LIT [Life Ignition Tools]: Use Nature’s Playbook to Energize Your Brain, Spark Ixeas, and Ignite Action
Jeff Karp with Teresa Barker
William Morrow/An Imprint of HarperCollins (April 2024)
How life ignition skills identify the right questions that can help to determine the right answers
Frankly, I had no idea what to expect when I began to read this book. I soon realized that I was beginning to have what proved to be one of the most thought-provoking learning experiences in my life thus far: my “journey to LIT.” That is, learning what Life Ignition Tools are and how to apply them to the most important questions to answer and the most difficult problems to solve.
In a book written with the assistance of Teresa Barker, Jeff Karp explains what he means by LIT: “First, ‘lit’ describes how the flash of inspiration feels — as if a bright light just flipped on in the dark. Or a spark has set your thinking ablaze. Second, ‘lit’ is how these moments appear to scientists who study them.” (See Page xiv for additional comments.) This is what Archimedes had in mind when he discussed what he characterized as a “Eureka!” moment.
The earliest strong match known to QI [i.e. the energy in everything] appeared in a message posted to the Usenet discussion system in 1987. The message was part of a source code listing of a computer program called “fortune” which was part of the installation of the popular UNIX operating system. The program “fortune” was inspired by the notion of a fortune cookie. In 1987, Isaac Asimov offered another perspective: “The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not Eureka! (I found it!) but ‘That’s odd….’” It is also reasonable to view whatever seems “odd” as the aforementioned “spark” that ignites rigorous inquiry.
Back to Karp: “My take is that ‘lit’ is a life force, an energy that thrums through nature and the cosmos — and each of us…The ‘lit’ spark is the brain’s mechanism for tapping into the vital transformative energy that activates our senses and thought processes. In ‘lit’ mode, we engage at the highest level of our abilities…As I honed strategies that enabled me to activate my brain this way at will, I identified a dozen [tools] that were simple to use and never failed to open my thinking in just the way that was needed, whatever that was.”
The twelve “life ignition tools” are best revealed within the book’s narrative, in context. Karp devotes a separate chapter to each. He also focuses on four LIT strategies that will effectively lower activation energy as you engage with any of those tools. The four are minimize obstacles, maximize rewards, make the most of momentum, and pace yourself. “In other words, motivation, momentum, and proper timing can reduce activation energy.”
These are among the passages of greatest interest and value to me, also listed to suggest the scope of Karp’s coverage:
o Introduction (Pages ix-xxxiv)
NOTE: This is by far vthe most informative Introduction I have read in recent years. Brilliant.
o Author’s experiences (x-xiv, 112-0114, 187-188, and 194-195)
o What’s Holding You Back? (3-5)
o Curiosity Ignites Inquiry and Discovery (29-33, 47-48, and 61-62)
o Failure (42-43 and 151-165)
o Be an Active Opportunist (57-76)
o Pinching Your Brain (77-96)
o In a Sea of Distractions, Why Add One More? (79-83)
o Default Mode Network (83-84 and 183-184)
o Movement: The Key to Evolutionary Success (97-118)
o Choose a Conscious Cadence (112-114, 187-188, and 194-195)
o Step It Up! (116-118)
o Practice Savor Joys of the Brawny Brain (119-135)
o New and Different Initiatives (!36-!50)
o “Defamiliarize” Yourself to Transform Your Perspective (144-147)
o Be Humble (166-182)
o Bringing It Home (179-182)
o “Pause” (183-202)
o Daring, Caring Culture (227-243)
o Life Ignition Tools (251-253)
Using any tools effectively requires a thorough knowledge of capabilities, mastery of relevant techniqus, “deep” practice, and frequent use in real-world situations. That is especially true of life ignition tools. Their potential value is incalculable.
In the Afterword, Karp shares one of Peter Drucker’s most profound observations: “The important and difficult job is never to find the right answers. It is to find the right questions.” Karp then poses again a question that is fundamental to the success of that process: [begin italics] “How do we define the village to encompass nature and all of humanity, embrace diversity of all kinds, and expand our sense of connection rather than close the borders of belonging to those we don’t yet know or understand? [end italics].”
Jeff Karp concludes LIT with questions from conversations and research for the book that can also be helpful starters to your own reflections on all these issues. You want the right answers? They’re in the right questions. Once mastered, Life Ignition Tools can reveal them.
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Jeff Karp (born 1975) is a Canadian biomedical engineer working as a Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and the principal faculty at the Harvard Stem Cell Institute and Affiliate Faculty at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology through the Harvard–MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology. He is also an affiliate faculty member at the Broad Institute.