Why this book?

This is the 5th – May – book from My Year of Reading 2019 list.

In that post I was specific on the reasons for reading this book, stating the following:

“Recommended to me specifically by Bill Burnett (co-author of Designing Your Life) in response to a question from me in a recent Designing Your Life Facebook webinar about my need to think more wildly and creatively and address my fears. This is a development area for me. “

My reading of the book

I read the book chapter-by-chapter.

I set myself a set of questions after reading the Introduction but for later chapters for time reasons I simply looked up resources, usually videos, via quick Google-ing.

My overall assessment and response to the book

Lots of learning to take away and apply.

Not a scientist so lots of the content about the brain I struggled with so I concentrated on the lessons drawn from the author’s understanding of his research into the brain.

Lessons:-

Iconoclasts have a mindset of doing what others say can’t be done.
How the way we see things fundamentally impacts our creativity.
The power of imagination in generating new ideas.
How fear makes us powerless and how to overcome that.
How fear makes us see things in ways different from what they are.
How fear of failure prevents us doing things that would be beneficial to us.
How and why iconoclasts need to understand and leverage people networks.
When iconoclasts need to work together in teams.
How iconoclasts become icons.

Introduction: Doing What Can’t Be Done

Book Club Questions

Q1: What attracted you to reading this book in this book club?

A1: It was recommended to me specifically by Bill Burnett (co-author of “Designing Your Life”) in response to a question from me in a Designing Your Life Facebook webinar about my need to think more wildly and creatively and address my fears. This is a development area for me. It is now time for me to read and apply this book. The challenge is real.

Q2: What was your understanding of "iconoclasts" before you started reading this book?

A2: I had heard the term but had no idea what it meant at all. I only explored the word after Bill (above) mentioned the title of this book.

Q3: How much learning about the brain have you done in the past?

A3: Not much at all. I was never any good at all or interested in sciences (in this case, biology). Earlier this year I learned more about the brain in “Make It Stick”. I have never been good at memorising facts and figures to regurgitate in exams etc. That book revealed a whole lot of information about learning and the brain that I wish I would have known 45 years ago!

Q4: The author says that an iconoclast’s brain is different in 3 ways - perception, fear response and social intelligence. Say something about each of these in your own life.

A4:-

perception: I see things through a Christian world view. I question everything as I see/hear etc it and process whether that is true or valid etc for me. I do see things my way but I always look to make connections with things I already know usually and invariably sub-concsiously
fear response: I do have confidence issues and a loud inner voice/critic which I am seeking to challenge more aggressively. I am capable of catastrophising and expecting the worst in a number of situations when I overthink specific things.
social intelligence: I looked for a definition “social intelligence is the capacity to know oneself and to know others.” Over the past 2 years and currently I am learning more about myself than at any other prior period of my life. Doing a Working Out Loud Self-Care circle has forced me to focus on learning about myself rather than subjects outside of myself. Working through Liz Ryan’s “Reinvention Roadmap” and doing every single one of her exercises was a lengthy journey of personal discovery that I am still processing.

Q5: If you let fear inhibit your actions, how does that play out for you?

A5: By paralysis in decision making when it comes to personal things for me. By procrastinating and not addressing work required to just make a decision. I tend to have the view that every decision I make is a one-time deal and that there is one single best way for my life that I am concerned that I will never find. I am continuing to experiment by doing more new things with different people and exploring more widely proactively and reactively to specific situations.

Q6: How do you sell your ideas?

A6: I tend to be a rational sales person, selling the benefits and addressing objections with rationale. I am aware that often purchasing things including ideas is more emotional than that. I am good at generating and evaluating multiple options for anything for myself and do likewise when working with others. I get irritated (may be a bit strong!) when my ideas are ignored or rejected after other people have considered them.

Q7: The author lists the challenges of being an iconoclast as (1) risks social/professional ostracism, (2) frequently alienates colleagues, (3) must face daily reckoning with a high likelihood of failure, (4) a tough road, (5) most people do not want to be one (understanding how their brain works helps manage teams with them in). What is your immediate uncensored response to each of these?

A7: challenges of being an iconoclast:-

Risks social/professional ostracism: I am strong-willed with strong opinions. I am keen on understanding ideas and have strong views on why I hold some ideas and positions to be true and valid.
Frequently alienates colleagues: This can be the case where I state my position strongly as others do. This is 2-way. I get alienated by others. Alienate is a strong word and in most cases where there are strong views this is about methods, approaches etc. I would never attack someone personally but their ideas etc are fair game for the cut and thrust of a discussion.
Must face daily reckoning with a high likelihood of failure: I am conscious that I need to fail more by trying and experimenting by doing new things.
A tough road: Learning is often tough and normal. I am a completer/finisher and look to “finish” everything I start.
Most people do not want to be one: From my limited understanding of “iconoclast” thus far, I find the “role” inspiring and I would aspire to be one or a deeper and a wider one if I am one already!

My notes from the book

Howard Armstrong – 1910s – responsible for the 3 basic technologies that make TV and radio possible

patent rights issues with David Sarnoff

much of what Armstrong did ran counter to accepted wisdom, thumbed his nose at authority, took nothing for granted except what he could see with own eyes

his suicide underlines the costs

book looks at biological basis for iconoclastic thinking – the brain – & how it sabotages creative thinking for most ordinary people

Armstrong’s story is cautionary tale – invented so many of basic technologies that ushered in age of comms it is hard to imagine what world would have looked like without them

insights came at pivotal points in history – 2 World Wars

what is interesting about Armstrong is extent of his iconoclasm – explainable by differences in the way his brain functioned

The Brain, Neuroeconomics and the Science of Iconoclasm

decisions that humans make are due to firing patterns of neurons in specific parts of the brain = led to term “neuroeconomics”

risk/reward of getting articles published

tenuous dance between advancing science within existing frameworks vs paradigm shifts

science is as competitive as business

Different Brains, Different Ways of Thinking

operational definition of iconoclast: “a person who does something that others say can’t be done”

the iconoclast’s brain is different in 3 ways:-

perception
fear response
social intelligence

field of neuroeconomics born out of realisation that physical workings of the brain place limitations on the way we make decisions

understand these constraints, start to understand human behaviour and why some people seem to march to different tune

the brain is mortal: consumes energy, performs feats of astounding complexity

suffers constraint of limited resources, fixed energy budget, can’t demand more power for complex tasks – evolved to be as efficient as possible

this is where problem arises for most people and is biggest impediment to being an iconoclast

brain runs on about 40 watts of power – has to be efficient

will draw on past experience & any other source of info such as what other people say to make sense of what it is seeing – takes shortcuts for efficiency reasons

works so well we are hardly aware

perception lies at heart of iconoclasm

iconoclasts see things differently than others – their brains do not fall into efficiency traps as much as average person

either born that way or learned how to do it

altho key process in iconoclasm is perception, this is only the start

perception is not hardwired but a process that is learned through experience – a curse and opportunity to change

everything brain sees/hears/touches has multiple interpretations, the one ultimately chosen is brain’s best guess including probability

these are heavily influenced by past experience and importantly for iconoclasts what other people say

to see things differently than other people, the most effective solution is to bombard the brain with things it has never encountered before

novelty releases perceptual process from shackles of past experience – forces the brain to make new judgements

successful iconoclasts have preternatural affinity for new experiences – embrace novelty

BUT for most people, novelty triggers fear system of the brain

fear is 2nd major impediment to thinking like an iconoclast & stops average person in their tracks

many types of fear – 2 inhibiting iconoclastic thinking:-

fear of uncertainty
fear of public ridicule

fear of public speaking – 1/3 of population

simply a common variant in human beings

a true iconoclast while experiencing any fears does not let them inhibit their actions

after conquering perception/fear, to make transition to true iconoclast, the person must sell their ideas to other people

look at social intelligence from biological point of view

research growing into how brain works to co-ordinate decision making in groups

the true iconoclast is not a hermit

decisions taken affect those around us

the modern iconoclast navigates a dynamic social network & elicits change that begins with altered perception & ends with effecting change in other people (or dying a failure)

research into parts of the brain impacting understanding what other people think, empathy, fairness and social identity

these parts play key role in whether a person convinces other people of their ideas

perception plays key role in social cognition too

perception of someone’s enthusiasm/reputation can make/break a deal

understanding how perception becomes intertwined with social decision making shows why successful iconoclasts are so rare: social intelligence depends on perception but perception itself subject to social forces – we see things like other people – cycle difficult to break

Doing What Others Say Can’t Be Done

iconoclasts have existed throughout history

name via Leo III (Emperor of Constantinople) destroyed icon of Christ on palace gates AD 725 – act of defiance against church was to consolidate his power

means “destroyer of icons” and it stuck

the modern iconoclast acknowledges fact that creation is also an act of destruction

to create something new, you also have to tear down conventional ways of thinking

success in this dependent on 3 key circuits in brain

why write a book about iconoclasts?

it is the type of person who creates new opportunities in every area from artistic expression to tech to biz

embodies traits of creativity & innovation that are not easily done by committee

s/he eschews authority & convention

thumbs his nose at rules

but in proper environment, can be major asset to any org

whether you want to be one or not, crucial for success in any field to understand how inconoclastic mind works

not easy to be one:-

risks social/professional ostracism
frequently alienates colleagues
must face daily reckoning with a high likelihood of failure
a tough road
most people do not want to be one (understanding how their brain works helps manage teams with them in)

book helps you to learn to think more iconoclastically by understanding how the 3 brain circuits work

can be a real asset to the org

overarching theme is that they are able to do things that others say cannot be done because they see things differently from other people:-

plays out in initial stages of an idea
in how they manage their fears
manifests in how they pitch their ideas to those who are not iconoclasts

exceedingly rare that someone has all 3 traits

each of the 3 is explained with a real life example - someone with all 3 would have ultimate iconoclast’s brain

1: Through The Eye of an Iconoclast

Book Club Questions

None set by me yet. I am in a rush to read the book. May set questions later. If anyone wants to set some questions, feel free to post them as a comment to this post.

