Nexting
“It was a cold and
dark avocado”- paraphrase of Daniel Gilbert line in Stumbling on Happiness
This morning I started listening to a book called Stumbling on Happiness.
So far the first CD has got me captivated. He is the guy that does the commercials about
financial planning. I am sure you have seen the Age Stickers commercial.
The line above is something that he uses in his book to
prove a concept. The brain is used to
predicting what will happen in the near future-nexting. This prediction is shattered by the word
avocado. You were expecting night and
then you got hit by avocado.
Interestingly, nexting is not only common to humans but also
found in other animals. At this point
you are thinking, “So what?” Well, just
knowing that we are nexting allows us to experience surprises. Surprises are the unpredictable avocado. And we either enjoy the avocado or we do not.
The reason for this post is to make you stop and think for a
moment how powerful this urge is for us to predict the near future. It brings us the feeling of certainty. This is one of our fundamental needs. But guess what? Uncertainty is also one of our needs. Who said God did not have a sense of humor?
Today’s question is:
“Do you notice when
you are nexting?”
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