heightened readiness, disconcerted, whatever, what is the purpose of spooked, the sensation, or mental state I suppose if it persists.

transition said:

heightened readiness, disconcerted, whatever, what is the purpose of spooked, the sensation, or mental state I suppose if it persists.

I’ll say she is!

half interesting subject I reckon

just talking with other about different events that caused a spooked sensation.

not sure normal (apparent absence of) is entirely comfortable with an abstraction of, certainly no study

that ghost in the machine, its good works

transition said:

heightened readiness, disconcerted, whatever, what is the purpose of spooked, the sensation, or mental state I suppose if it persists.

Human brains are designed to categorically distinguish between “objects” and “agents”. Generally objects (eg a rock) do not present the same kind of danger that agents (eg a lion) do. There is thus an evolutionary advantage for those who tend to see agency even where there is none, and whose concern over that agent detection persists beyond the initial reaction. Having this advantage, our ancestors have passed down this tendency to presume the purposeful intervention of a sentient or intelligent agent in situations that may or may not involve one.

Being “spooked” is a result of conflict between hyperactive agency detection and rational analysis of the situation. The subconscious (agent detecting) part of our brain is telling us that there is something we should be concerned with, whilst the conscious rational part of our brain is saying “erm, no everything seems to be fine here”.

esselte said:

transition said:

heightened readiness, disconcerted, whatever, what is the purpose of spooked, the sensation, or mental state I suppose if it persists.

Human brains are designed to categorically distinguish between “objects” and “agents”. Generally objects (eg a rock) do not present the same kind of danger that agents (eg a lion) do. There is thus an evolutionary advantage for those who tend to see agency even where there is none, and whose concern over that agent detection persists beyond the initial reaction. Having this advantage, our ancestors have passed down this tendency to presume the purposeful intervention of a sentient or intelligent agent in situations that may or may not involve one.

Being “spooked” is a result of conflict between hyperactive agency detection and rational analysis of the situation. The subconscious (agent detecting) part of our brain is telling us that there is something we should be concerned with, whilst the conscious rational part of our brain is saying “erm, no everything seems to be fine here”.

Nicely put.

Mrs m believes in omens, eg. Seeing a dead bird as an omen, an agent, rather than as an object.

mollwollfumble said:

Nicely put.

Mrs m believes in omens, eg. Seeing a dead bird as an omen, an agent, rather than as an object.

Thanks. It’s important to remember with stuff like this though that it doesn’t just apply to Mrs m and those like her. It applies to everyone. It’s intrinsic to the human brain. I wonder how many people that read my reply noted how I myself mistakenly assigned agency by saying “the human brain is designed…” rather than “the human brain is evolved…”.

Spook

ChrispenEvan said:

Spook

Yep. Looking at a cartoon and seeing people rather than lines and colours is another example of how we incorrectly assign agency to things that have none.