hey everyone and welcome to top think today we're going to learn about fifteen psychological facts
that will blow your mind now let's begin number one mental rewrites imagine you're trapped in a
boring meeting you've been sitting there listening to your boss drone on for hours you'd do anything
to stand up and walk out of the room but you're supposed to be paying attention so how do you stay
engaged when a monotone speaker is putting you to sleep well it turns out your brain automatically
rewrites boring speech patterns using something called an inner voice your inner voice basically
translates every piece of language from the outside world into your head so when you're
excited or interested in something your inner voice doesn't do all that much but when you're
bored your inner voice helps you stay awake by spicing things up if for example while you're
sitting in that boring meeting your inner voice is continuously talking over your boss it's replacing
his monotonous speech with language that's more meaningful and engaging so next time
you're stuck in a boring lecture pay attention to all the rewrites that your brain is making number
two guilty empathy do you have a strong sense of guilt do the smallest mistakes weigh on you for
hours or days at a time guilt is often framed as a major character flaw like poor self-esteem or a
bad temper but a 2016 study discovered that people with a strong sense of guilt have a certain set of
social gifts well for starters they're extremely empathetic researchers found that guilty people
naturally sympathize more with other people's troubles so if you have a strong sense of guilt
you're great at putting yourself in someone else's shoes it may not always improve your
mood but empathy is a rare and a valuable trait people with a strong sense of guilt are also more
ethical generous and mindful of others overall there are some of the most pro-social people
in the world so don't let anyone make you feel guilty for feeling guilty number three social
complaining okay no one likes to admit it but we've all complained about our teachers bosses
and co-workers we've all ranted to our friends about some frustrating thing our colleague did
wrong but how much of your time do you waste complaining researchers say the average person
spends over half their conversations complaining about something one study puts that number as high
as eighty percent so the next time you catch yourself complaining think about how much of
the day you've spent letting off steam number four overestimating real-world crime are you a fan of
crime dramas and cop shows if you are there's a good chance your perception of the criminal
justice system is a little bit skewed these crime shows are designed to be exciting and dramatic
they feature severe often terrifying crimes that leave viewers on the edge of their seats
but as realistic as they seem on TV those crimes are a lot less common or even possible in real
life number five music effects global perception a fast catchy song will give you a boost of positive
energy just like a sad song can put a damper on your day but music doesn't just influence your
move it changes the way you perceive the world in a 2011 study researchers had participants look at
pictures of emotionless faces while listening to different kinds of music they discovered
that uplifting music tricked participants into seeing smiles that weren't there in other words
that happy song wasn't just making them feel good it was physically altering the world around them
but it wasn't only the happy music that changed their perception dark and gloomy songs had a
similar effect transforming emotionless faces into scowls and frowns so if you're the kind of person
who walks around with headphones in your music might be changing more about the world than you
realize number six measuring awkward silence we've all experienced an awkward silence you
might have run out of things to talk about or maybe someone made a bad joke that killed the
mood whatever the cause I think everyone can agree awkward silences are the worst in fact some people
avoid conversations altogether just to escape that few seconds of unwelcome silence so how long does
it take for a pause to turn awkward one study found that four seconds is all it takes after
those four seconds the flow of the conversation is ruined and the mood takes an obvious turn for the
worse number seven seafood reduces Alzheimer's one particular kind of food can actually help
you fend off neurological disorders a 2018 study discovered that people who eat seafood regularly
have a lower risk of dementia these findings held true across all ages genders and income levels now
you don't have to eat a pound of fish every day but a little salmon every couple of weeks can
do your brain a whole lot of good number eight and unfriendly attraction have you ever noticed
you pay the most attention to the people that ignore you maybe it's someone at school that
you look up to or a co-worker who just won't give you the time of day why is it that we always want
something we can't have well it turns out your brain interprets their unfriendliness as a goal or
challenge you obsess over these people in the same way you'd wrestle with a challenging math problem
number nine scared of numbers there are quite a few bizarre phobias out there like the fear of
hair houses and bath water but few revolve around something as simple as a number triskaidekaphobia
is the fear of the number 13 whether it's the 13th floor the 13th step or the 13th door
triskaidekaphobia steer clear of them all this phobia might seem a little strange but it's much
more common than you think in fact millions of people in the world are scared of the number 13
and it's so common that many planes and hotels remove the number 13 from their rows elevators
and hallways most of these business owners aren't actually scared of the number 13 but just in case
it's bad luck hmm they don't want to take the risk number 10 self-discipline toddlers delayed
gratification is something we associate with productivity and self-control so many people
don't practice these healthy habits until their 20s or 30s but by then you're pretty late to the
party the truth is you can learn self-discipline when you're only three years old just look at the
famous Stanford marshmallow experiment a group of kids all between 3 and 5 years old were tasked
to fight their urge to eat a marshmallow while the researchers stepped out of the room many of
them failed but a good chunk of these toddlers had no problem staying in control even though
self-discipline helps you the most later in life it's never too early to build healthy habits
number 11 constant wandering how much of the day does your mind spin floating through space
a lot more than most people would like to admit some researchers estimate that the average brain
is idle for about 30% of the day even if you're at work or in school you'll waste a huge amount
of your time daydreaming number 12 negative recall imagine your friend walks up to you
and says can I ask you a question what kind of thoughts pop into your head the vast majority
of people start thinking about every bad thing they've ever done your friend might ask you a
perfectly innocent question but that doesn't stop your mind from flooding with negativity
number thirteen questions mean creativity how do you know if you're a creative person natural
curiosity is a foolproof way to tell if you're always raising your hand in class or bombarding
your friends with questions well chances are you've got more creativity than you know what
to do with you see natural curiosity means you're discovering mysteries and exploring new avenues if
you ask lots of questions then you're making all kinds of connections that go beyond the
obvious that's the kind of innovation that's critical for any creative mind number fourteen
the power of monotony how does repetition affect your brain what happens when you do the same
routines every single day most people don't realize that consistent practice alters the
shape of your brain as you hone your skills your mind will get physically sharper and stronger well
just take something everyone does like language the more words and phrases you learn the more
neural pathways you'll form all the parts of your brain that deal with language will be activated
over and over again which helps them develop and mature yeah I know that doing the same thing each
day can get a little bit boring but every round will spark something amazing inside your brain
number fifteen healthy relationships lengthen life when you think about avenues for a healthy
life what comes to mind a fulfilling career diet and exercise maintaining good habits relationships
aren't usually on people's lists that they couldn't be more important several studies have
found that people who build strong friendships and relationships live longer happier lives these
bonds even reduce your risk of developing a number of diseases and disorders in other words spending
more time with your friends isn't just fun it may even help you live longer hey thank you
for watching top think and be sure to subscribe because more incredible content is on the way