Do you ever feel like "washing your car brings rain": a little trick of the mind!

Have you ever had experiences like these? "It doesn't rain until you wash your car, but as soon as you do, it pours," or "After painstakingly selecting a unique outfit, you find everyone else seems to be wearing the same thing once you hit the streets," or "After learning a rare word in the dictionary, you start encountering it frequently in various articles and conversations," or "You suddenly think of a long-lost classmate, and a few days later, you bump into them at school."

This fascinating phenomenon is referred to as the "Maternal Effect" in psychology. It's not actually related to pregnant women but rather a little trick played by our brains: once our attention is drawn to something, we tend to notice it more inadvertently. So, why does our mind play tricks on us like this? And how does this phenomenon affect our everyday decisions and perceptions? Let's dive into this fascinating psychological phenomenon together and see how it makes the world seem "everywhere."

Why is it called the "Pregnancy Effect"? The "Pregnancy Effect" is a psychological term that stems from an observation: pregnant individuals are more likely to notice other pregnant individuals. It suggests that when individuals are highly focused on a particular thing, they tend to encounter or pay more attention to information or cues related to that thing in their daily lives. From a scientific perspective, this phenomenon can actually be attributed to two cognitive biases: selective attention and confirmation bias. Selective attention is a filtering mechanism in human information processing:

In real life, we are bombarded with numerous and complex information every day. However, our attention and energy are limited. To operate more efficiently, the brain selectively prioritizes gathering the things we are more interested in while blocking out those that are irrelevant to us.

At the same time, our senses cooperate in this process, manifesting in the phenomenon that we are more likely to see or hear things we are focusing on.

Confirmation bias, on the other hand, refers to people's tendency to accept information that aligns with their views while ignoring information that contradicts their beliefs. In simpler terms, it means confirming one's own opinions rather than falsifying them. The "Pregnancy Effect" and Its Positive Impacts

1. Enhanced Awareness: It boosts our attention towards specific things, making us more focused on our goals.
2. Facilitated Learning: When we develop an interest in a certain field, the "Pregnancy Effect" may make us feel like information about that field is everywhere, thus accelerating our learning and growth.
3. Strengthened Social Connections: Engaging in new activities or hobbies may lead the "Pregnancy Effect" to help us notice more people with similar interests, thus fostering new social connections and friendships.
4. Improved Decision Making Efficiency: When making purchase decisions or other choices, the "Pregnancy Effect" can assist us in quickly identifying and selecting information relevant to our areas of focus. Negative Impact

Cognitive Bias: The "pregnancy effect" can lead us to overly emphasize information that aligns with our expectations and beliefs while disregarding evidence to the contrary, resulting in cognitive bias.

Decision Errors: Due to excessive focus on specific information, we may overlook other important information and perspectives, potentially leading to incomplete decisions and errors.

Bias Reinforcement: If there is a preconceived notion about a social group or event, one may begin to notice more examples supporting this notion, thereby deepening the bias. "In your eyes, the world depends on your mind."

Firstly, when receiving information, consciously remind yourself that you may be experiencing the "pregnancy effect." Secondly, actively seek out and engage with diverse information and viewpoints, as this helps us gain a more comprehensive understanding. At the same time, learn to analyze the information we receive critically and refrain from jumping to conclusions easily.

Furthermore, engage in conversations with people holding different perspectives, listening to their views, which helps us discover important information that we may have overlooked. When making decisions, refrain from rushing to conclusions; instead, wait for a while to see if new evidence emerges. Lastly, maintain curiosity and a learning attitude, continuously updating our knowledge systems.

In a sense, we are all, to some extent, that "pregnant woman." The world around us emits countless pieces of information, which, through clever communication with the brain, create numerous different "worlds." Therefore, choose what you see, and thus choose your world. Have you recently experienced the "pregnancy effect"? Feel free to share your story in the comments! You might just find some fellow comrades who've had similar experiences.