Broadbent explained the ways our brains ignore certain types of information, and how we learn to selectively focus on certain channels of information. We can choose what we pay attention to, and we can decide whether we care about the meaning of the information we receive. We can filter out information that doesn’t match our preferences, just as pilots might tune into a new frequency when they hear a message. However, the meaning of the information plays a role too. We may ignore information that doesn’t fit with our current beliefs, or we may ignore information that contradicts our previous knowledge. We can also take notice of the information that is important to us. Even though Colin cherry has also noticed something similar in the study of the cocktail party phenomenon – even though someone is concentrating upon a conversation if he/she hears his/her name being mentioned in a second conversation it is impossible to concentrate on both conversations. This suggests that even when we are focused on one info feed, we hear and recognize the meaning of at least some of the data that is filtered out. This filter helps us to detect important information out of all the data competing for our awareness.
Mind and brain
In many cultures around this world, there is the view that humans have a soul that exists independently of the physical body. For Greek philosophers, the soul was also viewed as the seat of our reasoning abilities - what we would call our minds today. While Aristotle...
