Is that True?

The Stories Your Brain Creates

Your brain is a storyteller. Every moment, it creates interpretations about yourself, other people, and the world around you. Some stories help you navigate life, protect you, and make sense of your experiences. But some stories create misinterpretation of others, the world, unnecessary suffering for yourself.

A Neuroscience Perspective

Your brain isn't designed to show you reality exactly as it is. It's designed to predict reality. The brain is not simply recording reality like a camera; it is constantly making predictions based on past experiences, memories, emotions, and expectations. When information is missing, the brain fills in the gaps with its best guess. This ability helps us react quickly and navigate the world, but it also means our interpretations are not always facts. A thought may be a prediction, an assumption, or a story, but it is not automatically the truth.

Your brain loves Shortcuts, it processes an enormous amount of information every second. To avoid becoming overwhelmed, it relies on mental shortcuts. These shortcuts are useful, but they can also create distortions. For example: Someone walks past you without saying hello, your brain immediately predicts, "Are they avoiding me”. A few hours later, you discover they simply didn't see you. Nothing changed except the information available. Your brain filled in the missing pieces before it had enough evidence.

When thoughts felt like Facts

When you are emotionally charged, the thoughts felt like facts. Your emotional centers of the brain, particularly the amygdala, can react to perceived threats before the more reflective parts of the brain, especially the prefrontal cortex, have fully evaluated what's happening. That's why a thought can feel absolutely true. Your heart races. Your muscles tense. Your body reacts as though the prediction is reality. But feelings are evidence that your brain has detected a possible threat, not proof that the threat actually exists.

The Power of Questioning

Instead of trust your thoughts, try to questioning, is that true? what does it thoughts tell about you, etc. These questions activate your more reflective, analytical thinking instead of allowing your automatic predictions to take over. You're essentially telling your brain: "Before we react, let's check is that facts or made up stories, before make a prediction of this person, let me be curious and getting to know her.