against-ing

I basked in a recent chat with dear friends whose impressive nonprofit work is devoted to non-partisan-ness.  ACE, the Alliance for Citizen Engagement, trains future policy leaders in apolitically reporting multifaceted issues.  Their papers are helpful  in grasping broader insights of, say, the expedited removal of noncitizens, or the pesticide debate. 

Inclusive thinking keeps us from being againsters, which is brain-brilliant.  First, it allays cognitive rigidity, a way of being that can jolt our already-amped amygdala.  Staying stuck in "against," also keeps our prefrontal cortex from getting buff (who wants an atrophied control center?)

If we stay curious, however, when something blippy comes our way, we can boost our brain performance and reduce cortisol levels with questions like:

• What would change if I did consider this?

• Why am I reacting this way?

• Wait, is it possible both things could be true?

There's more: thanks to activating the hippocampus, our memory and learning capabilities get supercharged by curiosity.  And our ventral striatum, which usually gets discussed in terms of motivation, lights up thanks to curiosity, and predicts how much information we'll remember.

Plus, being curious helps us engage with this moment.