Snapshot · The Mel Robbins Podcast
The Institute of Noetic Sciences was founded by Apollo 14 astronaut Edgar Mitchell, the 6th man to walk on the moon, who had a consciousness epiphany on his return journey to Earth.
Where this was said
At 1:04:50 · chapter starts 1:04:00
The conversation zooms out to consciousness itself — the biggest umbrella under which imagination, visualization, and manifestation all sit. Dr. Vieten defines it at two levels: small-c consciousness is everything you're aware of; big-C consciousness encompasses the beliefs, values, and assumptions you don't even know you hold. Becoming more conscious means moving from autopilot to intentional — arriving at a meeting with a clear intention rather than just showing up. She then shares how she spent 18 years at the Institute of Noetic Sciences, founded by Apollo 14 astronaut Edgar Mitchell, the 6th man to walk on the moon. On his way back to Earth, Mitchell saw the sun, moon, stars, and Earth simultaneously, and had an epiphany: the molecules in his body were the same as those in the stars and the space capsule — he was not separate from the universe but part of it. This deeper sense of interconnectedness is what the Institute was founded to study: the relationship between the inner world of consciousness and the outer world of observable reality.
Consciousness isn't just what you're aware of — it's your beliefs, intentions, intuitions, and worldview. Apollo 14 astronaut Edgar Mitchell realized in space that his consciousness was connected to the molecules of the stars. Your inner world is as real as the outer one, and it shapes everything.
Dr. Vieten spent approximately 18 years at the Institute of Noetic Sciences studying consciousness and human experience before her work at UC San Diego.
Astronauts who see Earth from space consistently lose their sense of national separation and feel compelled to protect the planet. Dr. Vieten recreated that perspective shift through VR — and Mel described feeling simultaneously tiny and limitless.
A large Harvard study found that a wandering mind is an unhappy mind — people report greater happiness when their attention is tethered to the present, even if the task is unpleasant.
A key study finding that we have a 'credit card's worth of plastic' in our bodies was likely skewed because researchers used nitrile gloves that shed plastic particles onto the microplastic detector.
Emotionally sensitive people have a hyperactive amygdala, an underactive prefrontal cortex, and a frayed connection between the two — making emotional regulation structurally harder.
Rejection sensitivity can be observed as early as age 2 or 3, suggesting it has strong developmental and likely genetic roots.
A Yale study found that non-judgmental observation of emotions — without rushing to resolve them — reduces activation in the brain, making it a powerful regulation tool.
Dan Gilbert's research found that the psychological immune system — the brain's ability to justify and find satisfaction in choices — activates most powerfully when a decision is perceived as irreversible.
Barry Schwartz's research found that maximizers — people who try to optimize every decision — tend to achieve objectively better outcomes but report lower happiness than satisficers who choose 'good enough.'
Research consistently shows that while people may initially regret poor decisions, in the long run they regret the decisions they didn't make — inaction — far more than the ones they took.
A study showed that men in committed relationships who briefly viewed 10 attractive women's faces reported a measurable decrease in relationship satisfaction immediately afterward, illustrating evolutionary mismatch with modern media.
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