Good Life Project - The Drum Major Instinct | Pain, Pills and Emotion.

Episode Date: February 8, 2018

What if greatness isn't about what you accomplish, but how you serve? Some 50 years ago, in February 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave a sermon entitled The Drum Major Instinct. It invites people to redefine greatness as service, while at the same time recognizing the very human instinct for attention and praise and inviting it to harness it for something bigger. That's what we're talking about in today's riff.And, in our Good Life Science Update, we dive into a fascinating analysis of studies that reveal something stunning about over-the-counter pain medicine like ibuprofen and acetaminophen. Turns out, they don't just dull physical pain, they also may well dull emotions and thinking, too. And, as always, here's a direct citation - [Ratner et al. Can Over-the-Counter Pain Medications Influence Our Thoughts and Emotions? Policy Insights from the Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 2018].-------------Have you discovered your Sparketype yet? Take the Sparketype Assessment™ now. IT’S FREE (https://sparketype.com/) and takes about 7-minutes to complete. At a minimum, it’ll open your eyes in a big way. It also just might change your life.If you enjoyed the show, please share it with a friend. Thank you to our super cool brand partners. If you like the show, please support them - they help make the podcast possible. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Okay, so here's my question. Is ego a good thing, a bad thing, or just a thing? Well, this came up in a bit of an odd way, actually, during a Super Bowl commercial this year that turned into a bit of a controversial commercial. It was something that was drawing a passage from a famous sermon from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. about something called the drum major instinct. And I got curious, not just about the small kerfuffle, but the actual sermon. And I went back and read it, and there's some really powerful thoughts.

And I wanted to actually share a bit of that and a bit of my experience with this whole idea of the role of ego in doing good, doing bad, motivating us, shutting us down, and how it relates to this idea of the drum major instinct. Along with that, in our Good Life Science update today, really fascinating new research on over-the-counter pain medication, you know, like the things that you can buy in a local pharmacy, and how it affects, how it potentially dulls not just the pain that we're taking it for, but it may also dull our thinking and our emotions, our feelings at the same time. More on all of this in just a moment.

I'm Jonathan Fields, and this is Good Life Project. Apple Watch Series X is here. It has the biggest display ever. It's also the thinnest Apple Watch ever, making it even more comfortable on your wrist, whether you're running, swimming, or sleeping. And it's the fastest-charging Apple Watch, getting you eight hours of charge in just 15 minutes. The Apple Watch Series X. Available for the first time in glossy jet black aluminum. Compared to previous generations, iPhone XS or later required,

charge time and actual results will vary. Mayday, mayday. We've been compromised. The pilot's a hitman. I knew you were gonna be fun. On January 24th. Tell me how to fly this thing. Mark Wahlberg.

You know what the difference between me and you is? You're gonna die. Don't shoot him, we need him! Y'all need a pilot? Flight Risk. And we're back with thoughts on this thing called ego and the need for praise and the, quote, drum major instinct. So almost 50 years ago, February 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave a sermon entitled The Drum Major

Instinct, and that was based partly on a homily that was given about 15, 16 years earlier, created by J. Wallace Hamilton. And in this, King identified sort of an alternative definition for greatness, which he built around service, and offered sort of his idea of how this instinct can mess with our definition and pursuit of greatness in the world. Now, what did he mean by the drum major instinct? Well, when you read the sermon, it becomes pretty crystal clear pretty quickly that what we're talking about here is the sort of innate human impulse to seek praise, to seek recognition, to a certain extent to seek fame. And he acknowledged that this actually is a part of all of us, as I think we can probably all go along with that. I know I'm raising my hand right here saying, well, yeah, I mean, it'd be gratification. And that is not the truest definition of greatness, of service, of what we're here to do. He actually went the other direction and acknowledged its existence, its sort of essential part of all of us, and invited people to recognize it, to stand in it, and then to harness it. So in his words, I want to read a little bit of this to you. So somewhere around the middle-ish of the sermon, King says,

