Our brains generally have two hallucinations, one is that we think our control is stronger than the actual situation. We feel that life is in control, we have our own plans, and we must do whatever we want. But in fact, you are often disguised by fate: if you get a disease, you may have to let go of all other things; if you meet someone, it will change the direction of your life. So, we always feel that we have strong control.
Another type is what kind of person we think we are, which is also an illusion. You think you are a noble person, you think you are an amazing person, you think you are a perseverance, you think you are a moral person, but it may not be. This is the definition we ourselves give ourselves.
In fact, there is one thing that is very important: There is no CEO in your brain. The reason we feel that we are me is because something controls me.
In fact, our brain is composed of many small modules of consciousness. What do these small modules include? There are about seven most important modules, all of which are related to primitive society, including self-protection modules, modules that attract spouses, modules that preserve spouses, modules that establish friendly relationships, modules that care for relatives, modules that maintain social status and modules that prevent diseases. These seven modules are the lowest-level modules in our minds that maintain our survival.
Who do you think is the CEO? It's not certain that these modules are not seven independent areas, but are combined in various strange ways. Sometimes this module prevails, and then that module prevails. Sometimes several modules work together.
To give an example, you will know that you can't control yourself at all. For example, there is a word called discount rate. The discount rate is like how long do you want to get it if you have a fixed amount of money? If you get it later, I will give you more money. This tests a person's patience and delays satisfaction.
People found that in economics class, when these students were asked to choose the discount rate, they only needed to show a photo of a beautiful girl to some of them. The beauty didn't come, and just showed you a photo, and the patience of these people would be greatly reduced. He will choose this money I will get earlier, and give it to me in the future. I don’t want it, but I want what I am now. Although there are fewer now, I want what is now.
Why? It was before you, if you hadn't seen the photo of this beauty, you might have more patience to wait for it to cash out more of that day. As soon as you see the photos of the beautiful girl, your patronage is reduced, because your courting module appears and your courting module begins to control you.
also includes two options after watching the movie: one is a square, a lively place, and the other is a back street and alley, a very quiet place. What does it depend on which path people take? It all depends on the content of the movie you are watching. You find that as long as you watch a romantic movie, it is beautiful, happy and romantic, and everyone who comes out takes the path and thinks that this kind of place is easy to encounter love. Then, when you come out of the horror movie, you will go to the square and the crowded places because of fear.
You feel that there is a CEO in your mind, something controlling your ideas, you are such a person, that person, and the external environment changes little by little, and your choices change.
So, we need to understand that our brains are controlled by these modules, rather than having a fixed CEO.
OK, this is why we know why people should do meditation, mindfulness , and correct concentration, seeking the path of enlightenment to reduce self-deception.
David Hume once said: Human reason is the slave of passion. It is actually an illusion that people always feel that they are in control of the situation, because our reason is a slave to passion. If you make rational decisions completely in your life, you can't even make any decisions.
If you buy a piece of clothing, you say, I will judge it with a pure rationality. Okay, how can you study whether this clothing is cost-effective or not? You have to calculate all this thing clearly. This is an economics topic and you can't buy it at all. Therefore, only impulse can make decisions. So "people are slaves of passion."
