This document discusses how the human brain works and how it can be impacted by internet use and multitasking. It notes that for 188,000 years humans spent time procuring food or socializing, whereas now internet use can diminish skills like learning, reasoning, creativity. It also covers concepts from behavioral economics like how making many small decisions reduces willpower ("ego depletion") and how people are influenced by comparisons ("numerical anchoring") and prefer avoiding losses. It provides examples of how loss aversion can impact decision making and concludes with exercises related to gratitude, achievement, meditation and planning.

1. The Secrets to
a Happy,
Successful
Legal Career
Florida Bar Mid-Year Meeting - January 19, 2018

2. Part 2

3. How Your Brain Works

4. We spent about
188,000 years
either procuring
food or hanging
out talking with
our community.

5. We spent about
188,000 years
either procuring
food or hanging
out talking with
our community.

6. We spent about
188,000 years
either procuring
food or hanging
out talking with
our community.

7. We spent about
188,000 years
either procuring
food or hanging
out talking with
our community.

8. We spent about
188,000 years
either procuring
food or hanging
out talking with
our community.

9. Your Brain on the Internet

10. We spent about
188,000 years
either procuring
food or hanging
out talking with
our community.

11. We spent about
188,000 years
either procuring
food or hanging
out talking with
our community.

12. “Multitaskers are suckers
for irrelevancy. Everything
distracts them.”
-Clifford Nass, Stanford

13. We spent about
188,000 years
either procuring
food or hanging
out talking with
our community.

14. We spent about
188,000 years
either procuring
food or hanging
out talking with
our community.
“Integration of
smartphones into daily
life” appears to cause a
“brain drain” that can
diminish such vital
mental skills as “learning,
logical reasoning,
abstract thought,
problem solving, and
creativity.”

15. We spent about
188,000 years
either procuring
food or hanging
out talking with
our community.

16. Behavioral Economics

17. Ego Depletion: Making Lots of
Decisions Saps Willpower
Death by a thousand cuts. The
simple act of making small decisions
decreases willpower.

18. Numerical Anchoring
Humans are highly influenced in
their thinking by what they
compare things to.

19. Loss Aversion – Example 1
The U.S. is preparing for the outbreak of an unusual Asian disease,
which is expected to kill 600 people. Two alternative programs to
combat the disease have been proposed. Assume that the exact
scientific estimates of the consequences of the programs are as
follows: If program A is adopted, 200 people will be saved. If
program B is adopted, there is a one-third probability that 600
people will be saved and a two-thirds probability that no people
will be saved. Which of the two programs would you favor?

20. Loss Aversion – Example 2
The U.S. is preparing for the outbreak of an unusual Asian disease,
which is expected to kill 600 people. Two alternative programs to
combat the disease have been proposed. Assume that the exact
scientific estimates of the consequences of the programs are as
follows: If program C is adopted, 400 people will die. If program D
is adopted, there is a one-third probability that nobody will die and
a two-thirds probability that 600 people will die. Which of the two
programs would you favor?

21. Exercises
1. Gratitude.
2. Achievement.
3. Meditation.
4. Weekly Planning.

22. Thank You!
larry@rocketmatter.com