Our brains are very, very good at self-delusion. What happens is, it releases the stress hormone cortisol in the brain, which leads to foggy thinking, so you're not even able to judge well whether you're working well or not.
Interpretation
Our minds can deceive us, causing confusion and stress that impair our judgment and performance.
In this quote, Daniel Levitin highlights the human tendency for self-delusion, which can cloud our thinking and decision-making abilities. He points out that the brain's release of cortisol in response to stress can exacerbate this delusion, leading us to be unable to accurately assess our own performance, ultimately impacting our productivity and clarity of thought.
In practice
In a discussion about mental health and productivity, this quote can emphasize the importance of self-awareness.
As soon as you hear a proposition, the creative brain in humans assumes for the moment that it's true, and starts trying to find evidence. It's what computer scientists in the old days used to call 'Fifo:' first in, first out. The first piece of information that gets in has a privileged position, even if it's misinformation.
What music is better able to do than language is to represent the complexity of human emotional states.
Information overload refers to the notion that we're trying to take in more than the brain can handle.
That walk around the block, that fresh air, is going to help you work more quickly and effectively when you get back.
There are a lot of books about how to get organized and a lot of books about how to be better and more productive at business, but I don't know of one that grounds any of these in the science.
There's an ancient connection between movement and music. Most languages don't make a distinction between the words 'music' and 'dance.' And we can see that in the brain. When people are lying perfectly still but listening to music, the neurons in the motor cortex are firing.
When you put aside your preconceived ideas, your self-centered scale of values, and let intuition have its way with you, you open up by this act new levels of the world. Such an opening-up is the most practical of all activities.
Sometimes attaining the deepest familiarity with a question is our best substitute for actually having the answer.
The average estimate themselves by what they do, the above average by what they are.
A society that does not use the intellectual power of its female population fully is not a wise society. Most women are not as tainted by mistakes in the conduct of the economy as the male population, and now they deserve an opportunity.
The backslider likes the preaching that wouldn't hit the side of a house, while the real disciple is delighted when the truth brings him to his knees.
Ponder the fact that God has made you a gardener, to root out vice and plant virtue.
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