AMPLIFYING MINDS

The joys and benefits of stimulating a growth mindset, of being truly committed to broadening our minds and those around us, is absolutely critical to the development of individuals and businesses, to health, to economic and social development of nations.

Amplifying minds is something very dear to me since I was young. And while I'm going to start with a very real experience I had last week, the narrative evolves into the importance of working mind and brain for greater ends - namely our growth and our health.

The writing itself is the result of a combination of personal experiences and reflections with a good load of author material, which I sought from books or articles that I liked to read and that I found enlightening for the narrative arc I wanted to explore here. As usual in my writing, this means that I follow a path that focuses much more on the ability to interlinking subjects and reasonings, on the chain of ideas and knowledge, than on the production of new knowledge, let's say.

Starting.

1_A very special recent experience

The days started early and ended late; the sessions were intense and unforgettable; the subjects were diverse; the new knowledge we all gained has amplified our minds, our visions, our understanding of the world and the future. But there's more. At Nova School of Science and Technology, there is a culture of contagious curiosity that we all take home. There is intellectual disobedience, originality, global ambition and action.

During three days, we had the privilege of having classes and debates with sixteen of the most renowned scientists in our country, we visited their laboratories, felt in depth what is happening in the most advanced fields of research and the applications in the most varied industries.

If there were a magazine to explore the future and the upcoming contexts for business, we could say that this program would be the ultimate live experience of it. We saw what is happening in the fascinating world of engineering biology, talked about biomimetics and learned, among other things, the potentials of smell and the importance of electronic noses as efficient non-invasive diagnostic methods or pollutant detectors; we explored the powers and applications of transparent electronics, paper electronics, or solar energy. We had one of the most fascinating journeys through economy decarbonization and learned why each and every company must have an ambitious, clear and visible green strategy in place; we better understood what is happening in the green chemistry field and how critical it is in the circular economy we all strive for. Regarding artificial intelligence, as we all know, it is in huge development due to the amount of data and computational power that we now have in action, and here we learned how data and algorithms grow in AI systems and how we can transform our value chain and make it more efficient with a well thought-out alliance of humans and machines. We studied the new robots and how collaboration, precision and empathy are fundamental to understanding and planning their roles in the most varied situations. Then we explored the world of 3D printing – from bones to aeronautics. After that, we explored how autonomous mobility is creating healthier and cleaner solutions for all; then, we immersed ourselves in the new forms of vision and how we're extending our senses in augmented and virtual reality; and finally, we went through the benefits of tissue engineering for regenerative medicine.

The learning journey continued and understanding blockchains for the most diverse purposes and also the new financial world that is shaping up through cryptos is also a mandatory field of understanding and here comes the question for leaders – who is already thinking and designing a crypto strategy for the business? Regarding advances in IoT and 5G, these are allowing for a new all-sensory economy and society, as well as a developing terrain where health and the environment can truly be much considered. But there’s more, as the metaverse arrives, and with it a super-connected real and virtual 3D, we learned how quantum computing is gaining a new relevance making possible what was thought to be impossible!

The beauty of all this is that we had incredible teachers deconstructing and explaining each technology – how it is built, how it works and how it can be applied in the most diverse industries and situations.

Well, it's hard to summarize everything we've learned throughout this first edition of I-Tech Safari and how positive and impactful it all was for all of us, teachers and participants.

It was in fact a privileged experience and one that effectively amplifies minds. And as interesting as seeing all the practical applications, is the process of research, thought, collaboration and creativity that takes place in these laboratories. As one of the participants said, these are the subjects that were missing in the MBA, and if you ask me, who should participate in this program, I can only answer: everyone. All those who want to understand the world, be close to science and technology, understand the development arenas that are emerging, study them in depth, anticipate business and prepare people for the future. And yes, make the future.

But there's a lot more to talk about when we launch the topic 'amplifying minds'.

