Romy asks, “Why do humans like some things more than other things without knowing anything about them?”
Your brain does a lot of things very well. But maybe its greatest feat is tricking you into thinking it does everything way, way better than it actually does.
Here’s how it seems like vision works:
Here’s how it actually works:
Here’s how it seems like hearing works:
Here’s how it actually works:
And here’s how it seems like decision-making works:
But here’s how it actually works:
Just like your eyes and ears, your brain is a body part that evolved to serve a certain purpose. It’s a control room. It tells your muscles what to do and when. These muscle patterns determine everything you do: your words and actions, your test-taking and basketball-playing and question-asking.
To do a good job at all this, your brain gathers information. Lots and lots of information. It takes in information you’re not even aware of, and this affects your choices too.
For example, people are more likely to buy French wine if there’s French music playing in the supermarket, but German wine if the music’s German instead. People are more likely to buy something they’ve seen an ad for, even if they don’t remember ever seeing the ad. People are even more likely to move to cities with names similar to their own! Yes, even things as big as where you live are influenced by stuff going on in your brain without you noticing.
And sometimes, this is a big problem. People consistently rate resumes with women’s names or stereotypical black names as less hireable than the exact same resume with a white man’s name! And these are people who aren’t sexist or racist — at least not consciously. You think you wouldn’t do the same? Why not get yourself tested?
So maybe you’ll believe me when I say your brain isn’t the perfect bundle of free rationality you think it is. It’s a beautiful, complex, fascinating piece of machinery. But that’s what it is: machinery. There are a hundred billion cogs interlocking in ways we don’t fully understand — but there’s no ghost in there pulling the levers.
Why do you prefer some things over other things without any good reason? The natural wiring of your brain, plus all the information it’s gathered, pushes you to make a decision. That doesn’t mean it’s a good decision, no matter how many people tell you to “go with your first reaction.”
Of course, there are ways to make good decisions. You can stop and think about things more. You can acknowledge your gut reaction isn’t a secret hint from the Universe. You can learn more about the brain, so you recognize when your feelings are based on reason and when they’re just not.
So, yeah, your brain isn’t perfect. But hey — it’s doing a whole lot better than a lumpy, pink mush of electric connections has any right to do.
More on this: David Eagleman, Incognito
More from Romy Asks:
Originally published at milobeckman.com on March 12, 2015.
