Think your brain shows you reality?

Think again. Right now, your brain is drowning in two million bits of information every single second. But here’s what’ll shock you—you’re only processing around 130 bits of that massive flood. That’s 0.0065%. The rest? Gone. Deleted. Your brain tosses it aside like yesterday’s news. This isn’t some design flaw you need to fix. It’s exactly how your brain was built to work. Your brain doesn’t show you what’s actually happening around you. Instead, it creates a carefully edited version—like a film director cutting scenes that don’t fit the story. These cuts are based on what your brain thinks you need to know right now.

NLP experts call these editing tricks deletion, distortion, and generalisation. And sitting right at the centre of this whole system? Confirmation bias. Here’s how confirmation bias works: your brain loves information that proves you’re right about something. But what about ideas that challenges what you already believe?

Your brain treats it like a threat.

Even something as simple as chatting with a friend gobbles up 40 bits of processing power per second. That leaves almost nothing for questioning whether your existing beliefs might be wrong. Want to know something else that’ll surprise you? Professor George Miller discovered we can only hold about 7 chunks of information in our heads at once. Seven. That’s it.

This article reveals the sneaky NLP filters that manipulate your thinking every day. More importantly, you’ll learn how to spot when confirmation bias is shrinking your view of the world—and what to do about it. Because once you understand how these filters work, you can finally start working with them instead of being their victim.

How your brain filters reality every second

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Your brain faces an impossible task every single second. Here’s what’s really happening: your senses are pulling in roughly 11 million bits of information per second. But your conscious mind? It can only handle about 50 bits per second. That’s like trying to drink from a fire hose through a straw.

The 11 million vs 50 bits paradox

The numbers don’t lie. Your peripheral nervous system operates at gigabit speeds, yet your actual behaviour—everything from what you notice to how you think—crawls along at just 10 bits per second. We’re talking about a ratio of 100,000,000 to 1. Your brain has no choice but to make brutal decisions about what gets through. And here’s the kicker—this is exactly why confirmation bias feels so natural. Your brain literally doesn’t have the processing power to challenge beliefs you already hold.

Why would it waste precious bandwidth questioning what it’s already decided is true?

Why your brain needs shortcuts

Your brain survives on shortcuts—what scientists call heuristics. These aren’t flaws in your thinking. They’re survival mechanisms. Without these mental shortcuts, you’d spend five minutes deciding whether to step off a curb. Your brain constantly makes split-second decisions about what deserves your attention and what gets tossed aside.

Here’s a perfect example: when researchers show different images to each of your eyes, you don’t see both at once. Instead, your brain flips between them, deciding which one matters more. That’s your brain’s filter system working overtime.

The role of unconscious processing

But here’s where it gets really interesting.

Even though your conscious mind can barely keep up, your brain never stops working. The vast majority of your mental processing happens completely outside your awareness. Scientists call this unconscious perception—when your brain processes information you swear you never saw. Your brain areas keep firing, keep responding, even when you report seeing nothing at all. They’ve proven this with experiments using invisible fearful faces. People claim they see nothing, yet their amygdala—the brain’s alarm system—goes mental.

This unconscious filter shapes your reality before you’re even aware information exists. It quietly prioritises evidence supporting what you already believe whilst discarding anything that challenges those beliefs. That’s confirmation bias working behind the scenes, filtering your world before you even know there’s a choice to make.

Deletion: What you don’t notice can hurt you

Here’s something that’ll disturb you: your brain is constantly lying to you.

Not on purpose. But it’s happening right now, as you read this. Deletion is your brain’s sneaky way of editing reality. It literally removes chunks of information from your awareness—and you never even know it’s happening. This isn’t just some quirky mental trick. Deletion affects EVERYTHING. Your relationships. Your career decisions. Even how you see yourself.

How deletion sabotages your daily life

Every moment, your mind acts like an overzealous editor, cutting out massive amounts of information. Remember those 11 million bits flooding your brain? Deletion is what slashes that down to a measly 50 bits. But here’s the kicker—deletion isn’t random. Your brain deletes information based on what you already believe. Hold a strong opinion about something? Your brain will delete contradictory evidence faster than you can blink. That’s confirmation bias in action.

The damage deletion does at work and home

Think you’re objective at work? Think again.