If you want to be important, wonderful. If you want to be recognized, wonderful. If you want to be great, wonderful. But recognize that he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. That's a new definition of greatness. And this morning, the thing that I like about it, by giving that definition of greatness, it means that everybody can be great because everybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have

to make your subject and your verb agree to serve. You don't have to know about Plato and Aristotle to serve. You don't have to know Einstein's theory of relativity to serve. You don't have to know Einstein's theory of relativity to serve. You don't have to know the second theory of thermodynamics and physics to serve. You only need a heart full of grace, a soul generated by love, and you can be that servant. So that's the end of the quote from the middle of that sermon. So powerful. Is this a new idea? You know, that that's a new definition of greatness? No, but. Is this a new idea? You know, that that's a new definition of greatness? No, but what's so powerful to me about this is not that it's a new definition of greatness. The notion of service as greatness has in fact been around for thousands of years

and is baked into nearly every spiritual tradition. But what King is saying in addition to that, and to me at least in this passage, is that we all have this instinct for recognition and attention and praise, right? We all have this ego part of us. And to act. It's a part, sometimes a big part, of what gets us up off the couch. It plays no small part in the creation and launch of companies, movements, enterprises, bodies of work, you name it. Anything big, meaningful, and significant. There is power in harnessing this part of us, but the question is to what end, right? And for how long? How do we integrate it with the rest of the drivers for us? If it remains largely a source of pure ego gratification, if it's not joined by and eventually subsumed into a greater drive to express some bigger purpose or serve some bigger need, it leads not to greatness, but to obsession, to neuroses, to the need to control and dominate,

to selfishness, to an ever-growing blindness to empathy, and an inability to cultivate and lead with compassion. It eventually leads us to becoming not larger, but smaller. So it's fine to work with and even harness this, you know, this quote, drum major instinct. It is a part of all of us. As King says, if you want to be recognized, wonderful. If you want to be great, wonderful. But to what end? End in service of what need. So I'm reminded also, when I was thinking about this, I was reminded of famed physicist and adored professor Richard Feynman, who, when offered the Nobel Prize for his work, responded by saying, quote, I don't see that it makes any point that someone in the Swedish Academy just decides that this work

is noble enough to receive a prize. I've already gotten the prize. The prize is the pleasure of finding a thing out. The kick in the discovery, the observation that other people use it, those are the real things. The honors are unreal to me. I don't believe in honors. End quote from Feynman. So I think about my own life, about how often I lead or act because I want to be recognized for something. And thinking about this now, I'm 52, and I think that that drive actually probably was pretty front and center for a solid chunk of my life. I think it led me to do a lot of things in the earlier part of my life. And of course, I'm still human. And this instinct remains a part of me. But it's also become a lesser part of my motivation to do anything. Before I decide to pick up the mantle of a project

or endeavor or company or whatever it is, I don't think to myself, wow, how cool would it be to be known and adored and praised and become famous for this or that. Instead, I think, wow, how cool would it be to be able to devote myself to be able to spend a meaningful part of my work and my time doing this thing that for some reason I'm compelled to do either as an expression of the essence of who I am or the manifestation of a desire to serve or maybe some blend of both. And if that leads me to become known for something, great, I'm fine with that. But even if it never does, but my commitment to this pursuit leads to a level of success or accomplishment or mastery that simply allows me to do more of it, to wake up feeling on purpose and fully expressed, well, that's pretty awesome just as well. And if I can use, you know, potentially a touch of that drum major instinct to get me up off the couch to start doing something and then allow it to convert, you know, to become an alchemist of ego into something bigger, that's pretty cool too.

And that brings me full circle to Dr. King's words as he wrapped up his famed sermon on the drum major instinct. And again, what's so sort of powerful and beautiful to me in part also is that this was given in 1968, right? 50 years ago, 50 years ago, these words are as powerful, as timeless as ever. And bringing his sermon to a close, King started to reflect on his own life and how he wanted to be remembered and how that plays into this idea of the drum major instinct. And I'll go back to quoting him towards the end here. It's a bit of a longer quote, but I just thought it was so powerful. I wanted to share it with you. So King says, every now and then, I guess we all think realistically about that day when we will be victimized with what is life's final common

denominator. That's something that we call death. We all think about it. And every now and then I think about my own death and I think about my own funeral. And I don't think of it in a morbid sense. And every now and then I ask myself, what is it that I would want said? And I leave the word to you this morning. If any of you are around when I have to meet my day, I don't want a long funeral. And if you get somebody to deliver the eulogy, tell them not to talk too long. And every now and then I wonder what I want them to say. Tell them not to mention that I have a Nobel Peace Prize. That isn't important. Tell them not to mention that I have three or four hundred other awards. That's not important. Tell them not to mention where I went to school. I'd like someone to mention that day that Martin Luther King Jr.

