Embrace your Journey #21

“Questions specify the answers that they will accept." -- Humberto Maturana*

Are you aware of the kind of questions you ask? Are you just repeating questions made by others without even noticing? If you were told that questions shape narratives, narratives shape behaviors and behaviors shape our realities, would you pay more attention to the questions you are asking?

Asking questions is a fundamental part of the scientific process and it is not trivial. Scientists take time to develop and master the ability to ask questions that can be answered by direct observations or with scientific tools, not values or opinion. Asking good questions is truly an art, but it should not be an excuse not to at least try to improve our abilities and create more awareness as to why, how and what we ask.

Interestingly, the late Chilean biologist and systems thinker Humberto Maturana continued to elaborate on the quote above by saying that

Mind blowing, isn't it? No wonder so many people say that education is the foundation for solving all our problems! Take a look at what Maturana added:

As we celebrate mothers' day, may we remember the curiosity we used to have as children, being attentive to the questions we ask, the words we use, the intentions behind our languaging so that more awareness emerges from our living in constant transformation and evolution as molecular autopoietic systems*.

Happy Mothers' Day to all!

Cheers,

Adriana Machado

Founder at Briyah Institute

What is the essence of creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship, and the essencial quality of great management? According to quantitative futurist and Founder & CEO of the Future Today Institute Amy Webb, it is Re-perception: "the ability to see, hear or become aware of something new in existing information. Noticing what others missed."

In this year's edition of SXSW in Austin, Texas, one of the most expected festivals for the creative, tech trend-savvy entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs these days, she called for re-perception as she outlined the three trends she sees emerging in the world: (1) Artificial Intelligence -- recognition & surveillance; (2) Metaverse, Web3 -- decentralization, blockchain, cripto; and (3) Synthetic Biology -- Computer networks, Food, AgTech, Health.

It is interesting to see the systemic approach she unveils as she says that these three trends are foundational to each other. She also explains that trends help us re-perceive. Watch the full talk below and reflect upon not only the questions she asks, but how you can question your own assumptions and re-perceive.

Speaking of metaverse, here is a relevant observation posed by Mina Alaghband in conversation with yet another futurist and metaverse expert, Cathy Hackl at an episode of McKinsey's Technology Council At the Edge podcast: while no official definition for the metaverse exist, there are potential opportunities and responsibilities for businesses as it develops.

As Cathy points out, the metaverse is "a convergence of our physical and digital lives." "It's about our identity and digital ownership", and it's enabled by many technologies, like AR (augmented reality) and VR (virtual reality), blockchain, 5G, edge computing and so on.

Are you aware of the implications of this "innovation"? Better start asking your best possible questions as there is still time to influence what is emerging!

This month we highlight a good practice that science is showing us to be quite invaluable to our health, specially our mental health: awakening our brain! Yes, having an awakened brain "includes a set of innate perceptual capacities that exist in every person through which we experience love and connection, unity, and a sense of guidance from and dialogue with life."

Listen to the conversation on how nature connects art and science in health & healing hosted by Briyah Institute's Founder Adriana Machado and featuring a renowned Brazilian artist, Ana Nitzan, who develops research in photography, drawing, painting, jewelry, sculpture and supports that reflect the symbolic and affective perception between human beings and nature, and Dr. Lisa Miller, Ph.D. in clinical psychology, award-winning researcher and bestselling author of “The Awakened Brain”, a groundbreaking exploration of the neuroscience of spirituality and a bold new paradigm for health, healing, and resilience.

As Dr. Miller points out in her book, "our brains are wired to perceive and receive that which uplifts, illuminates and heals." "The awakened brain is the neural circuitry that allows us to see the world more fully and thus enhance our individual, societal and global well-being."

The exhibit "Forest: Ancestry and Distopia" that inspired the webinar series, is presented by The55Project Art Foundation until July 16th in Miami - Florida, was curated by Eder Chiodetto, and features the work of 16 Brazilian artists -- Claudia Andujar, Luiz Braga, Rodrigo Braga, Gisela Motta, Leandro Lima, Walda Marques, Elaine Pessoa, Elza Lima, Edgar Kanaykõ, Rogério Assis, Regina Parra, Lalo de Almeida, Victor Moriyama, Nailana Thiely, Luciana Magno, and Ana Nitzan. "Collectively, their work examines the delicate, and often perilous, balance between ecology, ancestral communities, and unbridled ambition encroaching on the forest—with profound impact for the planet."

Mental health is also present in the purpose driving the systemic work of Glasswing International, a not-for-profit present in Latin America with the mission "to address the root causes and consequences of violence and poverty through education and health programs that empower youth and communities, and strengthen public systems."

Get inspired by their founder Celina de Sola's story:

Have you started re-perceiving yet? "Live in dialogue with life!" -- Dr. Lisa Miller, PhD**

Looking for further insights?  Join us for the CEO Meet & Master Program and learn to apply systems thinking to business and life. The 11th cohort will take place from May 30th to June 24th and registrations are open. Take a look at what our alumni are saying about their experience. We look forward to seeing you there!

At Briyah Institute we bridge innovation, practice and purpose to inspire leaders to transform organizations co-creating an impact economy -- that which pursues financial returns alongside positive impact for people and planet.

-------------------------------------------

*Humberto Maturana, Ph.D. (September 14, 1928 – May 6, 2021) was one of Chile's best known author, biologist and philosopher. Maturana created the term "autopoiesis" about the self-generating, self-maintaining structure in living systems, and concepts such as structural determinism, structure coupling, and natural evolutionary drift. His work was influential in many fields, mainly the field of systems thinking, cybernetic and the biology of cognition. He co-authored several books with Francisco Varela, including Autopoiesis and Cognition and The tree of Knowledge, where the quote in the beginning comes from. He co-founded Matríztica with Ximena Dávila.

** Lisa Miller, Ph.D. is the author of The Spiritual Child and The Awakened Brain, as well as a professor in the Clinical Psychology Program at Teachers College, Columbia University. She is the Founder and Director of the Spirituality Mind Body Institute, the first Ivy League graduate program and research institute in spirituality and psychology, and has held over a decade of joint appointments in the Department of Psychiatry at Columbia University Medical School. Her innovative research has been published in more than one hundred peer-reviewed articles in leading journals, including Cerebral Cortex, The American Journal of Psychiatry, and the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. She is the leading psychologist of her generation on the benefits of religion and spirituality, and a consummate scientist who refuses to accept one of our culture’s most pervasive and damaging assumptions: that science and spirituality are at odds.