THE POWER TO CHOOSE
Like this piece of art? People around the world say depictions of scenes like this are among their very favorite: an idyllic view from a high vantage point, looking toward water, a meadow, maybe some animals. Perhaps this universal preference dates back to the long ep och in human prehistory when our species roamed the savannas, or huddled in caves tucked into a hillside for protection and warmth.
If from here you manage to stay with what I've written and not look back at that peaceful scene, though you may feel a mental pull to peek, you create in your own brain a tussle between focus and distraction. That tension occurs anytime we try to stay concen trated on one thing and ignore the lure of another. It means there's a neural conflict going on, an arousal level tug-of-war in top-down versus bottom-up circuitry.