Ep 140 - Inventing Your Future: Stories from a Techno-Optimist - with Cori Lathan

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Dr. Cori Lathan is a neuroscientist, technology pioneer, inventor, social advocate, and the author of “Inventing the Future: Stories from a Techno-Optimist.”

Cori has had such an incredible journey to date. She’s trying to shape the world into something better, and I think she has a great perspective on how we each, individually, have a role in creating the future — and a responsibility to make that the best future possible.

Cori’s experiences have also given her some great insight on how to navigate these huge moments of transition, both in our careers and in society, and I can’t wait to share it with you.

Where No Woman Has Gone Before

Entrepreneur, neuroscientist, bioengineer, technologist, author: it’s a pretty incredible legacy, and you can trace this journey back to a young girl who absolutely loves Star Trek.

As Cori developed a fascination with space, a fascination with how technology can make the world and universe better, she quickly realized that she didn’t just want to research emerging technologies and their impact on our health — she wanted to be applying this research to make the world a better place.

So, a consummate pioneer, Cori left academia and her guaranteed tenure track to co-found AnthroTronix in 1999. For 20 years, she oversaw the creation of a virtual reality system for astronauts in space, educational robots for kids with disabilities, instrumented gloves for soldiers, vagal nerve electro stimulator for rheumatoid arthritis, and one of the first mobile medical apps that was cleared by the FDA for use.

Cori’s book — “Inventing the Future: Stories from a Techno-Optimist” — is what she calls a ‘legacy memoir.’ Each chapter is a story of one of the inventions that Cori has had a hand in over the years, and these inventions are really the main characters of the book, then Cori’s journey is weaved throughout.

And now, as an author and entrepreneur, Cori is venturing into another brave new part of her life and career.

Leaning Into the Future: Advice for Career & Life Transitions

When I look at Cori’s journey, I see someone who is constantly experimenting and pivoting. And part of any good experiment is venturing into the unknown... but that fear can hold a lot of people back.

Luckily, Cori has advice for how we can adopt an experimenter’s mindset as we approach new opportunities: move outside your comfort zone, don't be afraid to fail, and keep your brain healthy.

We’ve heard those first two points from people all season. The more you test and learn, the more comfortable you get with the unknown, and the better you’re able to contextualize ‘failure’ as a step forward.

But what does it mean to keep your brain healthy? Cori says it comes down to five things: good sleep, good nutrition, oxygen or exercise, learning new things, and social interaction. Ensuring all of these things are present in our lives will challenge us and keep us healthy, and you can’t take this cognitive health for granted when you’re trying something new and scary.

Cori’s Techno-Optimist Manifesto

One of the core beliefs driving Cori on her journey is the belief that we all have agency in making the world a better place. So she wrote her own Techno-Optimist Manifesto with three simple points:

Technology should make us stronger, healthier, and happier.
Technology should enable us to do things we couldn't do without technology.
Technology should create an equitable future.

The only thing standing between us and the future we deserve is ourselves. It can be easy to watch something like Star Trek and see it as purely science fiction, to see a society and technology that is impossible, but I believe that humans have nearly limitless capability to create a better future. And when I see someone like Cori who is bravely pushing us towards where no woman or man has gone before, I have hope that we’ll make something incredible.

Definition of Success:

Career success is kind of like relationship success. Are you in a career that is using your best talents and making you better? Are you in a career where you're contributing and it's also making you a better person?

Best Career Advice:

“My mother always used to say, ‘We may be crazy, but we're not stupid.’ So it's not really career and life advice. It's more just a way of being; It's having the confidence to be bold and to have confidence in yourself.”

Key Takeaways:

We all have a role in creating the future — and a responsibility to make that the best future possible.
Approach new opportunities in your life with an experimenter’s mindset; embrace that moving forward into the unknown is about testing and learning new solutions. When we’re able to look at new problems through the lens of being fascinated with learning something new, curiosity can help you overcome fear of the unknown.
Keep your brain cognition healthy with good sleep, good nutrition, oxygen or exercise, learning new things, and social interaction.
The only thing standing between us and the future we deserve is ourselves.