Living with an Old Friend in the Modern World: “The Brain”
For tens of thousands of years, we have been living with this shabby machine, our brain. We have to admit that this veteran machine is really good at what it does. So what could be the main job of this machine?
As technology developed, access to food, medicine, and comfort has become easier. Every day, we add new ways to live without even moving. Even death has become quite difficult as we could easily fight a standard infection with antibiotics. The invention of sunscreen alone is estimated to have saved millions of lives. These are normal components of our normal lives, just like a chair or an armchair. So, how many years has humanity been using a tool to sit on? While 150 years ago, most of the people in the houses sat on the floor and walked for miles for food, now we can stand in front of our computer for hours at the expense of bending our spine. However, while the whole world is changing, our body has not changed much in the last 50,000 years.
The boss of this instrument called the body, the brain has hardly changed. For tens of thousands of years, we have been living with this shabby machine, our brain. We have to admit that this veteran is really good at what it does. So what could be the main job of this machine?
- To make you good at your job?
- To make you dress better and increase your social status?
- To get likes by sharing cool photos on social media?
Of course, the brain has a role in these too, but this old friend of ours has only one purpose:
SURVIVAL!
In order to do this, it has to be fast and use less energy, but it also has many features in order to ensure that we do not die. Moreover, although it consumes 1/5 of our energy, this biological device, which makes up only 2% of our weight, is a marvel of efficiency. Efficiency! This is where the interesting things about the brain begin. According to a study conducted in the USA, we do about 47% of the work we do during the day without thinking much (on auto-pilot). In fact, most of the decisions we make during the day are based on our habits. In other words, our brain creates shortcuts whenever it finds an opportunity to spend less energy and directs most of our behavior without asking us. The shortcuts of this old friend are very useful when crossing the street or in the event of a real threat. However, in many situations that we think we have made a thoughtful decision today, this automatic system leads us to make mistakes. Many of our current problems are no longer about survival.
These automatic interventions of our mind in our decisions are called “Cognitive Bias”. This side of us, which sees the changed package of the detergent faster, thinks that the product we see more often is more reliable, and thinks that the information we have heard before is more reliable, accompanies us in every decision we make. However, let’s not get angry with the mind that traps us, and let’s even approach it with compassion. I would like to remind you that it is working tirelessly to keep us alive, with very good intentions. Let’s say we understand the pitfalls of our brain. So what can we do about it? By exercising our “Conscious Awareness” muscle, we can become aware of these biases in ourselves and in our environment, and we can make much better decisions both in our individual and professional lives. See you in my next article to get to know these Cognitive Bias of our brain.
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