Unplug to Upgrade: Why Future-Oriented Entrepreneurs Must Train Like Dune’s Mentats
Anthony Metivier
Memory Mentor and Accelerated Learning Architect for Entrepreneurs | Founder, Magnetic Memory Method | CEO, Advanced Education Methodologies
Here's a troubling paradox:
If you don't use AI, you're going to get left behind.
Lean to heavily into using it, you risk deskilling your memory.
And that leads to all kinds of consequences, especially when it comes to critical thinking and decision making.
Since people ask me all the time about how to become like the Mentat in Dune, I thought my fellow-entrepreneurs might like to time travel with me to the land of spice and sandworms.
Why?
Because in Dune, the future doesn't involve the human mind taken over by machines.
Quite the opposite.
The emphasis fell on training the Mentats to operate like human computers instead.
Of course, Dune is fiction and their level of skill is fantasy.
There is some fact to that kind of mental performance, however.
So let's look at what you can do to at least taste a little of what it would be like to remember and think like an advanced figure in a fantasy future where human intelligence soars.
Info Overwhelm: The Entrepreneur's Noisiest Threat
300 emails a day, pings on endless platforms that practically do the same thing as email and a million intriguing posts to read.
Regular mental training can help you focus through the noise.
More importantly, it can help you find the signal.
When you do, having superior memory will make sure you don't forget the strategic information that matters.
If you're constantly exposing yourself to tech, one of the best things you can do is a combination of digital fasting with brain training.
I lean towards memorizing new information, such as by learning a new language.
Regular neurobic exercise is great as well.
Ellice De Giovanni has some fantastic suggestions on her YouTube channel that are well worth getting into your routine at least a few times a week.
In addition to some of the routines she suggests, I love juggling, especially while reciting the alphabet backwards or other things I've memorized.
Sounds hard, I know.
But it really does help your brain separate the signal from the noise.
Oh, you don't believe such things are possible?
I don't blame you!
But they are, and here's what it looks like in practice.
Thinking on Autopilot Spells Business Doom
The Mentats were all about crunching data in their minds before opening their mouths or making decisions.
(The good ones, that is.)
If you find yourself deciding too quickly and leading yourself into dead ends, practicing dual-tasking as in the two videos above will help sharpen your edge.
The key is balance.
Not all of your competitors will be destroying their minds by leading lives glued to screens, after all.
But few will be able to go around completely divorced from their devices.
How exactly you will find that balance is your adventure. Some resources that will help include:
Fade to Black: The Cost of Tech Dependence to Your Memory
I spend a lot of time in one-on-one coaching.
The urge to reach for a device to look something up when memory fails is constantly palpable.
But who in business can afford to look so unprofessional?
The pitch details, the client's name, mission critical facts and figures.
Sure, people forgot these things before we all started carrying supercomputers in our pockets.
But remember:
Enhanced memory skills also provided business professional an upper edge in the past too. Even Aristotle used memory techniques combined with dual-tasking.
Having better memory is even more of an advantage in today's world.
Especially as brains around the world not only shrink, but people continually delay business by having to constantly look things up you could know like the back of your hand.
Although there's no single solution, working regularly with Memory Palaces helps many people get their recall abilities back.
It's a discipline, to be sure.
But that's what makes Dune so interesting.
It's not just a book about battles over spice.
It's about how the most successful entrepreneurs arm themselves with Mentats who have spent their lives in mental training.
If you'd like a taste of superior memory, here's what I suggest:
Besides continuing to follow this newsletter, start small with memory techniques and some of the dual-tasking exercises detailed above.
Then, measure your progress as you up the challenge relentlessly.
By this time next year, you’ll be amazed by what you’ve achieved – all within the bounds of reality.