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What's the simplest thing humans are too dumb to grasp? (lemmy.world)

submitted 1 year ago by TheBananaKing@lemmy.world to c/asklemmy@lemmy.world

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You ever see a dog that's got its leash tangled the long way round a table leg, and it just cannot grasp what the problem is or how to fix it? It can see all the components laid out in front of it, but it's never going to make the connection.

Obviously some dog breeds are smarter than others, ditto individual dogs - but you get the concept.

Is there an equivalent for humans? What ridiculously simple concept would have aliens facetentacling as they see us stumble around and utterly fail to reason about it?

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[-] dmention7@lemm.ee 15 points 1 year ago

Impulse control and the general idea of delaying minor pleasures now that will have significant benefits later, or even just not doing things that kinda feel good in the moment but will make you miserable in the near future. As a species we're pretty terrible at those kinds of judgments.

The meme of the guy poking a stick into his bike wheel in one frame and lying in a crumpled pile in the next is timeless for exactly that reason. Same with shocked Pikachu.

[-] Ep1cFac3pa1m@lemmy.world 9 points 1 year ago

I was going to say long-term thinking. We're just not wired to consider long-term consequences for the things we do. We continually get duped by promises of lower taxes without considering the damage it will cause for decades to come.

[-] Gigan@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago

This was my thought too, delayed gratification. Lot's of people make short term decisions that have negative long-term effects on their mental, physical, or financial health. And humanity does it as well, such as pollution or using fossil fuels when we know it's going to cause problems in the future.

this post was submitted on 30 Nov 2023

188 points (95.2% liked)

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