Learn How Your Brain Deceives You, and How You Can Trick It

The human being is one of the complex organisms from a psychological point of view. Perhaps the most mysterious organ is the brain according to the scientific or medical label, and we have the mind according to the philosophical label. Until this moment, we are still unaware of many secrets about the human brain.

Although science has not yet been able to invent any machine whose work is compatible with the work of the human brain, this brain is not a perfect organ. Rather, it may have many defects and shortcomings that may make it in some cases misleading to man more than it is useful to them.

The human brain is lazy and loves small ways:

The most firm characteristic that scientists have found in the human brain is laziness. The brain always chooses shortcuts or short ways or those that do not involve fatigue, hardship, or effort. This is what brain scientists call a mentality according to the circumstances.

The shortest path that the brain chooses is the experiences of the past, which man has already experienced in their life. They already made solid and ready reactions towards them. The brain has come to deal with them as postulates that there is no discussion about them. 

Practical example of your brain tricking you with its lazy habit:

For example, when you want to travel to a country by plane, you remember what your friend told you when he traveled once by a plane that had a sudden breakdown. The plane was forced to make an emergency landing at the nearest airport. The flight resumed normally after the problem was resolved. This is what prompted him to remember the disaster of a sudden plane crash, which he heard about when he was listening to the news, while driving his car two days before the flight. These thoughts came together and jumped into his thinking. The brain allowed them to come into the thinking space, or it might have prompted them to do so.

Studies and research in the field of psychology have proven that your reading of a news article in the newspaper or on a social media site about an increase in traffic accidents somewhere may - in many cases - lead you to believe that traffic accidents are increasing in your area as well, or even on your road. This may make you think about parking your car somewhere you think is safe or away from traffic. 

What's the reason your brain tricks you into taking the shortest path?

Your brain exaggerates news or events. Meaning your brain is deceiving you in one way or another. The reason for this is that the human brain, despite its development from the brain of lower organisms, still possesses some deposits and remains of that primitive brain that seeks to survive and secure its life. This is how evolutionary psychology experts explain that the brain amplifies the negative news and exaggerates protection arrangements.

On the same principle, the human brain chooses shortcuts. This is in order to save energy and not consume more food. This is one of the explanations that evolutionary psychologists put about the laziness of the human brain.

How can we circumvent our lazy brains and shortcuts?

Our understanding of these important topics is the beginning of the road to self-deception in order to know the places where the brain deceives us, and try to overcome it. When we find ourselves choosing the shortest or easiest path, we should pause and think carefully about the situation. We should ask ourselves if we have chosen this solution because it is comfortable, easy, or short. If the answer is “yes”, then let us think about the validity of this solution. Also, let us search for ways or solutions and compare them in terms of effectiveness and in terms of achieving the desired goal.

The human brain blames others for its mistakes:

One of the most important features of the human brain is blame. When we find ourselves in failure situations, we blame all the reasons for our failure on others or on the external factors surrounding us. When a student gets a low mark in exams, we find ourselves starting to blame the subject teacher because they did not give us the information in an understandable way and their explanation was not enough. We may blame the temperature in the exam hall that was not suitable for us at all,which led us to confusion, distress, and other arguments that may be logical or not.

What is the reason behind the querulous tendency of the human brain?

Evolutionary psychology experts explain this behavior of the brain in blaming external factors by the brain being programmed to maintain its existence and survival. The most important factors that support this existence are human self-esteem and self-respect. Therefore, when it is exposed to danger or failure, it is quick to protect itself from any blame by throwing it directly on the external factors. 

A practical example that explains the human brain's tendency to blame:

The best evidence for this is the difference in the student’s view of the concept of failure when it is related to someone else other than them. When their colleague fails, they attribute this failure to their dereliction in studying, their failure to follow up with the professor's explanation, and their laziness regarding studying the course on normal days. Here the brain reads the concept logically as long as it does not threaten its existence and does not diminish its self-respect.

Likewise, when the student succeeds or obtains an excellent mark in the subject, they attribute their success to their diligent and repeated study of the information, and to their attention to the professor's explanation during the lesson. Also, there is no danger to a person's self-esteem.

How can we trick our brains when they start to blame?

Knowing these points, we should be attentive to them when they occur, and not allow them to control us. That's by taking a moment to be with ourselves, thinking completely about the real reasons that led to flop, failure, or low marks, and working to fix this error. If our dereliction is in the daily study, we can set a daily study program. If the problem is severe anxiety in the exam hall, it is better to ask for the advice of a psychiatrist or psychotherapist.

Blaming the teacher or the temperatures will not help us in anything, and will not improve our status. It gives us some temporary psychological relief by vindicating ourselves and blaming external factors, which increases our failure by repeating the same mistakes.

Could the human brain be right in its blame?

Paying attention to the fact that there are some people for whom circumstances are really what prevent them from succeeding. Here the self should not be blamed because it detracts from a person’s self-esteem. Although these cases exist on the ground, they are not the largest proportion. Most of the problems or failures that a person experiences during their life process are liable to change or avoidance, even if they come from external factors. We can handle most of them in a way that makes things work in our favor.

A person cannot eradicate all problems and pitfalls from life, but they can train themselves on how to deal with them. We cannot completely eliminate viruses, germs, and parasites, but we can strengthen the body’s immunity against these pathogens, and search for medicines and drugs for each type of these microbes.

Most people think their memory never fails, and that everything that happens to them is accurately recorded. The truth is exactly the opposite because memory is what the brain manipulates the most. It can be said that memory is a vast and huge playground for the manipulative brain. The brain may cut out many memories that do not fit it or that cause it distress, embarrassment, or pain, in an attempt to maintain its self-esteem and self-respect.

The human brain and memory game:

Many experts in psychology have made it clear that a person's memory is not as good as they expect. Many memories undergo modification, alteration, or even deletion. These memories do not have to be bad in order to undergo alternation. In some cases it is about focus, meaning that the brain is only interested in one thing. The rest of the events around it pass unnoticed as if nothing had happened, or their passage is light. They don't cause enough change or stimulation for brain neurons to be converted into lasting memories.

In conclusion:

We should know that much of what we feel or what we are absolutely sure of may be somehow made up by the brain. The brain works to ignore some events, incidents, or even facts that do not suit its previous practice or its past experiences. It also ignores all matters that are inconsistent with what it believes in, whether religious, intellectual, philosophical, or even scientific. This is what is called in psychology "selective bias". That is, we choose the reasons and justifications that agree with what we want or what we have been raised on in order to convince ourselves of the validity of the actions we do, and the validity of the choices and decisions we make.