Have You Asked Why We Act First and Think Later? I Have an Idea Because it Happens?
One of the most interesting studies of John Dylan Haynes showed that we make decisions about seven seconds before being aware of them and about ten seconds before executing them. Therefore, we first decide what we are going to do and then this information comes in the form of thoughts to our mind. Incredible true?
Now, to understand everything that this entails, we must bear in mind that the brain can change itself. Thus, when we believe that we are changing something of ourselves (for example, quitting smoking or doing more sport), the brain begins to reprogram itself to make it possible. In this way the brain acts as a whole, combining both conscious and unconscious mechanisms.
Thus, when the force of consciousness is limited, the impulses of the unconscious become strong. For example, when we can not resist the temptation to eat something and we are overweight or when we believe that we should do more sport and we do not do it, the conscience has hardly strength to fight against the unconscious impulses that we have, being these those who decide to last instance.
The unlimited strength of the conscious becomes evident that kind of situations in which we must overcome strong tendency to do something different.
Do we decide rationally or emotionally?
Although the vast majority of us have been educated through reasoning and logic, we all know that emotions play an important role in our day to day. In fact, they have a fundamental role in the unconscious mechanisms of the brain and in the way we decide. It is estimated that 85% of our decisions are made unconsciously and that only 15% are really conscious decisions.
In the book The error of Descartes neurologist Antonio Damasio states that decisions based on moral judgments clearly evidence the role of emotion within the social context. Popular phrases such as "love is blind" warn us of the power that emotions have over these issues, but it has not been until recent times when emotions have been considered as determining elements in rational processes.
When asked "what is an appropriate decision?", In principle the answer seems easy: it is the one that gives us the greatest benefit. But this question is not always so clear, since we are able to value a decision, in spite of its rationality, as inadequate and incorrect. We are also able to notice inadequate decisions because of the exaggerated reasons that motivate them "not traveling because of the fear of flying" would be one of them. In short, we use a balance between the rational and the emotional to decide correctly and unwind in our day to day.
"The brain looks a lot like a computer. You can have several screens open on the desktop, but you will only be able to think of just one at a time. "
-William Stixrud-
Are decisions unconscious?
Where is the margin between conscious thought and unconscious thinking when we decide? We really do not know for sure, but the first studies that have addressed this issue with neuroimaging techniques have found that before passing to consciousness, many decisions have already been made by complex brain networks. Undoubtedly, this is another of the mysterious and interesting processes that have to do with our mind.
In addition, to avoid overloading, the brain performs many of its processes automatically, including decisions, hence they can be predicted seconds in advance. As we see, deciphering the brain activity that hides behind our mental states brings us closer to a powerful source of self-knowledge.
"In the future you can predict the behavior and experience of a person from their brain activity."
-John Dylan Haynes-
A very interesting topic for discussion ...
I've also read that our unconscious has a huge role in our actions and decisions in life ...
If I am not mistaken, Freud once said that our consciousness in acting / making decisions in life is like the tip of the iceberg, where the lower part of the mountain (which is bigger & wider) is the unconscious ...
If this is true, then the question that then arises is:
"Are we human being really free?" ...
Have a great & lovely day, dear friend @ joelgonz1982...☕☕❤
Doing things unconsciously usually brings us trouble sometimes because we act without thinking what may happen later on through our decision.
"Are we human being really free?" ...
Making decisions in life makes us real human beings. Nobody in this life is perfect, we are free to express our emotions.
Thanks for your comment, friend.
¡Buen articulo! Deja mucha tela que cortar, resulta polémico a primera vista, pero puede manejarse, se tiende a relacionar el inconsciente con las emociones y el consciente con lo racional, de eso no hay dudas.
Sin embargo, se ve una desligada de la otra, cuando en realidad pueden llevarse juntas, manejar un equilibrio entre ambas da origen a la inteligencia emocional.
"Somos conscientes de lo que pensamos y podemos serlo de lo que sentimos"
Estas en lo cierto. buen punto.
Consejo trata de utilizar el traductor google para que responda para la proxima en ingles.
si la publicacion esta en ingles comenta en ingles si esta en espanol comenta en espanol hay mucho en steemit que no entiende el espanol.
Lo haré la próxima vez, quería expresarme mejor y recurrí a lo habitual, nos vemos.