Nir Eyal

And so understanding that we don't see reality clearly is at the core, I think, of living a good life because it's only when we free ourselves

from this myth that we see everything that we see, feel, and do because we believe it's a fact versus something that's much more malleable.

That's truly what frees us is that understanding that we don't see reality clearly.

Oh, the examples are endless from the research literature.

When it comes to, I can show you an image and based on where you were born, this is called a coffer illusion.

Based on where you were born, you will either see squares or circles.

Same exact image, but you will process it differently based on your background, whether you grew up in a rural environment or an urban environment.

We know that people who are on a diet see food as larger.

People who are afraid of heights see distances as further.

So the saying that I'll believe it when I see it is actually just as true backwards, that I see it when I believe it.

Sure, so there's a classic optical illusion where you see a checkerboard and when you look at it, one square definitely looks darker than the other, for sure.

Nobody looks at this and thinks that they're the same color, except they are the same color.

that when we put bars of that shade of gray next to both squares, and you can see that they are definitely in fact the same color, even though they don't look like that.

Now that's nice, cute little optical illusion, but the question is why?

Why can't we see reality as it is?

that even when you look back at the first image, that even though you know the squares are now the same color, you know intellectually that that is the case, you still can't see reality clearly.

It still looks like square A is darker than square B, even when you know the truth.

And so the startling reality here, or the startling revelation here is that

your brain is lying to you.

It's constantly deceiving you because the brain doesn't see reality as it is.