“MIND OVER MATTER”: How BEAM Thinking Can Help You Think Like a Human

The AI era gives us a unique opportunity to reimagine the very act of thinking. As I demonstrate in my new book, Thinking Like A Human: The Power of Your Mind in the Age of AI, our cognitive powers are drawn from many sources. If you think like a human, you will always have irreplaceable value. If you only think algorithmically… well, AI is probably better than you in that narrow function.

Your advantage comes from what I call “BEAM” thinking—an acronym for body, environment, action, and mind. Thinking like a human starts with being more aware of how we think with our body—our hands, eyes, ears, hearts, guts, and brains. There are underutilized cognitive resources distributed throughout our bodies. And as embodied thinkers, we can call on the physical environment to support even better cognition.

When we engage physical bodies in physical spaces, real-world action becomes an integral part of the cognitive process. We do things as part of thinking. And so, our minds are the organizers of a three-way interplay between the brain, an equally important body, and a constantly changing external environment.

As algorithmic supremacists go all-in on the anti-scientific claim that our brains are simply “biological computers” that will be outshone by digital computers, we have a chance to push back, using scientific research to strengthen our innate abilities.

Artful Thinkers vs. Algorithmic Supremacists

Algorithmic supremacy is a techno-maximalist position that currently operates free of any constraints. Those who adhere to this view want their AI to control everything.

In contrast, artful thinking is pro-human. We may use digital tools, but only to support our interconnected and embodied lives.

If you only think algorithmically, AI will make you obsolete. The algorithmic mindset wants the fewest steps possible to solve a problem. The artful mindset knows that humans are wired to look for the chance to keep choosing, because making choices is life-affirming.

Algorithms don’t inspire. Brave choices, and the ways we defend those choices to widen sympathy, do. Our greatest cognitive strength, which AI cannot replicate, is the ability to tap into the wisdom of the body, the five senses, emotions, and our movements through the world to do critical problem-solving work. It’s to use artful intelligence.

We’ve all heard the mantra “mind over matter,” meaning our thinking can impact physical reality. This is true, but I argue that “matter over mind” is just as true. When the matter of our bodies takes action in the physical environment, that is a powerful type of thinking. It’s so powerful that algorithmic supremacists prefer we stay behind our screens.

Grounded in Bodily Thought

It is nothing less than bad science to describe cognition as a process taking place only in the brain. AI is built on a neural net model, where data is processed in hardware that uses interconnected neurons in a layered structure. Algorithmic supremacists want you to believe that this architecture resembles that of the human brain.

But scientists have yet to fully unlock the secrets of how to build a brain. The best descriptor we have for human cognition is that it is a multiscale web of information processing running across the entire body.

To think with BEAM is to be mindful of the fact that we are always acting on bodily senses, in any given situation, no matter how badly we may want to frame it as otherwise. Pay attention to how you use your body, through eye contact, gestures, altering tones, and touch to learn through conversation. Go with the feeling that something is missing or not right in an interaction.

Don’t retreat to solitude or a screen, but use your hands, your face, your heart, and any other bodily resource to try to figure out what needs to happen next. Pay closer attention to those feelings, the messaging they mean to project, and trust the bodily sensations that will let you know when you eventually land on the right response.

Offloading Into Physical Space

BEAM thinking engages with the physical environment for “off-loading,” where we move some of the cognitive work out of our heads and onto the temporary spaces made available to us in the moment. It’s using physical action to alter the information-processing requirements of a task, making it easier to think about.

Maybe deliberately count on your fingers the next time you are faced with simple addition that you would usually do in your head. Not because you need to, but to train your body into knowing that it is good and natural to off-load.

It also means using the environment to support a deep grounding in our bodies. Pay attention to, and be curious about, your immediate surroundings.

Whenever possible, get away from your desk, move your body through physical space, and experiment with how your setting might support you in your efforts to work through the challenge you are facing. Try to make your problem-solving exercise tactile by sorting, touching, twisting, and flipping your way through to a solution.

You Don’t Move to Think—It Is Thinking

Thinking and doing are two sides of the same coin. Goal-directed action is a deliberate and intentional expression of our ability to bring about desired consequences through our embodied mental state. We are not meant to sit idly and analyze. We have an internal impetus to respond to our ever-changing reality through actions that unfold in real time.

Say you were heading to the grocery store to pick up cucumbers, tomatoes, and onions. As you drive to the store, you repeat that list over and over in your head. As you wander the aisles, you continue to repeat the list. In fact, “cucumbers, tomatoes, and onions” became your mantra from the second you headed out the door until all three items were placed in your shopping cart.

This is thinking through action. Your cognitive faculties were engaged in the action of verbal repetition to support the action of acquiring the requested produce. What habits can you change to think by doing more often?

We are still learning so much about what constitutes the mind and how our brain and body interact. Don’t buy the hype of algorithmic supremacists designed to make you undervalue your worth. Think with BEAM and the “matter over mind” mantra to blaze an artful path forward.