The human brain is, at its core, a prediction machine. Every waking moment, it generates a continuous stream of predictions about what will come next based on patterns built from prior experience. Most of these predictions are unconscious, operating below the level of awareness to allow efficient processing of a world that would otherwise overwhelm our limited conscious attention. When predictions are correct, which they are the vast majority of the time, processing happens automatically and efficiently, leaving no strong memory trace. When predictions fail, when something happens that the brain did not anticipate, processing shifts from automatic to deliberate....