The optimism bias
Irrational optimism might not always be the best thing for us, but it is the one thing that keeps us moving forward and growing.
It also talks about how memory is flexible and therefore inaccurate. Why is it flexible anyway? Because we also think about the future, and are hopefully optimistic about it! That blows my mind, that the brain might be more future- than past-orientated. The hippocampus does both functions; memory and future. It's all a complicated mess, considering how expectations of the future actually alter it.
And then bring perception in. How do you perceive the events? Is something bad that happens to you a blessing in disguise? Does your brain literally make it a blessing in disguise, just because the information is processed in this lobe versus that lobe?
Your brain is wired to pay attention to positive information and to think about things with positive ends.
Really really interesting article. The brain is really powerful. Think about placebos! They are strong, and powered by illusions and positivity!
It also talks about how memory is flexible and therefore inaccurate. Why is it flexible anyway? Because we also think about the future, and are hopefully optimistic about it! That blows my mind, that the brain might be more future- than past-orientated. The hippocampus does both functions; memory and future. It's all a complicated mess, considering how expectations of the future actually alter it.
And then bring perception in. How do you perceive the events? Is something bad that happens to you a blessing in disguise? Does your brain literally make it a blessing in disguise, just because the information is processed in this lobe versus that lobe?
Your brain is wired to pay attention to positive information and to think about things with positive ends.
Really really interesting article. The brain is really powerful. Think about placebos! They are strong, and powered by illusions and positivity!