You might completely overlook a colleague’s brilliant contributions simply because they don’t fit your assessment of their abilities. Your brain just… deletes it. Same thing happens in relationships. Your partner drops hints about what they need, but if those hints don’t match what you think they should want? Gone. Deleted. Never registered. These aren’t conscious choices. Your brain is trying to keep your worldview intact by filtering out anything that challenges it.

Why deletion creates chaos

Here’s where things get dangerous: everyone deletes different parts of the same situation. You and your colleague sit through identical meetings. You walk away with completely different takeaways. Both of you are convinced you’re right. Sound familiar? That’s deletion working overtime, reinforcing confirmation bias by quietly removing evidence that contradicts your beliefs whilst preserving everything that supports them.

Catch your brain in the act

Want to spot deletion in your own thinking? Start here:

1. Listen for absolute words — “always,” “never,” “everyone.” These are deletion red flags.
2. Question what’s missing — Ask yourself: “What details might I be overlooking?”
3. Seek contrary evidence — Deliberately hunt for information that challenges your first impression.
4. Notice your blind spots — The things you consistently “forget” to consider.

Once you recognise these deletion patterns, you’ll start seeing when confirmation bias is narrowing your view of reality. And that’s when you can finally fight back.

Distortion: When your brain changes the story

Ever walked into a dark room and jumped because you thought that coat hanging on the door was an intruder?

That’s distortion in action.

Your brain didn’t delete the coat—it twisted what was actually there into something completely different. Unlike deletion, where information just vanishes, distortion is your brain’s way of changing the story to fit what it expects to see. And here’s the scary part: you won’t even realise it’s happening. Think of distortion as your brain’s creative writing department. It takes the raw facts and rewrites them based on your existing beliefs and experiences.

See a rope on the ground? Your brain might turn it into a snake if you’re worried about snakes. Distortion lets you imagine future scenarios and plan ahead—but it also tricks you into seeing things that aren’t really there. NLP practitioners know this pattern well. Your internal model of reality becomes more important than actual reality. And that’s where the problems start.

How memories are altered over time

Here’s something that might shock you: your memories aren’t video recordings. They’re more like rough sketches that get redrawn every time you remember them. Each time you recall something, your brain adds new details, removes others, and shifts the story slightly. That casual conversation you had yesterday? It might influence how you remember an argument from last week. Crime witnesses demonstrate this perfectly. Show them contradictory information after an event, and watch their memories change. Permanently. What they swear they saw with their own eyes was actually created by their brain’s distortion process.

Language patterns that reveal distortion

Your words expose how distortion works in your thinking:

• Mind reading: “She thinks I’m incompetent” (How do you know?)
• Cause-effect assumptions: “His attitude makes me angry” (Does it really?)
• Complex equivalence: “He’s late, so he doesn’t respect me” (Are these the same thing?)
• Presuppositions: “When will you stop being so stubborn?” (Assuming they are stubborn)

These patterns reveal your brain changing neutral events into loaded stories.

Confirmation bias examples in everyday life

Want to see distortion’s most dangerous form? Watch confirmation bias at work.

Business leaders ignore customer complaints that contradict their product vision. Political supporters consume only media that validates their existing views. Investors dismiss warning signs because they’ve already decided an investment is solid. Your brain doesn’t just seek supporting evidence—it actually distorts neutral information to become supporting evidence. That’s how confirmation bias becomes so powerful. It’s not just selecting—it’s rewriting reality.

How to avoid confirmation bias

Fighting this requires deliberate action:

• Seek opposing viewpoints before making decisions
• Question your assumptions about what information means
• Ask “What if I’m wrong?” about your strongest opinions
• Test your beliefs against contradictory evidence
• Use the “consider-the-opposite” strategy deliberately

The goal isn’t to eliminate distortion—that’s impossible. But once you recognise when your brain is changing the story, you can start asking: “What’s the real story here?”

Generalisation: The trap of one-size-fits-all thinking

Your brain loves shortcuts. And generalisation is perhaps the most seductive shortcut of all. It lets you take what you learned from one situation and slap it onto completely different scenarios .

Sounds helpful, right?

Wrong.

Sure, generalisation can save you time. You learn that hot stoves burn, so you avoid all hot surfaces. That’s smart survival thinking . But here’s where it gets dangerous. Your brain doesn’t stop at simple cause-and-effect. It starts making wild assumptions about people, situations, and even your own abilities based on tiny samples of experience.

• One bad presentation at work? “I’m terrible at public speaking.”
• One rude customer? “All customers are demanding.”
• One failed relationship? “I’m not good at relationships.”

