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Flow Research Collective
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  • How Your Brain Predicts Reality | Flow, Intuition & Mental Flexibility
    Karl Friston is one of the most influential neuroscientists alive. He pioneered the methods that underpin modern brain imaging and developed the Free Energy Principle—considered by many neuroscientists to be the closest thing we have to a general theory of intelligence.In this conversation with Dr. Michael Mannino and me, Friston explains why your brain doesn’t just record reality—it invents it. Perception is best understood as a “controlled hallucination”: the brain generates models of the world, then tests them against incoming data.We dig into what this means for consciousness, resilience, and performance.Why intuition works as your brain’s shortcut for reducing uncertaintyHow flow states and psychedelics both relax rigid brain assumptions—unlocking clarity and creativityWhy mental health challenges like depression, PTSD, and addiction often stem from overly rigid neural networks.How attention functions as a lever for healing, flexibility, and peak performanceFriston shows how predictive coding and metastability express ancient evolutionary mechanisms for creativity, resilience, and recovery—and how new science helps us apply these processes to amplify health and performance over time.If you want a deeper grasp of how your brain constructs reality—and how to shape that construction through flow—this is the episode to watch.Guest Bio: Dr. Karl Friston is a theoretical neuroscientist and one of the most influential figures in modern brain science. He invented statistical parametric mapping, voxel-based morphometry, and dynamic causal modeling—methods that have become foundational to brain imaging. He also developed the Free Energy Principle, a unifying framework for action and perception that’s been called the closest thing we have to a general theory of intelligence.Across his career, Karl has earned nearly every major accolade in neuroscience, from the Minerva Golden Brain Award to the Glass Brain Award for lifetime achievement in human brain mapping. He’s a Fellow of the Royal Society, the Royal Society of Biology, the Academia Europaea, and EMBO.And he’s also a collaborator with us here at the Flow Research Collective. Together we’ve published two recent papers—just last week in Nature: Communications Biology on Pathfinding: a neurodynamical account of intuition, and earlier in Neuroscience of Consciousness on Flow and intuition: a systems neuroscience comparison.In This Episode:05:38 Birth of the Free Energy Principle09:09 Theoretical vs. Computational Neuroscience11:06 What the Free Energy Principle Actually Means17:42 Intuition as Inference24:15 Flow, Uncertainty, and Prediction29:39 Flow, Psychedelics & PTSD38:12 Cognitive Bias & Relaxing Priors49:55 Flow as Neuroprotective1:03:20  Metastability: The Brain’s Flexibility Principle 1:12:36  From Theory to Practice Episode Resources:Join 300,000+ members on our weekly newsletter for more neuroscience-based tools delivered straight to your inbox: → ⁠⁠Subscribe here⁠⁠Check out a few of the papers featured in this episode below:Pathfinding: A Neurodynamical Account of Intuition: https://www.nature.com/articles/s42003-025-08612-9Flow and intuition: a systems neuroscience comparison: https://academic.oup.com/nc/article/2025/1/niae040/7942876Flow Radio Is Presented By Steven Kotler’s Flow Research CollectiveFlow Research Collective was founded by Steven Kotler, one of the world’s leading experts on human peak performance. He is an award-winning journalist and author with over ten bestselling books.Flow Research Collective is a leading neuroscience research company. ‍Follow Steven Koter:YouTube:⁠ ⁠https://www.youtube.com/@TheStevenKotler⁠Instagram: ⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/stevenkotler/⁠LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevenkotler/⁠Spotify: ⁠⁠https://open.spotify.com/show/6RQY0d5rdlEiinHEtfWy6A⁠⁠Website: ⁠⁠https://www.stevenkotler.com/⁠‍
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  • Flow in the AI Age: Your Last Human Advantage
