Behaviouronomics: Priming

Every perception, no matter if you consciously notice, sets off a chain of related ideas in your neural network. It happens to you all the time, and though you are unaware, it changes the way you behave.

Has it happened to you to that you reached home and while turning off the engine of your car/bike you suddenly realized that you can’t recall when you took the turn right before your house? It’s as if you drove the whole way without consciously realizing. It felt as if someone else was driving while you were lost in your own thoughts.

Some call it ‘muscle memory’. Scientists believe that it’s your subconscious that did the driving while your conscious mind was lost in daydreaming and thinking about other things. The autopilot in you was being controlled by your subconscious. We can pull off tremendous feats in spite of being unaware of how we did it. That’s how powerful our subconscious minds are. But with great power comes great vulnerability too. On one hand, our subconscious serves us so well in carrying out the mundane stuff without taxing our brains and requiring our conscious attention, on the other, it is very suggestible too. Which means your subconscious mind absorbs all sorts of information from your surroundings without your permission and realization. And this information that bypasses your conscious attention and enters your mind from a backdoor, can change the way you make decisions and perceive the world around you.

Don’t believe it?

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