What is an app?

An app, or software program, is a series of instructions and decisions designed to achieve a specific goal. There are different apps for different goals. Some examples of goals that an app can help you accomplish are:

• To get from point A to point B (navigation app)
• To communicate (chat app)
• To have fun (games)
• To wake up at a certain time (alarm clock)

The human brain is like a smartphone

An analogy can be made between the human brain and a smartphone. You open and use different apps on your smartphone when you want to achieve certain things. Similarly, when you are in different situations, your brain in essence opens an action and decision making playbook, (and a set of ideas) to achieve your goal for the given situation.

The playbook consists of two parts:

1. What you want to achieve
2. The different decisions you make to achieve your goal
   1. Decisions are made based on:
      1. What you already know, which can result in decision making shortcuts and patterns
         1. Experience
         2. Knowledge
      2. Critical thinking – Your ability to think on your feet to analyze a problem or situation
      3. Values – What’s important to you

Note, if you don’t have a goal in a given situation you tend to just go with the flow.

Differences

The difference between your brain and a smartphone is that your phone can only have one app in the foreground at a time. Whereas in real life situations, you can have multiple goals, and therefore ‘apps’ running, in a given situation.