Once you have read this chapter you may want to investigate these additional resources that I found while rabbit trail-ing:-

Dale Chihuly | Talks at Google
https://youtu.be/m6M2y0YhhaU
Forging art and business in Dale Chihuly’s workshop
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NY-9kDMkL4
COV VENICE INSTALLATIONS
https://youtu.be/liQhhAVpoNQ
Paul C. Lauterbur: Nobel Lecture: All Science is Interdisciplinary - from Magnetic Moments to Molecules to Men
https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/2003/lauterbur/lecture/
@Google in Conversation with Nolan Bushnell
https://youtu.be/l9rNax9h2gM
Interview with Al Acorn, designer of Pong
https://youtu.be/h8x-2_Pcwvs?t=15m50s

My notes from the book

The real voyage of discovery lies not in seeking new landscapes but in seeing with new eyes.
(Marcel Proust)

glass as liquid that behaves like a solid, raise temperature & it becomes a liquid again

Dale Chihuly, iconoclastic glass artist

millions of people have seen his work, ubiquitous

1986: solo show at Louvre

best glass artist since Louis Tiffany

mastered the business of art, huge financial success cf Picasso, Warhol, Hockney

invented the forms of glass he is now associated with, his work has become iconic with some forms copyrighted

the prototypical example of iconoclast: single-handedly tears down conventional notions of glass art, creates something entirely new in its place

illustrates 1st rule of iconoclasm: sees things differently from other people

wears eye patch – anachronistic these days

loss of sight in his eye was defining moment for his art and career

changed his perception

A Different Perspective

conveys his requirements with paint on huge sheets of paper, does not spend much time in hotshop

the paintings sell for $ 00s, lots stuck to ceiling

some relate to specific pieces

team approach to glassblowing known to Europeans for centuries

Chihuly only put it into full-blown action when he had to – 1976 car accident in UK, went through windscreen, lost sight in left eye

lost peripheral vision and no depth perception

continued to blow glass until 2nd accident

surf accident in La Jolla, dislocated right arm, could not work in hotshop

saw the advantages of being detached from the process, made him more creative, do a lot more work than others could

you can see marked change in his output post these accidents – a more asymmetric form

creative ideas came when not searching for them

for many loss of sight is devastating – never the same when lose sight in one eye

biggest impact is how you see yourself

in glass work symmetry prized above all else – a measure of the skill of glassblower, a status symbol

asymmetric vases were mark of rank beginners

his work, like many artists, is extension of the body

humans do not like asymmetry as general rule – use symmetry as mark of beauty

made asymmetry beautiful

Seeing Differently

when we imagine something, it is most often a visual image that comes to mind

vision is not the same as perception

vision: process of photons entering the eye, transformed into neural signals in brain

perception: more complex process by which brain interprets these signals resulting in a mental image that reaches consciousness

eye is simply optical lens and image detector (retina)

then what people’s brains do with the image is an individualistic process

The Anatomy of Vision

explanation of how vision works

gaps in vision filled in by brain with guesses that are generally good but sometimes the guesses fail resulting in brain making incorrect assumptions

the ways in which brain makes these assumptions are same ways it makes it difficult to think like iconoclast

e.g. blind spots unique to humans / primates

explanation of hole in retina that brain fills in

bandwidth of human eye about 1 MB/second

The Anatomy of Perception

after seeing something, info flows from back of head generally forward direction to frontal lobes:-

high road: info over the top of the brain – where things are relative to the body
low road: through temporal lobes above ears, categorises what a person sees

as we delve deeper into how this happens, we shall see where it becomes difficult to see things in ways different that you expect

the ability to do this is absolutely essential for iconoclastic thinking

see things finally not as rectangular grid of light & dark spots but as landscape of stationary & moving objects, each with its own identity

the Kanizsa Triangle- perception is a product of the brain & mind not the eyes

brain tends to perceive things as it expects them to be

the most likely way you perceive something will be in a manner consistent with your past experience – feel comfortable & cost little energy to process – uncommon perceptions are hard work for the brain

how the brain creates perceptions from raw visual inputs is critically important to being an iconoclast

iconoclast does not see things differently but perceives them differently

several routes to force brain out of its lazy perception mode

theme linking these is element of surprise – brain must be provided with something it has never processed before to force it out of predictable perceptions

The Iconoclast Who Discovered MRI

MRI only 30 years old

brain is central player in iconoclasm – much of what we know about the brain is due to MRI

story of MRI is story of iconoclasm itself

basis physical principle behind MRI discovered in 1940s

Paul Lauterbur’s revolutionary insight into standard tech for chemists for analysing chemicals

he had consulting roles

no one had thought about using NMR to locate differences inside samples themselves for cancerous or normal tissue

Paul believed NMR could be used to find locations of differences in tissue sample

challenge of getting uniform magnetic field

there was noise in readings – others dismissed – but Paul wondered if this could be used – could you decipher the embedded info to make pics

epiphany was purposely making the magnetic field non-uniform

heretical in NMR

1st article rejected

his insight changed medicine forever – Nobel Prize in Medicine in 2003, 30 years later

we can see where he broke out of conventional thinking

cf visual insights parallel with Chihuly

visual perception is where hunt for iconoclastic brain begins

Persons, Places and Things

from high and low roads to meet in frontal cortex after making judgements of object identities and locations in space

challenge for computers to identify objects and people and yet our brains do it effortlessly

identifying friend or foe rapidly means brain evolved to accomplish amazing perceptual tasks whilst saving energy

retains/discards info while processing

altho spatial location of what we see may be important, most of what iconoclasts do differently from other people lies in how they categorise what they see

understanding how low road pigeonholes objects into categories suggests ways out of predictable perception

cf 20 Questions game, Q1 is this a person or not – ppl are special category of objects

there is a specific part of brain known to respond to human faces

distributed and shared processing of faces

distributed means that brain can reprogram its networks to perceive things differently

altho ability to reprogram neural networks is a key attribute of iconoclast’s brain, does not mean it works for everyone – sometimes must be approached gradually or else iconoclast’s ideas will be rejected

Before Pac-Man, the Iconoclast Who Brought Us Pong

at time of Pac-Man video games were revolutionary

Pong perhaps most iconoclastic of all

all video games based on simple computer version of table tennis

Pong’s inventor – Nolan Bushnell

started designing arcade games – 1 with thrust, fire, rotate – players did not have a category in their brains for interpreting this kind of game

formed Atari (term for Japanese game of Go)

hired Al Acorn to create video version of Ping-Pong

2 weeks for a working prototoype – one ball, two paddles, scores

to everyone’s surprise, remarkably entertaining & addictive

required no instructions or reprogramming in brains of players – field tested at a bar in 1972 – moved arcade games into homes

Seeing Like An Iconoclast

an iconoclast’s brain sees differently from other people’s

the importance of new perspectives in the creation of new ideas

importance of visual system to human mind means many of great innovations began with change in visual perception

often iconoclasts’ key insights are triggered by visual images

iconoclasm begins with visual perception

1st step to thinking like an iconoclast is to see like one

human brain sees things in ways that are most familiar to it

epiphanies rarely occur in familiar surroundings

key to seeing like an iconoclast is to look at things that you have never seen before

breakthroughs come from a perceptual system that is confronted with something it does not know how to interpret

unfamiliarity forces brain to discard its usual categories of perception and create new ones

sometimes the brain needs a kick start to see things differently

sometimes a simple change of environment is enough to jog perceptual system out of familiar categories

e.g. may be one reason why restaurants figure so prominently as sites of perceptual breakthroughs

more drastic change of environment eg travelling to another country is even more effective

in this process the brain jumbles around old ideas with new images to create new syntheses

new acquaintances can be a source of new perceptions – their ideas may destabilise your familiar patterns of perception

by forcing the visual system to see things in different ways, you can increase odds of new insights

sounds easy BUT brain often resists exactly these types of new experiences because they cost energy to process

2: From Perception to Imagination

Book Club Questions

None set by me yet. I am in a rush to read the book. May set questions later. If anyone wants to set some questions, feel free to post them as a comment to this post.

One for my list so I do not forget!

What do you think of the term “unlearning”?

Once you have read this chapter you may want to investigate these additional resources that I found while rabbit trail-ing:-

Walt Disney Documentary
https://youtu.be/qBoarGy4GBQ
https://youtu.be/oMSXeDnPldc
Dale Purves: How Evolution Determines What We See
https://youtu.be/QORWM3Pl760
Florence Nightingale: Changing the Field of Nursing - Fast Facts | History
https://youtu.be/B94Zf4Vye3Y
Documentary
https://youtu.be/hBVX5s43_Ks
Branch Rickey: A matter of fairness
https://youtu.be/zSwM-rqv11s
Kary Mullis' Eureka Moment
https://youtu.be/xd4De47ldYs
Fireside Chat w/ Dr. Kary Mullis - Nobel Laureate, Chemistry
https://youtu.be/nPETGWDWhNE
Sons of Sputnik: Kary Mullis at TEDxOrangeCoast
https://youtu.be/iSVy1b-RyVM

My notes from the book

“Education consists mainly in what we have unlearned.”
[ Mark Twain ]

humans depend on vision more than any other sense to navigate through the world

mostly we take visual process for granted

most of the time efficiency of our visual system works to our advantage

cf baseball hitter .. no time for thought in seeing/hitting the ball

so connection between eye and body must be seamless

automaticity lets us accomplish anything requiring hand-eye co-ordination

to be efficient visual system must make guesses about what it is actually seeing

most of time this works

but the automatic processes get in way of seeing things differently

automatic thinking destroys creative process that forms foundation of iconoclastic thinking

brain fundamentally lazy … hates wasting energy

we use all of our brains but not all at same time

each part of brain performs different function but each needs energy

Gerald Edelman called this neural Darwinism, meaning brain has and continues to evolve by principles of resource competition/ adaptation

efficiency reigns supreme

efficiency principle major implications for visual system:-

brain takes shortcuts whenever possible
brain uses circuits like the visual system for multiple purposes

imagination comes from the visual system

iconoclasm goes hand in hand with imagination

before you can muster strength to tear down conventional thinking, must first imagine possibility that conventional thinking is wrong

not enough … iconoclast goes further … imagines alternative possibilities

imagination is fickle process – most iconoclasts have good days & bad days when thinking is stale/cliche

this is the story of search for the holy grail of creativity, an almost childlike imagination and wilful abandonment to dream crazy thoughts

creativity seems to get harder as we get older

brain needs to categorise – more important as we get older, more info! – imagination stems from ability to break this categorisation to see things for what they might be not for what one thinks they are

Walt Disney – The Iconoclast of Animation

Walt Disney was an iconoclast because he changed animation cartoon from being a movie trailer to a main feature

started as illustrator, hard worker, illustrated ads

taken with the idea of combining drawing with movie technology

images on big screen had profound effect on Disney’s visual perception .. gripped his imagination

experimented taking pictures of his drawings

came to see himself as animator not illustrator

did not invent animation but took it further than anyone thought possible

his achievements came after his change in visual perception

images changed Disney’s categorisation of drawing from one of static cartoons to that of moving ones – drawings that told stories in a narrative sense

The Evolution of Perception

perception & imagination are closely linked – the brain uses same systems for both functions

can think of imagination as nothing more than running perceptual machinery in reverse

whatever limits the brain places on perception naturally limit the imagination

recent advances in neuroscience show how big a role experience plays in perception

Dale Purves believes visual perception largely result of statistical expectations – perception is brain’s way of interpreting ambiguous visual signals in the most likely explanation possible and likelihood of these explanations is direct result of past experiences

= a radical theory of perception with major implications for thinking like iconoclast

The Ponzo illusion: lines appearing longer due to past experience of seeing parallel lines receding into the distance, turn the pic upside down – the illusion that the upper and lower lines are different lengths disappears

if experience plays such profound role in shaping perceptions, should be possible to test theory by controlled experiences to see how perceptions change

found that a specific part of brain’s visual system (lateral occipital area) differentiated types of car after training but not before – greater activity when 2 cars of differety categories presented than when the same, no change in activity prior to training

results important – demonstrate:-

the way we perceive something, function of low road, depends on how we categorise objects – without categories, we do not have ability to see fteatures that differentiate objects – i.e we cannot see that which we do not know to look for
ability see these subtle differences depends on experience – means that perception can be changed through experience

Florence Nightingale and the Perception of Death

most people die in war from disease not wounds

perception changed with Florence in 1850s

her name synonymous with art/science of nursing

iconoclastic feminist, transformed image of nurse from woman of low social status to professional with technical contributions on par with doctors

also pathbreaker in emerging field of math stats

= iconocast 3 times over

when sewers in Constantinople in Crimean War were flushed, death rate fell

started collecting stats on causes of death & relationship to injuries, nutrition, hygiene

letter to Queen Victoria, used pie chart – could be 1st time such a chart used that led to wholesale change of practice

shattered the prevailing dogma

How the Brain Learns to See

re learning, important elements for iconoclasts:-

experience modifies connections between neurons so they become more efficient at processing info
traditionally, psychologists & neuroscientists divide learning into 2 broad categories:-

