EP20:Deep Into - Look Again
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Welcome to our deep dive. Today we're looking at Look Again by Tully Sherritt. This book, it really digs into this idea of dishabituation. And you know that feeling, right? When you kind of break free from those mental ruts and see the world with fresh eyes. And I'm really fascinated to see how this whole habituation thing, how it affects our lives. Not just the day-to-day stuff, but you know the big stuff too, like happiness and the decisions we make, even like

society, how it works. Yeah, you know, you might think habituation is just like getting used to things, like you buy a new fridge, it's humming, and then after a while you just don't even notice it. But Chirot, she takes it a step further, you know. She shows how this getting used to can actually shape how we see the world, the choices we make, even like how happy we are overall. The book's got all these crazy examples, and one that really, really stuck with me was this Swedish traffic experiment, where they

get this, they switched which side of the road people drive on. Like you'd think total chaos, right? No, sorry.

But accidents, they actually went down. Yeah, it does seem kind of backwards, right? Yeah. But think about it. This change, it forced drivers out of that autopilot mode, you know, made them super aware of what was going on around them. So basically this routine switch, it was like a forced look again moment for the whole country. Like it shows what happens when we shake things up, even when it seems disruptive. It can make things better. That really makes you think about routine, right? Like we think it's good for us.

But the book, it says habituation is kind of like a double edged sword. I mean, it's it's got to be there for us to survive. Right. We can't be freaking out about every little thing all the time. Imagine like never getting used to the feeling of clothes or, you know, the city sounds. Right, right. But that same filter that keeps us going, it can also make us miss out on the good stuff. Like we get so used to the good things. They just they don't sparkle as much. Think about like.

A new relationship, right? Those first few months, it's exciting, exhilarating. Then as time goes by, the excitement fades. Habituation sets in. It's like we go numb to the good stuff, kind of like living near the ocean, you know? At first, that salty air and the sound of the waves, it's incredible. And then, you know, after a while, it's just there, like background noise. Exactly.

And Chirot really emphasizes how this getting used to the good, it's a big reason we stop appreciating what we have. And she talks about this idea of re-sparkling where you intentionally take breaks to reignite that appreciation. She tells the story about Julia and Rachel and they both, on the surface, they have it all. Good jobs, family, nice homes, everything.

But Julia, she builds this re-sparkling into her life, changing up her routines, you know, trying new things, taking time for herself. And guess what? She ends up feeling more fulfilled, genuinely happy compared to Rachel. It's kind of like those studies they did where people flipped a coin to make a big life change. Yeah. Ones who actually made the change, they ended up happier than those who didn't. Like change, even when it's scary, can be the thing that shakes things up, helps us find that spark again. That's a great connection. The book, it

It suggests that sometimes picking variety over sticking with what's comfy, even if it doesn't look like traditional happiness, it can actually lead to a richer, more fulfilling life, you know?

One thing I'm always working on is how I use social media. And the book compares it to that buzzing scaler at the dentist, which, man, that really hit home for me. You get so used to it, you don't even realize how much it's messing with you. It's interesting. Even people who don't think they're hooked on social media, they can feel a lot better when they take a break. The book talks about studies where people, they quit Facebook even if they weren't unhappy with it.

Once it was gone, they said they were happier, more satisfied with life in general. Makes you wonder, right? Like, are we all just a little too used to those constant notifications, the perfect lives, everyone showing off, the pressure to look perfect online? And the book, it really digs into how those...

Those curated versions of people's lives, you know, the vacations, the achievements, those flawless selfies, they can make us feel like our own lives aren't good enough, even if we're happy offline. It's like we're constantly getting hit with these messages that say we're not enough. And then we wonder why everyone's so stressed and anxious.

Me, personally, I definitely noticed a difference in my own mood, my focus, when I started being more mindful of how I was using social media. That's great, you know, the awareness leading to positive change. Sheret really emphasizes how even small breaks from social media, like less scrambling time or maybe taking a whole day off every week, it can have a huge impact on our mental well-being. She's got this one tip that's really interesting for how to enjoy the good stuff more and deal with the bad stuff better.

She calls it chop up the good, swallow the bad whole. It's about breaking up pleasurable experiences so you don't get too used to them. You know, like savor that piece of chocolate. Don't just gobble it down. By spacing out those good moments, we can re-spark our enjoyment each time. And for the bad stuff, just like power through it all at once. Yeah, that's the idea. It might seem counterintuitive, but...

Our brains, they're built to adapt. And when we drag out unpleasant experiences, we're actually stopping that adaptation from happening as quickly. It's like ripping off a Band-Aid. That makes a lot of sense. Yeah. I'm thinking now about like planning a big vacation. Maybe spreading those vacation days throughout the year in smaller chunks would be a better way to enjoy it more. So we talked about how we adapt to the good and bad. But the book gets really interesting when it starts talking about resilience.

