How Your Unconscious Mind Rules Your Behaviour: Leonard Mlodinow at TEDxReset 2013

Summary

In this engaging talk, the speaker explores the concept of the unconscious mind through the lens of social neuroscience, combining social psychology, cognitive psychology, and modern neuroscience. They illustrate how our unconscious processes, such as perception and social interactions, are not direct reflections of reality but are influenced by factors like expectations and beliefs. The speaker uses compelling examples, including visual illusions and the impact of touch, to demonstrate the power of the unconscious in shaping our perceptions and behaviors, challenging the audience to reconsider how much control they have over their decisions.

Takeaways

• 🧠 The 'unconscious' in modern science refers to automatic processes in the brain that are beyond our awareness and control.
• 🤔 Our unconscious mind significantly influences our thoughts, perceptions, feelings, and judgments, thereby affecting our behavior.
• 🚫 The modern view of the unconscious differs from the Freudian or Jungian view, focusing on brain structure rather than repressed emotions.
• 🧪 Social neuroscience is a new field combining social psychology, cognitive psychology, and neuroscience to study how the brain influences social behavior.
• 👀 Our visual perception is not a direct reflection of the data hitting our retina but is constructed by our unconscious mind using context, expectations, and beliefs.
• 🖼️ The context in which we perceive things can dramatically change our interpretation, as shown by the checkerboard illusion.
• 👤 Facial recognition and processing are crucial for social interaction, and our brain's processing of faces is influenced by their orientation, such as upright versus upside down.
• 🎶 Our hearing, like our vision, is also influenced by context, as demonstrated by understanding words in reversed songs when given the lyrics.
• 📈 Physical appearance, such as looking competent, can sway voting decisions, indicating that our social perceptions are not solely based on presented data.
• 🤝 Touch, even subtle, influences social interactions, such as increasing success rates in social propositions or tipping behavior in restaurants.
• 💭 Unconscious processes can affect our judgments and decisions without our awareness, as shown by the experiment with hotel room price estimations.

Q & A

What is the main theme of the experiment described in the transcript?

The main theme of the experiment is to demonstrate the influence of the unconscious mind on perception and decision-making, particularly in the context of social interactions and environmental stimuli.

What is the difference between the modern scientific view of the 'unconscious' and the Freudian or Jungian view?

The modern scientific view of the 'unconscious' refers to automatic processes in the brain that are beyond our awareness and control, whereas the Freudian or Jungian view suggests that the unconscious is hidden due to emotional reasons and can be revealed through introspection or therapy.

What is social neuroscience and how does it combine different fields of study?

Social neuroscience is a relatively new field that combines social psychology, cognitive psychology, and neuroscience, particularly using modern technology like fMRI to image brain activity during thoughts, feelings, perceptions, and decision-making.

How does the unconscious mind process visual data differently from the raw data that hits the retina?

The unconscious mind processes visual data by automatically enhancing clarity, using expectations, desires, beliefs, and context to create a clear and meaningful image from the fuzzy raw data that hits the retina.

What role does context play in the perception of visual stimuli?

Context plays a significant role in perception by influencing how the unconscious mind interprets visual stimuli, as demonstrated by the checkerboard illusion where squares A and B appear different due to the surrounding context, despite being optically identical.

How does facial recognition change when a familiar face like Barack Obama's is presented upside down?

When a familiar face is presented upside down, the brain's facial recognition area, which is evolved to recognize right-side-up faces, does not function as effectively, leading to a distorted perception of the face.

What is an example of how auditory perception is influenced by context?

An example of auditory perception being influenced by context is the Led Zeppelin song played backward, which sounds like gibberish without context, but can be perceived as words when provided with written lyrics to follow along.

What was the result of the political candidate experiment in California regarding perceived competence and voting behavior?

The experiment showed that when the conservative candidate was made to look more competent, they received 58% of the votes, but when they looked less competent, they received only 44%, indicating a significant influence of perceived competence on voting behavior.

How accurate was the prediction of election outcomes based on the perceived competence of candidates' photographs?

The prediction based on the perceived competence of candidates' photographs was correct 70% of the time, suggesting that unconscious biases based on appearance can significantly impact election results.

What is the impact of a light touch on social interactions, as demonstrated by the French experiment?

The French experiment showed that a light touch on the forearm or shoulder increased the success rate of obtaining a phone number from women by doubling it from 10% to 20%, highlighting the subconscious influence of touch in social interactions.

How did the initial question about the hotel room price influence the subsequent estimation of its cost?

The initial question, which asked if the room cost $5,500 or $55 a night, set a context that influenced the subsequent estimation of the room's cost. Group one, starting with the higher price, estimated an average of $1,857, while group two, starting with the lower price, estimated an average of $131.

What is the significance of Carl Jung's quote in the context of the talk?

Carl Jung's quote emphasizes the importance of subliminal aspects in our daily lives, suggesting that while they may seem insignificant, they are the foundational roots of our conscious thoughts, aligning with the talk's theme of unconscious influences on perception and decision-making.