(Pavlov dog) classical conditioning aka associative learning

dog associates certain movements of owner with about to get food etc
reinforces that view in the owner

other experiment with rhesus monkeys – like every other neural system in brain, dopamine system adapted to environmental contingencies and essentially learned correlation between arbitrary events e.g lights flashing and fruit juice being given

dopamine: neurotransmitter synthesised by very small group of neurons in brain stem (LT 1% of all neurons in brain)

same learning process happens in perceptual system = when brain repeatedly presented with same visual stimuli, neurons in visual system continue to respond but with decreased vigour = repetition suppression – demonstrates brain’s efficiency principle in action

competing theories for repetition suppression:-

neurons become tired like muscles and do not respond as strongly
neurons become primed to stimuli, respond faster with repetition which might appear as decreased activity depending on how measured
(most likely) sharpening hypothesis – neurons in these networks become more specialised in their activity – more energy efficient

From Visual Imagery to Imagination

distributed processing means brain can also construct images when no info coming into the eyes – mental imagery – close relationship to imagination

process of mentally visualising an image is like running the perceptual process in reverse

structures used to visualise something same as those that process something when you actually see it

the strength of activity in visual cortex correlates with intensity/ vividness of what the person visualises – the stronger the activity, the more vivid the scene a person imagines

but efficiency principle works against imagination

cf close eyes and imagine sunset – problem is that this is iconic image that we have seen many times so striking lack of imagination in this visualisation task – brain uses path of least resistance and reactivates neurons that have been optimised to process this sort of scene

imagine something you have never seen, more opportunity for imagination as brain has no prior experience e.g. sunset from surface of Pluto – you have to work new neural pathways to imagine it

reveals a key psychological factor in imagination – to imagine something in detail, you must devote significant amount of mental energy to task

William James (19C psych): attention:

“Everyone knows what attention is. It is the taking possession by the mind in clear and vivid form, of one out of what seem several simultaneously possible objects or trains of thought … It implies withdrawal from some things in order to deal effectively with others, and is a condition which has a real opposite in the confused, dazed, scatterbrained state.”

everyone does know what attention is but not easy to pin down scientifically

divide attention to 2 broad categories based on how long the process operates:-

sustained attention: acts over extended periods, closely related to drive & motivation
selective attention: transient & detail orientated – this is what James referred to & because of transient nature has been preferred form to study

details which on casual observation go unnoticed but become revealed only under powers of selective attention – due to this, attention changes perception

if we wish to direct our attention to something, we need to know where to look

networks must be reconfigured every time you look at something different

highly efficient from energy perspective but means limitations on how many things you can process at once

this reconfig of neural networks is also where imagination comes from

sometimes that can happen under internal guidance but mostly a novel external stimulus is required to jump-start the process

Branch Rickey – The Iconoclast who Hired Jackie Robinson

1940s Major League Baseball colour segregation

Branch was baseball team manager

created a number of innovations on the field that are standard today

created minor league farm system – teams developed talent for major teams

war prompted change in his perception of blacks – Christian and economic motives – needed talent and Negro League was last source

became a true iconoclast when started down this route – Jackie was first

Rickey always had talent for management but it is Jackie story that propels him to ranks of iconoclasts

we see iconoclast’s imagination in action

Breaking Out of Categories

relationship between perception, insight & imagination goes well beyond basic psychology & historical debates

neuroscience view:-

imagination comes from using same neural circuits used to perceive natural objects – imagination is like reverse perception
perception is constrained by categories that individual brings to the table

categories may not be absolute, they are learned from past experience and that experience therefore shapes both perception & imagination

to think creatively & imagine possibilities that only iconoclasts do, must break out of cycle of experience-dependent categorisation (which Mark Twain called education)

for most of us this does not come naturally – often the harder one tries to think differently, the more rigid the categories become

there is a better way, a path that jolts the brain out of preconceived notions of what it is seeing – bombard the brain with new experiences

only then will it be forced out of efficiency mode and reconfigure its neural networks

1 of most imp scientific discoveries in last 30 years came through just this

Kary Mullis – polymerase chain reaction – the fundamental tech that allows any type of genetic test to be performed

used in genetic fingerprinting, CSI, paternity testing, detection of hereditary diseases & cancer, cloning, genetically-engineered products such as vaccines

Nobel Prize for chemistry 1993

circumstances of his discovery make him iconoclast

sparked off by California buckeyes heavily in blossom leaned over road in the mountains

[ Simon: info on buckeyes: https://www.pacifichorticulture.org/articles/california-buckeye-a-tree-for-all-seasons/ ]

DNA-related discovery after 6 months of subsequent trial and error

the crucial insight (all the pieces were already known) was how to link the various technologies that would have far-reaching ramifications

the insight came in a novel environment

Novelty as a Trigger for Running the Perceptual System in Reverse

brain extraordinarily efficient in using its resources – too efficient

brain perceives things in ways it has become accustomed to

only when brain confronted with stimuli it has not seen before does it start to reorganise perception which then spills over & influences the internal images that can be held in mind’s eye

fortunately the networks that govern both perception & imagination can be reprogrammed

by deploying attention differently

difficult to do this under normal conditions

typically takes novel stimulus – new piece of info, or getting out of normal environment in which a person is comfortable – to jolt attentional systems awake & reconfigure both perception & imagination

the more radical / novel the change the greater the likelihood of new insights being generated

to think like an iconoclast you need novel experiences

seek out situations in which you have no experience

may have nothing to do with your current expertise – it does not matter – because same systems in brain carry both perception / imagination, there will be crosstalk

novel experiences, esp big changes such as relocations, are prominent in imagination of iconoclast

but the real target is categorisation

iconoclast maintains state of vigilance over the use of categories

an effective strategy to fight this is to confront categories directly:-

whether categorising a person or an idea, write out the categories
jot down some words that categorise an idea
use analogies
you will naturally fall back on things you are familiar with
allow yourself the freedom to write down gut feelings, such as stupid or hot
only when you consciously confront your brain’s reliance on categories will you be able to imagine outside of its boundaries

Chapter 3: Fear: The Inhibitor of Action

Book Club Questions

None set by me yet. I am in a rush to read the book. May set questions later. If anyone wants to set some questions, feel free to post them as a comment to this post.

Once you have read this chapter you may want to investigate these additional resources that I found while rabbit trail-ing:-

Resources:-

Jackie Robinson (AMAZING MLB Baseball Sports Documentary)
https://youtu.be/K8xS8lZl2RI
The Dixie Chicks Explain Their "Ashamed President Bush is from Texas" Comments to Diane Sawyer
https://youtu.be/HzeQmOYdFqU
Pavlov's Theory of Classical Conditioning Explained!
https://youtu.be/qSqWiTG-o2Y
Sanjay Kumar
Wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanjay_Kumar_(business_executive)
Jim Lavoie
BIF 2: Jim Lavoie - Innovating Everyday Through The Quiet Genius of His Employees
https://youtu.be/5iyWpOcDeQQ

My notes from the book

“I have learned over the years that when one’s mind is made up, this diminishes fear; knowing what must be done does away with fear.”
(Rosa Parks)

Jackie hired by Branch was also an iconoclast for accepting

Jackie’s life story, grandson of a slave

knew pains of discrimination from early age but did not let fear get in way of what he did

for going against overwhelming opinion that blacks were incapable of playing in the majors, Robinson deserves the label “iconoclast.”

1st game in inter-racial team, lots of abuse

as with every iconoclast, a point in time etched in memory when something changed their perception of the world

how did he do it?

how does an individual kill fear of unknown, physical harm, social isolation

answer in how brain deals with 2nd key function of iconoclasm – fear response

Fear: Mother of All Stress

fear feels bad, body under stress

a stereotypical human response

triggers vary by individual

picture of stress always the same:-

blood pressure increases
heart beat increases
sweat glands secrete
mouth dries up
fingers tremble
voice cracks
stomach churns

a part of our evolutionary history

stress system can override every other system in brain

not rational – reacts when provoked – reaction powerful enough to derail many of most innovative people

ability to tame the stress response is 2nd great hurdle of becoming an iconoclast

stress response made up of:-

neural system

controlled by autonomic nervous system

sympathetic system – activated during stress

connect the brain to the body’s internal organs
can operate well without the brain so low-bandwidth connection
responsible for orgasm

parasympathetic system – turned off during stress

just as important for human life
not as much attention to this – responsible for quiet, restorative aspects of life
single large nerve from brain – vagus nerve
performs as ANS but in reverse – slows down the heart, speeds up digestive process
responsible for sexual arousal

sympathetic system causes problems for iconoclasts – not well suited for or have anything to do with creativity & innovation & hormonal system – whole point of this system is action without thought

hormonal system

hormones cause physiological responses in target organs
hormones circulate through whole body in bloodstream
effects more widespread
longer to affect body
only one important hormone for stress – cortisol
released when brain says so
effect more subtle & long lasting
direct different organs in body to change physical config eg responses to physical injury or starvation

modern stress is different – in past was physical threats, now major stressors come from social reasons – conflict with spouse, boss, competition with peers

brain not immune from effects of stress either

it initiates stress response

brain remodels itself in response to stress

some remodelling occur at neuronal level through simple learning mechanisms

other changes happen under effects of hormones such as cortisol

physical changes may have wide-ranging effects on behaviour

repeated stressors cause changes in key parts of brain related to decision making and iconoclastic thinking

The Accidental Iconoclast: Fear and the Dixie Chicks

sometimes iconoclast arises from most unlikely circumstances – an accidental iconoclast

e.g. Natalie Maines (lead singer, Dixie Chicks), London 2003 in-between songs in concert, critical of US president & coming from Texas

country music is patriotic, uproar

took a stand v dogma that country music = unflagging patriotism

public destruction of CDs cf Nazi book burning

death threats

did not let their fear of public ridicule or even fear of death prevent them from standing up for what they believed

common attribute among iconoclasts – they transform the emotion they are felling into something else

transformed fear into pride

recognising that fear can paralyse action, iconoclast takes the automatic arousal of fear and uses it for something productive

Fear Conditioning

Ivan Pavlov – Russian psychologist – discovered classical conditioning – neutral stimulus – conditioned stimulus - paired with something that evokes a response such as food – an unconditioned stimulus

conditions the response to the neutral thing

classical conditioning can use desirable (appetitive conditioning) or undesirable (aversive conditioning) responses

critical processing centre for fear conditioning – amygdala – critical for emotional processing and is gateway for fear responses

amygdala also influences functioning of perception itself

experiments: after pairing dual responses for a few times, auditory neurons had shifted their preference to match the responses & the change persisted for weeks

demonstrated the powerful effects of fear conditioning on perception itself

these changes are profound & long lasting

extinction – where the 2nd of the pair responses is removed, the fear response is removed but not altogether, diminish overtime

means that conditioned fear responses are inhibited but not eliminated

also means that conditioned fear responses can appear with only slight provocation

Computer Associates and the Fear of Failure

fear of public failure & ridicule has toxic effects on individuals & organisations

case study of Computer Associates showing how both can tear org apart

hostile takeovers of competitors then ultimatum to staff in taken over company to accept pay cut or leave + questionable accounting practices, court cases with CEO Sanjay Kumar getting prison sentence, Charles Wang never indicted

mgt style of fear & intimidation so no dissenting voices

good example of how to inhibit both innovation & iconoclastic thinking when fear is pervasive – you can only grow in that circumstance by acquiring other companies for their innovations

