Links for May 15, 2022

What to Read

🧘‍♀️ Mastering the Mind and Body: Conscious Control of the Autonomic Nervous System — Future Minds Lab

Eugene Kwok shares some extraordinary ways people can learn to control their autonomic nervous system, which regulates everything from our respiration to reflexes:

One particular study showed [that Wim Hof's] techniques led to the voluntary activation of the sympathetic nervous system including the release of the hormone epinephrine. Furthermore, after being injected with an endotoxin, his techniques led to suppression of the immune response and attenuation of the inflammatory response, leading to an absence of flu-like symptoms compared to controls.

What’s important is that Hof was able to train healthy volunteers to achieve the same effects. This suggests his ability to modulate the autonomic nervous system are not simply a consequence of any special genetic dispositions but rather something that can be learned and trained by anybody.

Mastering the Mind and Body: Conscious Control of the Autonomic Nervous System — FUTURE MINDS LAB

Since the times of the Greek physician ­­Hippocrates, the mind has been believed to play a significant influence on physiological processes, from stress and tension to health and disease. It’s no surprise then that attempts to master this connection between mind and body has been an active pursuit f

FUTURE MINDS LABEugene Kwok

What to Play

🤝 The Evolution of Trust

Nicky Case has a delightfully illustrated game that explains the game theory of trust. It highlights the fact that creating the right incentive structures is one of the most important things we can do as a society to nudge the world in the right direction.

Part of its conclusion: "'Do unto others as you would have them do unto you' may be not just a moral truth, but also a mathematical truth."

And if you haven't already read it, I recommend starting with my primer on positive vs. negative sum games.

The Evolution of Trust

an interactive guide to the game theory of why & how we trust each other

What to Watch

🔊 Skywalker Sound

Don't be put off by the fact that this is technically an Apple ad. It's really a mini documentary on the Star Wars sound library and an absolutely beautiful love letter to sound design, not to mention a reminder that technology enables art:

Tweets of the Week

Let's head into this week with restaurant owner energy:

Art ❤️ Science: