The Illusion of Rational Control

We human beings, particularly those brought up under the cultural influence of the Abrahamic religions (which means pretty much everyone in Europe, the Americas and the Middle East) generally think that the way we do things is by thinking about what we are going to do and them making a decision. This underpins our whole idea of self, of what we think about other people, how we respect some people and hold others in contempt.

This is an illusion.

Actually what happens is that most of our decisions happen unconsciously. Most of our actions occur without conscious thought. Most of what we think about people is completed before we have started to think about them.

The power of the illusion is so strong that most people you tell this to simply don't believe it. I believe it and yet I don't feel convinced by it, which is an odd feeling to have (I feel the same about free will in that I think the evidence convincingly shows we don't have free will, and I believe the evidence, but it really feels like people have free will).

Today I have had the wonderful opportunity to demonstrate to myself how true this really is. a pipe has a leak in our attic, and so our water is turned off. This hasn't stopped me from needing to use the bathroom, but it does mean that I should not flush the toilet afterwards. I have, however, flushed the toilet more times in this scenario than I have managed not to. When do I notice? At the sound of the water flushing, not at the touch of the handle.

If you are interested in how much of your brain is under rational control it is easy to do an experiment on yourself. There are things that you do everyday in a particular manner that could be done in a different method. You probably button up your clothing starting at the top or bottom, or you probably put on shirts before trousers (or the other way round). Try a week of attempting to remember to do it the other way round. Or, when buying coffee see if you can realize when you decided what you would order.