MANDATORINESS SPEED AND SUPERFICIALITY o The operation of a cognitive system is mandatory just in case it is automatic, that is, not under conscious control(cf Bargh Chartrand, 1999) This means that, like it or not, the systems operations are switched on by presentation of the relevant stimuli and those operations run to completion. For example, native speakers of English cannot hear the sounds of English being spoken as mere noise: if they hear those sounds at all, they hear them as English. Likewise, it's impossible to see a 3d array of objects in space as 2D patches of color, however hard one may try ( despite claims to the contrary by painters and other visual artists influenced by impressionismMANDATORINESS, SPEED, AND SUPERFICIALITY.  The operation of a cognitive system is mandatory just in case it is automatic, that is, not under conscious control (cf. Bargh & Chartrand, 1999). This means that, like it or not, the system's operations are switched on by presentation of the relevant stimuli and those operations run to completion. For example, native speakers of English cannot hear the sounds of English being spoken as mere noise: if they hear those sounds at all, they hear them as English. Likewise, it's impossible to see a 3D array of objects in space as 2D patches of color, however hard one may try (despite claims to the contrary by painters and other visual artists influenced by Impressionism)