system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5:Why is it so hard to NOT read subtitles?

Whenever I go to the cinema to watch a movie I have to focus to not read any of the subtitles since I don't need them.
gpt
Visual perception in the outer regions of our visual field reacts mostly to movement and changes rather than clear vision (so you would see a danger in the corner of your eye and be able to react to it). Focusing on the center of the screen pushes the subtitle into the outer region of your field of vision, making it trigger that effect - ie you have an instinctive urge to look down any time it changes. It takes conscious effort to suppress that.