a very interesting phenomenon was observed (OvO).
preface: i have very instinctive and deeply rooted feelings towards someone.
description: upon a (somewhat familiar) event, my brain worked at lightning speed (the heuristics were kinda amazing, not gonna lie) and led me to instantly follow old (very old) patterns of thinking and responses that it was almost like time regressed right within me. i managed to stop myself in time but it was wild seeing myself go through old brain processes like itās a given.
this definitely reflected the way the human brain, under time constraints, utilized/relied almost exclusively on the unconscious heuristics (system 1) trained within it. the longer the particular thinking path has been used (and accepted by system 2, consciously or otherwise), the easier for the brain to adopt it especially under time constraints (without time, system 2 does not go online). left unchecked, this causes some serious illogical thinking that may seem very baffling from an outsiderās perspective, but consider the following analogyā¦
i was gonna write an analogy about walking with closed eyes but realized itās not so necessary - this is just a variation of the method of training by repetition that everyone knows. whatās crucial here is that all these ātrainingsā donāt just happen consciously but so much unconsciously too, like how one treats and reacts to someone. this is demonstrated by the whole open-cage training story (that one).
i could normally have my wits with me and still easily fall down old thinking patterns no matter how illogical they are, if there isnāt enough time for my system 2 to kick in. the same powerful potential of trained reactions can also be crippling when itās something undesirable. this highlights the need to double-check oneās thinking, even just re-iterating how obvious it is, by giving your brain a few seconds to consider your own thought process (waking up system 2).
of course, this is sometimes harder than it sounds and itās good to remember that ego drain is a thing. being constantly on edge and second-guessing your every thought is counter productive as well unless that works for you.