Jumping To Conclusions

It's worse than a bad habit...

Wait a Minute, it Makes me Special

Well I’m back again but far away from a commitment to a steady schedule. I only plan to write when I am inspired to explore something with all of you.

Way back when, I occasionally explored one of the things that makes humans (homo sapiens) UNUSUAL — I am not willing to commit to special :) We are all wedded to a belief system, I just happen to be attentive to allowing mine to evolve. I’m sure I am more rigid than I imagine. Nevertheless, it starts with an internal invocation to be flexible in my thoughts and open to new evidence.

When I began thinking about jumping to conclusions, I immediately thought about one of the special features / bugs of being human. I think we evolved from other creatures into something very special unusual. Our primitive brains lie in the back. Their best attribute is they are quick to judgement. They can keep us safe in the moment, knowing to step back from the curb when an absent minded driver is hurtling toward us. I am thankful there is no chain of thought decision tree required in our frontal cortex to weigh the pros and cons of retreating a few steps.

A few Google Scholar searches tell me that making this decision with our cortex likely cuts my life expectancy — our front brains is cool but AWFULLY slow. So I accept that back primitive brain is USEFUL — especially when a quick decision is needed.

Let’s Discuss

So instead of my long-winded meanderings, let’s discuss if the topic is interesting? I can always expand the topic in the future if anyone cares about it. I ended up with some time to consider this today because a minor surgery for Denny (the dog) got rescheduled.

Jumping to conclusions is probably baked into our dual brain existence. The reasons and methods why it happens are described in the chart at the top. I sure wish I did it less. I think being aware it is a thing is the first step to doing it less.

The Poll

Please have some FUN! I cannot view your votes. I just see the results like you. The only way I get to know how you voted is if you ARE SO EXCITED you share in the comments. That is the best IMO.