In Episode 6 of Train.Brain.Daily, hosts Dr Michael Hewitt-Gleeson (Hewi) and Morry Morgan move from the theory explored in the first five episodes into practical application. Their focus is one of the program’s fundamental pieces of “software for the brain”: CVS2BVS.
CVS means the Current View of the Situation, while BVS means the Better View of the Situation. The central principle is expressed as CVS≠BVS: the current view of a situation can never be equal to a better view of that situation.
Our brains continuously produce a CVS. At every moment, we interpret circumstances through our experiences, habits, emotions, environment and learned patterns. That current view is valid because it represents how we presently see the situation, but it should never automatically be assumed to be the best possible view.
This creates two strategic choices. We can defend our CVS, preserve it and resist information that challenges it, or we can deliberately escape from it and search for a BVS. CVS2BVS is the perceptual switch between these two positions. Rather than becoming trapped in whether our current view is “right” or someone else’s is “wrong”, we can ask: Could there be a better way of seeing this?
Hewi describes CVS2BVS as closely related to metacognition — thinking about thinking. It encourages us to notice our own thinking, question why we perceive a situation as we do, and deliberately search for alternatives. It moves us from automatic “ground-floor” thinking towards more strategic “penthouse” thinking.
The episode also connects CVS2BVS with X10 thinking. A BVS should not merely be a small improvement on the CVS. The challenge is to search for an order-of-magnitude improvement, expressed as CVS × 10 = BVS.
But knowing CVS2BVS is not enough. Hewi stresses practice, repetition and rehearsal so the switch becomes a usable thinking habit rather than simply an interesting idea.
This leads to another important concept: speed of thought. It is not how quickly someone calculates; it is how quickly they can escape from their CVS and discover a BVS.
For leadership, innovation, relationships and everyday problem-solving, the operating principle is simple: CVS≠BVS. Recognise your current view, then make the switch — CVS2BVS.
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