Posted by Estella on August 6, 2006, at 0:48:23
In reply to Heuristic? » Estella, posted by Declan on August 5, 2006, at 12:45:38
Psychology
In psychology, heuristics are simple, efficient rules of thumb which have been proposed to explain how people make decisions, come to judgments and solve problems, typically when facing complex problems or incomplete information. These rules work well under most circumstances, but in certain cases lead to systematic cognitive biases.
For instance, people may tend to perceive more expensive beers as tasting better than inexpensive ones. This finding holds true even when prices and brands are switched; putting the high price on the normally relatively inexpensive brand is enough to lead experimental participants to perceive that beer as tasting better than the beer that is normally relatively expensive. One might call this "price implies quality" bias. (Cf. Veblen good)
Much of the work of discovering heuristics in human decision makers was ignited by Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman, who shared an important influence on behavioral finance. Critics led by Gerd Gigerenzer focus on how heuristics can be used to make principally accurate judgments rather than producing cognitive biases — heuristics that are "fast and frugal".
Theorized psychological heuristicsWell-known:
* Anchoring and adjustment
* Availability heuristic
* Representativeness heuristicLesser-known:
* Affect heuristic
* Contagion heuristic
* Effort heuristic
* Familiarity heuristic
* Fluency heuristic
* Gaze heuristic
* Peak-end rule
* Recognition heuristic
* Scarcity heuristic
* Similarity heuristic
* Simulation heuristic
* Social proof
* Take-the-best heuristicPhilosophy
In philosophy, especially in Continental European philosophy, [ugh] the adjective "heuristic" (or the designation "heuristic device") is used when an entity X is there to understand or to find out about some other entity Y. A good example is a model, which, as it is never identical with whatever it models, is a heuristic device to understand the latter. Stories, metaphors, etc., can also be termed heuristic in that sense. A classic example is the notion of utopia as described in Plato's best-known work, Politeia. This means that the purpose of the "ideal city" as depicted in the Politeia is not to be pursued or to present an orientation-point for development, but rather, that it shows how things would have to be connected, and how one thing would lead to another—often with highly problematic results, if one would opt for certain principles and carry them through rigorously.
so the self is a 'useful fiction' according to Dennett (though I object to the term 'fiction').
the self is a useful construct for explaining and predicting behaviour (of our body and of others bodies)
the mystics...
have limited information about the person...
and they use a few 'cheap tricks' to get a prediction.
kinda like... using the notion of the self...
poster:Estella
thread:673916
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/esteem/20060725/msgs/674177.html