tried to give his life serving others. I'd like for somebody to say that Martin Luther King Jr. tried to give his life serving others. I'd like for somebody to say that Martin Luther King Jr. tried to love somebody. I want you to say that day that I tried to be right on the war question. I want you to be able to say that day that I did try to feed the hungry. And I want you to be able to say that day that I did try in my life to clothe those who were naked. And I want you to say on that day that I did try in my life to visit those who are in prison. I want you to say that I tried to love and serve humanity. Yes, if you want to say that I was a drum major, say that I was a drum major for justice. Say that I was a drum major for peace. I was a drum major for righteousness, and all of those other shallow

things will not matter. I won't have any money to leave behind. I won't have the fine and luxurious things of life to leave behind, but I just want to leave a committed life behind. And that's all I want to say. And that's how he ends things. And what a fitting thought, what a fitting thought for the times that we're in, what a fitting thought for re-examining the impulses that drive us. What a powerful way to say that, yes, ego has a role. This drum major instinct has a seat at the table in our DNA, in our lives, in our social interactions, in our contribution to work and to society and to relationships and to family. We don't need to extinguish the fact that it's there.

What we do want to do is examine it, examine why we feed it, examine how we use whatever influence becomes accumulated as a result of it and examine whether that becomes the primary motivation to simply stroke ego rather than a source fuel for motivations that eventually become bigger than that and allow us to serve differently and to live and receive and give differently. So that's what I'm thinking about as I explore this week and maybe something to invite you to think about.

I will link actually to the full text of the sermon in the show notes for anyone who wants to dive into it. Of course, Dr. King was also a man of faith. So there are references to God and to Jesus. And I'm not super faithful. I'm spiritual. And that is not the faith I was brought up in. And yet, the words of the text are equally powerful no matter where you come from, what faith or spiritual tradition or non-spiritual tradition you buy into or don't buy into.

It's about the idea, the bigger idea, and the instinct and how we harness parts of ourselves that can, on the one hand, turn ugly, but on the other hand, mind differently, be really powerful and beautiful. Really excited to share today's Good Life Science update with you also. The Apple Watch Series X is here. It has the biggest display ever. It's also the thinnest Apple Watch ever, making it even more comfortable on your wrist, whether you're running, swimming, or sleeping.

And it's the fastest-charging Apple Watch, getting you 8 hours of charge in just 15 minutes. The Apple Watch Series X. Available for the first time in glossy jet black aluminum. Compared to previous generations, iPhone XS or later required. Charge time and actual results will vary. Mayday, mayday. We've been compromised.

The pilot's a hitman. I knew you were gonna be fun. On January 24th. Tell me how to fly this thing. Mark Wahlberg. You know what the difference between me and you is? You're gonna die. Don't shoot him. We need him. Y'all need a pilot. Flight risk.

And we are back with today's Good Life Science update. As always, if you're new to the podcast, these are shorter segments where I share my science geekery with you. I'm constantly devouring knowledge, research. I love learning. It's always one of my top strengths when I take strengths assessments. And I like to devour data and research and see if I can share it with you, especially research that helps us live better lives. And this week, I'm sharing some really fascinating research around over-the-counter pain medications. So this was a research that is actually out in a publication called Policy Insights from the Behavioral and Brain Sciences.

And I will, as always, link to the details so that you can dive into it yourself if you want. In this research, the investigators studied a bunch of other research, so it's a bit of a meta study, on over-the-counter pain medication, you know, the stuff we buy for headaches, joint pains, aches, stuff like that. And here's what's really fascinating about it. What's fascinating is that most of us, we take this stuff because we have some sort of physical pain. You know, we banged our elbow, we banged our knee, we've got a headache, we've got a tight shoulder, whatever it may be. And, you know, often, you know, it affects, it's effective on some level for many people at

either, you know, like temporary eliminating or dulling, dulling the physical sensation of pain. And I think it's probably safe to say most of us assume that that's what it does. You know, that is the extent to what it does. What this research showed through an analysis of a whole bunch of prior papers was that these over-the-counter pain medications may well not just dull physical pain. They may dull your thinking processes and your ability to feel. They basically may drop you not just into a gray zone for physical pain, but they may also drop you into a gray zone for emotions and for thinking. And... The Apple Watch Series 10 is here. It has the biggest display ever. And... of charge in just 15 minutes. The Apple Watch Series X. Available for the first time in glossy

jet black aluminum. Compared to previous generations, iPhone Xs are later required. Charge time and actual results will vary. Mayday, mayday. We've been compromised. The pilot's a hitman. I knew you were gonna be fun. On January 24th. Tell me how to fly this thing.