An Alternative to Fear: The Idea Market

Jim Lavoie & Joe Marino – story of Rite-Solutions – software for submarine command and control systems and visualisation tools for helicopter rescie missions – culture of fun and innovation

they are not iconoclasts but want to coax potential iconoclasts out of their shells – the opposite of the CA mgt style

idea market their response to this requirement – each employee gets $10k opinion money to “invest” in ideas that gains interest as ideas go through the process – interest money – but also spend time on the idea in investment phase

market helps people create their own jobs

a novel solution to social fear & how to unstifle innovation

does not remove all fear of sharing your ideas publicly but does attempt to take the drama out of it

[ Simon: visibility cf WOL and Show Your Work. ]

helps decrease the 3rd fear that gets in way of iconoclasm – fear of the unknown

Fear of the Unknown: A Biological View of Uncertainty

entirely different type of phobia from fear of failure but it is also processed through amygdala

good news as means pathways by which fear inhibits behaviour flow through this one structure

knowledge of the amygdala can be used to address this roadblock to iconoclasm

ambiguity stems from a lack of knowledge – brain tries constantly to predict what will happen next and when it can’t results in foreboding

[ Simon: “foreboding”: “a feeling that something bad will happen; fearful apprehension”]

people better at responding to this than others but is universally experienced the same way

some clues on how to handle via neuroeconomics

Ellsberg Paradox – urn 1 with 10 black & 10 white marbles, urn 2 with 20 marbles – game 1 pick a black marble … game 2 pick a white marble -

most people choose urn 1 for both due to fear of unknown – ambiguity aversion

MRI scan – regions more strongly activated to ambiguity are underside of the cortex above the eyeballs (orbitofrontal cortex) and the amygdala

Taming the Amygdala Through Reappraisal & Extinction

long memory, once encodes unpleasant association, it does not forget

responsible for traumatic flashbacks

2 ways to keep it in check:-

proactive – prevent / limit brain from making unpleasant associations that it will remember
reactive – acknowledges that unpleasantness is unavoidable but need not be paralysing

for many, the fear types that get in way of iconoclastic thinking were laid down long ago

often formative experiences from childhood & adolescence that rear their heads in adult life

e.g fear of public speaking – most common phobia – 30% in USA, an acquired phobia

cf conditioning from earlier in book

some phobias may be innate and hardwired such as fear of snakes/spiders

so instead of trying to eradicate the fear response, better to examine the situations that set off the amygdala & use prefrontal cortex to inhibit it

cf Ideas Factory removed lots of the social drama from the process, encouraging people to pitch their ideas in

power of virtual platforms to remove drama

other triggers of the amygdala need a different approach – cannot eliminate uncertainty!

simple psychological approaches

amygdala has:-

input stage

makes the associations between environmental cues and unpleasant events

central part of amygdala that is primarily responsible for activating the stress response
output stage

a conditioned fear may never go away, the output, expression of this fear can be inhibited
one of most effective strategies is cognitive reappraisal: reinterpreting emotional info in a way that emotional component is diminished
e.g. someone crying outside church could be for a funeral but may be for a wedding = perception
replace a negative reaction with a positive one – the prefrontal cortex inhibits the amygdala

reappraisal works well for short-term stressors

can be difficult to implement on own without a mentor/friend

someone reframing circumstances in non-emotional terms may be enough

much of problem with acute stressors is from perception

perception from brain so reappraisal works well to change perception in such a way that fear system not activated

to extinguish perception, you must experience conditions that lead to the stress response but without the unpleasantness

may need more active measures to accelerate the extinction of unpleasant memories

e.g. Toastmasters for public speaking

fear of unknown can be handled in same way – reappraisal / extinction

risk aversion is value judgement based on known probabilities & outcomes (see chapter 5)

ambiguity aversion is straight from fear of unknown – a deeply ingrained biological tendency

but it can still be inhibited

a technique that may be particularly effective is to convert ambiguity into risk – a form of reappraisal – eg apply probability to 2nd urn

Bayesian updating – statistical process of using new info to update probability estimates

key reappraisal for ambiguous circumstances is to view ambiguity as opportunity to gain knowledge – converts ambiguity to risk judgement

stress creates opportunity – think reappraisal – cannot run from stress all your life

reframe stress as opportunity and stress may decrease

do some fixed term project work alongside ongoing to get confidence and reduce stress

cognitive strategies highly effective at keeping fear system under control (with origin in prefrontal cortex)

so rather than people needing to avoid situations that cause fear or circumstances that make them stress out, neuroscience showing how rational part of brain can regain control over such toxic emotions like fear

Chapter 4: How Fear Distorts Perception

Book Club Questions

None set by me yet. I am in a rush to read the book. May set questions later. If anyone wants to set some questions, feel free to post them as a comment to this post.

Once you have read this chapter you may want to investigate these additional resources that I found while rabbit trail-ing:-

Resources:-

Challenger: A Rush To Launch:
https://youtu.be/2FehGJQlOf0
FUN TO IMAGINE with Richard Feynman BBC2
https://youtu.be/P1ww1IXRfTA
The Fantastic Mr. Feynman [2013] | BBC Documentary
https://youtu.be/VdYujzyaX68
Asch Conformity Experiment
https://youtu.be/TYIh4MkcfJA

My notes from the book

“The soft-minded man always fears change. He feels security in the status quo, and he has an almost morbid fear of the new. For him, the greatest pain is the pain of a new idea.”
(Martin Luther King Jr.)

last chapter saw that fear can inhibit action

fear also has potential for interacting with perceptual system and changing what a person sees or thinks s/he sees – a more dangerous scenario

when fear changes perception, a person not necessarily inhibited from action but may choose wrong course of action

sometimes results are deadly

28 Jan 1986 – Challenger disaster – fatal result of chain of bad decisions – poor mgt practices and minimisation of risks – accident rotted in history – failed to recognise something as a problem, failed to fix it, treated it as acceptable risk

gradual shift in perception about the design – cost considerations overrode all other objections – main focus on timescales

fear itself changed perception of risks

When The Emperor Has No Clothes

Richard Feynman (Nobel Prize – Physics) laid blame on NASA mgt

unlike many in this book, he did not learn to become an iconoclast, he was one from birth

surpassed teachers at school in maths

when German physicists proved that matter was really composed of invisible, discrete particles called atoms, this was single greatest discovery of all human history to Richard, shaped his view of world but short-lived fascination

studied physics at Princeton – created new graphical way of representing these types of problems … was basis for his future Nobel Prize

persistent scepticism

unwillingness to accept any assertion on authority

reputation for seeing things differently, spotting mistakes even when did not know the right answer

looked at calcs from unique vantage points

Manhattan Project showed him how iconoclasts made decisions – each person stated view then collective decision without repetition

innate sense of seeing things his way & refused to be intimidated by others

refused to let unfounded fears of blindness get in his way of seeing 1st atomic explosion

this refusal to let fear colour his perception makes him most iconoclastic physicist ever

A Minority of One

for most people the willingness to stand alone for one’s opinion does not come easily

fear of social isolation

millions of years have produced a human brain that values social contact and communication above all else

the way in which we interact with each other is, in many ways, more important than what our own ears/eyes tell us – the brain takes in info from others & incorporates it with info coming in from own senses – often group opinion trumps individual’s before s/he is even aware of it

while we readily ascribe our thoughts / feelings to ourselves the truth is that many of our thoughts originate from other people

great value in belonging to a group:-

safety in numbers
wisdom of the crowd

explains why so few people become iconoclasts

understanding these affects can encourage would-be iconoclasts & foster conditions for innovation in our orgs

Asch Experiment – length of lines – 1 subject with several plants giving the same wrong answers – it was the group pressure to give the wrong answer that made the choices seem difficult – most subjects caved to group pressure one third of the time

See As I Say

Asch was iconoclast – created the field of social psychology

aimed to understand how millions of Germans could go along could blithely follow Nazi extermination

replicated results hundreds of times

even when you strip away all ambiguity of what an individual sees & no possibility of personal gain or reprisal, people will still go along with the group

we know what we see, we know right from wrong but with enough social pressure we cave in to fear of standing alone

but there is a door open to act as individuals when we choose but we must be brave enough – even in neutral lab setting most people not that brave

you may say you would be brave ..

what if we do not have that much free will as we would like to think? what if groups change how we see the world? – more pernicious form of conformity that we are not aware of .. and one that dooms the would-be iconoclast before s/he even knows it

much debate over extent to which perception can be altered by fear

challenge is that if a person’s perception was truly altered they might not even know it

Asch realised at least 2 distinct mental processes go into making perceptual judgment:-

perception itself

perception shaped not only by what the eyes transmit but by individual’s expectation of what they are seeing

judgment

a type of decision making

important: these are distinct cognitive processes & potentially mediated by different parts of the brain

perception has never been fully separated from judgment process … until fMRI came

author’s experiment to see how fear might change perception

via fMRI try to see if perception or decision making parts of brain changed

experiment: 1 subject with 4 actors – all had own computer, saw something, see other people’s answers – pairs of 3D shapes, are they same or different? – the 4 answering incorrectly – 86% when 4 gave correct answers, 59% when 4 gave incorrect answers (cf coin toss) – various answers to how they decided – fMRI showed … group’s answers took some of the load off the decision-making process in frontal lobe – non-conformity went along with increased activity in amygdala showing unpleasant nature of standing alone even when the person had no recollection of it – in many people, brain would rather avoid activating the fear system & just change perception to conform with social norm

A Lesson In Conquering Fear

Martin Luther King, Jr, perhaps greatest iconoclast of civil rights movement knew 1st hand damaging effects of fear on perception

championed rights of blacks, incurred wrath of whites

cues from Gandhi, philosophy of non-violent civil disobedience – addressed fear as provided safety in numbers

“I have a dream” speech

Malcolm X had view of more direct confrontation

Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech: “Non-violence has also meant that my people in the agonizing struggles of recent years have taken suffering upon themselves instead of inflicting it on others. It has meant, as I said, that we are no longer afraid and cowed. But in some substantial degree it has meant that we do not want to instill fear in others or into the society of which we are a part.”

viewed non-violence as only way to eliminate damaging effects of fear

so we start to see how individual must invoke conscious, rational thought to control fear

now look at where power of intimidation comes from

The Law of Large Numbers

evolutionary theory of perception + efficiency of brain means perception is statistical process

object categorisation markedly influences our perception

not only based on our experience but also other people

issue over group pressure but even more of an issue when result/answer is unknown, we may be more susceptible to group influence

more people are likely to be correct than 1 person on own

the statistics of aggregating info

e.g. # of jelly beans in jar, large number of guesses, average likely to be close to the right answer – but guesses need to be independent of each other

Jacob Bernoulli (Swiss mathematician) proved this via maths in 1713 – law of large numbers – more numbers you take, the more accurate the average will be

perception is statistical judgement of the brain

law of large numbers is the bane of the iconoclast – is hardwired into our brains

powerful biological mechanisms that make it extremely difficult to think like an iconoclast

our brains evolved to make judgements as quickly/efficiently as possible & when other people’s opinions are present, brain will incorporate them, whether we want to or not

Mitigating The Effects Of Fear On Perception

all strategies re amygdala in previous chapter apply here

e.g. cognitive reappraisal works to effectively look at a situation that induces fear from different vantage point

also strategies that work specifically in situations where fear of isolation has potential for changing perception – no one likes to look stupid but pain of being odd person out often seems worse

there IS a straightforward workround for brain’s hardwired propensity to follow the herd

a minority of 1 is most extreme form of iconoclasm – a person standing entirely alone vs crowd

tactic of avoidance just postpones confrontation

develop a tough skin and not care what others think a la Feynman

in experiments, only 1 dissenter is enough to break herd effect

for iconoclast, most effective strategy is to find one other like-minded individual

just need 1 ally to maintain one’s own judgement

groups are superior to individuals but only if they are diverse and individuals act as individuals

availability of minority position breaks stranglehold of conformity & more likely to make better decisions

for orgs implications clear, do not require unanimous decisions – encourage dissent – beware voting round the table – instead for choice of A or B, vote out of 10 where 0 is A and 10 is B so distance from either end is strength of view – or closed ballot

example of diversity leading to better decisions

effective strategies for individuals mitigating fear:-

cognitive reappraisal
extinction
in general, impossible to stay fearful of something for a long period of time
need to respond to address the fear and repeat
per MLK, make fear the target – deconstruct what the fear is, address each element – key is recognise the fear and not make judgement while under influence of fear

Chapter 5: Why The Fear Of Failure Makes People Risk Averse

Book Club Questions

None set by me yet. I am in a rush to read the book. May set questions later. If anyone wants to set some questions, feel free to post them as a comment to this post.

