Psychologist EXPLAINS How Successful People Use LUCK TO WIN IN LIFE | Maira Konnikova & Lewis Howes

Reading Cues

Lewis Howes and Maira Konnikova discuss the importance of understanding body language in social dynamics. Maira explains that poker has taught her to pay close attention to people's baseline behaviors and deviations from them, which can reveal a lot about their intentions 1. She emphasizes that while people are good at controlling their facial expressions, their hands often give away more information than they realize 2.

Most of the tells, the physical tells, are in the hands.

--- Maira Konnikova

This insight is not only applicable in poker but also in other areas like sports, where hand movements can predict actions 2.

   

Subconscious Biases

Maira delves into the subconscious judgments we make based on facial features and other physical cues. She cites research from Princeton that shows how people can predict election outcomes based on candidates' facial structures, highlighting our innate biases 3.

We make this judgment in milliseconds, fractions of a second, and they oftentimes have nothing to do with reality.

--- Maira Konnikova

These subconscious biases can influence our decisions in ways we don't even realize, making it crucial to be aware of them 3.