{"id":3500,"date":"2011-03-22T16:15:52","date_gmt":"2011-03-22T16:15:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/monochromist.com\/2011\/03\/22\/the-human-brain-has-evolved-to-be-very-efficient\/"},"modified":"2011-03-22T16:15:52","modified_gmt":"2011-03-22T16:15:52","slug":"the-human-brain-has-evolved-to-be-very-efficient","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/monochromist.com\/notes\/2011\/03\/22\/the-human-brain-has-evolved-to-be-very-efficient\/","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"

The human brain has evolved to be very efficient at pattern recognition, but as the confirmation bias shows, we are focused on finding and confirming patterns rather than minimizing our false conclusions. Yet we needn\u2019t be pessimists, for it is possible to overcome our prejudices. It is a start simply to realize that chance events, too, produce patterns. It is another great step if we learn to question our perceptions and our theories. Finally, we should learn to spend as much time looking for evidence that we re wrong as we spend searching for reasons we are correct.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Mlodinow, Leonard<\/strong>. The Drunkard\u2019s Walk: How Randomness Rules Our Lives<\/em>. New York: vintage Books, 2008. (via carvalhais<\/a>)<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The human brain has evolved to be very efficient at pattern recognition, but as the confirmation bias shows, we are focused on finding and confirming patterns rather than minimizing our false conclusions. Yet we needn\u2019t be pessimists, for it is possible to overcome our prejudices. It is a start simply to realize that chance events, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"quote","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[159],"class_list":["post-3500","post","type-post","status-publish","format-quote","hentry","category-video_graphics","tag-man-machine","post_format-post-format-quote"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5sGHy-Us","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3862,"url":"https:\/\/monochromist.com\/notes\/2011\/03\/05\/ekstasis-alan-turings-patterns-in-nature-and\/","url_meta":{"origin":3500,"position":0},"title":"ekstasis: Alan Turing\u2019s Patterns in\u2026","author":"monochromist","date":"March 5, 2011","format":"gallery","excerpt":"ekstasis: Alan Turing\u2019s Patterns in Nature, and Beyond | Wired Science | Wired.com \u2026At the heart of any Turing pattern is a so-called reaction-diffusion system. It consists of an \u201cactivator,\u201d a chemical that can make more of itself; an \u201cinhibitor,\u201d that slows production of the activator; and a mechanism for\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "motion"","block_context":{"text":"motion","link":"https:\/\/monochromist.com\/notes\/category\/video_graphics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/monochromist.com\/notes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/tumblr_lhf0zePsFV1qz9ppso1_1280.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1492,"url":"https:\/\/monochromist.com\/notes\/2013\/07\/15\/our-hunger-for-meaningful-patterns-translates-into\/","url_meta":{"origin":3500,"position":1},"title":"Our hunger for meaningful patterns\u2026","author":"monochromist","date":"July 15, 2013","format":"quote","excerpt":"Our hunger for meaningful patterns translates into a hunger for story. Gottschall, Jonathan. The Storytelling Animal, How Stories Make Us Human. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2012. (via carvalhais)","rel":"","context":"In "motion"","block_context":{"text":"motion","link":"https:\/\/monochromist.com\/notes\/category\/video_graphics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1470,"url":"https:\/\/monochromist.com\/notes\/2013\/07\/16\/tweets-posted-from-mobile-phones-around-male-area\/","url_meta":{"origin":3500,"position":2},"title":"tweets posted from mobile phones around Male’ area reveal geographic usage patterns","author":"monochromist","date":"July 16, 2013","format":"link","excerpt":"tweets posted from mobile phones around Male' area reveal geographic usage patterns","rel":"","context":"In "motion"","block_context":{"text":"motion","link":"https:\/\/monochromist.com\/notes\/category\/video_graphics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4445,"url":"https:\/\/monochromist.com\/notes\/2011\/02\/05\/folksonomy-fleshmap-studies-of-desire\/","url_meta":{"origin":3500,"position":3},"title":"Folksonomy | Fleshmap: Studies of\u2026","author":"monochromist","date":"February 5, 2011","format":"gallery","excerpt":"Folksonomy | Fleshmap: Studies of Desire \u201cFleshmap is an inquiry into human desire, its collective shape and individual expressions. In a series of studies, we explore the relationship between the body and its visual and verbal representation. Touch investigates the collective perception of erogenous zones. We asked hundreds of people\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "motion"","block_context":{"text":"motion","link":"https:\/\/monochromist.com\/notes\/category\/video_graphics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/monochromist.com\/notes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/tumblr_lg4kb6Uej51qzsz45o1_1280.gif?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4842,"url":"https:\/\/monochromist.com\/notes\/2009\/10\/09\/q-so-wheres-the-war-or-art-there-a-they-are\/","url_meta":{"origin":3500,"position":4},"title":"Q: So where\u2019s the war\u2026","author":"monochromist","date":"October 9, 2009","format":"quote","excerpt":"Q: So where\u2019s the war or art there? A: They are ways of generating, wasting or displacing forces, just like weather, with the exception that they insist on the vanity of purposefulness. They speed it up. These forces are contained in the predispositions of organised matter, that is to say\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "motion"","block_context":{"text":"motion","link":"https:\/\/monochromist.com\/notes\/category\/video_graphics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2934,"url":"https:\/\/monochromist.com\/notes\/2012\/03\/04\/raestarsanddarknights-kokaa-avi-the-dhivehi\/","url_meta":{"origin":3500,"position":5},"title":"raestarsanddarknights: Kokaa avi\u00a0: The dhivehi\u2026","author":"monochromist","date":"March 4, 2012","format":"gallery","excerpt":"raestarsanddarknights: Kokaa avi\u00a0: The dhivehi word for the pretty shadows created by various flora, particularly patterns formed by leaves, by the sunlight shining on them.\u00a0The term kokaa ali directly translates to butterfly light. A peculiar but somehow instantly appealing phrase. \u00a0","rel":"","context":"In "motion"","block_context":{"text":"motion","link":"https:\/\/monochromist.com\/notes\/category\/video_graphics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/monochromist.com\/notes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/tumblr_m00dr1HA9h1rqy29ro1_r1_1280.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/monochromist.com\/notes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3500","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/monochromist.com\/notes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/monochromist.com\/notes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/monochromist.com\/notes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/monochromist.com\/notes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3500"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/monochromist.com\/notes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3500\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/monochromist.com\/notes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3500"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/monochromist.com\/notes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3500"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/monochromist.com\/notes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3500"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}