See the pattern? Your brain takes limited evidence and builds entire belief systems around it. The problem is, these generalisations often rest on wobbly foundations—assumptions that crumble under scrutiny.

Identity-level generalisations and their impact

The most destructive generalisations attack identity.

These show up as stereotypes about others: “People from that department are lazy.” “Older workers can’t handle technology.” “Women aren’t good with numbers.” But they also turn inward: “I’m not creative.” “I’m bad with money.” “I don’t have what it takes to succeed.” These identity-level generalisations poison workplace dynamics . They affect who gets promoted, who gets included in important projects, and who gets written off before they even get a chance .

Reframing limiting beliefs

Most limiting beliefs trace back to childhood experiences, cultural messages, or that voice in your head that never seems to shut up. Want to break free?

Start keeping a thought journal. Track the negative patterns running through your mind. When you catch yourself making sweeping statements about what you can or can’t do, pause. Ask yourself:

1. “What evidence actually contradicts this belief?”
2. “How else could I look at this situation?”
3. “What would I tell a friend who believed this about themselves?”
4. Try this simple phrase: “I can think of this differently.” That single sentence creates space for new possibilities.

Once you’ve made a generalisation, your brain becomes obsessed with proving it right. You notice every piece of evidence that supports your belief while completely ignoring anything that challenges it. It’s a vicious cycle. Your generalisation shapes what you pay attention to, and what you pay attention to reinforces your generalisation.

The only way out? Deliberately hunt for evidence that contradicts your assumptions. Actively seek diverse perspectives. Question your own conclusions before they harden into unshakeable beliefs. Because once confirmation bias locks onto a generalisation, it’ll fight tooth and nail to keep it alive.

The truth about your filtered reality

Now you know the secret your brain’s been keeping from you.

Every moment of every day, deletion, distortion, and generalisation are working behind the scenes—editing your reality without asking permission. And confirmation bias? It’s the puppet master pulling all the strings, making sure you only see what fits your existing beliefs. But here’s the thing most people miss: these filters aren’t your enemy. They evolved to keep you alive in a world that throws millions of bits of information at you every second. The problem isn’t that you have them—it’s that most people don’t even know they exist.

You’re different now.

You can spot deletion when your mind conveniently ignores evidence that challenges your views. You recognise distortion when your brain twists events to fit your internal story. You catch generalisation red-handed when it tries to squeeze complex situations into oversimplified boxes.

Want to take this further? Start with these simple steps:

• Keep a thought journal – Write down your strong opinions and look for patterns in what you’re deleting
• Practice the “consider-the-opposite” strategy – Before making important decisions, actively seek evidence that contradicts your initial thoughts
• Seek diverse perspectives – Surround yourself with people who think differently than you do
• Question absolute language – When you catch yourself using words like “always,” “never,” or “everyone,” pause and ask what you might be missing

Your reality will always be filtered—that’s not going to change. But understanding how these filters work gives you something most people never get: choice.

Instead of being controlled by deletion, distortion, and generalisation, you can work with them consciously. You can expand what gets through your mental filters. You can make better decisions, build stronger relationships, and see the world with clearer eyes.

The filters are still there, still doing their job. The difference is now you’re the one in charge.

FAQs

Q1. What are the three main NLP filters that shape our perception?

The three main NLP filters are deletion, distortion, and generalisation. These cognitive processes work together to filter the vast amount of information our brains receive, shaping our perception of reality.

Q2. How does confirmation bias relate to these NLP filters?

Confirmation bias acts as a director for these filters, causing us to favour information that supports our existing beliefs while dismissing contradictory evidence. This bias influences how we delete, distort, and generalise information.

Q3. Why does our brain need to filter information?

Our brain filters information because it can only consciously process about 50 bits of information per second, despite receiving millions of bits from our senses. This filtering helps us make sense of our complex world quickly.

Q4. How can we become aware of our own perceptual filters?

You can become aware of your perceptual filters by keeping a thought journal, actively seeking diverse perspectives, and practising the “consider-the-opposite” strategy. These methods help identify patterns in your thinking and challenge your existing beliefs.

Q5. Can these NLP filters be harmful?

While these filters are necessary for processing information, they can lead to misunderstandings, reinforce stereotypes, and create limiting beliefs. However, being aware of these filters allows us to work with them consciously, leading to more balanced perceptions and decisions.