The Hidden Brain

Kadizzle has been reading, and hopefully learning from the book "The Hidden Brain". The premise of the book is that people make a lot of decisions based on our hidden brain. The hidden brain is like the auto pilot for thinking. One incident and example in the book are fires in crowded places. Frequently when a fire occurs in a theater, or other public place people are killed because everyone tries to use the same exit they came in. The hidden brain automatically notes where you came in and also notes that is where everyone else is going. Even though there are enough exits people pile up and die because they hidden brain uses a primitive logic system. Many studies find children are prejudiced for what appears to be no good reason. The amazing thing about young children is that black children are prejudiced towards blacks. The hidden brain of children picks up on clues from society, and reacts accordingly, even though the parents never do anything to encourage this behavior. Sometimes you wonder how could anyone even consider voting for Sara Palin? It is the hidden brain in action. People want to do what people in their group are doing. Unconsciously they are picking up signals from their group and reacting to those signals. The hidden brain uses a primitive form of logic.

One day after a long hike Kadizzle was dying for a diet coke or some beverage to drink. Stopping at a roadside store there were two clerks and two cash registers. One cash register had ten people in line, the other checkout had no one. Kadizzles first reaction was to just forget about the coke and leave because he did not want to wait in line. His hidden brain said there is a reason everyone is in that line, so that must be where you have to go. However, Kadizzles concious brain directed him to the empty register. Right away the clerk took his money, and he left the store while those other people stood in line. Before he left he asked the clerk "Why is everyone in that line, and no one will come over here to you, don't they like you?", The clerk laughed and replied, they must not.

Look around you and you can see this logic all the time. Ask a young person what political party they feel they are a part of. Most of the time it will mimic the parents views. There is not much logic in this, but it makes sense from the hidden brain's viewpoint. Most magic tricks rely on the hidden brain. The hidden brain can be distracted very easily.