    AI is moving faster than most of us can comprehend. But what if our edge isn’t in outthinking machines—but in outflowing them?In this episode, Steven Kotler sits down with two of the sharpest minds shaping our technological future: Peter Diamandis, founder of the XPRIZE and a pioneer of exponential thinking, and Mo Gawdat, former Chief Business Officer at Google X and bestselling author of Scary Smart. Together, they unpack how artificial intelligence is changing everything—from productivity and purpose to risk, resilience, and what it means to stay human at speed.If you're feeling overwhelmed by the pace of change, this episode offers tools rooted in neuroscience, performance psychology, and hard-earned experience at the bleeding edge of innovation.You'll Learn:Why intuition, context, and creativity are still uniquely human superpowers.How to use flow states to outperform exponential tech (instead of being crushed by it).Why training risk tolerance and recovery are essential survival skills in a synthetic world.How AI mirrors our attention patterns—and what that means for your daily habits.The difference between linear and vertical evolution—and why most people are stuck in the wrong model.Guest Bios:Peter Diamandis: Recently named one of Fortune’s “World’s 50 Greatest Leaders,” Peter Diamandis is the Founder and Executive Chairman of the XPRIZE Foundation, which has launched over $500 million in incentive prize competitions. He also founded Singularity University and has started more than 25 companies in healthtech, space, venture capital, and education.Diamandis is Co-founder and Vice-Chairman of Celularity and Vaxxinity, and Chairman of Fountain Life—a platform for predictive, preventative, and data-driven health. He also co-founded BOLD Capital Partners, a $500 million fund investing in exponential technologies and longevity companies.A four-time New York Times bestselling author, his books include Abundance, BOLD, The Future is Faster Than You Think, LIFE FORCE (with Tony Robbins), and LONGEVITY: Your Practical Playbook.Mo Gawdat: Mo Gawdat is the former Chief Business Officer of Google [X]; host of the popular podcast, Slo Mo: A Podcast with Mo Gawdat; author of the international bestselling books Solve for Happy; Scary Smart; That Little Voice in Your Head; and Unstressable; founder of One Billion Happy; and Chief AI Officer of Flight Story.After a 30 year career in tech and serving as Chief Business Officer at Google [X], Google's 'moonshot factory' of innovation, Mo has made happiness his primary topic of research, diving deeply into literature and conversing on the topic with some of the wisest people in the world. In recent years, he has focused on the dangerous implications of rapid AI development.In This Episode:02:15 The False Promise of AI Productivity06:41 Why Flow Beats the Busy Trap11:02 Synthetic Intelligence, Human Reflection17:48 You Can’t Outthink AI—But You Can Outflow It23:05 Risk Tolerance: The Real Cognitive Upgrade29:17 The Burnout Feedback Loop36:44 Training Your Brain for Warp Speed42:10  How AI Mirrors Your Attention Patterns 48:19 Peak Performance as an Existential Choice55:31The Human Advantage: Intuition, Context, CreativityFlow Radio Is Presented By Steven Kotler’s Flow Research Collective.Follow Steven Kotler:YouTube: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/@TheStevenKotlerInstagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/stevenkotler/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevenkotler/Spotify: ⁠https://open.spotify.com/show/6RQY0d5rdlEiinHEtfWy6A⁠Website: ⁠https://www.stevenkotler.com/‍Flow Research Collective was founded by Steven Kotler, one of the world’s leading experts on human peak performance. He is an award-winning journalist and author with over ten bestselling books.Join 300,000+ members on our weekly newsletter for more neuroscience-based tools delivered straight to your inbox: → Subscribe here
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  • Gut Instinct, Hard Science: The New Neuroscience of Intuition
    What if your gut instinct was more than a hunch? What if it was your brain’s first navigation system—designed to reduce uncertainty, minimize surprise, and keep you alive?In this episode of Flow Radio, Steven Kotler and neuroscientist Dr. Michael Mannino crack open the black box of intuition. Along with co-authors Karl Friston, György Buzsáki, J.A. Scott Kelso, and Guillaume Dumas, they’ve just completed a new scientific paper—Pathfinding: A Neurodynamical Account of Intuition—set to be published this summer in Nature Communications Biology.Thirty years in the making, the paper proposes a bold model: intuition as pathfinding. Not magic. Not precognition. But an embodied, neurodynamic process built to help us make the next best move—fast.From hippocampal sharp wave ripples to attractor landscapes and the free energy principle, Kotler and Mannino break down how your brain runs compressed simulations of the past to predict the future. You’ll learn how intuition differs from insight, why instincts often lead us astray in matters of sex and money, and how novel environments can help you tap into opportunistic assimilation—a key to creativity and problem-solving.You'll Learn:Why intuition is a movement-based, evolutionarily ancient survival mechanismThe role of hippocampal “sharp wave ripples” in solving problems while you sleep—and while you moveHow to train your “prepared mind” to boost intuitive