2_Inspiring the future

Amplifying minds is so dear to me that professionally, thirteen years ago, I ended up founding a company totally focused on exploring and sharing knowledge. Today I can say that WIN World is a knowledge-based media company, dedicated above all to researching and organizing hard-knowledge in the most diverse areas and then transforming it into impactful and far-reaching media experiences. It is about the creation of the most varied knowledge-based media formats – from conferences and summits to executive programs, exhibitions, documentaries, short videos, podcasts, books, newsletters and many other original formats, in which the objective is simple: to make knowledge accessible to a larger number of people taking into account their backgrounds, purposes, application needs, time and even mental readiness to receive and integrate this knowledge.

Today we go further and believe so much in the importance and powers of knowledge that our work with companies evolves towards innovating and growing their knowledge centers and, of course, curiosity and a culture of permanent learning.

From preventive health to energy transition or financial decentralization, we work with a variety of organizations on a wide range of issues, allowing internal and external stakeholders to be inspired and better prepared for the future, while strengthening the relationship and engagement of people with the institution through positive and meaningful strategies based on knowledge. And, thus, we all go further, we position ourselves in dialogues with the future, we build with another intellectual maturity, we embrace individual and joint growth in a deeper way.

But my interest on amplifying minds goes beyond business applications, although of course there is always a positive consequence in business, economy and society. I'm very interested in curiosity and the willingness to absorb new knowledge from the point of view of mental health and brain fitness. Creating cognitive reserves is absolutely critical for health, resilience, adaptability, competitiveness, and personal and professional growth.

Louis Pasteur would say, fortune favours prepared minds. And the good thing is that a large part of it all resides in our intentions and actions. So, to understand everything better, let's go back to the concepts and functionalities of the brain and mind.

3_Brain and mind

According to clear definitions by Carolina Leaf, Communication Pathologist, Cognitive Neuroscientist and author of Switch On Your Brains, the brain is an important organ in the human body whereas the mind is not like that. The brain, which is the centre of the nervous system, coordinates the movements, thoughts and feelings. The mind refers to a person's understanding of things and also his conscience. Mind also refers to a person's thought process. Well, the mind is separate, yet inseparable from, the brain. The mind uses the brain, and the brain responds to the mind. ... The mind is energy, and it generates energy through thinking, feeling, and choosing. It is our aliveness, without which, the physical brain and body would be useless. That means we are our mind, and mind-in-action is how we generate energy in the brain.

As the author puts it, when we generate this mind energy through thinking, feeling, and choosing, we build thoughts, which are physical structures in our brain made of proteins. This building of thoughts creates structural changes in the brain, called neuroplasticity – the brain's ability to reorganize itself by forming new neural connections throughout life. Neuroplasticity allows the neurons (nerve cells) in the brain to compensate for injury and disease and to adjust their activities in response to new situations or to changes in their environment.

Knowing our mind and brain are separate puts us in the control because we can learn to manage our thoughts and actions. Ultimately, it means we can choose what we build into our brain and how we choose to change what's already built in.

4_Neuroplasticity

This takes me to another question: if change is a choice, how can we nurture neuroplasticity throughout our lives? And to explore this I found a very interesting article of Mona D. Fishbane, PhD, Interpersonal Neurobiology, published at Good Therapy, on late September of 2015.

Sharing Mona D. Fishbane ideas and words on that article:

“Until a decade or so ago, many scientists thought that while children’s brains are malleable or plastic, neuroplasticity stops after age 25, at which point the brain is fully wired and mature; you lose neurons as you age, and basically it’s all downhill after your mid-twenties. Fortunately, this rather grim view of the aging brain has been upended by more recent research. We now know that the human brain is capable of change throughout life. It’s true that a typical child’s brain is more plastic, more capable of change and new learning than a typical adult brain. And we do lose neurons as we age. But it’s not all downhill; the adult brain can create new neuronal connections and even new neurons born from neuronal stem cells. In addition to these gray matter (neuronal) changes, there can be change in our white matter, the pathways between neurons and the myelin that allows neurons to communicate efficiently.

