- ChatGPT study on Cognitive skills
- The steady decline in IQ
- 5 Steps to increase creative thinking
♟️ MY TURN:
I'm increasingly worried about our need for constant stimulation.
Recently someone said to me “how TF did you constantly come up with new ideas to write about?!”
And I will share my little secret with you all.
(and it’s not AI)
Growing up in the Midwest, on a farm, with no siblings around to play with, and parents who subscribed to the “go outside and don’t come back until dinner time”.....
I spent a lot of time alone, creating entire worlds in my head.
Creativity is directly linked to the absence of stimuli.
When my kids say they are bored…..I celebrate!!!
And then say “I can’t wait to see what you come up with!”
This might be a controversial newsletter but let’s shake things up, shall we?
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how to use AI in my business.
- It helps me analyze data
- It helps me quickly comprehend research studies
- It turns my newsletters into LinkedIn content
But there is one thing I refuse to let it do……
Create.
Every newsletter starts with a blank page.
Every book starts with a bunch of post it notes.
Could I train AI to do this for me?
Of course I could!!
But I refuse to let it.
Why?
I believe if we outsource creativity and critical thinking to AI, we (as a species) will become dumber.
The first study on AI + Cognition was conducted by MIT and the findings support my hypothesis.
Researchers asked subjects to write several SAT essays and separated subjects into three groups:
Group 1: using OpenAI’s ChatGPT
​Group 2: using Google’s search engine
​Group 3: using nothing but their brain
Each subject’s brain was monitored with an EEG, which measured the writer’s brain activity through multiple regions in the brain.
Over a few months Group 1 had the lowest brain engagement and “consistently underperformed at neural, linguistic, and behavioral levels”.
The study found that the ChatGPT group initially used the large language model (LLM) to ask structural questions for their essay (give me an outline), but near the end of the study, they were more likely to copy and paste their essay entirely.
They got lazier and lazier.....which impacted their neurological levels!
Those who used Google’s search engine were found to have moderate brain engagement.
But the “brain-only” group showed the “strongest, wide-ranging networks.”
Think about it (pun intended)...
- AI can give you something to edit, not create.
- AI can tell you how to think about a problem before you have to.
- AI can think for you.
So why would we ever worry about this?!
Why should we care?!
Since 1975 there has been a steady decline in IQ.
Many attribute it to how we consume information and the use of technology.
Another study, performed by researchers at the University of Texas at Austin, found people could retain and process data significantly better if their smartphones were in another room.
Just turning their phone off, or even hiding it in a pocket or bag, didn't work; phone owners still suffered brain drain when their device was nearby.
Ok so what do we do about it? If you want to increase your creativity, try these 4 things (and leave your phone in the other room).
♟️ YOUR TURN:
Want to spark your creativity and increase cognition? Try these. These are the same things I am doing right now to clear my head and prepare it for writing book #2.
Strategy 1: Morning Pages
Before you allow any other information to enter your brain, allow yourself to write out a stream of consciousness.
See what’s in your brain when nothing else is hijacking it!
Strategy 2: 1800s Thinking
As children we can dream up elaborate games in our heads. Yet, as we get older, creativity seems to disappear with the tooth fairy.
As we think about creativity being the competitive advantage in the world of AI, it’s important to challenge ourselves to find the spark.
Give yourself space to be creative and foster a mindset of curiosity.
Today I want you to ask questions of things you are genuinely curious about.
Things like…
- What’s it really like to live in another part of the world?
- How do I actually create a garden in Florida?
- What are different strategies for playing Chess?
- What was the process of building a pyramid in Eqypt?
Now, force yourself to think about HOW you’d find the answer if you lived in the 1800s.
The goal of this exercise is not to actually have the answers right now, but it’s more about brainstorming.
Strategy #3: Build a Fake Business
An exercise I do with startups and solopreneurs is to create a fake business from start to finish in under 5 minutes.
Try this yourself.
Pretend you are trying to launch a business selling bird feeders to children.
How would you position it?
How would you market it?
How would you build the product so kids are excited and ask for them?
I bet if you had an EEG monitoring your brain right now, you’d be FIRING.
Strategy #4: Post it Rapid Fire
Pretend you are building a keynote to give in front of 1,000 people.
Pick a topic that you’d want to speak about.
Then grab some post-its and set a timer for 5 minutes.
Rapid fire the following:
- Things you know about the topic
- Personal Stories you have about the topic
- Stats you want to find about the topic
- Research you want to study on the topic
- Questions you have
You will be surprised at how much can come out when you
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Strategy #5: Bored child
The next time you are bored at home and reach for your phone to scroll, imagine what the 6 year old version of you might want to do.
For me it was all about animals.
So now I put my phone down and go into the backyard and try to see how many different things I can find (a bird, a squirrel, a lizard…..and observe them).
Maybe you want to build a lego set.
Maybe you want to sketch something.
You likely wouldn’t give your younger self a phone……so why do it now as adults.
The current is pushing us somewhere......
Pushing us to think less.
Create less.
Play less.
So I hope this newsletter shakes things up for you.
This was a fun newsletter to write but I hope you takeaway one thing:
Thinking and creativity will be a SUPERPOWER in the future.
Don’t outsource it.
Reply and let me know if you agree and which strategy you plan on trying!!
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