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Why are some people great at solving complex puzzles in games (both real and digital) while others tend to stumble in the dark unless clear instructions are put in front of them? (There's no category for Psychology related questions of the human brain)(self)

14 points13 points16 points submitted by [deleted]

wendolynne 4 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 0 fun5 insightful - 1 fun 4 years ago

A few years back I read a book by some sort of brain scientist, I forget the details, but their research showed that people start with the conclusion and then they look for supporting evidence, although they believe the opposite - that they have arrived at the conclusion after weighing the evidence. This is due to the bio-mechanical structure of our brains, that's how the mechanism works, the neural pathways and such. Once a position is taken, people will posit and believe all sorts of unrealistic scenarios to support their position, tolerating high levels of cognitive dissonance, resisting changing their minds as long as they can hold out. Sorry I don't have a link, it was an interesting book.

edit: I think this is the book: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/522525.Mistakes_Were_Made_But_Not_by_Me_

magnora7 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun 4 years ago

Yeah I think as long as it's emotionally easier to hold on to an old belief, then that belief will generally be held on to.

The emotion of the new idea has to overwhelm the emotion of defending the status quo. That's why people who are very egoistic often have to get in to fights before they even consider changing their mind.