๐๐๐๐ป๐พ๐๐๐ถ๐๐พ๐๐ ๐ท๐พ๐ถ๐: the tendency of people to favor information that confirms or strengthens their beliefs or values and is difficult to dislodge once affirmed.ย
A friend of mine shared this great story a while back that involved a unicorn and the color purple and as a result for some time after I kept seeing unicorns and the color purple everywhere. Sometimes even purple unicorns. She had unknowingly primed my brain. It was a great reminder that our brains function like a programmable filter that is strung together based on our past experiences. They unconsciously filter our current and future realities reinforcing that filter.
These brain-filter systems (which are based on the past) reinforce our biases, our unique visions and versions of reality, and our belief systems.ย This is often super evident with the very religious.ย If Iโm thinking purple Iโm way more likely to keep seeing purple.
Itโs an ancient adaptive survival function that helped our ancestors stay safe: as an example if the ancient mind could remember to be aware (when it saw the color of a particular fruit) or cautious (when it heard the sound of a particular predator), it was more likely to survive when it came across the fruit or faced that predator again.
So now, the more we see or experience something be it personal success or the color purple (the more weโre primed for it) the more likely we are to see and experience more of it. And unfortunately, it works the other way around as well, the more we are primed to see or experience environmental conditions that are non-supportive or productive (like I canโt trust anyone or nobody loves me) the more likely we are to see and experience more of those as well. Itโs where the concept of confirmation bias comes from and why researchers have to conduct research in double or triple blind studies. Because weโre aware and have measured how much people will influence outcomes based on their beliefs and expectations.
The good news is that if we can be more aware of this neurological filtration system we can program it to filter more of what we want to see and experience and less of what we donโt want.ย If Iโm aware that my mindโs filter is programmed to over-focus on my failures as opposed to my achievements (which Iโd venture to guess is a lot of people) then I can re-prime or re-focus it to see and experience more of what I want which will reinforce my future potential to experience more of what I want which will become a self-perpetuating path to expand my achievements.
The other thing with priming (and this actually relates to my last two videos) is how we prime ourselves or are primed to experience other people. If Iโm primed to experience my mother, as an example, as nagging, or my partner as overbearing, or Donald Trump as a hero, then Iโm more likely to see and experience those dynamics in them.ย It doesnโt mean they donโt exist. It just means that overtime I will become more and more heightened in sensitivity and awareness to them. And it becomes a self-fulfilling neuro feedback loop that ultimately can do a lot of harm in a relationship. Preventing me from seeing people more completely.