Nir Eyal

The suffering comes from the interpretation of that data because the brain just can't process all this information.

Did we talk about the keyhole of attention?

Not yet, right?

No, we have not.

I think this is a super important concept in terms of what we're capable of.

Processing.

Why are beliefs so important in shaping what we see, feel, and do?

Because the brain just cannot process all the information that it's absorbing.

So right now, your brain is absorbing 11 million bits of information.

11 million bits of information.

That's the equivalent of reading War and Peace every second, twice.

It's a tremendous amount of information.

The light entering your retinas, the sound of my voice in your ears, the ambient temperature of the room.

Your brain is processing all that information.

However, your conscious attention can only process about 50 bits of information.

So put that in comparison.

50 bits of information is like one sentence per second.

That's all your entire conscious awareness, one sentence awareness, whereas reality is 11 million bits of information per second.

So you're actually consciously aware.

What you think is reality is 0.000045% of what is actual reality.