top-down processing

Note: There's a point to the academic stuff I begin with. But if you're just here for a laugh, skip down to the graphic at the bottom.

Let's start with a quick definition of top-down processing. In psychology, it is a cognitive process where the brain uses prior knowledge, experiences, and expectations to interpret and understand sensory information. Basically, our own expectations and assumptions can, and often do, override what's really in front of us. Here's a mid-blowing video example:

Even if we try really hard, we can't overcome top-down processing. It's willpower resistant. This is just how were are built, and I'm not here to say we're built badly. It's actually helpful in many ways.

But, this psychological reality can be used against us. I just have to think about any headline I've ever reacted to. I know the world is more complex than how those few words have been strung together to maximize an emotional reaction from me, but I just can't help it sometimes. I'm constantly doing the thing that I wish others wouldn't do. Instead of feeling shame, I dwell on a Sontag quote I love:

Few ever see what is not already in their heads. ~ Susan Sontag

Trust me, I'm getting somewhere. Companies, politicians, and, especially, brands know about top-down processing, it is why their logos are so immediately placeable. A depressing stat:

A U.S. Department of the Interior study found that the average American kid can identify 1000 corporate logos but can’t ID 10 plants and animals native to his or her hometown.

Want to know a good way to give people a laugh? Hit them with stats and quotes beforehand, he answered sarcastically. I swear I have a point, and I think it's worth the journey. And I know that explaining the joke has never made anything funnier. With all of that now behind us, I can stop digressing.

Basically, I saw this graphic a few years back and have never quite forgotten about it. I devolve into uncontrollable laughter, gleeful giggling, when I spend time with it. What I wrote above was my way of trying to understand why that is. Here's the graphic:

I have no idea where this came from. I found it on reddit in a post by PotatoWiz135. Maybe they made it. However, I think this is so effective for me because it takes an expectation – what I already know about these brand logos and taglines – and flips them into nonsense – old fashioned hurgusburgus. If I just glance at the graphic, it does nothing because top-down processing only allows me to make the connection to the real logos. If I take the time to read it and say the new words out loud, I find it hysterical. I hope that it makes you laugh. If not, I apologize, I'm just trying to follow the wise words of Mary Oliver:

Instructions for leading a life. Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it. ~ Mary Oliver

indoor animal is curated by a human: Tim Papciak.  On Mondays, he shares one link to one music video to help spark creativity in himself and in other creative types. On Thursdays, he recommends a book, movie, show, art piece, or link to some dusty corner of the internet that he believes either 1.) adds to the human experience, or 2.) serves as a coping mechanism in the year 2025. Note: this is not, and never will be, self-help content.