I have heard there are MRI studies that back this up. Basically people make instinctual decisions and the rational parts of their brains light up afterwards to rationalize the decision they have already made. I am on mobile but that should be searchable.
Humans are very good at pattern recognition and we're optimized for it. Real calculation takes time and energy and might make us less able to survive.
> Real calculation takes time and energy and might make us less able to survive.
Sometimes that grass moving strangely is just the wind..sometimes it's the tiger, the ancestors who sat down to have a good think about it got eaten.
When I was younger and played chess my teacher drilled into me that when you find a good move that's the time to look for a better one, we instinctively play the first 'good' move we see, in fact manoeuvring your opponent into a trap by giving them an obvious 'good' move is effective against people who don't play a lot and very ineffective against people who do (and even then vastly stronger players than I ever was still fall for it occasionally).
Humans are very good at pattern recognition and we're optimized for it. Real calculation takes time and energy and might make us less able to survive.