Emotion or Reason

by KumarGg Sun Oct 21, 2012 1:44 pm

Which of the two faculties do you use to make most of your everyday decisions? Both person and personal?

Which of the two faculties do you trust to make a better decision?

by Marathadi-Saamiyaar Sun Oct 21, 2012 1:57 pm

KumarGg wrote:Which of the two faculties do you use to make most of your everyday decisions? Both person and personal?

Which of the two faculties do you trust to make a better decision?

I always use both Reason and Emotion for decision making on a daily basis. The only problem is I use either of these when I am suppose to use the opposite on an issue.

by KumarGg Sun Oct 21, 2012 2:00 pm

what do you mean by "supposed to use" - who decides that?

by Marathadi-Saamiyaar Sun Oct 21, 2012 2:06 pm

KumarGg wrote:what do you mean by "supposed to use" - who decides that?

We all know AFTER the fact - and the failed decision.

by Vakavaka Pakapaka Sun Oct 21, 2012 2:22 pm

KumarGg wrote:Which of the two faculties do you use to make most of your everyday decisions? Both person and personal?

Which of the two faculties do you trust to make a better decision?

It all depends on who is answering. CONartists, pseudo-secularists, DKheads, Commie, Vadra, Laloo, Kejriwal, Digvijaya, Raja, Kalmadi, Nityananda, extremely brilliant CH scholars, monomaniacs, gownwallahs, Chaddiwallahs, Vizhi, Rashmun, Panini, Merlot, etc., will give unique answers, making the CH a 'colorful' place.

by Guest Sun Oct 21, 2012 4:27 pm

emotion that is well backed by reason.

by Vakavaka Pakapaka Sun Oct 21, 2012 5:10 pm

Often, emotion backed by reason isn't a genuine response. Reason without emotion can be good, bad, immature, mature, dangerous, etc., depending on the maturity of the person. Rashmun and Panini reason in different ways. Razz

by truthbetold Sun Oct 21, 2012 5:20 pm

Kumar,
malcom gladwell published well researched book on how decisions are taken. Blink is the name of that best seller. He says emotion drives most of the decision making process. Logic and reason may provide the basis for emotional reaction.
Let us know what you learned from that research.

by Marathadi-Saamiyaar Sun Oct 21, 2012 7:58 pm

truthbetold wrote:Kumar,
malcom gladwell published well researched book on how decisions are taken. Blink is the name of that best seller. He says emotion drives most of the decision making process. Logic and reason may provide the basis for emotional reaction.
Let us know what you learned from that research.

Any decision should be one of the two: An emotion-initiated decision backed by reasoning OR A reason-based decision with a strong emotional component.

One without the other will likely end up in failure.

by truthbetold Sun Oct 21, 2012 8:16 pm

Uppiliji,
Take a few minutes and read what gladwell has to say. While your observatory powers are legendary, a little reading may be good for the soul.

by Marathadi-Saamiyaar Sun Oct 21, 2012 9:17 pm

truthbetold wrote:Uppiliji,
Take a few minutes and read what gladwell has to say. While your observatory powers are legendary, a little reading may be good for the soul.

yes..I have read the review and synopsis of his book and theory. I call it instinct, stereotyping based on studies OR life observations. I believe that in those first few seconds, our brain totally focuses on the issue with its billions of neuronal connections and memory cells. The speed and the process is beyond science at this stage.

A simple example is the weather experts with their supercomputer modeling predicting 80% chances of rain, while an "uneducated" village farmer taking one look at the sky and shaking his head "it ain't going to rain today" in a simple flat 2 secs.

In any case,

I have ADHD. So me no read book (at least at this time)... Razz

by garam_kuta Mon Oct 22, 2012 12:10 am

Marathadi-Saamiyaar wrote:
truthbetold wrote:Uppiliji,
Take a few minutes and read what gladwell has to say. While your observatory powers are legendary, a little reading may be good for the soul.

yes..I have read the review and synopsis of his book and theory. I call it instinct, stereotyping based on studies OR life observations. I believe that in those first few seconds, our brain totally focuses on the issue with its billions of neuronal connections and memory cells. The speed and the process is beyond science at this stage.

A simple example is the weather experts with their supercomputer modeling predicting 80% chances of rain, while an "uneducated" village farmer taking one look at the sky and shaking his head "it ain't going to rain today" in a simple flat 2 secs.

In any case,

I have ADHD. So me no read book (at least at this time)...

what is high speed for a snail is standard for a turtle that is amazed at the speed of human walking for whom the rocket speed is spectacular and so on.. its all intrinsic properties and each is only relatively awesome.. don't be too striken by speed saamiyarae

by garam_kuta Mon Oct 22, 2012 12:12 am

truthbetold wrote:Uppiliji,
Take a few minutes and read what gladwell has to say. While your observatory powers are legendary, a little reading may be good for the soul.

