Life Saving Radio, the "Motel Patels" and Why Americans Think They Are Better Than They Are | Non-Obvious Insights #371

Dear Newsletterest,

Can hard rock music improve surgical performance from doctors and medical outcomes for patients? Why are a new generation of first-generation immigrant kids turning away from running their parent's motel empires? Do people in the U.S. usually think they are better than they are? (Research says yes.) Who are the most underappreciated endurance athletes? (Nursing students!) Should social media humiliation be part of a legal punishment?

These are some of the main topics we'll be tackling in this week's Non-Obvious Insights Newsletter. In addition, I'm excited to share that I'll be making a BIG announcement on National Creativity Day (May 30th) next week, so stay tuned for that too!

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People in the U.S. Think They Are Better Than They Actually Are. People in Asia Don’t.

Some headlines seem immediately true before you even read the research behind them. That was my impression when I first came across this article in Scientific American. Shinobu Kitayama is psychology professor at the University of Michigan. studying cultural neuroscience and in this article he analyzes how the cultural differences between Western and Eastern cultures play out in the mind:

"From the East Asian perspective, the Western tendency to boost good feelings about oneself could come across as futile, unnecessary or even childish because it shows how the person is failing to appreciate the relational nature of the self. But our data suggest that Americans boost their positive selves because it helps them adapt to their culture. Altogether, by adopting the cultural neuroscience approach, we may keep our cultural preconceptions and biases at bay, thereby making our science less ethnocentric."

Kitayama's conclusion from all the research is that we often underplay the importance of how culture shapes our mindset. Where we grow up and the environment we are raised in seems to have the most profound impact in exactly how great we imagine ourselves to be. It's a point that I have often shared when traveling internationally as a reminder for audiences outside Western nations to take the victory laps themselves that others might take for far lesser achievements.

Life Saving Radio Uses Hard Rock To Improve Surgical Performance

If professional athletes can maximize their performance through music and classical music can improve brain development in babies, it's not a far stretch to believe that music might also help to hone focus for people doing mentally taxing work. Given the widely shared statistic that 90% of surgeons play some type of music in their operating rooms, it makes sense that perhaps music might offer some sort of performance benefit for doctors too. So healthcare innovation firm Klick Health teamed up with NextMed Health to build "the world's first AI-powered radio station and album clinically designed to improve surgical performance."

According to the data, the one band most likely to improve surgeon performance was AC/DC. I'm not sure how thrilled I'd be as a patient knowing my doc is rocking out to "Highway to Hell" while operating on me, but at least they rewrote the lyrics to say "Heal" instead. And if hard rock can indeed minimize the potential for surgical complications and help surgeons save lives, then it's exactly the kind of non-obvious idea that healthcare needs. Maybe the next AC/DC song they can adapt is "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap" and play that for legislators dragging their feet on healthcare reforms supported by doctors.

The Slowly Shifting Legacy of the Motel Patels

When you're Indian-American, you know the term "Motel Patel" as a cross between an inside joke and a shorthand acknowledgement of an immigrant generation's success story. By the numbers, some estimates say 60% of all motels in America are owned by Gujarati Americans - with a disproportionate number of these entrepreneurs sharing the surname Patel (common among those hailing from the Indian state of Gujarat). Hence the term "Motel Patel" emerged over the past several decades.

Recently, a predictably modern problem is now coming to life: the next generation of Patels don't want to run these motel empires. An article about this generational shift showcases just these powerfully our parent's experience shapes the way we see the world. Many younger Indian Americans who grew up with motelier parents want to avoid the grueling hours and stresses their families had to endure. The article concludes, "as the Gujarati American community has transformed over the decades, the motel industry, too, is changing — no thanks to outsiders, but according to the ambitions of the next generation."

The story underscores a growing shift that will continue to take place in coming years as second and third generation family businesses undergo the challenges of either trying to maintain their legacy, or letting it go. For motels, or any other kind of business, this challenge of succession is going to get more and more common.

Saucony Offers Athletic Sponsorships To The Most Underappreciated Endurance Athletes: Nursing Students

The world needs more nurses. In celebration of National Nursing Week earlier this month, Athletic brand Saucony announced their NIL Student Nurse Initiative, the first NIL (name, image, likeness) program developed for nursing students to treat them like elite college athletes. Aside from getting free gear (sneakers that are ideal footwear for working nurses), four nursing students at Galen College of Nursing will also serve as paid brand ambassadors.

The campaign is a creative way of rethinking the college sponsorship model and making the brand relevant to a specific audience, while reminding the world that there are plenty of deserving college students who could use the support of brands to help fund their educations too.

Should Social Media Humiliation Be Part Of A Legal Punishment?

A Spanish YouTuber known as Dalas Review (real name Daniel Santomé) was involved this week in what would ordinarily be a forgettable legal case only tabloids would follow. After a messy breakup with his girlfriend, he posted nine videos to more than 10 million subscribers on his popular YouTube channel calling her father an “abuser,” and a “sick coward who’s messed up in the head.” After a judge found him liable for defamation, he ordered an unusual sentence. In addition to paying the fine, he was ordered to "read his sentence weekly on his channel for a month."

In essence, the ruling uses the YouTuber's fame against him. Is this a precedent we might start to see in other legal cases? And is it even ethical to mandate humiliation as a punishment? This may seem like an innocent and clear cut case ... after all, he did use his platform to commit the crime, in the eyes of the judge so there is a certain symmetry to the ruling. I can see both sides here. What do you think?

Even More Non-Obvious Stories ...

Every week I always curate more stories than I'm able to explore in detail. Instead of skipping those stories, I started to share them in this section so you can skim the headlines and click on any that spark your interest:

How are these stories curated?

Every week I spend hours going through hundreds of stories in order to curate this email. Looking for a speaker inspire your team to become non-obvious thinkers through a keynote or workshop? Watch my new 2023 speaking reel on YouTube >>

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This Non-Obvious Insights Newsletter is curated by Rohit Bhargava. | View in browser

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Life Saving Radio, the "Motel Patels" and Why Americans Think They Are Better Than They Are | Non-Obvious Insights #371

People in the U.S. Think They Are Better Than They Actually Are. People in Asia Don’t.

Life Saving Radio Uses Hard Rock To Improve Surgical Performance

The Slowly Shifting Legacy of the Motel Patels

Saucony Offers Athletic Sponsorships To The Most Underappreciated Endurance Athletes: Nursing Students

Should Social Media Humiliation Be Part Of A Legal Punishment?

Even More Non-Obvious Stories ...

Older messages

The Boot Girls, How AI Will Save Education and Why Spoilers Aren't As Bad As You Think | Non-Obvious Insights #370

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