This whole idea of bouncing back from tough stuff, which it turns out isn't the same for everyone. You got it. Resilience is different for everybody, right? And things like mental health, they can have a big influence. The book compares these two guys, Martin and Ronald. They both get a bad grade on a test, but Martin, he just shrugs it off. Ronald, he has depression and he dwells on it for way longer. It just shows you resilience isn't just about willpower. You know, it's about how well we can adapt and recover.

And the book goes even deeper into how mental health can affect that. Yeah. And the pandemic lockdown is another interesting example, right? Lots of people, they adapted pretty well to those sudden changes. But people who are already struggling with mental health, they had a harder time. It's like their brains weren't as good at getting used to that new stressful situation. And then there's like post-pandemic anxiety. Yeah. Getting back to normal is a good thing, but it can still be stressful.

Our brains, they don't always adjust at the same speed, even when it's a change for the better. Yeah, it's a reminder that any change in our routines, good or bad, takes some adapting. And speaking of adapting, the book talks about this technique called exposure therapy. You gradually expose yourself to the stuff you're afraid of to build resilience. Like if you're scared of spiders. You start by looking at pictures, then maybe videos, then being in the same room as one, all in a safe environment, of course.

And over time, your brain gets used to it and you're less afraid. - It's pretty amazing how understanding habituation can help us overcome challenges, build a stronger mind. So are you ready to jump into something totally different? The world of creativity. - Yeah, let's do it. This is where that look again idea really comes into play, right? - Yeah. - Breaking free from those mental rats to spark creative thinking. I'm ready for some mind blowing stuff. - So the book, it brings up this guy, Dick Fosbury,

And his high jump technique, the Fosbury flop, it was revolutionary. People thought he was crazy jumping backwards over the bar like that. But he ended up winning Olympic gold and like changing the whole sport forever. Yeah, it was a total game changer, right? He really did look at things differently. And I like how the book connects this idea to creative breakthroughs. Like they often come from people who are outsiders. You know, people who can bring these fresh perspectives. It is fascinating, isn't it? People who aren't stuck...

in the old ways of doing things, they can see possibilities that others just miss. Like Richard Thaler, he won a Nobel Prize for mixing psychology with economics, even though the economics world, they saw him as an outsider. But

But his different way of looking at things allowed him to make connections that nobody else had seen. Yeah. It's like having that beginner's mind, right? Everything's new and exciting and you're not limited by what you think you already know. Yeah. The book even says some people are naturally better at creative thinking because they're slower to get used to new information. Slow habituation. That's what Sherit calls it. And it basically lets these people stay open to new ideas, make connections that others might miss because they've already tuned out, you know, the noise.

It's a really cool idea. It makes you think about how our own habits might be affecting our creative potential. Okay, so this next chapter, it was a real eye-opener for me. It's all about how repeating something can actually make us believe it, even when it's not true.

Even when we know it's not true. It's called the illusory truth effect. And the book, it uses this example about the populations of California and New York. Yeah, so even if you know California has more people, if you keep hearing someone say New York's bigger, you might start to doubt yourself, you know? It just shows how easy it is to be manipulated by repetition. How familiarity can...

override facts. It's almost like our brains, they go for what's easy to understand, even if it's not the truth. And the book says it's not just about believing the misinformation. It's also about how easily we accept it. Right. So information that's that's presented simply like a catchy slogan or a meme, it's more likely to be accepted as true, whether it actually is or not. And that's that's a big deal for how we take in information, especially online. It makes you think twice about all those viral things you see every day, right? Just

Just because something's easy to get doesn't mean it's true. Absolutely. The book talks about some possible solutions like encouraging accuracy on social media. Imagine if you got like trust points for sharing stuff that's been verified. It could help people be more careful about what they share and what they believe. That's a pretty interesting idea. Anything that makes us stop and think before we share something, that's a good thing.

Okay, so this next chapter, Risk Inhabituation, this is a wild one. It starts with this tragic story about Joe Burris. He was an escape artist, and he died trying to do Houdini's Buried Alive stunt. Yeah, and Burris, he had done similar escapes before successfully, which I guess it created this...

dangerous risk habituation. He got so used to the risk that he he didn't see how dangerous that final attempt really was. It's a it's a sad reminder of how quickly we can get used to risk even when it's really there. The book compares it to things like gambling where people bet more and more as they get comfortable with it. The chapter also talks about a strategy to fight risk habituation and it's basically shaking things up like

Like remember that Swedish example switching driving sides. It was a big change but it actually made the roads safer because it reset how drivers saw risk. I know it seems counterintuitive but it makes sense right. Yeah. We get complacent when things are always the same. The book also mentions things like changing cigarette warning labels using different cybersecurity warnings stuff like that to keep people from tuning out the risk. Yeah. Like we need those reminders but they got to be presented in a way that keeps our attention. That's the key. The book is pushing

it's pushing us to be more aware of those areas where we might be getting too comfy with risk. So speaking of comfort zones, the next chapter takes a look at how we can become blind to discrimination even when it's right there in front of us. - Yeah, that story about the Red Cross poster.

