helemon
16th November 2006, 07:54 PM
I just finished a book on decision making. One of the big take aways that I got out of the book is how profound an impact stories have on human cognition. We rely on stories to make sense of our world, to help us predict the future and to decide how to act. It struck me that one of the reasons why religion, and the Bible in particular, has such a hold on the minds of millions is because it is full of stories about how people should act and how God acts. Science is often so abstract in the way it describes reality and so far removed from the typical types of interactions humans have to deal with everyday that it is not suprising that many people fail to see the relevance of that approach to their lives. The bible and religions however provide 'stories to live by' that spell out how people should behave and these stories do not change depending on the latest study. This can be very comforting and reassuring to people. This removes a huge burden from their shoulders and facilitates interaction with people who share those stories.
This book also described the condition of hyperrationalism, or analysis paralysis. People with this condition will not act until they have a rational basis for doing so and can be so consumed with obtaining all the facts before making a decision that they become unable to make a decision.
The book seemed to encourage people to rely on their intuition. However, intuition the book points out is built on expertise which is built on experience. So what are people to do who do not have sufficient experience to rely on their intuition? Mormonism encourages people to trust their feelings about the BoM. Is trusting our feelings different than intuition? It seems that there needs to be some middle ground where people use both the power of rational thought and their instincts to guide their life.
In our increasingly specialized world there are very few of us who have broad areas of expertise, so our ability to rely on our intuition for making decisions is quite limited. And with the constant rate of change due to technology even in our areas of expertise we are constantly put into the position of the novice as we are required to learn to use new technological devices and software and stay up to date with the latest health findings. There is such a large amount of information out there that it is impossible to behave in a "rational" manner if that means taking into consideration all of the potential options and selecting the best one.
This book also described the condition of hyperrationalism, or analysis paralysis. People with this condition will not act until they have a rational basis for doing so and can be so consumed with obtaining all the facts before making a decision that they become unable to make a decision.
The book seemed to encourage people to rely on their intuition. However, intuition the book points out is built on expertise which is built on experience. So what are people to do who do not have sufficient experience to rely on their intuition? Mormonism encourages people to trust their feelings about the BoM. Is trusting our feelings different than intuition? It seems that there needs to be some middle ground where people use both the power of rational thought and their instincts to guide their life.
In our increasingly specialized world there are very few of us who have broad areas of expertise, so our ability to rely on our intuition for making decisions is quite limited. And with the constant rate of change due to technology even in our areas of expertise we are constantly put into the position of the novice as we are required to learn to use new technological devices and software and stay up to date with the latest health findings. There is such a large amount of information out there that it is impossible to behave in a "rational" manner if that means taking into consideration all of the potential options and selecting the best one.