Beauty, Aesthetics and How We Make Decisions with Hassan Aleem, PhD.

Stamina Lab

In this episode of the podcast, Stamina Lab founder, Glen Lubbert sits down with Dr. Hassan Aleem. Hassan is an expert in neuroaesthetics, and his research focuses on how we learn and change preferences over time, and the role of aesthetics in social identity. Hassan has contributed to product development and strategy in diverse sectors like biometric wearables, fintech, and pharmaceuticals. He is currently advising companies on behaviorally informed product strategy at Nuance. During this episode, Glen and Hassan talk about how our brains use what we find as beautiful to give us an approach signal to learn more, basically driving our attention. Given this insight, they discuss how creating your environment with this mindset helps create the conditions for a mental state of more flow in your work, with the people you interact with, and of course how you better create the conditions for restorative sleep, which improves everything. In fact, Hassan shared how when you see something beautiful your brain feels safe which can help reduce stress and cortisol, and allow your brain time to recover. Engaging in these activities results in a 31% lower risk of dying from all cause mortality. An incredible result for a zero cost way to improve your healthspan! After this episode, you’ll walk away with strategies on how to use neuroaesthetics to open up your mind for exploration and growth.
For full show notes and episode resources, visit staminalab.io.

Topics:

• Symmetry as an indicator of beauty and why our brain can more easily process symmetrical items/beings
• How beauty and aesthetics are an approach signal to your brain that tells it to slow down, pay attention, and learn and why this is important for the individual to understand
• Utilizing an aesthetic mindset to become more conducive to growth and success
• Being more self reflective to increase your resiliency
• How the aesthetics of your environment shape your mindset and can invite more flow state and reflection
• How to incorporate more aesthetic choices in your life and focusing on intention
• Adopting an exploration mindset to update your model of the world to cultivate more appreciation and meaning
• Using an approach signal and aesthetics to create a better sleep environment
• Understanding the connection of openness, self-actualization and aesthetic choices for identity transformation
• How to train yourself in the art of noticing to cultivate more meaning in your own life
• More on the field of neuroaesthetics, the history of it and what’s to come

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