost to you. Thank you! This is a public episode. 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As many of you may already be aware, a bill making Daylight Saving Time (DST) permanent by November 2023 has already made its way through the Senate. The decision has been met with mixed emotions. Some argue that permanent standard time is the better option and some are simply happy to no longer have to change the clocks twice a year.Arguments in favor of permanent standard time and more early morning light exposure include reduced disease risks, safer bus stop environments since kids won’t be waiting in the dark, and fewer traffic fatalities involving schoolchildren.Permanent DST, on the other hand, finds a strong advocate in big business since longer daylight hours lead to more consumer spending. As far as potential health benefits go, some research suggests that later sunsets allow children to get more exercise.Horacio de la Iglesia, a neuroscientist who studies biological clocks at the University of Washington, believes that the attempt to make DST permanent will likely fail, citing the precedent of January 1974 when the United States implemented permanent daylight saving amid a national energy crisis.Within a week, school boards were flooded with complaints from parents that children were going to school in darkness. An experiment that was designed to last two years was instead terminated in a matter of months. Public support for DST plummeted from 79% in December 1973 to 42% in February 1974.Iglesia argues that sleep disruption hits adolescents especially hard since they naturally have an advanced cycle. Teenagers don’t begin to secrete melatonin until much later in the evening (around 11 p.m.) compared to adults. For this reason, many advocacy groups have historically proposed delayed start times for middle and high school students. In addition, cortisol regulation across the board is resistant to changes in clock time with daylight saving.Have Your Cake and Eat It, Too?The diversity of opinions concerning DST can teach us a lot about the art of negotiation. How, you might ask? Let me explain.A successful negotiation has three defining characteristics:* Envy-free: neither party would willingly trade their share for the other share* Equitable: neither party feels shortchanged since both shares are of equal value* Efficient: resources have been divided in a way to maximize utilityLet’s consider a simplified example—dividing a cake in half between two minions, Kevin and Bob. There is a single knife position that Kevin would consider a 50/50 split and another knife position that Bob would consider a 50/50 split. If the knife positions are the same, simply cut the cake there. If not, start sliding both knives toward each other at the same speed until they meet. This point is the ideal split.The solution is envy-free since neither Kevin nor Bob prefer the other person’s piece and equitable since both pieces have the same perceived value. The arrangement is also efficient in the sense that one party would be worse off if the knife were moved to a different position.If we consider the more complex issue of choosing one time standard to adhere to as a nation, the above approach obviously wouldn’t work, but different negotiation tactics have different strengths and weaknesses.The “I cut, you choose” method, sometimes known as the shotgun clause in legal vernacular, is oftentimes envy-free but not equitable or efficient. If we return to the cake analogy, this approach means that if Kevin cuts the cake, Bob gets to choose which piece he wants. Kevin is incentivized to make both pieces as even as possible since he doesn’t know which piece he will end up with.But Bob has a distinct advantage as the chooser since he may value one piece more than the other, allowing him to walk away with more than what he considers half. In this way, the shotgun clause isn’t equitable. Moreover, the division may not suit each person’s preferences. Imagine that the cake is half vanilla and half chocolate, and Kevin prefers vanilla while Bob prefers chocolate.The optimal solution would be for Kevin to receive the vanilla half and Bob the chocolate half. But unless Kevin is aware of Bob’s preferences, he will be sure to include equal amounts of vanilla and chocolate in each piece. In other words, the division isn’t efficient.A Matter of TimeHow do these concepts relate to the legislation at hand? The effects of DST on sunrise time are not consistent across the country. Cities closer to the western boundary of their respective time zones experience later sunrises compared to those on the eastern border.Switching to permanent DST would be most harmful to service industry workers, minority groups, and individuals with lower income status, many of whom may have to commute in the dark. From this point of view, the Sunshine Protection Act could be considered a “tragedy of the commons,” a situation where certain users act independently according to self-interest and contrary to the common good of all users.When it comes to choosing a time standard, an envy-free solution is not possible. Whichever option we settle on, permanent standard time or permanent DST, one group will feel slighted.Unless states depart from the established standard (as Hawaii and most of Arizona have done for decades), an equitable solution isn’t possible either. However, we can allow social welfare to dictate the most efficient solution, aiming to maximize the number of days with reasonable sunrise and sunset times across all localities.Depending on whether sunrise or sunset times are given priority, the optimal solution will change. Science suggests that sunrise times should receive priority since early morning sunlight exposure synchronizes the master circadian clock in the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) of the brain with all the other peripheral circadian clocks in our bodies.Under permanent daylight saving time, the average number of days with sunrises after 7 a.m. would increase from 146 under our current system to 190, with many of the country’s most populous metro areas, including Atlanta, Miami, Cincinnati, and Salt Lake City, seeing well over 200 days with sunrises after 7 a.m. each year.If we define the latest reasonable sunrise time as 7:00 a.m. and the earliest reasonable sunset time as 6:00 p.m. and sunrise times matter significantly more as sleep experts suggest, switching to permanent standard time is optimal for nearly all cities except those that hug the eastern boundary of their respective time zones.If sunrise and sunset times are given equal importance, however, the picture becomes a little murkier. Most of the Mountain, Central, and Eastern time zones would benefit from permanent standard time while the Pacific time zone would be evenly split among the options of abolishing DST, always using DST, and keeping the status quo.Given the circadian disruption, accompanying health risks, and disproportionate effect on the most vulnerable members of society, permanent DST would do more harm than good. A return to permanent standard time would likely be the best course of action for the vast majority of Americans. Envy-free? No. Equitable? Also no. Efficient? All signs point to yes. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.nitajain.com/subscribe