Once you have read this chapter you may want to investigate these additional resources that I found while rabbit trail-ing:-

Resources:-

A Long-Time Contrarian Learns Some New Tricks; David Dreman
https://youtu.be/vyTfyA_hqhE
Bill Miller - Independent Investor
https://youtu.be/2QNxfCNFIAw
Andrew W. Lo: "Adaptive Markets: Financial Evolution At The Speed Of Thought" | Talks at Google
https://youtu.be/__teQiAK0dg
Andrew Lo
https://youtu.be/x8AsJl0F5Ck
AMERICAN EXPERIENCE | Henry Ford, Chapter 1 | PBS
https://youtu.be/Vcr3YQK0eEY
Henry Ford - PBS American Experience
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/henryford/

My notes from the book

“Making money in the stock market is so simple a monkey could do it. Here’s the secret: Buy low and sell high.
[ David Dreman ]

fear prevents people from taking action, and worse, changes the way they see the world

fear touches everything we do on a daily basis – most clearly evident in stock market – fear manifested in all its glory

types of fear:-

fear of unknown
fear of failure
fear of looking stupid

few arenas more punishing to iconoclast than stock market

view risk initially as odds of failure

fear of failure prevents us taking a risk even when it can be profitable to do so

there are biological reasons for this behaviour that originate in brain’s distortion of perception esp under influence of fear

so common that simply not behaving like this makes for an iconoclast

the successful Wall Street iconoclast is fund manager who beats market consistently

for every person buying a stock, there is a seller, who is right? who is the iconoclast?

The Economics of Risk

probability of coin tosses – St Petersburg paradox (Daniel Bernoulli, 18C)

offer to pay £20 for someone to accept bet, bet is £2, heads they get the £20, if tails, person doubles the pot and so on each time, so pot doubles each time, expected value of each round is £1, ultimately expected value is infinity

the fact that people are unwilling to wager anything significant on the game, despite maths rigour of value determination, shows fundamental irrational way humans deal with risky decisions

Bernoulli proposed solution to paradox – people do not value money linearly – intro of idea of utility – value not price but utility – subjective benefit that a person experiences

£100 worth more to poor person that rich person

diminishing marginal utility

proposed that utility was log curve, flattens out higher you go

utility of game is no longer infinite

each person will have finite price they are willing to pay to play

from economic point of view, risk is anything where possibility of loss

people’s perception of value is distorted – so £1,000 not 10 x more valuable than £100

people afraid of alternative - losing money – fear of failure – distorts functioning of perceptual system in brain

end result is irrational decision

only the iconoclast resists this type of perceptual distortion

if utility line was straight line, your would behave in objective, risk-neutral manner

the only way to invest money rationally

John von Neumann and Oskar Morgenstern formalized the idea that all decisions could be understood if one assumed that individuals make choices as if they were trying to maximize their utility – calc-ed by multiplying utility of every scenario by probability then decide on highest expected utility (EU)

remains foundation of almost all economic models of human decisions

majority of people do not consciously do the maths to make decisions this way but brain does perform these kinds of calcs

people who do this are probably the true iconoclasts

all other people have decision making issues …

The Contrarian – David Dreman

if only you can set aside the fear of failure & possibility of looking stupid while your peers surpass you

at 70, DD had weathered several stock market storms & written several contrarian investment books

$6bn assets managed via contrarian principles

11.2% growth vs 8.6% of S&P 500, in top 20% of funds with 10 year records

contrarian: out-of-favour stocks and therefore iconoclastic

such stocks easily identifiable by straightforward measures of valuation – p/e ratio below market average & many in bottom 5th

statistically low p/e stocks outperform over time

problem totally anchored in psychology, in brain’s perceptual systems

p/e ratio is stock price divided by earnings per share .. how much the market values the company relative to what it is currently earning … high: will earn more in future than now

reasons for low ratios:-

company is fundamentally solid, earnings above market rate but for perceptual reasons out of favour with investors
end of its life

father was contrarian investor

how do you resist the pull of the crowd? how do you resist the fear of standing alone?

calm temperament & self-confidence helps

biological factors?

The Iconoclast Who Beats the Market: Bill Miller’s Approach

if this approach really worked then all would do it and under-valued stocks would increase and cease being under-valued

so DD deserves label of iconoclast

but all company info is known to all – efficient market hypothesis (EMH) via Eugene Fama – informationally efficient so no info advantage over other people – states that impossible to consistently outperform the market

but a small group of funds/fund managers do tend to do better than others on consistent basis

Bill Miller, manager of Legg Mason Value Trust, $20bn, beat S&P 15 years in a row until 2006 – either luckiest of all fund managers or most iconoclastic

certain assumptions make it possible to exploit advantages

like DD, Miller adhered to value approach in investing, Benjamin Graham an early influence

Miller goes beyond p/e to future earnings so goes beyond Graham

to Miller distinction between value & growth investing is arbitrary - growth is input to calculation of value

many high p/e stocks are a bargain when viewed from future earnings perspective

like all iconoclasts, Miller often able to maintain different perception of value

problem tho is calc of future earnings more art than science

uncertainty inherent to the process

it is the fear of this uncertainty that prevents many/most investors from using this method

like other iconoclasts, Miller does not let fear of unknown cloud his perception of value

The Biology of the Fear of Failure

fear of failure also prevents most people from taking chances

makes people risk averse

wends it way through brain, distorting perception & inhibiting action

ability to deal with bad news & maintain one’s perception is a key iconoclast successful attribute

iconoclasts are rare so difficult to pinpoint differences with non-iconoclasts

looked at dark side of decision making: loss

where loss looms, fear follows

some focus on possibility of good outcome, others fixate on negative

sound decision making between these 2 extremes

pain crucial to deciphering iconoclastic brain

experiment about anticipation of pain

electric shocks not unbearable but enough to want to avoid them but had to wait for the shocks and were told how long to start – almost all wanted to expedite the shock and not wait .. a third feared waiting so much that when had chance preferred bigger shock sooner rather than smaller shock later = “extreme dreaders” vs “cool cucumbers”

hyperactivity in parts of brain might be cause of impulsive, irrational behaviour at least when relates to fear of something unpleasant

How Fear Clouds Financial Judgment

Andrew Lo, prof, MIT, researches links between biology & financial decision making

believes in efficient market, exploring biological differences between winners/losers

his work suggests differences between people create small but transiently leverageable profit opportunities

key lies in emotional brain esp fear circuits

2001 worked with Dmitry Repin to measure physiological responses in professional traders – surprising correlations of responses and market trends – blood pressure esp, rose when asset’s max volatility went up – but blood pressure rose in advance of event – meaning response in bodies before events – pick up subtle cues ahead of events – but could not prove causal link – later 1st hint of link between emotional reactivity & performance

Lo went on to look at link between trading results & emotional state and whether specific personality esp good at trading – no correlation

did find positive/negative mood states correlation with daily performance – not surprising re response to gaining/losing money

key finding – strongest for worst traders – let their emotions colour their perception of valuation & cloud their decision making

Henry Ford and Freedom from Fear

iconoclast on several levels – views on capitalism & world peace to dev of assembly line

clearly articulated views on damaging effects of fear on business & how to deal with it

born 1863, farm, Dearborn, Michigan, witnessed hard labour on farm

designed machines to address that labour

became an iconoclast when left to go into car business

developed 2-cylinder engine resulting in Model A

£750, 45 mph, not a best seller but profits invested in the main product – Model T

as with other iconoclasts, his perception of car industry instantly changed when he realised what he could do with vehicle weighing a third less – vanadium – new type of steel in France – 3 times stronger than other steel at the time

1908 started sales – 1st year sold 10,607

not luck – big believer in work

at his core – he had obligation to face uncertainty of future & not fear failure – 2 of basic fears distorting perception

“One who fears the future, who fears failure, limits his activities. Failure is only the opportunity more intelligently to begin again. There is no disgrace in honest failure; there is disgrace in fearing to fail.”
(“My Life and Work”; Henry Ford – free versions: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/7213)

With time, Ford came to believe that money was at the root of these fears: “Thinking first of money instead of work brings on fear of failure and this fear blocks every avenue of business—it makes a man afraid of competition, of changing his methods, or of doing anything which might change his condition.”

a good example of how successful iconoclasts deal with fear

first, most important step, recognise that fear permeates business

fear is a warning sign not guide for action / inaction

once recognised fear can be deconstructed & reappraised

often fear of losing money at root of it

reframe fear as learning opportunity

Using Genetics to Diversify a Team and Mitigate the Effects of Fear

are iconoclasts born or made?

all brains are not created equal

dopamine as key neurotransmitter in decision making

level of dopamine activity can be inferred from a person’s genetic fingerprint

from law of large numbers, should be big benefit in diversifying genetic composition of a decision-making team

Christian Buchel measured relationship between fMRI activity in striatal dopamine system during a gambling task similar to Ellsberg paradox

found greater activity in dopamine-rich areas of brain when winning was more likely – how much was dependent on particular combination of genes

some insensitive to risk, also score highly in sensation seeking

striking implications for decision making esp in groups

some thrive on risk & are comparatively immune to damaging effects of fear on decision making

we do not know whether these forms of the genes are more common in iconoclasts – no one done that study

could find out which you are

and if assembling a team, diversify the genetic portfolio of your team

Chapter 6: Brain Circuits for Social Networking

Book Club Questions

None set by me yet. I am in a rush to read the book. May set questions later. If anyone wants to set some questions, feel free to post them as a comment to this post.

