Lord777
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Each of us at least once experienced a sudden epiphany: all known facts, like pieces of a puzzle, add up to one big picture that we had not noticed before. The world turns out to be completely different from what we thought. And a loved one is a deceiver. Why don't we notice the obvious facts and believe only what we want to believe?
Insights are associated with unpleasant discoveries: betrayal of a loved one, betrayal of a friend, deception of a loved one. We scroll over and over again pictures from the past and are perplexed - all the facts were before our eyes, why had I not noticed anything before? We accuse ourselves of being naive and careless, but they have nothing to do with it. The reason is in the mechanisms of our brain and psyche.
Clairvoyant brain.
The cause of information blindness lies at the level of neuroscience. The brain is faced with a huge amount of sensory information that needs to be processed efficiently. To optimize the process, he continually designs models of the surrounding world based on previous experience. Thus, the limited resources of the brain are concentrated on processing new information that does not fit into its model1.
Psychologists from the University of California conducted an experiment.
Participants were asked to recall what the Apple logo looks like. The volunteers were given two tasks: to draw a logo from scratch and to choose the correct answer from several options with slight differences. Only one of the 85 participants in the experiment completed the first task. The second task was correctly performed by less than half of the subjects.
Logos are always recognizable. However, the participants in the experiment were unable to correctly reproduce the logo, despite the fact that most of them actively use Apple products. But the logo so often catches our eye that the brain stops paying attention to it and remembering details.
Falsification of facts.
The second reason for information blindness lies in psychology. Daniel Gilbert, a professor of psychology at Harvard University, warns that people tend to manipulate facts in order to preserve the desired picture of the world.
This is how the defense mechanism of our psyche works. When faced with conflicting information, we unconsciously give preference to facts that correspond to our picture of the world, and discard data that contradict it.
The participants were told that they performed poorly on the intelligence test. After that, they were given the opportunity to read articles on this topic. Subjects spent more time reading articles that questioned not their ability, but the reliability of such tests. The articles confirming the validity of the tests were deprived of attention by the participants4.
The subjects considered themselves smart, so the defense mechanism forced them to concentrate on the data about the unreliability of the tests - in order to preserve the familiar picture of the world.
Rejection of the obvious.
Some facts are too obvious to ignore. But the defense mechanism copes with this too. Facts are only assumptions that meet specific standards of certainty. If we raise the level of reliability too high, then it will not be possible to prove even the fact of our existence. This is the trick we use when we are faced with unpleasant facts that cannot be missed.
Participants were shown excerpts from two studies that analyzed the effectiveness of capital punishment. The first study compared crime rates between states that use the death penalty and those that do not. The second study compared the crime rate in one state before and after the death penalty. The participants considered it more correct to study the results of which confirmed their personal views. A study with opposite results was criticized by the subjects for incorrect methodology.
The path to enlightenment.
The realization of your own limitations is scary. We literally cannot believe even our own eyes - they only notice what the brain wants to find. Nevertheless, if we are aware of the distortion of our perception of the world, we can make the picture of reality clearer and more reliable.
Insights are associated with unpleasant discoveries: betrayal of a loved one, betrayal of a friend, deception of a loved one. We scroll over and over again pictures from the past and are perplexed - all the facts were before our eyes, why had I not noticed anything before? We accuse ourselves of being naive and careless, but they have nothing to do with it. The reason is in the mechanisms of our brain and psyche.
Clairvoyant brain.
The cause of information blindness lies at the level of neuroscience. The brain is faced with a huge amount of sensory information that needs to be processed efficiently. To optimize the process, he continually designs models of the surrounding world based on previous experience. Thus, the limited resources of the brain are concentrated on processing new information that does not fit into its model1.
Psychologists from the University of California conducted an experiment.
Participants were asked to recall what the Apple logo looks like. The volunteers were given two tasks: to draw a logo from scratch and to choose the correct answer from several options with slight differences. Only one of the 85 participants in the experiment completed the first task. The second task was correctly performed by less than half of the subjects.
Logos are always recognizable. However, the participants in the experiment were unable to correctly reproduce the logo, despite the fact that most of them actively use Apple products. But the logo so often catches our eye that the brain stops paying attention to it and remembering details.
This is how we miss important details of our personal life. If a loved one is often delayed at work or travels on business trips, the unnecessary departure or delay is not suspicious. For the brain to pay attention to this information and adjust its model of reality, something out of the ordinary must happen, while alarming signals have long been noticeable to people from the outside.
Falsification of facts.
The second reason for information blindness lies in psychology. Daniel Gilbert, a professor of psychology at Harvard University, warns that people tend to manipulate facts in order to preserve the desired picture of the world.
This is how the defense mechanism of our psyche works. When faced with conflicting information, we unconsciously give preference to facts that correspond to our picture of the world, and discard data that contradict it.
The participants were told that they performed poorly on the intelligence test. After that, they were given the opportunity to read articles on this topic. Subjects spent more time reading articles that questioned not their ability, but the reliability of such tests. The articles confirming the validity of the tests were deprived of attention by the participants4.
The subjects considered themselves smart, so the defense mechanism forced them to concentrate on the data about the unreliability of the tests - in order to preserve the familiar picture of the world.
Having made any decision - to buy a car of a certain brand, to have a child, to leave work - we begin to actively study the information that strengthens our confidence in the decision, and ignore articles that indicate its weaknesses. In addition, we selectively extract relevant facts not only from magazines, but also from our own memory. We “remember” what is beneficial for us to remember at the moment, and just as easily “forget” inappropriate information.
Rejection of the obvious.
Some facts are too obvious to ignore. But the defense mechanism copes with this too. Facts are only assumptions that meet specific standards of certainty. If we raise the level of reliability too high, then it will not be possible to prove even the fact of our existence. This is the trick we use when we are faced with unpleasant facts that cannot be missed.
Participants were shown excerpts from two studies that analyzed the effectiveness of capital punishment. The first study compared crime rates between states that use the death penalty and those that do not. The second study compared the crime rate in one state before and after the death penalty. The participants considered it more correct to study the results of which confirmed their personal views. A study with opposite results was criticized by the subjects for incorrect methodology.
When we want to believe in something, a little confirmation is enough. When we don't want to believe, much more evidence is required to convince us. When it comes to turning events in personal life - the betrayal of a loved one or the betrayal of a loved one - the rejection of the obvious grows to incredible proportions. Psychologists Jennifer Freyd and Pamela Birrell in the book "The Psychology of Betrayal and Infidelity" cite examples from their personal psychotherapeutic practice, when women refused to notice the infidelity of her husband, taking almost place in front of their eyes. Psychologists have called this phenomenon blindness to betrayal6.
The path to enlightenment.
The realization of your own limitations is scary. We literally cannot believe even our own eyes - they only notice what the brain wants to find. Nevertheless, if we are aware of the distortion of our perception of the world, we can make the picture of reality clearer and more reliable.
- Remember - the brain models reality.
- Explore nasty points of view.
- Avoid double standards.
