Are we all zombies?

It won’t come as a surprise to those expecting the zombie apocalypse that the majority of the world spends its time wandering around with their brains in a state that requires very little, if any, mental activity.

Decode’s Phil Barden thinks that between 90-95% of activity is carried out while the brain is in ‘autopilot’, which isn’t surprising considering that serious thinking can consume up to 40% of the body’s energy.

Brains, Barden says, have evolved over the years to get by doing as little as possible, and its while they are in this autopilot state that researchers can get real insight.

Decode’s methodology is based on showing respondents images and words, such as a picture of a brand logo and the word ‘safe’, to provide an instant “gut feel” score.

But does the brain remain on autopilot when confronted by a word? Conquest’s David Penn doesn’t think so. As soon as the brain sees a word, it immediately switches to a cognitive mode that requires thought, he says.