Like a computer, your brain only has so much processing power. When you’re doing a complicated task, such as driving a car, the brain has to take in a tremendous amount of information – around 11 billion bits per second. You are constantly thinking about manipulating the controls, watching the environment around you, picking up the sounds you hear, and much more.
All of this can be overwhelming, so the brain does try to filter some information out. It prioritizes things that seem most important.
In some cases, this even means that expectations can play a role. People are more likely to see the things that they expect to see because that is specifically what they’re looking for. The brain then prioritizes that information when creating the general image of what a person thinks they “see.”
The problem this creates
The issue with this is that it can create a phenomenon called intentional blindness. Basically, your brain can filter out things that it doesn’t think are important or that you don’t expect to see. This can make it so that you don’t see them, even if you’re looking right at them.
This is very common in motorcycle accidents. A driver will look both ways before pulling out of their driveway, and they won’t see a motorcycle approaching. But the bike is there the whole time; the driver just expects to see cars or trucks. As a result, the driver looks directly at the motorcycle, doesn’t see it, and pulls out in front of the rider.
If you’ve been injured in one of these accidents, you may have a right to financial compensation for medical bills, lost wages and much more.
