The human brain has so-called network cells ( grid , in English) , responsible for calculating and recording both dimensions and distances , and boundary cells , which detect the edges of different areas. Thus, every time our body moves, the cells in a network create an internal mapping of the environment that surrounds us that “looks a lot like the latitude and longitude lines that we use on a paper map , with the exception that instead by using grids our thinking organ organizes the space in triangles ”.
However, the system is far from perfect, especially since subjectivity can cause us to make mistakes. Thus, we perceive the places where we would like to be and the objects that we want to be closer than those that we find indifferent or dislike, as Adam L. Alter, from New York University, recently demonstrated in a study published in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology . Another research indicates that, when we are mentioned of a city that we do not know, we think that it is further away if its name is difficult to pronounce . For example, if someone asks us to visit Weewahitchka, we will consider it to be a much more distant destination than if they propose to visit Florida. And the truth is that no.