That was powerful. It seemed like a harmless picture, but when you looked closer, there was this subtle racism that most people didn't even see at first. It took someone pointing it out to break through that habituated thinking and make it visible. It's amazing, isn't it, how our brains are wired to filter out what's familiar even when it's harmful.

And the book goes on to share the story about Cass and the gentle Jew comment, showing how these biases can just be baked into a culture. What got me about that story was how no one else at the dinner even reacted. It was so normal in that setting that it didn't even register as offensive. And it makes you realize people who experience discrimination, they're way less likely to get used to it. For them, it's not something that fades away. It's just...

They're reality. The book talks about ways to unlearn these biases, like perspective-taking exercises and even virtual reality so people can experience the world from someone else's point of view. Trying to break down those walls of prejudice, right? Encourage empathy. And we can't forget those people the book calls disabituation entrepreneurs. They're the ones who challenge the way things are and show us what we've been missing. People like Rosa Parks and Katherine McKinnon

They fought against deeply ingrained norms and started these movements for equality. They remind us that we can all disrupt harmful patterns and make the world a fairer place. Their stories are truly inspiring. And speaking of social change or the lack of it,

The next chapter goes into this idea of tyranny and how it can sneak in through these tiny, almost invisible steps. It's like that boiling frog thing, right? The frog doesn't know the water is getting hotter until it's too late. The book uses Nazi Germany as an example, how everyday Germans just living their lives didn't see the slow loss of freedom, the rise of fascism.

Until it was too late. That's a chilling thought. And the book doesn't treat it like some weird historical thing. It connects it to those Milgram experiments where regular people were willing to hurt others just because someone in authority told them to. It's a reminder of how easily we can be influenced by authority. The danger of just falling

following orders without thinking. We have to be careful, question authority, and not just get used to injustice, no matter how small it seems. The book makes it clear that tyranny, it doesn't always come in loud. It often sneaks in quietly. Those small changes, the slow loss of rights, those can be the most dangerous because they're so easy to miss. And that's where disabituation is so important. We have to be willing to look again at the world,

question what's normal, and challenge anything that feels wrong, even if everyone else seems to be okay with it. It's easy to get caught up in our routines and just accept things. But change, it often happens slowly, and it's up to us to stay aware and speak out against injustice, even when it seems small. Okay, let's shift gears now and talk about this chapter that looks at the whole issue of putting a price on pain. It starts with Cass' story. She got hit by a car, and she's trying to decide whether to sue for compensation.

Yeah, this chapter really made me think about how we measure suffering, both legally and in our own lives. Like, how do you put a dollar amount on pain, emotional distress, not being able to enjoy life like you used to? It's a tough question. The book talks about how hard it is to figure out the long-term effects of an injury. There's this thing called the focusing illusion, where juries, judges, they tend to overestimate how long an injury will affect someone because they're focused on the immediate pain. It's kind of like...

When we daydream about winning the lottery, right? We think we'll be so happy, but we're only focused on that initial excitement. We forget about all the changes and problems that would come with it. Exactly. And the chapter goes even further talking about hedonic damages, which is like compensation for losing the enjoyment of life. Like how do you put a price on someone not being able to play their favorite sport, go for a run, do the things they love? It's it's incredibly complicated.

And the book uses habituation to explain why it's so hard. We're really good at adapting, us humans.

Even after a big loss, we often find ways to adjust and find new things that make us happy. Right. But that doesn't mean the loss isn't important. The book talks about this idea of capabilities, the things we're able to do, and how that's a big factor to consider, not just pain and happiness. It's a really interesting perspective. It makes you think about how we value suffering and loss, not just in court cases, but in our own lives, too.

Money can't really replace those things, but it can acknowledge their impact and maybe offer some support. So we come to the last chapter, experiments in living, and it's a hopeful look at the future of disabituation. Sherritt uses Marco Polo's journey as an example, showing the value of leaving our comfort zones and experiencing different ways of life. It's amazing to think about Marco Polo's journey, which took years, and now we can do it in hours.

