2.
The habit-forming process within our brains is a three-step loop(回路). First, there is a cue, a trigger that tells your brain to go into automatic mode(模式) and which habit to use. Then there is the routine, which can be physical or mental or emotional. Finally, there is a reward, which helps your brain figure out if this particular loop is worth remembering for the future. Over time, this loop—cue, routine, reward—becomes more and more automatic. The cue and reward become intertwined(交织) until a powerful sense of anticipation and a desire appears. Eventually, a habit is born.
Habits arenˈt destiny. Habits can be ignored, changed, or replaced. But the reason why the discovery of the habit loop is so important is that it reveals a basic truth: When a habit appears, the brain stops fully participating in decision making. It stops working so hard, or shifts focus to other tasks. So unless you deliberately fight a habit—unless you find new routines—the pattern will unfold automatically.
Habits never really disappear. Theyˈre encoded(嵌入) into the structures of our brain, and thatˈs a huge advantage for us, because it would be awful if we had to relearn how to drive after every vacation. The problem is that your brain canˈt tell the difference between bad and good habits, and so if you have a bad one, itˈs always lurking(蛰伏) there, waiting for the right cues and rewards.
This explains why itˈs so hard to create exercise habits, for instance, or change what we eat. Once we develop a routine of sitting on the sofa, rather than running, or snacking whenever we pass a doughnut box, those patterns always remain inside our heads. By the same rule, though, if we learn to create new neurological(神经系统的) routines that overpower those behaviours—if we take control of the habit loop—we can force those bad tendencies into the background. And_once_someone_creates_a_new_pattern,_studies_have_demonstrated,_going_for_a_jog_or_ignoring_the_doughnuts_becomes_as_automatic_as_any_other_habit.
Of course, those decisions are habitual, effortless. As long as your basal ganglia(基底核) is complete and the cues remain constant, the behaviours will occur unthinkingly. At the same time, however, the brainˈs dependence on automatic routines can be dangerous. Habits are often as much a curse as a benefit.