IMAGINE jumping into a swimming pool. It’s cold, right? But then, a few minutes later, you are used to the temperature. Or how about walking into a room filled with cigarette smoke. It stinks, but give it a while and you don’t notice it any more.
This is habituation – the brain’s ability to stop paying attention to certain things. It doesn’t only apply to sensory perceptions. It is also why new clothes or a new home lose their shine over time. And it doesn’t only apply to good things: it can explain why people stay in bad relationships, why we don’t raise an eyebrow at the fact that most CEOs are male and why we stop noticing the smog engulfing our cities.
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