Bill Gates has been using a powerful tool for creativity and innovation for years: loneliness

Loneliness has Very bad reputation. As the neuroscientific nicole vignola assured In one of its conferencesthe negativity bias is very powerful when talking about it. As Remember From the European Institute of Positive Psychology, “loneliness is not being alone, it is the ability to be with no one.”

However, loneliness intentional and well understoodIt is the Perfect culture broth To shape To the great ideas and as a tool to build the foundations of self -confidence and mental balance.

Many of the great technological, scientific or artistic achievements have been possible because, at a given time, their drivers They have moved away from everything and everyone To concentrate on shaping your ideas. His brains only needed A little loneliness.

When the urgent eclipse to the important

At present there is more value to what The New York Times called “Hustle culture“, To have the agenda of the day to overflow with tasks, instead of the real luxury that is to keep it completely empty and allocate time to think in the really important. How are creative and innovative ideas to arise if We don’t even spend time thinking about them and why not, to wander?

That superpower of emptying the agenda and allocating time to reflect is something Bill Gates learned from his friend and mentor Warren Buffet, as confessed in A joint interview. Science has demonstrated That letting your brain rest and not doing anything is like letting your brain release in an amusement park.

In that context, loneliness is a great ally. As shown in the Netflix series ‘Bill Gates: Under the magnifying glass’Microsoft’s founding millionaire is taken every year a “week of reflection”, in which solitude is withdrawn to a refuge in nature to read, reflect and generate new ideas. According The published by The Wall Street JournalHence, initiatives such as Microsoft Internet Explorer browser emerged in 1995.

It has not been the only one, such and as stood out Susan Cain in The New York Times, “Steve Wozniak achieved the work (to unite the components of the first Apple) – the hard work of creating something from nothing – did it alone. At the time of the morning, completely alone.”

Some of the great masterpieces of literature or art have emerged from intentional isolation of its authors. Of take distance from the noisy world and let the brain stop receiving external stimuli that distract him from what really matters: generate new ideas.

The science of success of being alone

Scientific evidence confirms what the great geniuses of technology or art have already demonstrated. Even Seneca dedicated a good part of his Morales Epistles to Lucilio to the noble art of reflection in solitude and its benefits.

According to a joint study Of the universities of Michigan and Harvard, highly intelligent people often experience greater vital satisfaction when they reduce their frequency of social interaction. “Participants with high intellectual coefficient expressed higher levels of satisfaction when their social contact was more sporadic.”

This finding has been confirmed by parallel investigations from the University of Buffalo, which conclude that people who enjoy the solitude voluntarily They show high levels of creativity and self -reflection.

Alone

According to He counted to CNBC Joseph Jebelli, postdoctoral researcher at the University of Washington and author of the book ‘The Brain at Rest ‘spend time with oneself and let the brain Rest without stimuli nor external conditioning could be key in personal and professional development.

The expert ensures that There is no perfect amount of loneliness And it depends on each person, but points out that the more values those moments of loneliness and self -reflection, the better it will be for your brain because more opportunities will have to wander and Connect unconnected ideas and abstract knowledge to generate a new one.

Jebelli recommends starting in a simple way and intentionally searching for 10 minutes of loneliness per day in a quiet place “where they do not bother you and take advantage of that time to sit and breathe. This small step can help the brain to enter a state of relaxation and to start the activation process of the activation of the default neuronal network“

The neuroscientist not only recommends taking care of the moments of loneliness, but also being selective with the moments of socializationseeking that “it is a significant and quality activity. Many of us spend time with people with whom we should not because we feel forced.” According to Jebelli, this “toxic” socialization increases blood cortisol levels causing them to be harmful to mental and physical health.

More and more people travel alone or They look for isolated retreats as a way to reconnect with themselves and reduce the social overestimulation, As documented The confidential. This phenomenon is perceived as an act of autolide and not negative isolation, and allows Strengthen self -esteem and provide people with psychological tools to improve the way they face day -to -day challenges and problems.

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