Why You Didn’t See It Coming

10/21/2015

This Nautilus article examines the concept of "perceptual blindness" and explores why people often fail to anticipate or see certain events coming. It highlights the limitations of human perception, attention, and cognitive biases that can prevent us from noticing important information or clues that could have helped us predict certain outcomes. The article discusses various examples and studies that illustrate instances of perceptual blindness, such as in the field of aviation, finance, and everyday life. It argues that our brains are constantly filtering and selecting information, and this filtering process can sometimes lead to oversights and missed opportunities. Ultimately, the article emphasizes the importance of being aware of our cognitive limitations and biases in order to improve our ability to anticipate and adapt to future events.

perception ꞏ pattern recognition ꞏ attention ꞏ perception bias ꞏ psychology ꞏ mental shortcuts ꞏ reasoning ꞏ cognitive bias ꞏ cognitive load ꞏ cognitive biases ꞏ predictability ꞏ cognitive science ꞏ heuristics ꞏ perceptual illusions ꞏ information overload ꞏ cognitive errors ꞏ mental models ꞏ awareness ꞏ hindsight bias ꞏ perceptual blindspot ꞏ unconscious ꞏ visual perception ꞏ subconscious ꞏ judgment ꞏ information processing ꞏ cognitive development ꞏ foresight ꞏ cognitive psychology ꞏ cognitive limitations ꞏ cognitive processes ꞏ insight ꞏ intuition ꞏ mental processing ꞏ human behavior ꞏ memory ꞏ human perception ꞏ decision bias ꞏ decision making ꞏ anticipation ꞏ surprise ꞏ cognitive illusions ꞏ cognitive abilities