In his latest book, ‘impulse’, chartered neuropsychologist Dr David Lewis examines the science behind impulsive behaviour, focusing on the mental activity that occurs below the level of your conscious thoughts.
‘impulse’ starts by relating a series of true events in which people respond to what, at the time, seemed like an irrational urge. The author himself decided to go to a cinema rather than visiting a pub. A financial broker chose to dally on a lower floor of the World Trade Centre’s North Tower rather than visit the bathroom, a commuter ran back down a crowded escalator to jump back on the train he’d just left. In each case, they survived certain death as a result but could not explain what drove them to make these last minute decisions.
But if tragedy had not followed their impulsive behaviour, they would quickly have forgotten their actions. According to Lewis, impulses only ever become significant in the light of subsequent events. If, for example, you bought five lottery tickets on impulse, rather than your usual one, and won a million pounds on the fifth ticket, that makes your spur-of-the-moment decision memorable. If you failed to win anything, however, you would soon forget all about it.
In fact, Lewis argues that virtually everything you say and do between waking and sleeping can be considered impulsive, in that you do them mindlessly rather than mindfully, below your level of conscious awareness. So when you give in to your impulses you are behaving not as a rational human being, but as a zombie. His research reveals that your ‘zombie brain’ becomes activated when you date, choose a partner, go shopping, eat or even go on a diet. If you can reach a true understanding of your impulses, you will have a better picture of your actions, motivations, emotions and, ultimately, your successes and failures. Did you know, for example, that:
- The length of your fingers can reveal how impulsive you are.
- You make decisions about sexual attractiveness in the blink of an eye.
- Holding a warm drink makes strangers more likeable.
- Impulsivity may be contagious.
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