**No, really.**
If you remember that dress, then you'll already be familiar with how our brains can deceive us.
Optical illusions are compelling examples, but they're also just the tip of the iceberg.
It's not hard for our brain to be absolutely convinced of something utterly inaccurate, even when the facts are right in front of us
You'll be forgiven for thinking that square A is darker than B, after all, A belongs to the darker half of the checker pattern on the board.
In reality both are the exact same colour.
Even with this pointed out, I bet your brain is still struggling to believe that they are the same.
Watch the video.
The cylinder's shadow creates an illusion of lightness on square B.
Even when you've seen proof that the two are same, your brain has a very hard time believing it to be so because it's predisposed to interpret visual information in set ways. Ways that aren't always accurate.
In this instance our System 2 (analytical) brain is overruled by our System 1 brain (intuitive).
No one is immune to the tricks and trade-offs of the brain
In an experiment, a group of doctors are given a hypothetical patient. The patient has been referred for a hip replacement due to pain and inflammation, and is already in the processes of pre-op consultancy.
The doctors are told that they suddenly realise they missed testing one drug to treat the problem, which could avoid the hip replacement.
They are asked whether they:
a) Pull the patient back from pre-op, halt the process, and test the new drug
b) Let them carry on with the surgery now that wheels are in motion
As we would hope, the majority of doctors pull the patient back to test the drug.
The experiment is repeated, and the doctors are told they failed to test not just one, but two drugs.
Now, the majority of doctors in the group opt to let the patient continue on their treatment pathway, despite the increase in chance of a non-surgical solution.
Assuming that the majority of doctors aren't wilfully lazy or egotistical in how they treat their patients, why are they more likely to opt to continue with the surgery route in the second scenario?
Again, System 1, the intuitive brain, is at work. The complexity of the situation has grown exponentially in the second experiment.
It now includes not only significantly more time and effort, but a risk of greater embarrassment at having missed out two drugs, rather than one.
The doctors won't realise it, but their decision here is being steered by our brain's aversion to complexity - an emotional, rather than analytical response.