We are not guaranteed vibrant, flexible brains as we age, however. A lot depends on how we live our lives. The adult brain needs oxygen and stimulation to stay sharp and capable of change.

Researchers have identified the following three habits as facilitating neuroplasticity as we age: physical exercise (which increases blood flow to the brain, delivering much-needed oxygen), paying attention, and learning new things. Once I learned about the impact of physical movement on neuroplasticity, I increased my exercise to daily from twice a week. And I see the difference in both body and mind! While an aerobic workout is great, even walking briskly for half an hour will increase blood flow and feed oxygen to hungry neurons.

The second factor that increases neuroplasticity, paying attention, is the opposite of acting on automatic pilot. Most of the time we do function on automatic, which is easier and less tiring than thinking through and being aware of our every move. This automaticity can be to our advantage, as we easily ride our bike or whip up our favorite recipe. But living on automatic can mean that we miss precious moments, forget to smell the roses, or take for granted a majestic mountain vista. Waking up to our experience allows us to be present. It also allows the brain to be more active and flexible. One of the best ways to pay attention is to engage in mindfulness practices, whether through a formal practice of meditation or in more informal ways.

The third stimulus to brain plasticity in adulthood is learning new things. This comes naturally to a young child, for whom everything is new. By contrast, adults tend to be less open. We get comfortable with the familiar; we like to kick back, relax, and do the same old, same old. This may feel good, but it does not contribute to neural flexibility. And if we combine same old, same old with not exercising—being a couch potato, television, potato chips and all—we are depriving the brain of the nutrients of neuroplasticity. (...)”

5_Cognitive reserves

I know the narrative is already long but there is one last point that is important to address in order to have a broader knowledge of all this. And I speak now of cognitive reserves. This concept came to me at a recent Harvard Club dinner where we discussed resilience and the genetic aspects associated with it. And here, a great friend, MD and researcher, commented something extremely important and that crosses with everything I exposed throughout this article: there is scientific evidence that the creation of cognitive reserves has an enormous importance in a person's resilience.

And to understand this further, I share a part of an article published in Harvard Health Publishing, on September 21st, of 2021:

“An important concept that is crucial to the understanding of cognitive health is known as cognitive reserve. You can think of cognitive reserve as your brain's ability to improvise and find alternate ways of getting a job done. Just like a powerful car that enables you to engage another gear and suddenly accelerate to avoid an obstacle, your brain can change the way it operates and thus make added resources available to cope with challenges. Cognitive reserve is developed by a lifetime of education and curiosity to help your brain better cope with any failures or declines it faces.

The concept of cognitive reserve originated in the late 1980s, when researchers described individuals with no apparent symptoms of dementia who were nonetheless found at autopsy to have brain changes consistent with advanced Alzheimer's disease. These individuals did not show symptoms of the disease while they were alive because they had a large enough cognitive reserve to offset the damage and continue to function as usual.

Since then, research has shown that people with greater cognitive reserve are better able to stave off symptoms of degenerative brain changes associated with dementia or other brain diseases, such as Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, or a stroke. A more robust cognitive reserve can also help you function better for longer if you're exposed to unexpected life events, such as stress, surgery, or toxins in the environment. Such circumstances demand extra effort from your brain—similar to requiring a car to engage another gear.”

6_Amplifying minds

All this brings us to the starting point — the joys and benefits of stimulating a growth mindset, of being truly committed to broadening our minds and those around us, is absolutely critical to the development of individuals and businesses, to health, to economic and social development of nations. Progress resides in our intention and ability to learn and make things happen, and therefore embracing learning journeys, intentionally exposing ourselves and our people to rich learning experiences, is absolutely critical to humanity and organizational evolution.

In conversation with my mother, she brought another interesting angle to the discussion. As important as learning is teaching, because in order to learn, there must be someone who teaches. Therefore, stimulating cultures of curiosity and permanent learning, whether at home or in the company, involves the engagement of all these parties. And by the way, as the famous French moralist and essayist Joseph Joubert would say: to teach is to learn twice!