Once you have read this chapter you may want to investigate these additional resources that I found while rabbit trail-ing:-

Resources:-

Why Picasso Outearned van Gogh
https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/why-picasso-outearned-van-gogh/
The Milgram Experiment by Stanley Milgram 1962 Full Documentary
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ccZpgQkTSA
Ray Kroc McDoc - McDonald's Documentary
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkntnaBtJZc
2.17 - Recap: Questions about face perception and the human methods that can address them - Nancy Kanwisher
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYJRWPelmk0
Nancy's Brain Talks
http://nancysbraintalks.mit.edu/
Nancy Kanwisher - James Haxby debate; Center for Brains, Minds and Machines (CBMM)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1xTfTPqWmo
In your face: David Perrett at TEDxGhent
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVE6kZW88lc
Elizabeth Phelps : Race and the brain : Insights from the neural systems of emotion and decisions
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbvExszrTU0
My Mind's Eye - Controlling Our Fears: An Interview with Elizabeth Phelps - Full Episode #4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0EofAd2vjjw
Psychology: The Mere-Exposure-Effect
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4XzL2Q1DEM
Duncan Watts, Principal Research Scientist, Yahoo!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdZ9WDYA4Pc
Everyday Life in a Data-Rich World
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gghuMElQgJQ
Warren Buffett: The traits which will make you rich
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BuLqxO46GsI
Bettina Rockenbach - EEG MPI Inaugural Conference
https://youtu.be/5rt9LhP7GKg
“Trust in Social Dilemmas”: edited by Paul A.M. Van Lange, Bettina Rockenbach, Toshio Yamagishi
https://tinyurl.com/yxclx5o7

My notes from the book

“How you suffered for your sanity
But still your love was true.
[ “Vincent”, Don McLean ]

“Girls could not resist his stare:
Pablo Picasso never got called an asshole.”
[ “Pablo Picasso”, The Modern Lovers ]

not all iconoclasts are successful

Howard Armstrong (invented FM radio)’s failure was social intelligence – he could not sell his idea

not strictly necessary to have this to be an iconoclast but it is to be a successful one

is the ability to connect with other people

depends on:-

familiarity
reputation

both can be understood via brain circuits

2 of most iconoclastic artists of modern times – Vincent Van Gogh, Pablo Picasso – some of most iconic images in art world – both have had pictures sold for $100m+

VVG died penniless, PP estate worth $750m on his death

to sell ideas must create a positive reputation to draw people to something that is initially unfamiliar & potentially scary

familiarity helps build reputation

PP master at both via massive productivity

VVG 900 paintings, PP 13k paintings, 300 sculptures

all loved PP, drawn to him via charisma including people in his bed

VVG repelled people

PP was a node – functioned as a connector and a persuader per Gladwell’s Tipping Point

successful iconoclasts connect with other people & in process shrink their worlds

geography today no longer matters

lessons from PP – increase world’s familiarity with you through productivity & exposure, develop a reputation so that people drawn to you & not repelled

Stanley Milgram and Six Degrees of Separation

problem for iconoclast is that by definition they start alone with no one sharing their point of view

to be successful need to foster networks even if initially superficial with other people

science of networking goes back to Stanley Milgram in 50s

Solomon Asch influenced career of Milgram who worked as Asch’s research assistant

not happy with menial tasks he was given

with Nuremberg trials in his mind, he wondered whether not only group pressure but also authority figures could induce conformity

most famous social psychology experiment ever performed – shock-obedience experiment – pairs, teacher and learner, electric shock administered when wrong answer to encourage learning – learner was with Milgram & shock machine was fake – true purpose was to see how far people would go in shocking strangers under inducement of authority figure like Milgram – they went far incl screams & eventual silence from learner

Milgram became iconoclast after the fact

embarked on tamer set of tests

looked at societal connectedness – small-world problem – how many mutual acquaintances separate 2 randomly-selected people – popularly known as six degrees of separation

identified a target person – 3 groups of starting people – 1 group random picks from area of target person, 2 groups distant from target – 1 random, 2nd similar interest – instructions to each one re target and if knew, send direct or, if not, send to someone who might – most packet never reached their target, 29% did in average 5 steps – recurring common channels – in the example was a clothing merchant unrelated to the target interest but a connector, well-respected

iconoclasts need connectors

sometimes they need to create connectors for themselves

Ray Kroc: The Iconoclast Who Sold Hamburgers to Children

iconoclastic salesman who started McDonalds

connection with another great iconoclast, Walt Disney, that was the source of Kroc’s greatness

fellow ambulance drivers in WW1

Kroc tried to get restaurant in Disneyland – finally happened 1996 long after both dead

but created Roland McDonald for kids even though not direct consumers

he was iconoclast by singlehandedly creating concept of marketing to kids via kid-friendly connectors

The Road to Familiarity: Face and Name Recognition in the Brain

Kroc also perfected art of ubiquity

built McD on conformity, hated non-conformity – all about uniformity & familiarity

appealed to deep-seated need for predictability in most people’s brains

connections between people are rarely equal e.g you and President/PM – many more know them than they know

successful iconoclast cultivates this asymmetry in their social network

to cultivate surfeit of incoming connections, create aura of familiarity

face/name recognition
our face says something about what type of person we are and how we feel
then name which we connect to their face
cf avatars in online communities
both face & name needed to trigger a feeling of familiarity
failure to tie name to face is frustrating
solid familiarity imparts visual image to a person’s name & nearly instantaneous recall of a person’s name when seeing his face

two aspects of familiarity – visual & mnemonic recognition were mediated by separate processes in the brain – but recent fMRI experiments suggest emotional response to an individual also colours our judgment of familiarity

brain includes specialised region for processing of faces – the more familiar the face the more strongly neurons fire

psychologists - Ida Gobbini and James Haxby – stated relationship between fusiform activity & familiarity influenced by several factors:-

faces of strangers more activity than famous familiar faces
faces of friends/family members evoke as much activity as strangers’ faces
fusiform activity reflects depth of facial processing
strangers/friends trigger more processing than famous people – for different reasons:-

stranger’s face may represent potential threat
friend’s face evokes deeper processing because triggers wealth of memories

fusiform area critical for initial processing of faces but they found different part of brain tracks familiarity – personal traits & mental state of others – while another part seems to play critical role in evaluation of people’s intentions (via physical config of their faces, where face was pointed, what rest of body was doing, most strongly where eyes were looking

David Perrett – they signal the direction of another person’s attention and from that extract intention e.g. look to side = may signal deception

STS neurons provide biological bookmark for a person’s character

key element of G&H’s theory of familiarity depends on emotional response we associate with a person’s face:-

+ve or –ve emotional response to a person
+ve – desire to approach the person
-ve – may trigger running away

successful iconoclasts should be in former category

helps to look straight into someone’s eyes

amygdala seems to play gatekeeper role in flagging emotional response to faces

as earlier, it solidifies primitive forms of learning e.g. association between cues & unpleasant events esp physical ones

also plays critical role in social judgment – when damaged, dramatic impairment in judging trustworthiness

David Amaral, neuroscientist, found amygdala’s role hinges on its processing of environmental dangers – acts as brake on social interactions when perceives potential adversary

consistent with data of central function in fear conditioning and development if specific phobias

if facial appearance so imp to judging a person’s character may explain racial biases

potential iconoclasts need to be aware of how this happens so they take measures the to calm their audience’s amygdalae

Elizabeth Phelps, social psychologist, studied neurobiology of racial prejudice – some of these are effectively hard-wired

amygdala signals danger so iconoclast needs to minimise chance of triggering its activation in their audience

things/people looking different set amygdala on edge, familiarity soothes it

cf Arnold Schwarzenegger, self-confessed iconoclast, leveraged his familiarity for legislative change in California, rebel from childhood, did not conform and will could not be broken

also recognised power of appearance re size/muscles – people listen & better you can sell yourself – winner in politics, Governor of California – took stances non-conforming with party politics but resonate with the people

Why The Brain Likes Familiarity

Nov 2004, Rolling Stone, 500 Greatest Songs of All Time

#2 Satisfaction – the most recognisable 5 notes in rock and roll history

amazing that brain can take 5 notes and instantly recognise them, sometimes even just 2 – familiarity

successful iconoclast must strive for this level of familiarity – people put their money into familiar things

Robert Zajonc, psychologist, refined how familiarity defines what we like – pictures not music – flashed pics of mis-shapen octagons, no time to process them – people liked pics they had seen previously even tho flashed so briefly they were effectively unaware of having seen them = “the mere exposure effect”

familiarity with someone increases likelihood of doing business with them

Gur Huberman, professor of finance, looked at where investors placed money as result of familiarity – more people invested in local companies – irrational – why would these be better – local bias

also home country bias

to bridge gap between mere exposure effect & doing a deal, iconoclast eventually needs to make his audience comfy with their idea

familiar not necessarily more pleasurable or rewarding, simply unfamiliar things tend to be more alarming & potentially dangerous

familiarity quiets amygdala

methods to increase familiarity for iconoclast:-

publicity exposure
liberal use of mass media
good PR
being prolific helps create omnipresence of work & increases the chance that people run into iconoclast’s ideas

but note … reputation also needed to elicit actual investment decisions

Shadow Networks and Why Who Knows Whom Matters

snail mail now obsolete

are people really just 6 email steps away from another person

2003, Duncan Watts, prof Columbia University, digital version of Milgram experiment

web site to register – each of c100k people randomly assigned to send email to 1 of 18 targets, data on 24k chains, only 384 reached target, 1.6% completion rate, average separation 4.05 – but this was for successful completions only – incomplete chains: closer to 7 – concluded that social search appears to be largely egalitarian exercise & not dependent on small minority connectors

may appear to be good news for iconoclasts re not mattering what route taken to target but ignores issue of provenance – more weight for messages from trusted friends / colleagues vs e.g. one from someone not spoken to 20 years ago – message from stranger carries almost no value at all

study also showed high attrition rate of digital messages

perhaps world really is bigger than we like to think

Jon Kleinberg, a computer scientist, Cornell Uni, proved mathematically that small-world networks don’t arise from random connections – people in a network need to know something about the other members, such as who they are likely to be connected to – this is a shadow network - Kleinberg called an underlying lattice – cf black book of who knows whom.

both whom-you-know and who-knows-whom networks played critical roles in development of Linux,1st computer OS created via open-source model of software development – USENET groups provided map of who was doing what and how to find people who could contribute code – because Linux was open, all could see what others were contributing because code was tagged – people got a history – reputation

Building Reputations for a Fair Deal

strength of connections between people in a network depends on history of their behaviour

strong connections in a social network may be more important than degrees of separation

core attribute of integrity: ability to assess and respond to fairness – those who make decisions that consider equitable outcomes for all participants possess a high degree of integrity – opposite is selfish

importance for social networking lies in how people perceive you

win-win

money experiment demo-ed strong reactions to unfairness – deeply wired in our brains

iconoclast who is building a social network is best served by fostering a perception of fairness & integrity

classic economic gain for studying fairness is “ultimatum” – 2 strangers given pot of $100 to split – 1st offers split, if 2nd accepts gets, if rejects, no one gets anything – 2nd almost always rejects split of 15% or less

anterior insula part of brain associated with disgusting tastes becomes more active when senses unfairness

we possess a reciprocity assumption

efficient strategy for social interaction is assume you will meet up again & the other person will remember your behaviour

humans have good memories and long lives

Warren Buffett and the Evolution of Reputation

in bringing idea to masses, iconoclast runs risk of being called snake oil salesman

our brains pick up anything that is unexpected – amygdala as radar for potential threats – good at what it does but not innate response – both trust and distrust are learned responses based on a person’s past experience

key to trust is reputation

WB: takes 20 years to build a reputation and 5 mins to ruin it

uses value approach talked about earlier in book

unique about WB is reputation for straight talk

letters to shareholders are lessons in clarity

commands a reputation premium because people trust him

cooperative relationships superior to completely self-interested strategies of survival

but if all like this then opportunity for deception to take advantage of their trusting counterparts

final balance between cooperation & deception is evolutionarily stable strategy – in any society always a mix of cooperation & deception – it is only the possibility of deception that confers value to cooperation

recent neuroeconomic experiments demo-ed why mere possibility of punishment is necessary/ desirable to form cooperative relationships in a society

important for iconoclast to be aware of biological mechanisms that exist in our brain that monitor socially acceptable/ unacceptable behaviour because they act as filters for potential deception

Bettina Rockenbach (economist, LSE) experiment on what determines whether people trust each other – each person put money into pool – choose whether to punish free-riders or not – started did not – over time 70% decided to punish whether was applied or not – only a few became key members of the group who punished people – established/ enforced a cooperative culture that attracted even previously non-cooperative individuals – shows importance of understanding shadow network – which people form the glue of the community

initial efforts should target them or their immediate connections

when Armstrong fell out with Sarnoff, lost his connection and damaged reputation with the one person who could have made the difference for him

Building Networks

we have seen that transition from solitary iconoclast to a successful one requires masses of non-iconoclasts to buy into an idea

need to reach out to people who initially do not share your views

every iconoclast encounters resistance

only successful ones who are able via social intelligence to persuade other people

persuasion may be too strong a word – implies rational thought process – we have seen selling an idea appeals only to rational thought

successful iconoclasts have uncommon ability to connect on social level that transcends idea itself

key to doing this is through social networks via familiarity & reputation

goal of iconoclast is decrease number of hops between them and connectors in community they are selling to

email worthless for connections to connectors – valuable for maintaining existing networks

goa: keep people’s amygdalae from firing so they do not avoid the unfamiliar

even tho we live in global economy, our brains evolved for social interactions on much smaller scales

human brain is wired for reciprocity

iconoclasts must approach every interaction as if roles will be reversed some day

burn no bridges

would-be iconoclasts should be aware of black book – who knows whom

the shorter the route to someone, more likely message will get through

messages can take more circuitous route if better chance of getting to the target – helpful to have sense of shadow network of who knows whom

be a Picasso not a Van Gogh

Chapter 7: Private Spaceflight - A Case Study of Iconoclasts Working Together

Book Club Questions

None set by me yet. I am in a rush to read the book. May set questions later. If anyone wants to set some questions, feel free to post them as a comment to this post.

