Do you sometimes do things or make decisions that make you think "WTF ?!" afterwards? Perhaps two findings from brain research will help you understand yourself a little better in the future.
People are generally comparatively complicated. We have habits even though we know they are not good for us. We lie to others even though we trust them. We feel dissatisfied even though we are full and healthy and have plenty of reasons to be happy.
So far, nobody has looked so far through that they could always and one hundred percent explain our behavior, thinking or feeling. The brain, as we now know that much thanks to modern sciences like neurology, is in any case incredibly complex and much more blatant and powerful than any computer. And since it has a large part in what we do, think, feel – in short: who we are – it can be assumed that it will be a long time before we understand how exactly we function.
But brain researchers have already been able to find out a bit, e.g. For example, habits are "programmed" in a different part of the brain than language and consciousness, which is why it is sometimes so difficult to explain (or even perceive) them. In addition, our data center seems to follow two basic principles that are likely to play a major role in many of our actions and decisions and that the brain researcher Niels Bierbaumer describes in his book "Your brain knows more than you think" as follows:
- "The brain wants effects that have been assessed as emotionally positive"
- "The brain is open to everything, provided it only has a desired effect"
Now let's look at what that means for our personality.
Two truths about your personality that explain a lot
1. You always strive for happiness and joy
Most of our actions and decisions, if not all of them in the end, are based on one goal: To make us feel good. In order to achieve this, our brain relies largely on empirical values: we repeat what has conveyed positive emotions to us in the past or use it as a guide for new situations.
For example, if we avoid a confrontation and feel comfortable with it because harmony is more important to us and makes us happier than asserting ourselves, we will likely give in to the next. On the other hand, if our evasive maneuvers mainly make us feel under-fed, small and bad, we probably resolve to react differently the next time. Whether we will actually do it and it will work is another question.
Through emotionally positive imprinting, i. H. through positive experiences, our patterns of action, coping strategies, habits and addictions emerge or consolidate – our brain doesn't care what we do as long as we feel good about it. Only when we really fall flat on our approaches will we probably reflect on them and try to change. And the latter works best if we replace them with methods that lead to experiences that are as positive or even better than the old ones as quickly as possible. Otherwise we would have to work against our brain – and as I said: It is more blatant and more powerful than any computer … (by the way, in the following article you will find practical tips on how to change your habits).
2. You never stay the way you are
Once through the self-discovery and done? Sorry, it's not that "easy". According to Biermann, our personality changes throughout our lives as our brain always adapts to the new circumstances around us. Values, standards, priorities – when things change, our brain adapts to them and we react to them. So it can happen that a prudent, considerate person suddenly hamsters in a pandemic. Suddenly it feels better to have lots of toilet paper at home than thinking about others. If you are very dear at 20, you no longer have to be at 40. You may have your habits and values that you always try to be true to, but your willingness to adapt is at least as strong a force and makes you unpredictable – sometimes even to yourself.