Sheryl Hill

“Sometimes we're responsible for things not because they're our fault, but because we're the only ones who can change them.”
― Lisa Feldman Barrett, Seven And A Half Lessons About The Brain

“You can challenge the beliefs that you were swaddled in as a child. You can change your own niche. Your actions today become your brain’s predictions for tomorrow, and those predictions automatically drive your future actions. Therefore, you have some freedom to hone your predictions in new directions, and you have some responsibility for the results.”
― Lisa Feldman Barrett, Seven And A Half Lessons About The Brain

“Today, many of us feel like we live in a highly polarized world, where people with opposing opinions cannot even be civil to each other. If you want things to be different, I offer you a challenge. Pick a controversial political issue that you feel strongly about. […] Spend five minutes per day deliberately considering the issue from the perspective of those you disagree with, not to have an argument with them in your head, but to understand how someone who’s just as smart as you can believe the opposite of what you do.

I’m not asking you to change your mind. I’m also not saying this challenge is easy. It requires a withdrawal from your body budget, and it might feel pretty unpleasant or even pointless. But when you try, really try, to embody someone else’s point of view, you can change your future predictions about the people who hold those different views. If you can honestly say, “I absolutely disagree with those people, but I can understand why they believe what they do”, you’re one step closer to a less polarized world. That is not magical liberal academic rubbish. It’s a strategy that comes from basic science about your predicting brain.”
― Lisa Feldman Barrett, Seven And A Half Lessons About The Brain

“Divide the infinite future into five-minute blocks, and take them one by one.”
― Lois McMaster Bujold, Barrayar