Book Review – Deviate: The Science of Seeing Differently

Key Take-Aways

• We must perceive how we perceive, learn who we are and we will learn why we sense what we sense
• We do not see reality, we see our assumed perception of reality
• Information has no meaning until our brain gives it meaning
• Our historical exposure to our environment from birth until now influence our definition of reality and our emotional reactions
• Humans are very limited in their five senses.  We do not sense all that there is to sense.
• Other organisms can perceive much more than the human can; we can broaden our perceptions by learning how other organisms perceive
• We redefine variables and give new meaning when the context around those variables change
• Learning how others sense the world can accelerate innovation
• Improve mental health and decrease destructive behavior by understanding how our perceptions fuel emotions

 

[ss_click_to_tweet tweet=”” content=”” style=”default”]”Not only does the human brain change- the collective culture brain does as well.  Both are constantly redefining “normal” and creating a new normal every second”, page 89.  This is one of my favorite excerpts of this book and explains clearly why we see what we see in politics.  Variables once seen negatively when a Republican sits in the White House, are now perceived positively when a Democrat sits in the White House.  The variables haven’t changed, the perception of the “collective brain” has changed. 

This book is for everyone. The insights you take away from this book will improve organizational problems, expand innovative capability and provide an overall happier life if you choose to apply them. None of us see reality; all information is meaningless! What do you think about these two phrases? Do you believe me? In the book Deviate, the neuroscientist Beau Lotto does an excellent job describing just that. We do not see reality. In understanding this fact, there is potential to improve so many ills facing our nation today. Lotto does a great job describing why we see what we see and how our brain develops the meaning of the multiple stimuli being processed. Any site, sound, smell, etc., has zero meaning until our brain gives it a unique meaning that can differ from others around us or through the world. Lotto explains that the brain references all historical data that the body’s ecology has soaked in to make sense of everything. We learn to perceive ourselves perceiving and understand that information is meaningless, we unlock a tremendous potential that we never realized existed within us. He describes The Dress, the viral photo the blew up the internet in 2014 as no one could agree on the dress’s color. This is a book for the innovator. There are often new ways of doing things within our organizations, yet we have never noticed them due to our limited perceptual view. He gives examples of understanding other mammals and organisms’ ability to perceive beyond what humans can and how we can create devices to model these senses to develop instruments to improve human performance. This is one book in my collection that I will continue to refer to as I continue to make sense of this world.