NZ Life & Leisure

Why don’t humans always do what they know they should?

THE BRAIN IS OFTEN SPLIT WHEN IT COMES TO PROCESSING INFORMATIO­N, WHICH COULD BE WHY HUMANS DON’T ALWAYS DO WHAT THEY KNOW THEY SHOULD

- WORDS ROSEMARI E WHITE

“I KNOW WHAT I SHOULD DO – I just don’t know why I don’t do it.” It’s the most significan­t issue in healthcare. “Why don’t I take my medication?” “Why am I eating junk food?” “I’ve paid for a gym subscripti­on. Why don’t I go?”

We all know what we should be doing – eating consciousl­y and healthily, exercising regularly, not smoking, cutting back on alcohol, meditating, attending to our dental health, keeping our weight down, taking any medication and maintainin­g a positive mental outlook. So why aren’t we doing all this? Our goals to be fit, active, and free from pain and chronic health conditions are admirable, but our lack of action is bewilderin­g.

Nobel Prize-winner Daniel Kahneman’s book, Thinking Fast and Slow, explains the gap between what people know they should do and what they actually do. The author describes how the brain’s two systems work. System 1 is the fast, automatic, reptilian part; system 2 is slow and methodical. Think of system 1 as the “fast brain” and system 2 as the “slow brain”. The fast brain roughly equates to the unconsciou­s mind and drives 95 per cent of behaviour. Heuristics, or mental shortcuts, are the thoughtles­s, energy-efficient routines that help you save your strength for the difficult questions. That’s where the slow brain comes in. It takes care of the conscious, painful, time-consuming processes. As clever as the slow brain can be, research shows that the fast brain easily dominates it. Our slow brain has only so much capacity and when it’s distracted – with tasks, stress, or lack of sleep – the fast brain takes over. And, generally, the fast brain is not good news for healthy intentions. Think of it as the teenager behind the wheel.

The answer to the question of why we don’t do what we know we should lies in the fastbrain/slow-brain “gap”, the time slot between our ideal behaviour (slow brain) and the mindless habit reversal (most of the time, the fast brain). Alas, our capacity for self-delusion is infinite, especially when it comes to making excuses for lack of progress.

Despite our good intentions, the fast brain still runs the show. The second the slow-brain attention is diverted by tasks requiring mental concentrat­ion, the fast brain falls back into old practices. When possible, the brain makes a behaviour into a habit which saves effort and provides more capacity to deal with complex matters. Habits mean we aren’t always making decisions, weighing choices or prodding ourselves to begin. Life becomes simpler. About 40 per cent of our behaviour is repeated almost daily and in the same context, research suggests. So how do we form habits that serve us well, not add to our ill health?

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