Filtered dossier

Hidden Logic

Ideas that behave differently than they look.

  • 6 / 6
  • No visual on file
    Cognitive Bias Entry #1106

    Why you read a stranger’s mind better than your own

    The illusion of transparency makes you overestimate how easily others read your nerves, while you correctly assume you cannot read theirs.

    Novice
    The hidden part #1106

    You are the only person in the room who can feel your pulse; everyone else is guessing.

    Open file
  • No visual on file
    Cognitive Bias Entry #1105

    Why a big note is harder to break than five small ones

    The denomination effect explains why a single large note survives a shopping trip that five small ones would not: breaking it feels like a loss.

    Novice
    The hidden part #1105

    A note is not a sum; it is an object, and spending it feels like breaking it.

    Open file
  • No visual on file
    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
  • No visual on file
    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
  • No visual on file
    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
  • No visual on file
    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