The second thing well be focusing on is an effect called anchoring. At the core is that things in the environment can influence you without your conscious knowledge, and occupies a cognitive blind spot. While the effects arent drastic, they are noticeable. As an example, anchoring someone on money makes them behave less ethically. People anchored on money through a simple screensaver of dollar bills in the background helped pick up far fewer pens than the people who werent. When they were asked afterwards, they resisted the idea that they had been influenced at all. It isnt just about money. If you talk about compassion, compassionate behaviour tends to increase. If you hear one side of an idea strongly presented, your opinion on the subject is likely to change slightly. Once again, well have examples and you might be surprised. Its not mind control or anything spooky, but your very rapid (system 1) way of thinking happens so quickly that you wont always know that youve been influenced... unless youre mindful of it. Hence, practical mindfulness.
Posted on: Sat, 25 Jan 2014 23:24:42 +0000