decision-makingWhy intuition is fast, embodied, and predictive—and what that means for agency, flow, and peak performanceHow the brain uses the free energy principle to minimize surprise and optimize action→ This is neuroscience with bite. A gut-check for anyone who’s ever wondered, “Should I trust my instinct?”In This Episode:05:13 Defining Intuition: Pathfinding in the Brain18:06 Neuroscience Behind Intuition24:11 The Role of Memory and Problem Solving in Intuition30:00 Theoretical Frameworks: Free Energy Principle and Meta-Stability37:00 700% More Creative? Flow Science Explained40:38 Exploring Intuition and Decision Making43:52 Neuroscience of Intuition and Action47:02 The Role of Feedback in Intuition 54:50 Delta Waves and Intuition58:42 Meta-Stability and MultitaskingJoin 300,000+ members on our weekly newsletter for more neuroscience-based tools delivered straight to your inbox: → ⁠Subscribe hereFollow Flow Research Collective:YouTube: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/@flowresearchcollective⁠Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/flowresearchcollective⁠LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/company/flowresearchcollective⁠X: ⁠https://twitter.com/thefrc_official⁠Facebook: ⁠https://www.facebook.com/flowresearchcollective⁠Spotify: ⁠https://open.spotify.com/show/6RQY0d5rdlEiinHEtfWy6A⁠Website: ⁠https://www.flowresearchcollective.com⁠‍Flow Research Collective was founded by Steven Kotler, one of the world’s leading experts on human peak performance. He is an award-winning journalist and author with over ten bestselling books.Flow Radio Is Presented By Flow Research Collective
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  • DIY and the Flow Code: How Punk Culture Built the Startup World
    What do DIY entrepreneurship, peak performance, and punk rock have in common? Everything.In this live Flow Radio episode, recorded at Summit at Sea 2024, New York Times bestselling author and FRC Executive Director Steven Kotler joins fashion icon John Varvatos to trace the rebel spirit from CBGB’s to Silicon Valley. Together, they map how the kids nobody wanted—punks, misfits, and rule-breakers—accidentally built the culture of innovation we live in today.This isn’t just music history. It’s a neuroscience-backed deep dive into how rebellion, risk, and raw self-expression create the perfect storm for flow—and why punk’s anti-authoritarian DNA became the blueprint for startup culture, action sports, and social movements.If you’re chasing innovation, impact, or just trying to stay sane while breaking things—there’s flow on the other side of risk. Go get it.Guest Bio:John Varvatos is an award-winning fashion designer, cultural curator, and lifelong rebel.Best known for fusing rock-and-roll attitude with high-end tailoring, he launched his namesake brand in 2000 and has since earned multiple CFDA Designer of the Year awards. He’s also the force behind the revival of CBGB—the legendary punk venue turned retail and cultural space.From the Bowery to boardrooms, Varvatos has spent decades channeling the punk ethos into business, design, and live music. His work sits at the intersection of culture, entrepreneurship, and radical self-expression—making him not just a fashion icon, but a builder of movements.In This Episode:03:30 Punk as Evolutionary Instinct06:45 The DIY Revolution Begins10:55 The Neuroscience Behind the Movement14:30 Group Flow, Mosh Pits & the End of the Stage Dive18:15 From Subculture to Startup Culture25:00 Punk Values: Radical Individuality to DIY Capitalism30:45 Rebellion Goes Mainstream36:00 The New Punk: Entrepreneurs, Artists & Conscious Rebels38:20 Final Words from the MoshpitEpisode Resources:Steven returns to Summit this June in Detroit—a city that pulses with creativity, reinvention, and raw energy.Join a one-of-a-kind gathering of visionaries, builders, and creators. This one won’t be forgotten.→ Learn more & apply to attendFootage shot at Summit At Sea 2024, courtesy of Summit Series, © Summit Series.Flow Radio Is Presented By Flow Research CollectiveFlow Research Collective is a leading neuroscience research company. ‍Follow Flow Research Collective:YouTube: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/@flowresearchcollective⁠Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/flowresearchcollective⁠LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/company/flowresearchcollective⁠X: ⁠https://twitter.com/thefrc_official⁠Facebook: ⁠https://www.facebook.com/flowresearchcollective⁠Spotify: ⁠https://open.spotify.com/show/6RQY0d5rdlEiinHEtfWy6A⁠Website: ⁠https://www.flowresearchcollective.com⁠‍Flow Research Collective was founded by Steven Kotler, one of the world’s leading experts on human peak performance. He is an award-winning journalist and author with over ten bestselling books.
