By David Hegg

It has long been understood that we always choose according to our best interests. That’s the way our minds work. Even if we deny ourselves something, like a third fresh-from-the-oven chocolate chip cookie, we do so because at that moment what we want more is to look good at our upcoming high school reunion.

Psychologists and sociologists agree that we make our choices based on importance, selecting in every situation what we believe is in our best interest. But that means there is even more to the story.

None of us actually makes random choices. We all choose from the options before us according to some prior set of facts we have gathered and archived in the “neuro-lockers” of our brains. Think of your brain as a vast warehouse full of file cabinets filled with bits of information that your senses have been collecting from the day you were born. Your brain sorts, clarifies, and stores them for future use. It is........

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