How to Use Curiosity & Focus to Create a Joyful & Meaningful Life | Dr. Bernardo Huberman

Welcome to the Huberman Lab Podcast, where we discuss science and science-based tools for everyday life. (instrumental music plays) I'm Andrew Huberman, and I'm a professor of neurobiology and ophthalmology at Stanford School of Medicine. My guest today is Dr. Bernardo Huberman. Dr. Bernardo Huberman is the vice president of next-gen systems at CableLabs. Prior to that, he was the director of the Social Computing Laboratory at Hewlett-Packard. And he is, as his name suggests, my father. Today we discuss various topics in science including relativity theory, chaos theory, and quantum computing. But I'd like to assure you that even if you have zero background in physics, computer science or mathematics, that entire discussion will be clear to you as to what those things are and even some of how they work. During today's discussion we also talk about a life of science, that is, what it is to spend one's life in curiosity, in trying to understand the universe around us and how to understand ourselves. Indeed today we also talk about neuroscience, how the brain works, and the different sorts of questions that I do believe everybody asks, whether you're a scientist or not. Questions like: Where do we come from? Is there a God? What is our use or purpose in the universe? And how is it that we can ponder these super high-level abstract questions about how we got here and what our purpose is and how things work at the quantum level, tiny, tiny bits of things that we can't even see, and at the same time to lead an everyday life that is meaningful and joyful? We talk about this in the context of understanding oneself, in relation to others, family, community, including scientific community and what it is like to come from a different country, my father immigrated from South America, what it was like to do science in the United States then and now, cultural differences, and of course we touch on some of our relationship as well. How could we not? I must say for me it was an immense pleasure and privilege to have this conversation, not just because Dr. Huberman is my father, but because I believe the knowledge and indeed some of the wisdom that he shares will be useful to everybody about what it is to carve one's own unique trajectory in terms of career and life, and at the same time how to savor the simple everyday things that make life so worth living. Before we begin, I'd like to emphasize that this podcast is separate from my teaching and research roles at Stanford. It is however part of my desire and effort to bring zero cost to consumer information about science and science-related tools to the general public. In keeping with that theme, I'd like to thank the sponsors of today's podcast. Our first sponsor is Helix Sleep. Helix Sleep makes mattresses and pillows that are customized to your unique sleep needs. Now I've spoken many times before on this and other podcasts about the fact that getting a great night's sleep is the foundation of mental health, physical health, and performance. Now the mattress you sleep on makes a huge difference in the quality of sleep that you get each night. How soft that mattress is or how firm it is, how breathable it is all play into your comfort and need to be tailored to your unique sleep needs. So if you go to the Helix website, you can take a brief two-minute quiz that asks you questions such as: Do you sleep on your back, your side, or your stomach? Do you tend to run hot or cold during the night? Things of that sort. Maybe you know the answers to those questions, maybe you don't. Either way, Helix will match you to the ideal mattress for you. For me, that turned out to be the Dusk mattress, D-U-S-K. I started sleeping on a Dusk mattress about three and a half years ago and it's been far and away the best sleep that I've ever had, so much so that when I travel to hotels and Airbnbs I find I don't sleep as well. I can't wait to get back to my Dusk mattress. So if you'd like to try Helix, you can go to helixsleep.com/huberman. Take that two-minute sleep quiz, and Helix will match you to a mattress that's customized for your unique sleep needs. Right now Helix is giving up to 25% off all mattress orders. Again, that's helixsleep.com/huberman to get up to 25% off. Today's episode is also brought to us by BetterHelp. BetterHelp offers professional therapy with a licensed therapist carried out entirely online. Now I've been doing weekly therapy for well over 30 years. Initially I didn't have a choice; it was a condition of being allowed to stay in high school. But pretty soon I realized that therapy is an extremely important component to overall health. In fact, I consider doing regular therapy just as important as getting regular exercise. Now there are essentially three things that great therapy provides. First, it provides a good rapport with somebody that you can really trust and talk to about any and all issues that concern you. Second of all, great therapy provides support in the form of emotional support, but also directed guidance, the dos and the not-to-dos. And third, expert therapy can help you arrive at useful insights that you would not have arrived at otherwise, insights that allow you to do better, not just in your emotional life and your relationship life, but also the relationship to yourself and your professional life and all sorts of career goals. With BetterHelp they make it very easy to find an expert therapist with whom you can really resonate with and provide you with these three benefits that I described. Also because BetterHelp is carried out entirely online, it's very time efficient and easy to fit into a busy schedule. So, if you'd like to try BetterHelp, go to betterhelp.com/huberman to get 10% off your first month. Again, that's betterhelp.com/huberman. And now for my discussion with Dr. Bernardo Huberman. Dr. Bernardo Huberman, welcome.