We have access to so many experiences and perspectives that people couldn't even imagine before. And the chapter isn't just about travel. It suggests we can do these experiments in living through virtual reality, online communities, even future technologies like dissipation machines that could immerse us in different realities. Whoa. Imagine stepping into a completely different life for a while, experiencing a new culture, a different job.

even a different body. It's mind-blowing. It's a peek into a future where disabituation could be a big part of personal growth and social progress. The chapter encourages us to try these things, to seek out experiences that challenge what we think we know and help us understand the world better. It's a good reminder that the power to look again is something we all have. So as we wrap up this part of our deep dive into look again, I'm curious, what's sticking with you? What areas of your own life could use a fresh perspective?

It's amazing how this look again idea, how the book connects it to not just like our own growth, but also like making society better, dealing with those big issues. Yeah, the book really hits that point home. You know, it's not just about making our routines more interesting. It's about it's about seeing where we might be missing things, where we've gotten used to injustices or things that are holding us back.

Like that chapter on discrimination, right? Yeah. It showed how easy it is to get so used to certain things that we don't even see how they're contributing to inequality, even in subtle ways. The Red Cross poster and the Gentle Jew comment, those were such good examples. They showed how bias can just become part of the culture and we don't even notice it until someone shakes us up and makes us see it. Yeah. We need those dishabituation entrepreneurs to wake us up from that complacency and

Help us see what we've been blind to. They're the ones who they challenge the way things are and make us face those uncomfortable truths, whether it's about race or gender or any other kind of discrimination. Exactly. And the book, it doesn't shy away from the tough stuff either. It even talks about how habituation plays a role in and how tyranny can take over using that that scary analogy of the boiling frog.

Man, that one really stuck with me. The idea that oppression, it can happen so gradually in these tiny steps that people get used to each step towards authoritarianism without even realizing it's happening. It's a terrifying thought, right? And it just shows how important it is to stay aware, to question authority, and to

To not just accept things the way they are, even when it's uncomfortable or inconvenient to do so. Complacency can be really dangerous, especially when it comes to our freedoms. And speaking of challenging what's normal, that chapter on putting a price on pain, that was so thought-provoking. How do you even begin to measure something like pain and suffering? Especially when our brains are like...

designed to adapt and find new ways to be happy, even after a big loss. It's such a complex issue and the book

It gets into some of the problems with trying to figure out the long-term effects of an injury. That focusing illusion thing is really interesting. Like juries and judges, they might overestimate how much an injury will affect someone in the long run because they're so focused on the immediate pain. Yeah. It's like when we think about winning the lottery, we think we'll be so happy, but we're really just thinking about that first feeling of excitement, right? Yeah. We forget about all the things that would change, all the new problems that would come with it. Exactly.

Exactly. And then there's the idea of hedonic damages, which is like trying to compensate someone for losing the enjoyment of life. How do you put a dollar amount on someone not being able to, I don't know, play tennis anymore, go for a walk, do the things they love? It's it's almost impossible. And the book, it acknowledges that, yeah, money can't really make up for those losses, but it can at least like recognize how important they are and maybe provide some support.

It also talks about how it's important to look beyond just pain and happiness and to consider capabilities, which are like the things a person can do. That's a really important factor, too. It's a much more like

nuanced way of looking at it, you know, and it makes us rethink how we how we value suffering and loss, not just in like legal cases, but also in our daily lives. So that brings us to experiments in living the last chapter. And it's a it's a hopeful look at how this habituation could actually be a force for good for both ourselves and society. And technology plays a big role in this. Yeah. Think about Marco Polo's journey, which took him years. Now we can travel across the world in hours.

We can experience different cultures and perspectives through virtual reality and online platforms, things that people couldn't even dream of not that long ago. It's incredible, right? Technology is opening up all these new ways to break out of our routines and expand our world. And the book, it goes even further. Sherrod imagines a future with technology.

with what she calls dishabituation machines, where we could actually immerse ourselves in different realities, experience different hives, different perspectives, in ways we can't even imagine right now. Yeah, it's like a glimpse into a future where dishabituation could be a tool for growing as a person, for building empathy, for even changing society for the better.

Well, as we wrap up our deep dive into look again, I hope you're leaving with a sense of possibility, maybe a spark of curiosity and a willingness to embrace that power of looking again in your own life. It's about being open to new experiences, challenging what we think we know, and recognizing that even in the things we're most familiar with, there's always something new to discover if we're willing to look with fresh eyes. It's about rediscovering that

that childlike sense of wonder, you know, approaching the world with curiosity and a desire to understand, to learn, to grow. Look, again, it reminds us that the world is full of surprises and that sometimes all it takes is a new perspective to see things in a whole new light.