Friday, July 30, 2010
Commonsense ways of knowing
I enjoyed reading the section about problems with commonsense ways of knowing. I didn’t realize the analysis of how we go about thinking or interpreting events on a day-to-day basis. But reading this section I kept saying in my head, oh my gosh that is so true. The section starts off by explaining how in everyday life we usually adopt the first plausible explanation as a final answer without looking further into it. This is true in so many instances, some people will just ask a friend or an acquaintance about an issue and if the answer sounds about right, they accept it without any further explanation. Next came the idea that “our everyday models of human behavior are often models of our own behavior (p.368).” This again hit me over the head how when discussing things with friends, if friends have not seen it with their own eyes, they are not wiling to believe. Lastly, the heuristics, “rules of thumb that allow us to avoid careful information processing (p. 369),” rang just as true. When reading the examples of the simple cues, the status cues, and formal aspects, I recognized each and every one of the sayings. I have said or heard those exact examples due to my simplistic ways of thinking. It was interesting to see in more detail the way in which we think on a day-to-day basis. It made me feel like I am too simple of a thinker.
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I too felt this section the most enlightening of chapter 13. We are all guilty of accepting the first logical explanation and it goes to show you how “perceptions become reality”. It also makes sense that we would frame our models of human behavior after are own because we have a tendency to believe that everyone’s experience is ultimately similar to are own. In day to day interactions I doubt this lazy approach to understanding the world is terribly harmful. However, I believe it is important that we stop and analyze our beliefs and where they may have come from. I’m sure many things that people believe to be true are simply the first logical explanation we were given.
ReplyDeleteCommonsense is something you are sometimes not born with, but it is a huge bonus to have if you do in life. There are so many obstacles in life that make you have to have common sense, and it can save you in so many different scary circumstances. This part of chapter also made me think in a different kind of way. I think its funny how our first thoughts are all we think of and don't ever try and look further into that thought. It is very interesting to me to finally realize that we all go into thinking about things so differently then the next person. It also just shows how unique we are in our thoughts, and that makes me happy
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