"After my first mission on the station, I would have said that you can't see the stars very well from the space station, because we have too many lights on inside...But then I started coming up here a half hour before everyone else would wake up. And I'd shut off the lights and just sit with my eyes open and sort of meditate, not trying to think about much, but rather just trying to soak it in...Space actually isn't the inky black that I described to people after my first mission. It seemed to me that the stars we normally see as individual stars weren't really that way. I could start picking up the faint stars super far away. There were so many of them that it seemed more like shades of gray and white and black. It was more of a texture, a net. And that changed how I think about perception, the limits of human knowledge, and how we have so much more to explore."

Section: 1, Chapter: 3

"We found that people ate the ultra-processed meals a lot quicker...This could be because the Tsimane foods led the participants' brains to pump out more of a hormone called PYY, which reduced their appetite. They also decreased a hormone called ghrelin, which made them hungry. The Tsimane foods even took more work to physically chew. The ultra-processed diet, meanwhile, did the opposite. It cut those natural brakes that help us find enough." - Kevin Hall, Researcher

Section: 1, Chapter: 5

"When we perform a task in front of others, we believe we're being judged far more harshly than we are. We also think people take single moments of our lives and make sweeping generalizations.

...

We're laughably wrong. The scientists found that most people aren't all that judgmental and quickly forget single errors. But because we overblow the implications of every social move we make—because we believe that everyone cares so deeply about our every public action—it causes us anxiety and stress."

Section: 1, Chapter: 7

"Between the poles of diseased and depraved is an expansive middle ground of experience and wisdom that can help explain why millions use [drugs and alcohol] to excess.

People use drugs for good reasons. Drugs are an easy way to escape, feel empowered, cope with life, and survive. Some hardworking Iraqis use drugs to stay awake and work longer hours.

I think that addiction is most often a function of circumstances...If the conditions are right and drugs are available, drug use rises. People use drugs for good reasons. Drugs are an easy way to escape, feel empowered, cope with life, and survive."

- Dr. Emad Abdul-Razaq

Section: 1, Chapter: 11