The Power of Habit

A Matter of Habit

Journalist Charles Duhigg describes a habit as an activity that a person deliberately decides to perform once and continues doing without focus, often frequently. He offers the example of the complicated procedures you automatically go through to drive your car. Habits develop because the human brain is wired to seek ways to conserve energy.

Patients who lose their memory due to illness or injury still retain the ability to carry out their habits. Duhigg cites a patient named Eugene who suffered from a damaging attack of viral encephalitis. He could no longer draw a rough floor plan of his home, but he could find the kitchen when he wanted a snack. Eugene demonstrated that “someone who can’t remember his own age or almost anything else can develop habits that seem inconceivably complex – until you realize everyone relies on similar neurological processes every day.”