tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11762382.post5801022143322790444..comments2023-10-24T08:13:45.842-06:00Comments on Only in New Mexico: Misc.Jim Bacahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14019944863771287149noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11762382.post-66361320788663033852017-01-06T18:31:36.697-07:002017-01-06T18:31:36.697-07:00The List of Cognitive Biases is worth a read alrig...The List of Cognitive Biases is worth a read alright. I hope everyone has read it and memorized it.<br /><br />Seriously though, it's a wonder the human race has survived. On the other hand, the fact that it has raises some interesting questions. Do we survive on some other basis than our rationality? By means besides our magnificent brain power? Just by animal instinct?<br /><br />Another question would be then, if we can't think straight, if our decision making ability is so flawed, what is our conscious mind even for? What evolutionary survival function does it perform?<br /><br />I don't know, but I have a theory about what it does. I think we go along most of the time reacting to what our unconscious is putting out, and instincts are part of that, they come through the unconscious, and that our consciousness is just making up an ongoing explanation for what we're doing, an excuse for our behavior you might say, one that will satisfy our ever vigilant and highly demanding ego. Which itself must also be a construct of an innate urge to survive.<br /><br />But as I say, this doesn't really explain why we have a conscious mind. If we do.<br /><br /><br />Regardless, something like the release today of the Director of National Intelligence report on Russian hacking would provide a textbook example of peoples' biases. Some will believe it because it's from the Director of National Intelligence and some won't believe it because it's from the Director of National Intelligence, both primarily because of bias. We might make a cursory attempt to analyze the information that's presented in it but our analysis will probably be influenced by a number of biases from the list.<br /><br />Thanks for posting that though. Humility is the key to wisdom.<br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com