2024-05-03 17:06:05
Photo credit, Tali Sharot
Article information
- Author, Laura Plitt
- Scroll, BBC News World
-
3 hours ago
If you live near the train tracks and they pass every morning at the same time, you probably won’t even hear the noise, which to unaccustomed ears can be disturbing.
The same applies if, for example, you walk into a cafe: as pleasant as the smell of freshly brewed coffee is, the more time you spend there, the more that particular scent will fade until it becomes imperceptible to your sense of smell.
This tendency of our brain to ignore things that are constantly present or that gradually change is known as habituation.
“There is an evolutionary and adaptive reason for this, which is that we need to conserve our resources,” Tali Sharot, professor of cognitive neuroscience at University College London, told BBC Mundo.
“It makes sense to react to something new that you see, smell or feel for the first time, but when following a while you realize that you are still alive and everything is fine, there is no need to respond as much as before.
It is better to save these resources and prepare for the next situation we face,” adds Sharot, co-author of the book Look Again: The Power of Noticing What Was Always There… (in French “Look Again: the power of notice what has always been there).
Transcendence
This mechanism allows, on the one hand, to motivate us to move forward.
Sharot takes the example of a professional situation.
“Think regarding your first entry-level job. You were probably enthusiastic and happy. But if you were still that enthusiastic ten years later, you wouldn’t be as motivated to get promoted.”
captionAddiction allows us to get ahead, for example in working life.
Adaptation – or habituation – also allows us to overcome difficult situations such as losing a job or a loved one.
“It’s good that we get used to it over time, because it allows us to continue to function,” explains the neuroscientist.
“It would be very difficult to feel as angry and sad as you did in the beginning.
But just as it helps us move forward, this tendency to habituate, to stop reacting to situations that become stable, can backfire.
We get so used to it that even if a situation or connection hurts us, we stop seeing it as toxic because it has become a habit and we lack perspective.
This also happens in pleasant situations: over time, we take what happens to us for granted, which reduces the intensity of the emotions that it previously caused.
However, Sharot points out that it is possible to trick your brain into overcoming this natural tendency to get used to things and neglect them.
Take this distance
The trick is simply to take a break, to distance yourself from the situation so that you can look at it later with fresh eyes.
The idea is to make “things stand out, whether they’re good or bad,” says Sharot.
caption Moving away from social media and connecting face-to-face with friends has a positive effect on people
To do this, “you have two options that are related to each other. The first is to take breaks, that is to withdraw from a situation, even for a short time, that “it is a weekend, a few days or longer period, to get used to it to a certain extent and to be able to notice things around you better.”
In his book, Sharot uses the example of our connection with social media, which we feel has a negative impact on us.
“People know they’re causing stress, but they don’t know exactly why and they can’t measure the extent of it and be sure because it’s always there,” he explains.
“What has been found is that when people take a break – say a month – stress goes down and people feel happier.
“If you take a break from everyday life – whether you’re at work, for example moving from one department to another or working on different projects – when you come back, you can see things more clearly, both good and bad,” adds Mr. Sharot.
Good things are better when they are short
Taking a little distance or taking a break when we are in a good moment may seem counterintuitive, but research shows that it increases pleasure, says the neuroscientist.
During one of her investigations, the researcher discovered, for example, that the happiest time during the holiday was at 43 o’clock.
That is, when people have had time to unpack their things and settle down. Then, as the days pass, the pleasure diminishes.
“It’s not that they weren’t happy on the 7th or 8th day, but the happiest times came following 43 hours and then tapered off.”
The same is true when the study participants are asked regarding the best moments of their vacation: the word that comes up most often is “first”: the first time they saw the sea, the first cocktail, the first sandcastle they built on the beach, etc. .
caption Nothing brings so much happiness as the first dip in the sea.
This is why, although we tend to strive for the opposite (thinking that a long leave is the best form of rest, because it completely disconnects us from work), taking a series of short leaves has proven better .
This is because holidays also create expectations.
When Sharot measured happiness before the trip, he found that the day before was the happiest, “because you imagine what the vacation is going to be like. And when it comes, it’s good, but not as good as in your imagination.
In summary, the trick is simple: it consists in stepping away from situations you have become accustomed to, breaking the routine and introducing changes.
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