re:In short, we see [or hear] what we expect to see [or hear] and the brain filters out a lot of what is inconsistent with expectation - automatically

This is not just for flight or flight, it is a real part of learning and functioning, we don't have to learn things over and over again, they can be learned and 'forgotten'..
especially conveniet for skills like shifting in a car.. you 'feet' know how to do, your 'brain' is free to look for pedestrians, or other traffic..
marijuanna, tends to remove this filter, and make every experience seem fresh--people high on marijuana get excited over mundane things. like the twill weave of their jeans, or the complex set of flavors and smells we know as vanila..

but the attraction of so many new like experiences make them a hazzard.

the filter system is complex, and marijuana interferes with parts of it.. especially food and taste.. foods taste 'new'- and complex.. in a hunter gather society, where just collecting enough calories are important, your brain would learn to just focus on 'right?' or 'wrong?' to make sure you were collecting the edible variety of plant and not something poisonous.




my other obsession