Horizon BBC2: Out of Control?

After seeing this advertised, I decided to watch it on BBC iplayer.The programme looked at the role of the unconscious mind in a range of situations by studying human participants. I was particularly interested by how we react to bad news and risks- we are optimists!

 We have an unconscious mechanism which allows us not register bad news as effectively as we take in good news. For example we know that cakes contain 'empty calories' and could lead to us becoming overweight but we still eat them anyway! We often find ourselves living in the spare of the moment and not reading too deeply into the risks. In the study on the programme, the participant had to estimate the risk of developing a certain illness/disease whilst in a MRI scanner. He gives his prediction before finding out the real statistic, most things were grossly underestimated. When he was asked to repeat the set of questions, he did not use the information to change his results. For example when he found out that he was more likely ot be affected by cancer than he thought he still didn't alter his original prediction. The brain scans confirmed that we seem to have a dysfunctional ability to deal with negative information.

 It appears that we live in a world through rose-tinted glasses. Our optimism appears to have been developed for a reason. If we were forever worried that we would fail or take a turn for the worst then our anxiety levels would be through the roof which can contribute to a whole range of other problems (just for starters, think fight or flight mechanisms and how cortisol & other hormones interfere with your immune system). Also if we never thought we were capable of achieving anything then we wouldn't try. If we didn't have this optimistic way of life, I wouldn't have had the motivation to apply for medical school with only 5-10% chance of success from most of them, the odds were completely against me! That's enough for me to consider it an amazing mechanism.

I love watching this sort of thing, especially when I can link it back to my existing knowledge of science. I cant wait to get back into learning, only 6 months to go now!