Inattentional Blindness

I became curious as to why we stop noticing the world around us. I came across an article, in Psychology Today written by Dr. Alan Castel, in it, he said: “We often don't notice things unless we focus and are present.”  Here are a few good demonstrations.  Count the numbers of F’s in the following passage: Finished Files Are the Result Of Years of Scientific Study Combined With the Experience Of Years. I tried this little experiment on Facebook; a few of my friends responded.  Most people counted two or three (in words Finished Files and scientiFic).  But there are 6 F’s. I counted four!  There’s a name for this phenomenon. It's called inattentional blindness, and it's what happens when you encounter something in a place you aren't at all expecting. No matter how strange, blatant, or eye-catching it is, our brains just don't want to notice things where we don't think they belong. Inattentional blindness explains why I could drive by a strip club on a primarily residential street in Bridgeport CT and not notice it. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/derek-oxley/support