Dr. Lisa Feldman Barrett

It means you have more choice. It means you have more control. It means that you can architect your life. I mean, you can't control everything that happens to you. You can't control every moment of feeling. But you have more control than you probably think you do. Everybody has more control. over what they feel and what they do than they think they do.

It means you have more choice. It means you have more control. It means that you can architect your life. I mean, you can't control everything that happens to you. You can't control every moment of feeling. But you have more control than you probably think you do. Everybody has more control. over what they feel and what they do than they think they do.

That control doesn't look the way we expect it to. It's much harder to harness than we would like it to be. Some people have more opportunities for that control than other people do, but everybody has the opportunity to have more control. And of course, the flip side is also more responsibility for the way they live their lives. And I think that's a really good thing.

That control doesn't look the way we expect it to. It's much harder to harness than we would like it to be. Some people have more opportunities for that control than other people do, but everybody has the opportunity to have more control. And of course, the flip side is also more responsibility for the way they live their lives. And I think that's a really good thing.

And I think it's a really good thing now when, you know, world events are swirling around you and you feel like, you know, you're just being buffeted around. Even within that craziness, there are opportunities to to be more of an architect of your own experience and your own life. I think a lot of people find that optimistic and helpful.

And I think it's a really good thing now when, you know, world events are swirling around you and you feel like, you know, you're just being buffeted around. Even within that craziness, there are opportunities to to be more of an architect of your own experience and your own life. I think a lot of people find that optimistic and helpful.

Yes, exactly. And I think for me, I mean, I started my career studying the nature of emotion, but really it became a flashlight into understanding how a brain works. Why do we even have a brain? It's a very expensive organ. That piece of meat between your ears is the most expensive, metabolically the most expensive organ you have. So what's it good for? What's its most basic function?

Yes, exactly. And I think for me, I mean, I started my career studying the nature of emotion, but really it became a flashlight into understanding how a brain works. Why do we even have a brain? It's a very expensive organ. That piece of meat between your ears is the most expensive, metabolically the most expensive organ you have. So what's it good for? What's its most basic function?

How does it work in relation to the body? I think that certainly on your show, you've had a number of people who talk about the relationship between the brain and the body in some way, but I think scientists for a long time forgot or ignored the fact that the brain is attached to a body, right? Because we don't feel all the drama. Like right now, in you, in me, in all of our listeners, right?

How does it work in relation to the body? I think that certainly on your show, you've had a number of people who talk about the relationship between the brain and the body in some way, but I think scientists for a long time forgot or ignored the fact that the brain is attached to a body, right? Because we don't feel all the drama. Like right now, in you, in me, in all of our listeners, right?

We all have this like drama going on. It's really quite intense and there's a lot of going on and none of us are aware of it, I hope. If you are aware of it, I'm really sorry. It probably means that something is, you know...

We all have this like drama going on. It's really quite intense and there's a lot of going on and none of us are aware of it, I hope. If you are aware of it, I'm really sorry. It probably means that something is, you know...

You're not feeling well today, but it's a good thing that we're not aware of what's going on inside our own bodies most of the time, because we'd never pay attention to anything outside our own skin again, right? But the problem is that in science, it often begins with starting with your own subjective experience and then trying to formalize that.

You're not feeling well today, but it's a good thing that we're not aware of what's going on inside our own bodies most of the time, because we'd never pay attention to anything outside our own skin again, right? But the problem is that in science, it often begins with starting with your own subjective experience and then trying to formalize that.

And I mean, if you look at any science, physics is like that too. You just have to go back several hundred years or maybe a little longer to see it. And so it turns out that a lot of what you experience as properties of the world, of the way the world is, really is very rooted in your brain's regulation of your body. And so...

And I mean, if you look at any science, physics is like that too. You just have to go back several hundred years or maybe a little longer to see it. And so it turns out that a lot of what you experience as properties of the world, of the way the world is, really is very rooted in your brain's regulation of your body. And so...

I guess I started with emotion, but it really became a much larger project to try to understand, well, what is a brain? How is it structured? How did it evolve? How does it work? What's its most basic function? And where do thoughts and feelings and actions, perceptions, what role do they play in that function? So it's a bit flipping the question, right?

I guess I started with emotion, but it really became a much larger project to try to understand, well, what is a brain? How is it structured? How did it evolve? How does it work? What's its most basic function? And where do thoughts and feelings and actions, perceptions, what role do they play in that function? So it's a bit flipping the question, right?

Most people start with, what is an emotion? What is a thought? What is a memory? They define it and then they go looking for its physical basis in the brain or in the body. That's a pretty bankrupt perspective. I mean, after a hundred years, there weren't really good answers. So we flipped it around and we said, okay, well, given that we have the kind of brain we do, what can it do?

Most people start with, what is an emotion? What is a thought? What is a memory? They define it and then they go looking for its physical basis in the brain or in the body. That's a pretty bankrupt perspective. I mean, after a hundred years, there weren't really good answers. So we flipped it around and we said, okay, well, given that we have the kind of brain we do, what can it do?