what some neuroscientists call wetware (the biological corollary to computer hardware)?

In psychology, heuristics are simple, efficient rules-either hardwired in our brains or learned—that kick in especially when we’re facing problems with incomplete information.

selectivity bias-the tendency to orient oneself toward and process information from only one part of our environment to the exclusion of other parts, no matter how obvious those parts may be.

In every orca culture, a hunting technique is learned through demonstration and imitation. That’s a big part of what makes orcas such efficient predators—they learn the best, tried-and-true hunting techniques from each other. When one orca tries a killing method that works well, others take notice and copy it.

The problem is that our penchant for connection-like many features of our brains-can get out of hand. When that happens, our brains quite literally make something out of nothing, and we can’t seem to stop ourselves from doing it

nonwarrior labor. The Spartans were not concerned with the principle of"freedom”—they were concerned with their own freedom.

The flip side of this reality is that our big brains, advanced as they are, come with an array of complex shortcomings and are also expert at transmitting these shortcomings.

when we feel right about a decision or a belief-whether big or small-our brains are happy. Since our brains like being happy, we like feeling right. In

In effect, that pioneering orca induced “tonic immobility” in its adversary—a temporary state of paralysis many species of sharks fall into when turned on their backs. The human discovery of tonic immobility in sharks is relatively recent, making the orca’s behavior all the more remarkable.