TPP 399: Dr. Jeff Karp on Helping Our Kids Energize Their Brain, Spark Ideas & Ignite Action

Okay, so I’ll just say right at the top that my guest today is NOT a parenting expert. He is, however, a neurodivergent researcher, educator, author, and thinker who has some fascinating things to share about helping our kids energize their brains, spark ideas, and ignite action.

Dr. Jeff Karp was that young kid who struggled greatly in school because of his learning disabilities, but when a tutor during the summer after second grade asked him this question – how did you think about that? – everything for him changed. He began to be more self-reflective. By thinking about thinking and how he approached learning, he was able to explore and create tools and systems to help him reach his goals both in school and in daily life.

Jeff is still thinking about thinking today, and shares his ideas in his fascinating book, LIT: Life Ignition Tools: Use Nature's Playbook to Energize Your Brain, Spark Ideas, and Ignite Action. ​​After I read his book, I wanted to bring him on the show because he embodies so much of what we talk about here at Tilt – encouraging our kids to understand how their brain works, get curious about their own strengths and gifts, and figure out ways to “hack themselves” so they can design lives that allow them to play to those strengths.

As a child, Jeff developed ways to navigate school and life that were based on his curiosity, passion, creativity, and connection to nature. Over the years, he’s evolved his approaches into LIT (Life Ignition Tools) and wrote this book to share them with the rest of the world.

About Dr. Jeff Karp

Dr. Jeff Karp holds the Distinguished Chair at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and is a Professor at Harvard Medical School and MIT. He is an elected fellow of the National Academy of Inventors, Royal Society of Chemistry, American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, Biomedical Engineering Society, and the Canadian Academy of Engineering.

Specializing in bioinspired medical innovation, Dr. Karp leads a research lab focused on harnessing lessons from nature. He has published over 165 peer-reviewed papers with more than 34,000 citations and has delivered nearly 400 invited lectures. He holds over 100 patents, and his lab’s technologies have led to the formation of thirteen companies.

His notable innovations include a tissue glue for sealing holes in a beating heart, targeted therapies for osteoarthritis and Crohn’s disease, smart needles, a nasal spray that neutralizes pathogens, and immunotherapy approaches for cancer.

Dr. Karp is also dedicated to mentoring the next generation of bioengineers. He has received multiple mentoring awards, and 30 of his trainees have secured faculty positions.

Things you'll learn

• How self-reflection and “thinking about thinking” can lead to transformative experiences and strategies for learning and focus
• What LIT (life ignition tools) is and how they can be used to support positive shifts and movement
• How being intentional in your actions and reawakening your senses can deepen your experiences
• What the LEB (low energy brain) dimmer switch is and how it helps regulate energy levels
• Why being aware of “bothered awareness” can become a motivator
• How practicing cycling through your senses helps one connect more deeply with the world and tap into your powerful biology

Resources mentioned

• Dr. Jeff Karp’s author website
• Dr. Jeff Karp’s KarpLab website
• LIT: Life Ignition Tools: Use Nature's Playbook to Energize Your Brain, Spark Ideas, and Ignite Action by Dr. Jeff Karp
• Jeff’s TEDx Talk Insight Outside: Harnessing Nature’s Secrets
• Jeff’s TEDx Talk: Turning Failure into Success: 3 principles of Radical Simplicity
• Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard by Chip and Dan Heath
• Brian Stevenson / Equal Justice Initiative
• Transcendental Meditation

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