Trust Me

### Cold Open

Jason Silva:"Hardly a day goes by where you don't put your trust in someone else. Whether it's trusting the waiter when he recommends the fish special, or your significant other when she's doing some late night texting. Or your politicians when you elect them to office. So how do you maintain a level of trust in an untrustworthy world? Does it benefit you to be more trusting? And if so, who can you trust?" These days, it seems that everything from commercials, to politicians, to online dating is designed to deceive your brain. So how do you know how trusting you are?

### Questions

What will happen when we have total strangers compete over a briefcase full of cash.

So, if trust is so beneficial for society and the default setting for the majority is to be trusting, why is there so much distrust and skepticism in the world?

Could there be an outside influence affecting your brain when it comes to trust?

The question is.... How do you know who to trust?

## Games

#### Mini-Game:

This man is levitating.

Result: Wait, no he's not.

So: You may have still believed us, even if it was just for a millisecond. Trusting people is necessary for growth.

### Game #1: Split or Steal

Will people split or steal the cash?

Result: Most people split the cash. Why didn't more people steal the cash?

Why: Because people trusted the other person not to take advantage of them and cooperate to split the money. Your brain gets a good feeling when your trust is rewarded. And for society, it's to trust. The more people trust each other, the more society will tend to prosper.

### Game #2: FREE MONEY!

Will people take free money, or not be trusting of the host of Brain Games?

Result: People are skeptical of taking the money because they feel something is up.

Let's remove Jason from the booth.

Result: People just grab and go. The box needed to be loaded up multiple times. But is there a way to keep people from taking the money even if Jason's not there?

Let's add a giant pair of eyes.

Result: No one takes anything.

Why: The eyes make them feel like they're being watched and something in their brain triggers them to go away from the money.

### Game #3: Time to Invest

Invest in 3 stocks out of 6.

Result: You probably picked the same 3 as our volunteers and you tanked. But why?

Why: Trusting the familiar can you get into trouble. People are likely to pick a more familiar name in those stock options. The amygdala didn't like the unfamiliar stocks, the familiar sounding names led you to pick them.

### Game #4: Count

Count the dot flashes. Then do it again.

Result: The second time, you probably got it wrong.

Why: The number of beeps does not match up with the number of flashes. Your sight and hearing were conflicted and your brain has to decide which sense to trust. Your frontal lobe and prefrontal cortex want to know that they are correct and creates a funny feeling when you can't explain something.

### Game #5: Trust Magic

Will a little girl trust Max Darwin enough to put her life in him?

Result: Yes, and she seems to do the unthinkable.

Why: Your logical and visual parts of your brain are fighting and you start to discover how your brain responds those stimlus.

## List of Experts

* Chess Stetson
* Max Darwin(Guest)