“10 Weird Tricks Your Mind Plays on Your (Life-Changing)!”

Ten weird tricks your mind plays on you. These all add up to smart tips for an easier life. We humans don't like to hear it, but our minds aren't nearly as brilliant and razor-sharp as we'd like them to be. Much of our perception operates at the level of the subconscious mind, and this we cannot control. It is certain key stimuli that our brain literally jumps on, and it does so without our knowledge. Some of these tricks and dodges are well known to us. Still others are likely to amaze even those of us who have already studied the workings of our minds in some detail. Today we present to you the ten most interesting phenomena that we’re all more or less at the mercy of, every day.

1. Hoping for the good, expecting the bad.

A pessimistic attitude is exhausting and makes us frustrated and moody in the long run, but it also has a decisive advantage: Bad news hits us less hard if we have already expected it. In addition, it happens again and again that the bad outcome doesn’t materialize and we are pleasantly surprised in the end.

2. The placebo effect.

We have known this helpful trick for a very long time, although we don’t know who originally invented it. However, the first proponent and advocate was none other than the Greek philosopher Plato. He had already recognized that encouraging words and confidence can have a positive effect on the healing process of the sick. Conventional medicine then took a narrower definition of the term and understood it to mean the administration of a placebo which, although it has no pharmaceutical effect on patients, is intended to give them the secure feeling that their complaints will improve quickly and reliably. So what the placebo effect is really all about is hope, confidence and the trust that you will get the help you need.

3. Nice appearance - good opinion.

This is where the so-called halo effect comes in. It goes hand in hand with the power of first impressions. Because if the initial impression is a positive one, we’ll continue to see this person in a particularly bright light and it’s hard to convince us otherwise. In contrast to the first overall impression, with the halo effect usually only one detail of getting to know someone remains in positive memory. For example, we appreciate the perfectly formed manners, the well-groomed appearance, or the winning smile so much that we conclude from this highly superficial and one-dimensional snapshot that the person is good on the whole.

4. Always remain optimistic.

Yes, optimism is also a survival strategy that our brain has trained itself to use in the course of evolution. We believe in the good much more often than it actually happens. Those times when our hopes were not dashed and the power of positive thinking asserted itself stick in our minds, however, and we are believers.

5. The investment effect and its pitfalls.

Why do we maintain relationships that no longer offer us anything emotionally? Why do we find it difficult to hang up jobs when we have long since reached the glass ceiling and every other ceiling as well? The answer to both questions is provided to us by the Investment Effect, also called the Irreversible or Sunk Cost Effect. We mainly see how much money, time and energy we have invested in these engagements that we will never get back. If we leave now, these investments were for nothing, because we won't get anything out of it at all.

6. First impression - lasting impression.

This phenomenon is called the anchoring effect in modern psychology. The first image of a person remains so deeply entrenched in our minds that it becomes difficult to revise it over time, even if we have infallible facts to back it up.

7. Self-deception through self-affirmation.

No one likes to be wrong. However, we humans have a particularly practical mindset at the ready to avoid admitting a mistake, at least to ourselves. We benefit from the ability of selective perception and the fading out of arguments that are unconvincing. We cling to an opinion once it has been formed by backing it up afterwards. This technique would be tantamount to outright fraud in real life, as evidence is simply retroactively tailored to the desired outcome. But our minds would rather hold to one idea, once it’s formed, than admit error.

8. The pretty words effect.

This tactic, also called the framing effect, is the supreme discipline of the billion-dollar fields of advertising, marketing and PR. The more unctuously a product is described and glossed over, the more critically consumers should naturally question it. But we do not. If a finished product says 30 percent less fat on the appealing packaging, we grab it. But we don't do any research to find out how much fat is actually still in the product. Even phrases like "now even more" could, strictly speaking, mean anything and nothing at all.

9. Programmed for negativity.

It sounds like a contradiction in terms, but even a negative basic attitude has advantages for us. However, these lie back in a time when existence was a daily struggle for survival. Negative experiences therefore stick longer and better in our minds, so that when we find ourselves in a similar situation again, we can access them more quickly and escape the impending disaster in time.

10. The backfire effect.

Most people find it difficult to revise an opinion once it has been formed. If, however, arguments are fired at us from all sides to dissuade us from doing so, we shoot back mentally and verbally. This is where the backfire effect gets its name. We literally defend our view of things with force. By the way, this also comes into play when advertising and the like want to push a certain product particularly aggressively, or when a book, a film or a new brand is to be launched with huge fanfare and take our purchasing power by storm. The more positive and exuberant something is presented, the more critically we should question ourselves.

Today’s Conclusion:

Sensory deception with special benefits. The ten effects described here have one thing in common: The bottom line is that they are to our advantage. Our mind has developed and perfected them in the course of human evolution in order to equip the survival of the human species with a safety net. Even those deceptions that seem like a disadvantage at first glance, such as when first impressions turn out to be wrong, always have an advantage to offer someone. In the case of the anchoring effect, for example, the newcomer benefits by being accepted more quickly by the group and welcomed into its protective midst. Most of the time, we are equal parts victim and perpetrator. The framing effect, for example, may sometimes play tricks on us, but at least as often we help ourselves to it by using the power of fine words to get where we want to go. So in matters of perception, understanding and finding knowledge, it will probably be the same as with all areas of our lives: Nature does not make mistakes. This is an accepted truth and definitely not a deception.