The brain doesn't function without expectations

The brain doesn't function without expectations. Essentially it's a veritable expectation machine.

— from The Mind in the Cockpit

In the book

Start with what the mind actually is, because almost no one is taught it. The brain does not really function without expectations — it is, at bottom, an expectation machine, forever predicting what comes next and showing you the prediction. It runs mostly underground: the conscious mind you experience is a thin sliver riding on a vast subconscious that matches patterns and hands up answers before you know you asked. — The Mind in the Cockpit

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