Did you know that we are pattern seeking machines? It's one of the functions of our brain that we use the most and we don't even realize it.
In today's fast-changing environment the ability to make quick subconscious connections based on previous experiences is very useful.
Here we will explain what pattern seeking actually means in regard to our thought process and how we can use it to our advantage.
What Is Pattern Recognition?
Let's start from the beginning - the term apophenia. The word itself means the search of connections of seemingly unrelated subjects - from finding faces in different items to having lucky numbers in a game of roulette.
However, if we get more complex a different example can be how our brains process information regarding complicated situations based on past experiences (think of the way master chess players develop strategies).
This is the type of superior pattern processing (SPP) a lot of scientists argue has made our species so advanced - we most likely owe our ability to understand language, have such vivid imagination and think of inventions to SPP.
We won’t get into medical terms, yet the most basic explanation is that the way our neurons are connected and how those connections are made and strengthened through time is what’s behind our complex way of thinking.
This is the foundation of all research connected to pattern seeking in our brains. Granted that this process is so important, bettering it in our daily lives must have a big impact.
How To Use Pattern Seeking To Our Advantage?
Well, we already subconsciously do. With each recurring action we take we teach our brain how the action itself is connected to the effect.
Therefore, the more we reinforce our actions with explanations, the better our brain will find motivation to do them again.
● Pattern Seeking and Happiness
For instance, try each time something makes you happy, big or small, to pause and explain to yourself how you got here.
If you pay a compliment to a stranger and see them smile, remind yourself that you enjoy seeing other people’s happiness, therefore your own is connected to that of others.
After you have that as an assured connection due to pattern seeking, you’ll end up both doing such acts of kindness more often AND finding more enjoyment in them.
A different idea is each time you tell a memory, try to remind yourself of how and why surrounding memories made you feel happy. If you’re telling a sad memory for example, try to remind yourself about a time or a place close to the event that was positive to you in some way - this is how you can actively teaching your brain that all bad comes with good, thus creating a more positive outlook on life in general.
These actions might seem small, and they take some time to work, yet once your brain has internalized them and made them into habits, it gets much easier.
You may have heard of Donald Hebb’s saying “neurons that fire together, wire together” - if the type of connection between the neurons is to seek a positive idea each time, a better, more positive way of thinking will be reinforced.
● Pattern Seeking and Learning
The other big reason why pattern seeking is useful is because it’s the easiest way to learn.
Using something our brains do effortlessly to remember new information is a smart technique. The way this method can be incorporated into studying is simple - if you have a given rule, try to gather the evidence supporting it yourself.
Think of it like figuring out yourself the Pythagorean theorem by mapping it all out - that way you remember the pattern itself and not just the numbers.
And this doesn’t work just for math, anything you learn from your own experience, finding it and proving it more than once in your active life (searching for a pattern to add to the list of proof) is much easier to remember, because it’s a much more vivid story that your brain can archive.
A different technique is to make connections between your own field of study and something which you already know - for instance explaining the way black holes work with a ball and a piece of fabric.
Technically patterns are everywhere, so explaining them with something not as abstract and finding out why they are similar helps you learn the more complex and not tangible theories. Pattern seeking is a natural benefit we have so using it to expand our knowledge is extremely easy once you know its benefits.
Pattern recognition has been embedded in our brains as a way of survival ever since we started evolving as a separate species.
This means that, looking at the present, we have had enough time to perfect it as a process and to build on top of it.
The more we use patterns to better our learning, to ask more questions and to improve our outlook on life the easier it gets.
So, with that in mind, give these ideas a try and see how far you can go!
Want some support using pattern recognition to help you take forward-focused action? Join us on our next Mental Fitness Intensive and learn how your current patterns are causing you to self-sabotage.
Learn more here: www.desiredeffectscoaching.com/workshops