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Why do we always repeat the same mistakes and how do we solve them? - Voila! health

2023-05-16T04:58:28.040Z

Highlights: The most common mistakes we make are related to patterns of behavior and decision-making that have accompanied us since childhood. The human brain processes unimaginable amounts of information every day, so in order to cope with this enormous mass it has learned throughout evolution to take "shortcuts" Many of the processes that take place in it happen automatically, creating patterns that help to behave in the same way that has worked well so far, more or less consciously. The good news is that the human brain has created ways to circumvent the harmful mechanisms it has created by increasing its cognitive control.


One of the most difficult challenges in the human experience is repeating the same mistakes for years, sometimes even from childhood. Today there are several psychological theories that try to explain why this happens


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The optimists among us tend to say that mistakes should be welcomed, because every mistake we make is merely a life lesson from which we can learn and develop. All this goes well in books and movies, but in life itself, in the real human experience, most of us find ourselves repeating over and over again the same mistakes that have accompanied us in some cases since the first years of our lives.

In many cases, we are even aware of the fact that we behave this way, that we make decisions that harm us and choose to behave in a way that will not advance us but will only harm us more - and yet, something inside us calls us to do exactly the same thing, which will lead to the same pain and disappointment with ourselves and the environment.

The most common mistakes we make are related to patterns of behavior and decision-making that have accompanied us since childhood. It can be anything from serial lateness to various addictions to excessive judgment and frequent fights with people for no particular reason, except by default.

The brain makes decisions automatically, even if inefficiently

To understand why this happens, it's helpful to first take a step back and understand how our brains tend to make routine decisions. Naturally, we will not dive into the complex neurological mechanisms that operate in the brain here, but we will briefly explain that the human brain processes unimaginable amounts of information every day, so in order to cope with this enormous mass it has learned throughout evolution to take "shortcuts". Therefore, many of the processes that take place in it happen automatically, creating patterns that help to behave in the same way that has worked well so far, more or less consciously.

Professor Dan Ariely, an Israeli expert in psychology and behavioral economics, wrote his well-known book on the subject, "Irrational and Not by Accident," which explains how the brain makes decisions automatically, even if they do not really benefit us or benefit our situation. Prof. Pragia Agrawal, herself an expert in data processing and behavioral science, wrote a book with a similar message called Sway: Unravelling Unconscious Bias. In an article she wrote for The Conversation magazine, she sheds more light on this complex topic and also suggests a way out of this frustrating loop.

The adolescent brain (Photo: ShutterStock)

"That's who I am and that's how I'll always be."

Our environment usually seems peaceful, familiar and simple, but in practice, we are all constantly flooded with countless stimuli, small decisions we have to make, tasks we have to perform, thoughts, memories, conversations with people and countless other things that "overload the brain". Therefore, the brain tries to make it easier for itself and filter most of the information to it and drain it into automatic and familiar processes. Therefore, reality as we perceive it is not really objective and even when we think we are making sound and logical decisions, how do we put it gently? This is not always accurate.

When we repeat actions over and over again, even if we know they are mistakes, this is referred to in the psychological literature as "confirmation bias." Simply put, our natural inclination is to take actions and make decisions that confirm our existing beliefs. That is, if we want, for example, to eat a platter of pizza alone, even though we know it will make us feel bad and gain weight, we will still do it because our brain believes that "this is who we are and this is how we will always be."

Which leads us to the question – is it really possible to change this situation or are we all doomed to repeat the same mistakes over and over again until we go crazy? In an interesting study on the subject, they were able to prove that if people have experienced successes in the past, they are more likely to repeat these successful behaviors, but when they are aware of their past failures, they are less likely to reverse the behavior patterns that led to the failure and are unfortunately likely to repeat the same destructive behaviors over and over again.

This is because memories of failures make us feel disappointed, ashamed and a range of negative emotions. At that moment, the brain wants to return to actions that make us feel familiar sensations, even if we know they are harmful. And as we repeat mistakes over and over again, we deepen the neurological patterns associated with them and only find it harder to get out of them. It's a concept known in psychology as the "path of error," and it only gets worse and worse with each mistake that leads to the same outcome.

Regaining control

The good news is that the human brain has ways to circumvent the harmful mechanisms it has created for itself by increasing cognitive control. Some recent studies conducted in recent years show how to do it in a way that is not very complicated.

In these studies, they identified two brain regions that include what experts define as "self-error monitoring neurons." These are areas located within the frontal cortex that are part of a complex sequence of information reprocessing mechanisms. They studied these areas in hopes of better understanding diseases like dementia and Alzheimer's, but these insights also make it possible to understand that these areas can be strengthened to improve self-control and avoid behaviors and actions that are harmful to us.

The best way to do this is simply to understand our mistakes, understand why we make them and what is behind them. True, it's not always an easy thing to do alone, but emotional therapy and awareness-enhancing tools can certainly help. The less shame and guilt we feel every time we make a mistake – and instead look at mistakes as opportunities for growth and growth, the more likely we are to make a lot more mistakes later on – but each time we do, we try to glean new information from it and formulate practical steps to help improve and sharpen judgment and self-control in the future.

  • health
  • psychology

Tags

  • psychology
  • brain

Source: walla

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