Mad River Behavioral Health

 Optical illusions exploit the way our brains process visual information, leading to a perception that doesn't match the actual reality. Here's how they work: 1. Brain's Interpretation: Our brains constantly try to make sense of the world around us. They use past experiences, assumptions, and shortcuts to interpret visual input quickly. 2. Conflicting Cues: Optical illusions present conflicting or ambiguous visual cues. This could involve lines, shapes, colors, or shadows arranged in a way that tricks the brain. 3. Misinterpretation: The brain, trying to reconcile these conflicting cues, makes an interpretation that is incorrect, resulting in a distorted or illusory perception. Types of Illusions:  * Ambiguous Figures: Images that can be perceived in multiple ways, like the famous "My Wife and My Mother-in-Law" illusion.  * Distorting Illusions: Illusions that distort our perception of size, length, or shape, such as the Müller-Lyer illusion.  * Paradoxical Illusi...

  Is Our Intuition Trustworthy  We all have a negativity bias that causes us to notice and process negative information more than positive information. As a result we tend to over-emphasize risk / danger when there is none present.  This isn’t a bad thing, but it is important to be aware of. We may make some bad decisions in situations that really matter if we fly by intuition alone.   Intuition is the combination of our subconscious interacting with our current perceptions and tilted by our negativity bias - a stew of inaccuracies. Confirmation bias provides the “proof” that our intuitions are accurate by recalling the very few times when we didn’t listen to our gut and got burned, but confirmation bias ignores the vast number of times in which we ignored our intuitions and everything worked out really well.  A very few super talented people can use intuition effectively because their intuition is absolutely packed with a shit ton of evidence, knowledge, and ...