Once you have read this chapter you may want to investigate these additional resources that I found while rabbit trail-ing:-

Resources:-

Bigelow Aerospace & ULA News Conference (April 2016)
https://youtu.be/_D_vmIdVpDk
Robert Bigelow speaking at ISPCS 2011
https://youtu.be/fL7fR5ytuGk
Konstantin Tsiolkovsky: A Space Legacy NHD Documentary
https://youtu.be/FQ21YbW-wCQ
Aiming High (1957) Pathe News
https://youtu.be/Pow8Nur6Q-M
At the Konstantin Tsiolkovsky State Museum of the History of Cosmonautics
https://youtu.be/VkgMA1I21og
Удивительные миры Циолковского. Tsiolkovsky’s worlds of miracle. (With English subtitles)
https://youtu.be/l80aSOX7Uxc
Burt Rutan Visits AirVenture 2019
https://youtu.be/70P937LPZFY
Burt Rutan: Innovation and the Race for Space
https://youtu.be/k89ESNesv48
SpaceShipOne
https://youtu.be/GIUtc9IkdX8
Peter Diamandis: "Exploring Exponential Technologies" | Talks at Google
https://youtu.be/HJpKxnZ2JeY
History Brief: Charles Lindbergh and the Spirit of St. Louis
https://youtu.be/nypXkhomHqE
Elon Musk on how Falcon Heavy will change space travel
https://youtu.be/I7LJIuB2CHE
First Space Tourist - 2001 | Today In History | 28 Apr 17
https://youtu.be/VYD0DleJn7U
Space tourist Dennis Tito speaks about his trip
https://youtu.be/mKAIL8DDemg
Anousheh Ansari: Into outer space
https://youtu.be/lV7OgsF9ehw
What I Saw From The Space Station | Anousheh Ansari | XPRIZE Insights
https://youtu.be/rSQlIrVzcRE
Rocketplane Space Pioneer: Reda Anderson
https://youtu.be/NZMPHVp4BfM
SFF1482 Reda Anderson Randal Clahue Ken Gosier Space Flight And Personal Risk
https://youtu.be/newwkv3RZpk
Ignite Tampa Rick HomanS - Collaboration - How Can We Work Together!
https://youtu.be/zHvKKtq9y5M
Virgin Galactic Spaceship Two Bill Richardson & Richard Branson
https://youtu.be/iric9sKqwWs

My notes from the book

“Well, space is there, and we’re going to climb it, and the moon and the planets are there, and new hopes for knowledge and peace are there. And, therefore, as we set sail we ask God’s blessing on the most hazardous and dangerous and greatest adventure on which man has ever embarked.”
[ John F. Kennedy Jr., September 12, 1962 ]

creation of private manned space travel is case study in iconoclasm

most members of the public do not want to go to space – makes those who do – the iconoclasts – all the more interesting

people building spacecraft are iconoclasts in most rugged sense

to consider such ventures flies in face of conventional wisdom

privatisation of space travel = unique case study in iconoclasm

key players are all iconoclasts in different ways

each has at least one of these characteristics:-

seeing differently
dealing with fear
social intelligence

The Challenge

Robert Bigelow – formed Bigelow Aerospace in 1999 to promote commercialisation of low-Earth-orbit businesses

mission statement includes:

““Our goal is to get humanity into space so we can experiment, toy with ideas, try new and different things, and eventually make that miraculous mistake leading to a discovery that will change life forever.”

need large amount of energy to get into orbit & counteract gravity

1887, 200 years post Newton, Konstantin Tsiolkovsky discovered how to get into space

3 elements of rocket design that determine how fast it goes:

speed at which fuel ejected
how much fuel weighs
how much rocket weighs

1st 2 known for long time

3rd is where iconoclast comes in

a single-stage vehicle is the answer

Burt Rutan: The Iconoclast Engineer Who Sees Differently

need someone to see rocketry different from NASA

Rutan looked at materials engineering for more efficient aircraft / spacecraft

iconoclast doing opposite of NASA who were looking at bigger engines

emphasised keeping it simple

rare engineer with celebrity status:-

sideburns cf Elvis
achievements

profit in 90 successive quarters
34 new types of aircraft in 30 years
no fatal crashes
Voyager – 9 days around the world with no stops or refuelling

known as iconoclast due to unusual aircraft designs

unveiled secret spaceship in 2003

perceived opportunity where others afraid

as child obsessed with aircraft/flying

testing leads to failure, failure leads to understanding he once said

inspired by surfing via fibre glass strips

started making wings fuselages out of it – light and strong

no one knew at time but this was launch pad for his interest in space

perceived engineering problems differently

solved problem of high g forces and high temperatures during reentry

rocket carried by strange vehicle – White Knight

arm engine with one switch and fire with another, no throttle

wanted to do this himself with no government support – keep government out as too expensive when they get involved

SpaceShipOne – 2004 reached edge of space, then 3 trips into space

always risks in space travel – not a quest for squeamish – a quest only for most iconoclast

Principle 2: The Iconoclasts Who Face Down Fear of Failure

need more than just engineers

need iconoclasts in other roles

catalysts:-

passion
rally others to stay the course
overcome risks of failure
devote their lives to put people in space
marshals financial and political resources for solutions to problems that people are typically afraid of

industry with risks of financial failure and loss of life

this type of person confronts the great limiter to iconoclasm: fear

one such is Peter Diamandis for private space flight

inspired by $25k prize to 1st person flying non-stop New York to Paris won by Charles Lindbergh in 1927

created X PRIZE Foundation 1994 to foster privatisation of space flight

number of US air passengers from 5782 in 1926 to 173,405 in 1929 due to public perception of feasibility of air travel rather than any tech breakthrough

amazing example of how individual iconoclasts like Lindbergh become immediate icons simply by achieving a goal that most people thought impossible at the time and in process change public perception removing 1st roadblock to action

Spirit of St Louis - Lindbergh’s plane

prize was for 1st privately built space craft to carry a person into space and back (space: 100km altitude)

not 1st person to do this but 1st private citizen in space

too decade to get prize in public eye

purse increased via others to $10m

it was the motivation to do what everyone thought could not be done and reward risk taking through competition

said fear of failure was destroying our ability to make breakthroughs

warned people not to be paralysed by fear

rallying cry to entrepreneurs to be risk takers that government and large companies cannot be due to scrutiny and stock prices

lots of people in this space are tech successes e.g Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos – due to their financial success

they have already conquered fear of unknown in their own domains

potential for profit is everything, safety will follow profit – the CEOs know that if anyone dies all bets are off

these craft may become safer and more reliable than NASA

The Iconoclast as Passenger

who would want to go into space and what would they hope to achieve? how much would they be willing to pay?

Futron study critical:-

only systematic analysis of commercial potential of space tourism
conclusions surprisingly optimistic

provided economic incentive for companies to continue

also for politicians to green-light space travel

social intelligence as important as tech wizardry

450 people asked, $250k annual income

35% interested in orbital trip as pioneer, see earth from space & lifelong dream

also asked about sub-orbital trip – 100 km – see Earth curves & experience weightlessness – 2 mins at that altitude – 1/10 energy at this height – smaller rockets etc – £100k ticket price conclusion

1st private citizen in space – Dennis Tito 2001

1st female Anousheh Ansari 2006

Reda Anderson typical candidate, successful business lady, lots of other exploration achievements – signed 1st contract to travel to space in a commercial vehicle – values experience of doing what others say cannot be done

Anderson & Ansari are iconoclasts because

willing to challenge conventional notions of what people can do
see challenges differently than most people
do not let fear/uncertainty/ failure prevent them from taking risks

A reality check: The risk manager

not all involved in space flight are iconoclasts – a good thing – need someone being objective on risks

risk of death very real

part of romanticism of space travel is the risk of death

most common motivation is to be a pioneer (ie iconoclast)

space shuttles – 115 missions, 2 catastrophes – 2%

450 people in space, 25 died, 5%

deaths on Everest – 11.5%

Ray Duffy (Willis Inspace) does insurance for space travel – a challenge to evaluate risk

cf cars/software, early versions have highest risks of failure

launch liability insurance highest for maiden flights

more launches – more data

no policies written for passengers yet

passengers not fussed!

Rick Homans: The G-man with Social Intelligence

safety will come because profits to be made for being safe

there will be government oversight

control of airspace

list of US agencies in this area

the pioneers realise need government oversight to instil public confidence

also a lesson in how to sell strange idea to public through familiarity & reputation building

risks of space flight not restricted to astronauts – people on ground at risk too re debris

hence unpopulated launch sites – White Sands Missile Range on Texas/New Mexico border

site is lesson in social networking via Rick Homans

Bill Richardson (Governor, New Mexico) deal with Richard Branson in 2005 to build a spaceport brokered by Homans (Cabinet Secretary of the New Mexico Economic Development Department)

Homans became connector to space after failed bid to become mayor of Albuquerque

after Burt Rutan won X Prize competition & joined forces with Branson, Homans/Richardson started wooing Branson to base Virgin Galactic in New Mexico

cost of $250m to the state to build the spaceport

Homans banking on New Mexicans familiarity with space

great example of using familiarity to sell an idea to the public

and would not be possible in most other states

A team of iconoclasts

this is a great example of how a group of iconoclasts can work together

ultimately to be successful iconoclasts need to work with others including other iconoclasts

can be done with help of others to smooth over rough spots

still need iconoclasts who exemplify the 3 principles:-

perception
fear
social intelligence

don’t need iconoclasts with all 3 if you have team with them

implications are clear for those building teams – need this balance

in the space examples, people found each other - catalysts help:-

serve as connectors
help rally support
temper inevitable fear of unknown

others grease wheels of government and help connect people

few possess all 3 traits but teams can

Chapter 8: When Iconoclast Becomes Icon

Book Club Questions

None set by me yet. I am in a rush to read the book. May set questions later. If anyone wants to set some questions, feel free to post them as a comment to this post.

