Kluge: The Haphazard Construction Of The Human Mind (2008) - Plot & Excerpts
I enjoy reading about the imperfections of humans so was excited to read this.The most exciting thing I learnt is that memory is context-dependent. A study showed divers who memorised facts underwater were better able to recall these facts while underwater. I'll now be doing all web dev studies at my computer. I'm considering how I can make my home desk more like my work desk to maximise recall - at work.Kluge explains how humans rely both on reflexive and deliberative systems. The reflexive is the older of the two, good at quick thinking. The deliberative system is the younger, rational system. It's better at weighing the pros and cons of a decision and thinking about how our choices affect us in the future. When tired and stressed we fall back on the reflexive system, which is why we are susceptible to choosing unhealthy foods when tired.Cognitive biases. We have them. Priming is a cognitive bias which causes us to make decisions based on an initial value provided to us. Showing a photo of an angry person made participants in a study drink less of a lemon drink than those who were shown a photo of a happy person. The participants transferred these bad/good qualities onto their drinks. Another study showed how being in a room with items associated with intelligence lead to people performing better in tasks.Economists suggest we should evaluate products on their expected utility, how much pleasure they will bring.Another bias is that we believe information first, then use our deliberative system to decide later if the information is truthful. Children and people with weakly developed critical thinking skills are more likely to accept information at face value. Accepting things at face value was selected for in the harsh environment of our ancestors. As was our love of high-calorie foods. Before agriculture, our hunter gathering ancestors were not guaranteed a constant supply of food as most of us are today. A love of sugar and fat developed out of this scarcity of food. High-energy foods leading to the pleasure of dopamine release motivated our ancestors to crave these foods, and get the energy needed to survive.Okay, so this is more of a "things I learnt from the book" than a review, oh well. There are plenty of great reviews on Goodreads which summarise and review.I have a clearer picture of my cognitive biases and with this I can hopefully make better decisions. I think we're all led to believe growing up that the human brain is an extremely perfectly crafted organ, with innumerable capabilities. A vessel of perfection, that we simply lack the capacity to tap into because we're limited in our understanding of its operation. Kluge explains to us that well, frankly, our brain is a mess. Our thought processes are full of bias, both conscious and unconscious. The way we make decisions, act, and approach our lives really are haphazard. They seem well thought out and coordinated to us, but that's just all part of the way the chaos portrays itself. And yet, in that chaos, we have found functionality, which is really the magic of what our brains have achieved. Sometimes the most efficient way of accomplishing something really isn't the best way. And more often than not, our brains choose the inefficient approach. It's just how we're wired. This book reminded me of Nietzsche saying that there is reason in madness. Kluge helped me to understand that the way we live is by finding the reason in that madness and somehow making it work.
What do You think about Kluge: The Haphazard Construction Of The Human Mind (2008)?
An essential for those possessed of a human mind and curiosity about its workings.
—phanto
Loved it. Evolutionary psychology and the kluges we have developed over the eons.
—skapitk1
I can't remember a thing about this book. I'm not kidding.
—brooklyn
