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Overview

Similarly, if you see someone who needs help in a crowd, remember that people often ignore them. They don’t want to get involved or they assume someone else will help. So be the one to take action yourself and save that person’s life. Humans are not rational creatures like we think we are; rather, we have many irrational tendencies that influence our thinking and actions without us realizing it. This book is about celebrating those irrationalities with the latest psychology research so you can better understand yourself and others around you.

Do you believe that you’re an open-minded person? You may not be, and in this article, we’ll show you why.

Most people think they are more popular than you.

You’ll find out why, surprisingly, it’s actually safer to have your car break down on a quiet country road than in the middle of a city. You’ll also learn that you should never take off your clothes for anyone who calls you and claims to be a police officer.

Big Idea #1: We tend to think that things happen for a reason and that we can control them.

It would be nice to believe that we see the world as it really is, but in fact, nothing could be further from the truth. We constantly delude ourselves about coincidences and other random happenings because they don’t make sense to us.

We make sense of the world around us through order, which is essential for survival. Ancient man was able to find food and distinguish enemies from friends in this way.

Because of this, we have evolved to look for patterns in the world around us. We are constantly looking out for new information and making connections between things. This is a part of our human nature that we can’t change. As a result, it’s easy to see patterns where there aren’t any (especially when you’re tired).

Have you ever noticed that a certain number keeps appearing during your day? For example, seven. Have you ever wondered why this is so? Or what if there was a blind date between two people who have the same name as each other’s mother and father – would this make them fall in love with each other?

The number seven is very common. There are many other people who share your mother’s name, and they’re all just coincidences. We see meaning where there is none because we want to find it.

Studies have shown that people believe they can predict the outcomes of random situations, even though those outcomes are completely random. For example, people who feel powerful think they can control die rolls when the outcome is actually controlled by chance.

Research shows that we all engage in magical thinking, like crossing our fingers when we wish for something to happen. We want to believe we can control the uncontrollable.

Big Idea #2: We often make up stories to explain our decisions and feelings.

How did you develop a love for music or movies? What are some of your favorite songs and movies? Why do they mean so much to you?

It’s difficult to explain the reasons behind our actions and feelings. We often fabricate explanations for them, especially if we’re asked why we feel a certain way or make a particular decision. That’s because most of what goes on in our minds isn’t actually conscious—we don’t know how our thoughts are formed, and therefore can only guess about their origins. The same thing happens with memory: when we remember an event from the past, we only recall some details; others are filled in by the brain to create continuity between events. This explains why memories change over time: they become more detailed as they’re recalled again and again, creating new versions that sometimes contradict earlier ones.