On Sun, Feb 16, 2014 at 1:13 PM, Klaus Krippendorff <
[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> I vowed not to continue this discussion, so here is a mild violation:
> Three papers and their abstracts that I have found useful.
>
Mercier, H., & Sperber, D. (2010). Why Do Humans Reason? Arguments for an
Argumentative Theory. *Behavioral and Brain Sciences, Vol. 34, No. 2, pp.
57-74, 2011*. http://ssrn.com/paper=1698090
Reasoning is generally seen as a means to improve knowledge and make
better decisions. However, much evidence shows that reasoning often leads
to epistemic distortions and poor decisions. This suggests that the
function of reasoning should be rethought. Our hypothesis is that the
function of reasoning is argumentative. It is to devise and evaluate
arguments intended to persuade. Reasoning so conceived is adaptive given
the exceptional dependence of humans on communication and their
vulnerability to misinformation. A wide range of evidence in the psychology
of reasoning and decision making can be reinterpreted and better explained
in the light of this hypothesis. Poor performance in standard reasoning
tasks is explained by the lack of argumentative context. When the same
problems are placed in a proper argumentative setting, people turn out to
be skilled arguers. Skilled arguers, however, are not after the truth but
after arguments supporting their views. This explains the notorious
confirmation bias. This bias is apparent not only when people are actually
arguing but also when they are reasoning proactively from the perspective
of having to defend their opinions. Reasoning so motivated can distort
evaluations and attitudes and allow erroneous beliefs to persist.
Proactively used reasoning also favors decisions that are easy to justify
but not necessarily better. In all these instances traditionally described
as failures or flaws, reasoning does exactly what can be expected of an
argumentative device: Look for arguments that support a given conclusion,
and, ceteris paribus, favor conclusions for which arguments can be found.
Gigerenzer, G. (2008). Why Heuristics Work. *Perspectives on Psychological
Science, 3*(1), 20-29.
The adaptive toolbox is a Darwinian-inspired theory that conceives of the
mind as a modular system that is composed of heuristics, their building
blocks, and evolved capacities. The study of the adaptive toolbox is
descriptive and analyzes the selection and structure of heuristics in
social and physical environments. The study of ecological rationality is
prescriptive and identifies the structure of environments in which specific
heuristics either succeed or fail. Results have been used for designing
heuristics and environments to improve professional decision making in the
real world.
Gigerenzer, G. (2007). *Gut feelings: the intelligence of the unconscious*.
New York: Viking.
Gigerenzer is one of the researchers of behavioral intuition responsible
for the science behind Malcolm Gladwell's bestseller Blink. Gladwell showed
how snap decisions often yield better results than careful analysis. Now,
Gigerenzer explains why intuition is such a powerful decision-making tool.
Drawing on a decade of research, Gigerenzer demonstrates that gut feelings
are actually the result of unconscious mental processes--processes that
apply rules of thumb that we've derived from our environment and prior
experiences. The value of these rules lies precisely in their difference
from rational analysis--they take into account only the most useful bits of
information rather than attempting to evaluate all possible factors. By
examining various decisions we make, Gigerenzer shows how gut feelings not
only lead to good practical decisions, but also underlie the moral choices
that make our society function.
Don
Don Norman
Nielsen Norman Group, IDEO Fellow
[log in to unmask] www.jnd.org http://www.core77.com/blog/columns/
Book: "Design of Everyday Things: Revised and Expanded<http://amzn.to/ZOMyys>"
(DOET2).
Course: Udacity On-Line course based on
DOET2<https://www.udacity.com/course/design101>
(free).
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