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  • Flow vs. the Victim Mindset: Trade Blame for Breakthroughs
    No one is coming to save you—but staying stuck isn’t the only option.Steven Kotler and Ryan Wickes welcome back Columbia professor and humanistic psychologist Dr. Scott Barry Kaufman—author of the just-released Rise Above, and one of today’s leading voices on human potential.Kaufman joins to unpack the victim mindset, the neurobiology of agency, and how narcissism, entitlement, and impostor syndrome can quietly block the path to self-actualization.At the heart of this conversation is a powerful truth: flow demands agency. When we feel powerless, we avoid challenge—and without challenge, there is no flow. A victim mindset disrupts the neural circuitry behind motivation, focus, and drive.This episode breaks down the science of that disruption—and maps out a way through. From learned helplessness to learned hopefulness, you’ll hear how reclaiming agency reactivates your growth, unlocks flow, and strengthens resilience.The journey is personal. The tools are universal.Guest Bio:Dr. Scott Barry Kaufman is a humanistic psychologist, Columbia University professor, and one of the world’s leading experts on intelligence, creativity, and human potential. Ranked in the top 1% of most-cited scientists worldwide, he’s the founder of Self-Actualization Coaching, director of the Center for Human Potential, and host of The Psychology Podcast (30M+ downloads). Named one of Business Insider’s 50 groundbreaking scientists, he’s authored 11 books—including Transcend, Choose Growth, and his latest, Rise Above.In This Episode:03:03 The Journey from Creativity to Self-Actualization06:07 Overcoming the Victim Mindset09:07 Neurobiology of Mindsets15:06 Understanding the Victim Mindset17:53 Evolutionary Perspectives on Victimhood20:53 Empathy and Honest Love25:29 Empowerment Through Adversity28:39 Challenging the Trauma Narrative32:39 Navigating the Victim Mindset45:12 Imposter Syndrome: A Signal for Growth52:08 Narcissism and WellbeingEpisode Resources:Self-Actualizing People in the 21st Century by Scott Barry KaufmanA modern, data-driven update to Maslow’s theory—complete with a validated scale and new insights into well-being, resilience, and creative expression.→ Read the full paperScott’s New Book — Rise AboveWant to go deeper on the science behind the victim mindset, resilience, and human potential?Grab Dr. Scott Barry Kaufman’s latest book, Rise Above… → scottbarrykaufman.com/books/rise-aboveFlow Radio Is Presented By Flow Research CollectiveFlow Research Collective is a leading neuroscience research company. ‍Follow Flow Research Collective:YouTube: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/@flowresearchcollective⁠Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/flowresearchcollective⁠LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/company/flowresearchcollective⁠X: ⁠https://twitter.com/thefrc_official⁠Facebook: ⁠https://www.facebook.com/flowresearchcollective⁠Spotify: ⁠https://open.spotify.com/show/6RQY0d5rdlEiinHEtfWy6A⁠Website: ⁠https://www.flowresearchcollective.com⁠‍Flow Research Collective was founded by Steven Kotler, one of the world’s leading experts on human peak performance. He is an award-winning journalist and author with over ten bestselling books.
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About Flow Radio

Flow Research Collective Radio is a podcast dedicated to helping you unlock the upper edge of your potential. Join New York Times bestselling author Steven Kotler and Co-Founder of the Flow Research Collective, Rian Doris as they attempt to decode the science of peak performance and flow with world leading experts on the topic.
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