WEBVTT

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So why is it so hard to pay attention?

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Well, studies show that even when we're really trying to

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pay attention to something, like maybe this talk,

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at some point about half of us will drift off into

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a daydream or have this urge to check our Twitter feed.

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So what's going on here?

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It turns out that we're fighting one of the most evolutionarily

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conserved learning processes currently known in

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science, one that's conserved back to the most

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basic nervous systems known to man.

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This reward-based learning process is called positive and negative

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reinforcement and basically goes like this.

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We see some food that looks good.

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Our brain says, calories, survival.

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We eat the food, we taste it,

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it tastes good.

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And especially with sugar, our bodies send a signal to our

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brain that says, remember what you're eating and where you found it.

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We lay down this context-dependent memory

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and learn to repeat the process next time.

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See food, eat food,

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feel good, repeat.