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282 comments on DrumBeat: June 3, 2006

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wstephens on June 4, 2006 - 8:06am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
thelastsasquatch,

Since you seem to have some knowledge in the this area, here's a question for ya -- given humans propensity for self-reinforcing behaviour, and that this tendency appears to exist in intellectual realms as well (not just physically "addictive" areas), what techniques, if any, have been discovered to convince people to expose themselves to opposing ideas? Or to approach without bias any evidence that does not reinforce their already held beliefs? Or simply to not rationalize away data or events that are inconvenient to their current thinking?

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odograph on June 4, 2006 - 10:09am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
I'm just a dabbler, but it strikes me that a brain evolved to ignore reality would not have survived.  Our biases must at least leverage off the real world.  There must be some limits, some checks.  Maybe that's why we operate one until we get "a wakeup call" leading us in another direction.
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wstephens on June 4, 2006 - 11:27am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
Our biases are towards a "group think" mentality, which I agree has "real world" self-reinforcing traits -- you might get kicked out of the clan for "out of the box" thinking (especially if results are bad).

I'm interested in how to get around this cloistered behaviour -- how to get people to think independently.

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odograph on June 4, 2006 - 12:59pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
I've always thought that some people (especially the John Wayne American icon image) think of themselves as individualists, without seeing the socal context that individualism is rooted in.

That said, I bet there is some variation between us all, just because a 'mix' is better for the survival of the rest of our genes.  There is no advantage in the children on one set of parents being uniform in this, or any other heritable trait.

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Substrate on June 5, 2006 - 1:43am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
Ah, the old "tableau rossa."  Blank slate.

It would appear (setting the nature debate aside) that you start out without any pre-concieved notions on the world when you're born.  But as you grow, develop, and experience things...burning your hand in a fire, stepping in dog crap...you start to form a filter through which you view life.  Fire is hot and burns, dog crap stinks.  Thus we learn to avoid getting burned, and avoid stepping in poo.  Extrapolate that out a bit and what you have are a number of experiences throughout your life that you base everything against.  And unfortunately, that lifetime of filter development must be gotten through before one can accept the peak oil reality.

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Donal on June 5, 2006 - 8:20am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
I think you mean, tabula rasa: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tabula_rasa
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282 comments on DrumBeat: June 3, 2006

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