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Deceitfulness - Selective Attention

author: buildontherock

published: 2017-08-29

The theory behind selective attention is that we cannot consciously attend to all of our sensory input at the same time. This creates a bottleneck and our minds have to choose which material to allow through the bottleneck.

Selective Attention

There are several places to investigate this subject on the internet for example simplypsychology.org or verywell.com but once again I will pick on the Truth About Deception site.

We never take in the world as it is. Rather we are very selective about the things we notice and to which we give our attention. Most of the world passes us by with little awareness or thought (for review of research on selective attention, see Fiske and Taylor). Think for a moment about all of the insects that are in your immediate environment. Do you notice the spider in the corner of the room? Or the ant crawling across the floor? Probably not. People pay attention to certain events while ignoring others. And there are big differences in what individuals pay attention to. Have you ever spent an evening with entomologist (person who studies bugs)? If you have, you would quickly realize that insects are everywhere and that most people simply ignore them. Or have you ever bought a new car only to suddenly discover it everywhere you go?Truth About DeceptionSelective AttentionTruth About DeceptionWEB06 February, 2011

Depending on our personal focus in life the world looks very different. It is very important for us to realize that none of us see the world as it actually is. We blank out most of what is going on around us and focus on the relatively small circle of things that capture our attention.

2 Samuel 12:1-9 (KJV)¹ And the LORD sent Nathan unto David. And he came unto him, and said unto him, There were two men in one city; the one rich, and the other poor. ² The rich man had exceeding many flocks and herds: ³ But the poor man had nothing, save one little ewe lamb, which he had bought and nourished up: and it grew up together with him, and with his children; it did eat of his own meat, and drank of his own cup, and lay in his bosom, and was unto him as a daughter. ⁴ And there came a traveller unto the rich man, and he spared to take of his own flock and of his own herd, to dress for the wayfaring man that was come unto him; but took the poor man's lamb, and dressed it for the man that was come to him. ⁵ And David's anger was greatly kindled against the man; and he said to Nathan, As the LORD liveth, the man that hath done this thing shall surely die: ⁶ And he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity. ⁷ And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man. Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul; ⁸ And I gave thee thy master's house, and thy master's wives into thy bosom, and gave thee the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would moreover have given unto thee such and such things. ⁹ Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the LORD, to do evil in his sight? thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon.

Are the rest of us immune to this behaviour? David noticed the problem of greed when it applied to sheep but not when it applied to attractive women. We find in our society that people are very vociferous on their pet peeves: homosexuality, abortion, premarital sex etc. but they don't notice that in the same Bible it speaks about unclean meats or the Sabbath. Christ warned us:

Matthew 23:24-26, 28 (KJV)²⁴ Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel. ²⁵ Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. ²⁶ Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also. ²⁸ Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.

Selective attention falls into a group with other selectives like:

Selective exposure: people find a way to hide themselves from information that they do not want to receive. I am not discussing this with X because I know what they will say. Has anyone here ever done that? Naaah.

Selective attention: people hear only what they want to hear. It is amazing that people will pick out their names in a random conversation even when they are concentrating on something else. If guilty raise your hand.

Selective comprehension or perception: people will see or understand things the way they want to see. How many times have people had to say, but I didnt mean it that way to us.

Selective distortion: people twist information to conform to their self-image or their perception of reality. The story that starts out as one thing changes dramatically by supposedly well intentioned people, by the time it returns.

Selective retention: people remember only what they want to remember. We may not remember to go to the gym but would we remember if someone is taking us to dinner at our favourite eating place?

The senses deceive from time to time, and it is prudent never to trust wholly those who have deceived us even once Rene Descartes quotes (French Mathematician, Philosopher and Scientist, 1596-1650)

How much confidence do you have in yourself?

We have explored the problem of selective awareness. But the problem is further compounded. Not only do we filter out the things that we don't want to know but those that we allow though we distort to suit our self image. We explore this next in Do you actually know or just believe?

the gorilla-suit experiment

Based on some old notes that I have I was introduced to this through an article by Chris Bertram

Chris BertramWhat we don’t notice…Out of the CROOKED TIMBER of Humanity, no straight thing was ever made https://crookedtimber.org/2004/05/06/what-we-dont-notice/ May 6, 2004

The article speaks of an experiment where a basketball video was shown to subjects but because they were told to look for something specific they never noticed the gorilla that was dancing in the video.

Christopher Chabris and Daniel Simonsthe Invisible Gorilla the Invisible Gorilla http://theinvisiblegorilla.com/gorilla_experiment.html last accessed Oct. 2020

It is worth checking out the experiment for yourself.

