The human mind is capable of incredible things, but it does not always observe, remember and reason as well as we would like to think it does.
We did an experiment several years ago that has become quite well-known. We asked volunteers to watch a videotape of basketball players and count the number of times the ball was passed. The volunteers became so focused on their task that approximately half of them failed to notice a person in a gorilla suit walking right across the screen.
That experiment made us question how our brains may be editing information for us in other ways. In our subsequent research, we have learned that failing to understand our minds’ limitations can cause us to make costly, possibly life-threatening, errors.
Here are four of the most widespread and potentially dangerous misconceptions about the way the human mind absorbs and processes information…
Just because our eyes gaze at something doesn’t mean that we see it. This gap between what we see and what registers in our minds is particularly likely to appear when we’re looking intently for something else or when our attention is divided between tasks.
The results can be tragic. Motorcyclists often are killed when car drivers pull right into their paths. These drivers are so focused on looking for other cars that their brains fail to register the motorcycles. After such accidents, the drivers often claim, “The motorcycle came out of nowhere,” while motorcycle riders who survive often report, “He looked right at me.”
What to do: If you are crossing a road on foot, a bike or a motorcycle, the fact that an approaching driver has made eye contact with you is not enough to ensure that he/she actually has seen you. Do not cross into the vehicle’s path until the car actually slows to a stop. Turn off your cell phone while driving to avoid any temptation to answer it. Hands-free headsets are not the solution — your mind still is distracted by a call even if your hands remain on the wheel. If you see something troubling or potentially dangerous in a crowded area, don’t assume that it must not be a problem because no one else has reacted — others might not have noticed what you see, even though it is right in front of them.
Our memories are not videotapes that we can play back and expect to see exactly what occurred. Rather, our minds extract meaning and details from events, then do their best to reconstruct the rest based on our life experiences.
These recalled images seem so real that we believe the memories are precise re-creations of events, but often they aren’t. In fact, people even can recall stories that they heard from others as if those things happened to them.
If you don’t believe your memories are flawed, test one. Pick a moment from your past that you believe you remember, then check the details with others who your memory says were present.
Example: Dan was confident that he remembered the details about where he was when he first heard about 9/11. When he tried to confirm those details, however, two people he believed were present provided compelling evidence that they were not even there.
What to do: Do not argue with others about past events when your memory is your only evidence — you might be wrong, even if you are certain you are right. Construct a written record of important decisions, discussions, events and promises so that you have something other than memory to refer to later. One way to test whether a memory is accurate is to ask other people to recall their own memories without telling them about yours. That way, you can see if they report the same details.
Those with the least skills are the most likely to be overconfident — very unskilled people lack the ability to see that they lack ability. Unfortunately, our minds tend to confuse their confidence with competence, causing us to trust bad advice and follow incompetent leaders.
Examples: When groups try to make decisions, it’s often the person who speaks first or loudest who is followed, regardless of the wisdom of his/her words. Juries put great stock in the testimony of witnesses who seem certain about what they are saying.
What to do: When someone sounds confident about an opinion or a position, remind yourself that it doesn’t necessarily mean he’s right.
The illusion of knowledge
Our minds assume that the bits of data we happen to have on a topic are useful information even when they are not.
Example: If we’re comparing two similar products in a store and we don’t know much about the product category, our minds tend to believe that the one with more features listed on the package must be better — even if we don’t know what those features do. Companies sometimes take advantage of this by listing fancy-sounding features that are not particularly distinctive or useful.
What to do: Dismiss evidence unless you know the importance of that evidence. When appropriate, do your own research. If it is taking you a particularly long time to make a choice, that usually means that the difference between the options is very narrow or that you have no clue how to decide. Rather than agonize over the decision any longer, simply pick one and move on with your life.
