Filtered dossier

Attention & Memory

What the mind keeps, and what it discards without asking.

  • 6 / 6
  • No visual on file
    Attention & Memory Entry #0192

    Why breaking a habit needs a changed context

    A habit is not stored inside the intention. It is stored in the pairing between a setting and a response, which is why the setting has a vote.

    Adept
    The hidden part #0192

    The habit is not held in your resolve. It is held in the room, which is why moving house works better than trying harder.

    Open file
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    Attention & Memory Entry #0191

    The reason you miss the obvious when counting something else

    Attention is not a window that shows whatever stands in front of it. It is a budget, and anything the current task did not request goes unpaid.

    Adept
    The hidden part #0191

    Attention is a budget, not a window. What the task did not request goes unpaid, and the unpaid item leaves no receipt of having been missed.

    Open file
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    Attention & Memory Entry #1104

    Why a glance at your phone costs more than the glance

    Attention residue explains why a glance at your phone costs more than the glance: part of your mind stays on the task you left behind.

    Adept
    The hidden part #1104

    The cost of an interruption is not the minute it takes; it is the part of you that stays behind.

    Open file
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    Attention & Memory Entry #1103

    Why a loud noise warps the timing of what follows

    Temporal recalibration explains why a loud noise warps the timing of what follows: the brain retunes when later sounds seem to occur.

    Adept
    The hidden part #1103

    You do not perceive when a sound happened; you perceive it against a clock that the last few minutes have reset.

    Open file
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    Attention & Memory Entry #1102

    Why a sudden bright flash blinds you to the next one

    The attentional blink is why a sudden bright flash blinds you to the next one: after spotting a first target, the mind is briefly shut to a second.

    Novice
    The hidden part #1102

    Finding one thing briefly closes the door on the next; the second target is not faint, it is unrecorded.

    Open file
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    Attention & Memory Entry #1101

    Why you go deaf to a sound you make yourself

    Sensory attenuation explains why a sound you make yourself seems quieter than the same sound from someone else: the brain predicts and cancels it.

    Novice
    The hidden part #1101

    You do not hear your own footsteps; you hear the world minus a prediction of your own footsteps.

    Open file