Mark Wahlberg. You know what the difference between me and you is? You're going to die. Don't shoot him. We need him. Y'all need a pilot. Flight risk. If you factor that in, I don't think many of us really think about it, and I don't think many of us want that. So it gives you another reason to sort of ask a question. So some of the things that they discovered, you know, when comparing people who took over-the-counter doses of one particular NSAID or non-steroidal,

what was that short for again? Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory, over-the-counter pain medications, that they reported actually less feelings of emotional pain, they were given an opportunity to actually be excluded from something, social exclusion, or they were invited to write about a time where somebody in their lives turned their back on them, betrayed them. And here's what's really fascinating about this. Women and men had a diametrically opposite response. So when women took these over-the-counter pain medications and they were put through these moments where they felt social exclusion or they had to reflect on a time when they were betrayed in some way, they reported actually a lessening of emotional pain in response to that. So the over-the-counter pain medication

actually helped them not feel as much pain from this. Men, on the other hand, showed the exact opposite. They felt more pain from this situation when they were taking over-the-counter pain medications. How did this affect things like empathy? Well, another study that they reviewed showed that actually people who took a different over-the-counter pain medication tended to actually be less bothered when they were told about somebody else who was enduring some level of hardship or struggle or physical pain or emotional pain, they kind

of cared less. So they actually felt less empathy towards others. So taking over-the-counter pain medications created a feeling where you actually sort of had less empathy to others who were going through something hard, from emotional to physical pain. Really fascinating. Over-the-counter pain medication could have an effect on your empathy. Who would have thought, right?

A third part of the investigation pointed to research that showed that people cared less when they were forced to give up something that they owned. Normally, we get pretty attached to possessions. What they showed was that certain people actually, when told to sell stuff that they owned, put a lower price point on the things that they had that they had to sell when they were taking over-the-counter pain medication than when they weren't. They actually valued them less and were more willing to let them go at a cheaper price. How would that affect you in just everyday working scenarios or negotiations?

Really fascinating. And then another part of what they discovered was that folks who were taking these things also, and they made more mistakes when they were involved in games that involved sort of cognitive task performance and stuff like that. So it actually kind of dulled their intelligence

and their problem solving, their task solution systems. So this is really fascinating, right? The lead researcher in this particular study actually offered, and I'm quoting, in many ways, the reviewed findings are alarming. Consumers assume that when they take an over-the-counter pain medication, it will relieve their physical symptoms, but they do not anticipate broader psychological effects, end quote. Really fascinating. Something

to think about and certainly something that probably bears a bit more research. Of course, does that mean that if you have a raging headache or something where you need to alleviate physical pain and you have something readily these substances may well dull not just the physical pain, but also our thought processes and our emotions. Something to explore. Hope, as always, you found that interesting. I'm always on the hunt for fascinating stuff. If you guys find something or interesting research or studies, always feel free to share those with me. You can find me at Jonathan Fields pretty much anywhere online. And I will always our fantastic sponsors who help make this show possible. You can check them out in the links we've included in today's show notes. And while you're at it, be sure to click on the subscribe button in your listening app

so you never miss an episode. And then share the Good Life Project love with friends. Because when ideas become conversations that lead to action, that's when real change takes hold. See you next time. You know what the difference between me and you is? You're going to die. Don't shoot him. We need him. Y'all need a pilot. The Apple Watch Series 10 is here. It has the biggest display ever. It's also the thinnest Apple Watch ever,

making it even more comfortable on your wrist, whether you're running, swimming, or sleeping. And it's the fastest-charging Apple Watch, getting you 8 hours of charge in just 15 minutes. The Apple Watch Series X. Available for the first time in glossy jet black aluminum. Compared to previous generations, iPhone Xs are later required. Charge time and actual results will vary.