Once you have read this chapter you may want to investigate these additional resources that I found while rabbit trail-ing:-

Resources:-

Arthur Jones' First Ever Exercise Machine: the Nautilus Plate Loaded Pullover | HITuni
https://youtu.be/bmOwFkAcrNA
The man who created Nautilus and the Colorado Experiment
https://youtu.be/2y4pAeDBF-0
Arthur Jones - Medicine Man Show
https://youtu.be/oSEcD0pvr74
Everett Rogers "Diffusion of Innovations" Speech
https://youtu.be/j1uc7yZH6eU
Remembering Ev Rogers
Part 1 https://youtu.be/bhDF-Tao9G8
Part 2 https://youtu.be/jgYtbXBQAHs
Diffusion of Innovations (5th Edition)
https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=9U1K5LjUOwEC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Diffusion+of+Innovations&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiuwtOKm6vlAhUUQEEAHeQGCOMQuwUILTAA#v=onepage&q&f=false
Bass diffusion model
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bass_diffusion_model
Jonas Salk's Legacy
https://youtu.be/swPdkPmIEpk
Jonas Salk: why he was disliked by the medical community
https://youtu.be/cym21dpmxL4
Day at Night: Jonas Salk, developer of the polio vaccine
https://youtu.be/j0Lyn18HH6s
Steve Jobs - The Man in the Machine Documentary
https://youtu.be/jU22WwYBVgo
Steve Jobs - Speech to the Academy of Achievement June 1982
https://youtu.be/ymbD_a-G1IQ
Steve Jobs: Visionary Genius Trailer
https://youtu.be/8ckGyv1P3FA

My notes from the book

“Every idea is an incitement.”
[ Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., 1925 ]

iconoclasts pride themselves on their nonconformity & ability to see things differently from other people – regardless of born or made

select few become icons – their ideas become objects of worship

this is a lesson in how to get initially strange ideas to most people accepted by the masses

Arthur Jones and the Nautilus Machine

Arnie example earlier

lesser-known iconoclast, Arthur Jones, revolutionised exercise industry in a different way – invented nautilus machine

even by iconoclast standards he was odd so esp interesting how invention became an icon of modern gym

1929, born, Oklahoma, no patience for formal ed or playing by the rules, served in US Navy in WW2, hunted big game for zoos/ private collectors, produced TV shows (Wild Cargo, Professional Hunter), motto “younger women, faster airplanes and bigger crocodiles”, married / divorced 6 times, wives all under 21

main interest was exercise, no muscles, gyms boring, invented the machine to vary resistance as muscle went through range of motion

launched at Mr America 1970, signed up 3rd place man Casey Viator, he won next year, sales took off

inconceivable gyms not having this kind of machine

transition from iconoclast to icon – luck, timing, how new ideas spread through society

ideas/products from iconoclasts follow well-defined patterns of adoption

previously thought was social factors but may have as much to do with biology as sociology

Birds do it, too

Swaythling near Southampton, agricultural economy, climate perfect for dairy farming, tin foil tops, then lots of tops with holes in .. birds!

spread throughout England

ethologists James Fisher and Robert Hinde documented this spread in a paper in 1949, spread of this like a virus

they called it cultural learning – taught each other how to skim milk – has a deep-seated biological mechanism behind it

Innovation Diffusion

Iconoclasts deal in new ideas

Nautilus machine opened up fitness to a larger audience

does not happen overnight but ideas that are ultimately accepted follow a well-described adoption process

Everett Rogers, 1st scientist to study this & originator of the field – attributes of innovations (perceptions of potential users):-

must offer advantage over existing products & ideas
altho potentially novel must still be compatible with existing value systems & social norms
complexity of the innovation will determine rate at which it is adopted by other people, more complex, lower adoption
should be triable without much cost
results of innovation must be visible to others so others can see results

1st 2 are key & in tension

Rogers’ book “Diffusion of Innovations” (1962) – lots of terms for innovators – progressist, experimental, lighthouse, advance scout – other end of spectrum: drones, sheep, diehards

defined the S curve – cumulative rate of adoption of an idea as a function of time

most people fall into early majority and late majority – other labels: innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority, laggards

Frank Bass added to this – 2 types of people – innovators & imitators – latter influenced in timing of adoption by decisions of others

innovators not influenced by number of people who have bought previously whilst imitators are

importance of innovators greater at first than later

Jonas Salk and the Compatibility Factor

for rapid diffusion of ideas, compatibility is key for what people normally do

Salk tackled polio in 1950s – built on his flu vaccine work

had a critic Albert Sabin who was developing a live vaccine rather than dead vaccine

Salk went straight to public and not via peer reviewed journal – vilified by his profession but public needed vaccine

became icon overnight

public sees things in ways that are familiar to them

transition from iconoclast to icon means iconoclast must present ideas in a way that is familiar even if they are not

The Brains of Early Adopters

why was it blue tits that discovered the milk tops trick?

yields important clue to biological basis of innovative behaviour and how new ideas diffuse through societies

for birds, bigger brain the more likely assimilate new ideas

humans? a possibility that humans evolved large brains to solve complex problems related to survival; also has more memory capacity and would let its owner use the results of past events to predict the future – alternative view big brains evolved as result of increasing complexity of social interactions

what is it about brains of iconoclasts that gets their ideas accepted or rejected?

with birds, greater exploration when young and sticks with them

cf adolescence in humans – intense drive to explore the world

dopamine system is key player in innovation & iconoclasm

relationship between dopamine & novelty explains why some people receptive to new ideas = early adopters – iconoclasts needs to target these if they are to become an icon

relationship between dopamine and personality types was largely speculative re novelty seeking – changes over a person’s life – in many fields peak age for innovation & creativity before 30

neuroscientists at Uni of Ulm, Germany found direct relationship of activity in the striatum to probability of winning, but depended on personality of the person - individuals who scored high on personality traits of novelty/thrill seeking had highest levels of striatal activation - novelty seeking defined as tendency toward exploratory activity, intense excitement in response to novelty, and the active avoidance of monotony or frustration - thrill seeking defined by pursuit of varied, novel, intense sensations/ experiences & willingness to take physical, social, legal & financial risks to achieve these goals

relationship between striatal activity & personality not specific to money – different study, Cambridge, England, found similar link between novelty seeking & brain’s response to images of food

Cambridge group used a different personality scale, behavioural inhibition/approach scale - BAS measures how strongly a person pursues goals, their inclination to seek out new rewarding situations & excitability - BIS measures sensitivity to punishment

when Cambridge group measured in striatal activation, found subjects who scored high on BAS had the highest level of activation in response to appetizing foods - not simply a matter of being more emotional, because relationship did not exist for disgusting/ bland foods

people who exhibit more activity in their dopamine systems much more likely to be those who seek out new experiences - should be initial targets in a campaign to sell an idea - tend to be young but most importantly link iconoclasts to rest of society

iconoclast trying to sell new idea to masses needs to use an inefficient strategy

to be efficient, iconoclast should target the high-dopamine novelty seekers first who will provide bridge to everyone else

Steve Jobs: The Iconoclastic Icon

Apple people and others

always been in minority – 10% or less

Jobs became cultural icon by marketing to this group

Bill Gates made more money but Jobs is worshipped

Jobs had extreme personality

successful use of marketing to young, high dopamine novelty seekers

products not cheap, never been for the budget-minded

what type of person would pay premium for these ultra-cool gadgets?

reach out to fraction of population that serves as bridge between ubericonoclast and rest of world

The Youthful Brain

are iconoclasts born or made?

development of human brain – different parts grow at different rates and reach maturity at different times

brain development is tug-of-war between growth and pruning – research provides insight into relative contributions of experience & genetics to make someone a novelty lover

brain becomes more efficient at processing certain types of info as it matures

I Feel So Young

is early adoption all about youth?

brain is lazy only changes when it has to

novel things force it to change

novelty = learning

for iconoclast to become icon:-

possess exceptionally plastic brain seeing things differently
rewire brains of vast numbers of others who are not iconoclasts

different strategies as different brains:-

target minority generally more open to new ideas
make the new ideas seem more familiar

easy to alienate one group by targetting the other

journey from iconoclast to icon goes beyond the three themes highlighted in this book

“average” iconoclast possesses a perceptual system that can see things differently than other people. He conquers his fear of failure and fear of the unknown, and possesses enough social intelligence to sell his idea to other people

iconoclast who goes beyond mere success and becomes an icon possesses something even more elusive - has knack of wide appeal

for iconoclast to become an icon, large numbers of people who are not themselves iconoclastic must come to accept an idea that is new to them - can only be achieved through one of two roads: novelty or familiarity; youth or experience

Pages

Monday, October 21, 2019

Book: “Iconoclast: A Neuroscientist Reveals How To Think Differently”; Gregory Berns

Why this book?

My reading of the book

My overall assessment and response to the book

Introduction: Doing What Can’t Be Done

Book Club Questions

Q1: What attracted you to reading this book in this book club?

My notes from the book

The Brain, Neuroeconomics and the Science of Iconoclasm

Different Brains, Different Ways of Thinking

Doing What Others Say Can’t Be Done

1: Through The Eye of an Iconoclast

Book Club Questions

My notes from the book

A Different Perspective

Seeing Differently

The Anatomy of Vision

The Anatomy of Perception

The Iconoclast Who Discovered MRI

Persons, Places and Things

Before Pac-Man, the Iconoclast Who Brought Us Pong

Seeing Like An Iconoclast

2: From Perception to Imagination

Book Club Questions

My notes from the book

Walt Disney – The Iconoclast of Animation

The Evolution of Perception

Florence Nightingale and the Perception of Death

How the Brain Learns to See

From Visual Imagery to Imagination

Branch Rickey – The Iconoclast who Hired Jackie Robinson

Breaking Out of Categories

Novelty as a Trigger for Running the Perceptual System in Reverse

Chapter 3: Fear: The Inhibitor of Action

Book Club Questions

My notes from the book

Fear: Mother of All Stress

The Accidental Iconoclast: Fear and the Dixie Chicks

Fear Conditioning

Computer Associates and the Fear of Failure

An Alternative to Fear: The Idea Market

Fear of the Unknown: A Biological View of Uncertainty

Taming the Amygdala Through Reappraisal & Extinction

Chapter 4: How Fear Distorts Perception

Book Club Questions

My notes from the book

When The Emperor Has No Clothes

A Minority of One

See As I Say

A Lesson In Conquering Fear

The Law of Large Numbers

Mitigating The Effects Of Fear On Perception

Chapter 5: Why The Fear Of Failure Makes People Risk Averse

Book Club Questions

My notes from the book

The Economics of Risk

The Contrarian – David Dreman

The Iconoclast Who Beats the Market: Bill Miller’s Approach

The Biology of the Fear of Failure

How Fear Clouds Financial Judgment

Henry Ford and Freedom from Fear

Using Genetics to Diversify a Team and Mitigate the Effects of Fear

Chapter 6: Brain Circuits for Social Networking

Book Club Questions

Resources:-

My notes from the book

Stanley Milgram and Six Degrees of Separation

Ray Kroc: The Iconoclast Who Sold Hamburgers to Children

The Road to Familiarity: Face and Name Recognition in the Brain

Why The Brain Likes Familiarity

Shadow Networks and Why Who Knows Whom Matters

Building Reputations for a Fair Deal

Warren Buffett and the Evolution of Reputation

Building Networks

Chapter 7: Private Spaceflight - A Case Study of Iconoclasts Working Together

Book Club Questions

My notes from the book

The Challenge