47. Danger, Food, Sex, Movement, Faces, and Stories Get the Most Attention

Here’s what grabs attention the most:

• Anything that moves (for example, video or blinking)• Pictures of human faces, especially if they are looking right at you• Pictures of food, sex, or danger• Stories• Loud noises

You have three brains

The new brain is the conscious, reasoning, logical brain that you think you know best the mid-brain is the part that processes emotions the old brain is the part that is most interested in your survival.

Can I eat it? Can I have sex with it? Will it kill me?

From an evolutionary perspective, the old brain developed first. In fact, that part of our brain is very similar to that of a reptile, which is why some people call it the “reptilian brain.” 

The job of your old brain is to constantly scan the environment and answer the questions: “Can I eat it? Can I have sex with it? Will it kill me?” That’s really all the old brain cares about. When you think about it, this is important. Without food you’ll die, without sex the species won’t survive, and if you’re killed the other two questions don’t matter.

So you can’t resist

What this means is that you just can’t resist noticing food, sex, or danger, no matter how hard you try not to. It’s the old brain working. You don’t necessarily have to do anything once you notice; for example, you don’t have to eat the chocolate cake when you see it, you don’t have to flirt with the attractive woman who walked into the room, and you don’t have to run away from the big, scary guy who walked in the room with the good-looking woman. But you will notice all of those things whether you want to or not.