5 ways your brain turns you into an idiot Bashny.Net

We publish a translation of the article the author's stunning, permanent editor of the blog www.cracked.com, David Wong.

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Most of your brain loves to harm you, And he does it in many different ways. He constantly builds some intrigues, forcing you to behave horribly towards people. The methods by which he does, are listed below.

1. The distortion of perception of our choice: a mindless consumer choices we stand with all sil

Life presents us with many situations in which we have to make a choice, and this is perfectly normal. However, when the same approach we start to apply to things immaterial, to all sorts of little things, then we buy a ticket to the "station of idiots," and this one-way ticket.

The fight for the little things today, the phenomenon is so widespread that we hardly have time for her to follow. Gamers on the PC against enthusiasts consoles, Windows users against users of Mac OS, Edward fans against fans Dzhykoba (characters in the movie "Twilight") - this is just a little of what makes people venturing "holy war" in the vast network.

And the reason the whole thing alone: ​​failure in the brain, now known as "distorted perception of the choice made." This failure makes us think that the things that we choose - the best.

It does not matter how smart you wish to buy, mind your already all decided long ago, so he could easily convince you that it is this particular smartphone is the pinnacle of mobile technology, as otherwise you would just did not buy it. The distortion in the perception of the choice made has multiplied in your head esteem bought the gadget and its shortcomings you do not pay absolutely no attention.

And what's more, it's a distortion, in turn, can make you see things that you did not choose, but their negative side. Just for this reason, we believe that the gadget is purchased by another person, obviously worse than ours.



All this applies to the intangible things. For example, in one video British actor named Tom Hiddleston perfectly demonstrated the cognitive distortions in the perception of the choice made in pop culture.

He explained why he prefers not to Batman and Superman. And it's simple: a film about a superhero in a blue and red suit he looked when he was 7 years old. It turns out that Superman won only because they were the first.

2. Illusion of asymmetric insight: we believe that know people better than they nas

Have you ever met the man, the essence of which was visible to you at first sight? Probably yes. And in general, do not seem to you that the majority of people for you - like an open book, and they are very easy to read?

Most people automatically consider themselves a sort of tough guys when it comes to understanding others. This is another "brain failure", which is known as the "illusion of asymmetric insight": failure causes us to believe that we can see right through any person, while we ourselves for that person - completely impervious.

Illusion of asymmetric insight - it is our lack of sensory perception, and this deficiency is caused by the fact that we are not able to watch a side the same way as we watch others. And the brain uses this shortcoming to mislead us. Because of this, we begin to think that we have a supernatural ability to understand others.

And then suddenly it turns out that the friendly guy who lives next door, for many years worked unimaginable atrocities. That's just one of those around it somehow did not guess.

3. The illusion of saving time: we tend to exceed the speed limit, if idioty

Everyone knows that drivers exceed the speed of love, so do you. And if you're driving a car, at least once I caught myself thinking that leads it as a fool, then you probably do is a fool.

However, there is another version, which can also explain your behavior: your brain just does not allow you to "properly" be aware of the very concept of time.

"The illusion of saving time" - it is quite tricky. It uses your "command center", located in the skull, to not give you the right to assess the time you can save by increasing the speed.

In essence, the brain makes us think that a quick ride on the machine will turn us into sort of Time Lord, and we are willing to agree with this.

The error in the estimation of the time due to the illusion of saving it may manifest itself differently in different people. However, most often it is the result of excessive speed with predictable consequences.

4. "The effect Buki" We repeat past information without exposing it somneniyu

In one of the chapters of the book about Winnie the Pooh main character and his friend Piglet found on two sets of footprints in the snow. They decide to find out who owns these tracks. In the search for mysterious creatures Winnie the Pooh and Piglet came up with their names Byaka and beech. In the end it turned out that one set of footprints belonged Piglet, the second - Winnie-the-Pooh.

So, "the effect of Buki" - similar to everything described above. But it happens in life, with real people, and certainly not without the intervention of the brain.

According to the "effect Buki", our brain has a habit of relying on past information, despite the fact that the information may be wrong.

Actually, this is quite a natural reaction. However, if it will do everything it can become a huge problem. For example, many people may begin to invoke some quite unsubstantiated facts, distort the information and correct it just to make it sound more interesting, and it will continue as long as the essence not appear completely distorted. And this, in turn, will inevitably affect people's lives.

5. Pollyanna principle: we refuse to deal with unpleasant veschami

Have you ignored some important morally case later feel guilty and endlessly engage in soul-searching? Do you think something like, "It was really terrible, the guy seems to be shut down in the snow ... but for some reason I just walked past ?!" No, it's not because you're the most violent people in the world. This is a fairly common phenomenon, known as "Pollyanna principle».

"Pollyanna principle" - a psychological phenomenon, which consists in the fact that your brain sometimes gives you a sense of false, and sometimes completely unjustified optimism to you for the good.

This phenomenon, occupying your brain can cause you to minimize the evil that is in close proximity to you, by the permanent mute threatening and unpleasant stimuli to you, allowing you to focus on things that really nice to you.

Even if your roommate Godmother home drunk and starts to kick up a row in your closet, "Pollyanna" quickly convince you to stay in your "comfort zone": you sit on the couch and continue to play video games, despite the nightmare things happening behind the door your lavatory.

Other author's articles:

• 6 bitter truths that certainly will make you better
• 5 ways in which you harm your own life without even knowing about it
  via factroom.ru