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	Deceitfulness - Selective Attention
	author: buildontherock published: 2017-08-29
	The theory behind selective attention is that we cannot consciously attend to all of our sensory input at the same time. This creates a bottleneck and our minds have to choose which material to allow through the bottleneck. More Deceitfulness Articles Selective Attention There are several places to investigate this subject on the internet for example simplypsychology.org or verywell.com but once again I will pick on the Truth About Deception site. We never take in the world as it is. Rather we are very selective about the things we notice and to which we give our attention. Most of the world passes us by with little awareness or thought (for review of research on selective attention, see Fiske and Taylor). Think for a moment about all of the insects that are in your immediate environment. Do you notice the spider in the corner of the room? Or the ant crawling across the floor? Probably not. People pay attention to certain events while ignoring others. And there are big differences in what individuals pay attention to. Have you ever spent an evening with entomologist (person who studies bugs)? If you have, you would quickly realize that insects are everywhere and that most people simply ignore them. Or have you ever bought a new car only to suddenly discover it everywhere you go?Truth About DeceptionSelective AttentionTruth About DeceptionWEB06 February, 2011 Depending on our personal focus in life the world looks very different. It is very important for us to realize that none of us see the world as it actually is. We blank out most of what is going on around us and focus on the relatively small circle of things that capture our attention. 2 Samuel 12:1-9 (KJV)¹ And the LORD sent Nathan unto David. And he came unto him, and said unto him, There were two men in one city; the one rich, and the other poor. ² The rich man had exceeding many flocks and herds: ³ But the poor man had nothing, save one little ewe lamb, which he had bought and nourished up: and it grew up together with him, and with his children; it did eat of his own meat, and drank of his own cup, and lay in his bosom, and was unto him as a daughter. ⁴ And there came a traveller unto the rich man, and he spared to take of his own flock and of his own herd, to dress for the wayfaring man that was come unto him; but took the poor man's lamb, and dressed it for the man that was come to him. ⁵ And David's anger was greatly kindled against the man; and he said to Nathan, As the LORD liveth, the man that hath done this thing shall surely die: ⁶ And he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity. ⁷ And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man. Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul; ⁸ And I gave thee thy master's house, and thy master's wives into thy bosom, and gave thee the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would moreover have given unto thee such and such things. ⁹ Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the LORD, to do evil in his sight? thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon. Are the rest of us immune to this behaviour? David noticed the problem of greed when it applied to sheep but not when it applied to attractive women. We find in our society that people are very vociferous on their pet peeves: homosexuality, abortion, premarital sex etc. but they don't notice that in the same Bible it speaks about unclean meats or the Sabbath. Christ warned us: Matthew 23:24-26, 28 (KJV)²⁴ Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel. ²⁵ Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. ²⁶ Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also. ²⁸ Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. Selective attention falls into a group with other selectives like: Selective exposure: people find a way to hide themselves from information that they do not want to receive. I am not discussing this with X because I know what they will say. Has anyone here ever done that? Naaah. Selective attention: people hear only what they want to hear. It is amazing that people will pick out their names in a random conversation even when they are concentrating on something else. If guilty raise your hand. Selective comprehension or perception: people will see or understand things the way they want to see. How many times have people had to say, but I didnt mean it that way to us. Selective distortion: people twist information to conform to their self-image or their perception of reality. The story that starts out as one thing changes dramatically by supposedly well intentioned people, by the time it returns. Selective retention: people remember only what they want to remember. We may not remember to go to the gym but would we remember if someone is taking us to dinner at our favourite eating place? The senses deceive from time to time, and it is prudent never to trust wholly those who have deceived us even once Rene Descartes quotes (French Mathematician, Philosopher and Scientist, 1596-1650) How much confidence do you have in yourself? We have explored the problem of selective awareness. But the problem is further compounded. Not only do we filter out the things that we don't want to know but those that we allow though we distort to suit our self image. We explore this next in Do you actually know or just believe? the gorilla-suit experiment Based on some old notes that I have I was introduced to this through an article by Chris Bertram Chris BertramWhat we don’t notice…Out of the CROOKED TIMBER of Humanity, no straight thing was ever made https://crookedtimber.org/2004/05/06/what-we-dont-notice/ May 6, 2004 The article speaks of an experiment where a basketball video was shown to subjects but because they were told to look for something specific they never noticed the gorilla that was dancing in the video. Christopher Chabris and Daniel Simonsthe Invisible Gorilla the Invisible Gorilla http://theinvisiblegorilla.com/gorilla_experiment.html last accessed Oct. 2020 It is worth checking out the experiment for yourself.