Following on from yesterday's Freewrite, we return to a topic that everyone seems to be sure of, while the reality is quite the opposite: Decisions.
A phenomenon that plagues a lot of people is the fact that we keep swearing that erroneous beliefs are true, even when we see evidence to the contrary.
You see, have you ever been in a discussion with someone and when you show them a video that proves reality, they keep trying to reason how it matches their beliefs?
This is because of the way we interpret new information. We like to think that the way we learn things is as follows:
1.- We See New Information.
2.- We analyze it carefully to see if it matches our view of reality.
3.- We learn this information and take it as true.
Whereas in reality, the process is like this:
1.- We see new information.
2.- We learn the information and take it as true.
3.- Maybe, some day when we feel bored we search if the belief is true.
This tendency to believe that everything we hear is true without further deliberation is typical of the human race. What if our ancestors saw a strange stone in the river? Well:
1.- They assume it is a crocodile, so they get out of the river.
2.- They spend a long time contemplating whether it is a crocodile or not, and end up being eaten by the crocodile.
This primitive thinking mechanism was inherited to future generations, which is why we adhere to beliefs so strongly. The consequences of believing are far less than those of not believing in the worst case scenario.
The next time you see a person defending a point even when knowing it's not true, you know that nature is doing its job. That said:
Thank you for your support and good luck!