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" I think of the brain as a computational device: It has a bunch of little components that perform calculations on some small aspect of the problem, and another part of the brain has to stitch it all together, like a tapestry or a quilt. "

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" Our species uses music and dance to express various feelings: love, joy, comfort, ceremony, knowledge, and friendship. And each one is distinct and widely recognized within cultures. Love songs cause us to move slowly and fluidly, for example, while songs of joy inspire us to dance in a full-body aerobic way. "

Daniel Levitin

Knowledge

Joy

Friendship

" The obvious rule of efficiency is you don't want to spend more time organizing than it's worth. "

" That daydreaming mode turns out to be restorative. It's like hitting the reset button in your brain. And you don't get in that daydreaming mode typically by texting and Facebooking. You get in it by disengaging. "

" The conscious mind can only pay attention to about four things at once. If you've got these nagging voices in your head telling you to remember to pick up the laundry and call so-and-so, they're competing in your brain for neural resources with the stuff you're actually trying to do, like getting your work done. "

" I'm not a great guitarist, and I'm not a great singer. "

" Healthy breaks can hit the reset button in your brain, restoring some of the glucose and other metabolic nutrients used up with deep thought. A healthy break is one in which you allow your brain to rest, to loosen its grip on your thoughts. "

Daniel Levitin

Rest

Thought

" If you're making a bunch of little decisions - like, do I read this email now or later? Do I file it? Do I forward it? Do I have to get more information? Do I put it in the spam folder? - that's a handful of decisions right there, and you haven't done anything meaningful. It puts us into a brain state of decision fatigue. "

" Procrastination comes in two types. Some of us procrastinate in order to pursue restful activities - spending time in bed, watching TV - while others delay difficult or unpleasant tasks in favor of those that are more fun. "

" That walk around the block, that fresh air, is going to help you work more quickly and effectively when you get back. "

" Two sides to a story exist when evidence exists on both sides of a position. Then, reasonable people may disagree about how to weigh that evidence and what conclusion to form from it. Everyone, of course, is entitled to their own opinion. "

" Approximating involves making a series of educated guesses systematically by partitioning the problem into manageable chunks, identifying assumptions, and then using your general knowledge of the world to fill in the blanks. "

" There are people from lots of different fields in my department. In my lab, they come from computer science, education, psychophysics, psychology, music - and we all work together, and it feels very comfortable. All the careers I've had have been interdisciplinary; working in a studio is like being an engineer and a musician and a therapist. "

" I don't think I'm always right, but I would like to empower people to come to sound conclusions using a systematic way of looking at things. "

" Critical thinking is not something you do once with an issue and then drop it. It requires that we update our knowledge as new information comes in. Time spent evaluating claims is not just time well spent. It should be considered part of an implicit bargain we've all made. "

" Many of us feel as though we are overloaded and overwhelmed by all the things that are happening, and we can't stop work for even five minutes or we'll fall behind: the idea that if we don't take breaks, we're being more productive. "

Daniel Levitin

Overwhelmed

Work

" Unscrupulous writers often count on the fact that most people don't bother reading footnotes or tracking down citations. "

" If everything in the environment is utterly predictable, you become bored. If it's utterly unpredictable, you become frustrated. "

" When people silo themselves by belief, only affiliating with like-minded media organizations and people, we lose the opportunity for genuine conversation, much less persuasion. "

" Getting new information through Web-surfing almost always feels more rewarding than having to generate new information in the work that is in front of us. It therefore takes increasing amounts of self-discipline to stay on task. "

" If you aren't taking regular breaks every couple of hours, your brain won't benefit from that extra cup of coffee. "

" President Trump, when challenged on facts, says that many people feel the way he does. But feelings should not take the place of reason in matters of public policy. "

" We're a social species, and we want to get along with the people we like and who are like us. That's just good adaptive behaviour. We're more likely to accept something if we hear it from a friend, whereas we're sceptical of people who are not like us - which is what leads to racism, nationalism, sexism and all forms of bigotry. "

Daniel Levitin

People

Racism

" Even though we think we're getting a lot done, ironically, multitasking makes us demonstrably less efficient. "

" When you're at work, be fully at work. And let your leisure time be what it's meant to be - restorative and fun. "