SWAY is an even better book on making decisions; let me know what you think of it

by Impedimenta Mon Oct 22, 2012 9:58 am

A little bit of this and a little bit of that. I also rely on past experiences.

*impy in a philosophical non ADD mood this monday morning so no random linkage from me*

by Guest Mon Oct 22, 2012 11:36 am

There is a saying about us Parsis: A Parsi loves his brandy.

It is true. I've noticed we give our dogs either Parsi names or name them after alcohol (whisky, rum, scotch). I am no exception to this rule. I follow not love, not reason. I follow my brandy. When I don't, I turn to Ahura Mazda.

ýathâ ahû vairyô
athâ ratush ashâtcît hacâ
vanghêush dazdâ mananghô
shyaothananãm anghêush mazdâi
xshathremcâ ahurâi â
ýim drigubyô dadat vâstârem!!

by KumarGg Mon Oct 22, 2012 11:38 am

truthbetold wrote:Uppiliji,
Take a few minutes and read what gladwell has to say. While your observatory powers are legendary, a little reading may be good for the soul.

which of these 5 do you think is the best?

Influence:The Psychology of Persuasion (Collins Business Essentials)

Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions

Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking

13 Things That Don't Make Sense: The Most Baffling Scientific Mysteries of Our
Time

Sway: The Irresistible Pull of Irrational Behavior

by Idéfix Mon Oct 22, 2012 12:29 pm

I don't think any decision is purely driven by either emotion or reason. Even when it seems like I made a decision purely based on one of those two, I may in fact be employing both. For instance, I may think I decided to set the cruise control at the speed limit based on reason ("my insurance premium will go up if I get a speeding ticket"), but I may be motivated by emotion as well (fear of losing driving privileges). I may think I decided to support the Democratic party because their positions appeal to me at an emotional level, but when I evaluate them rationally, I find most of those positions reasonable as well.

For most everyday decisions, reason and emotion do not necessarily come into conflict, and we therefore make "good" decisions. It is only when reason and emotion come into conflict that we are faced with hard decisions that we agonize over and remember. In those cases, I'd like to believe I rely on reason more often than on emotion, but I am open to the possibility that I may be deluding myself when I believe that.

by Guest Mon Oct 22, 2012 12:38 pm

panini press wrote:I don't think any decision is purely driven by either emotion or reason. Even when it seems like I made a decision purely based on one of those two, I may in fact be employing both. For instance, I may think I decided to set the cruise control at the speed limit based on reason ("my insurance premium will go up if I get a speeding ticket"), but I may be motivated by emotion as well (fear of losing driving privileges). I may think I decided to support the Democratic party because their positions appeal to me at an emotional level, but when I evaluate them rationally, I find most of those positions reasonable as well.

For most everyday decisions, reason and emotion do not necessarily come into conflict, and we therefore make "good" decisions. It is only when reason and emotion come into conflict that we are faced with hard decisions that we agonize over and remember. In those cases, I'd like to believe I rely on reason more often than on emotion, but I am open to the possibility that I may be deluding myself when I believe that.

a lot of reasoning went into writing those two impassioned paragraphs. i wish we could develop algorithms to distinguish emotion from reason.

by Guest Mon Oct 22, 2012 2:54 pm

KumarGg wrote:Which of the two faculties do you use to make most of your everyday decisions? Both person and personal?

Which of the two faculties do you trust to make a better decision?

Emotion without a doubt. I, if necessary, find resons to back it Wink

by southindian Mon Oct 22, 2012 3:27 pm

KumarGg wrote:Which of the two faculties do you use to make most of your everyday decisions? Both person and personal?

Which of the two faculties do you trust to make a better decision?

All you got to do is reason with emotion for all your questions and you'll be fine.

by Idéfix Mon Oct 22, 2012 3:29 pm

Huzefa Kapasi wrote:
panini press wrote:I don't think any decision is purely driven by either emotion or reason. Even when it seems like I made a decision purely based on one of those two, I may in fact be employing both. For instance, I may think I decided to set the cruise control at the speed limit based on reason ("my insurance premium will go up if I get a speeding ticket"), but I may be motivated by emotion as well (fear of losing driving privileges). I may think I decided to support the Democratic party because their positions appeal to me at an emotional level, but when I evaluate them rationally, I find most of those positions reasonable as well.

For most everyday decisions, reason and emotion do not necessarily come into conflict, and we therefore make "good" decisions. It is only when reason and emotion come into conflict that we are faced with hard decisions that we agonize over and remember. In those cases, I'd like to believe I rely on reason more often than on emotion, but I am open to the possibility that I may be deluding myself when I believe that.
a lot of reasoning went into writing those two impassioned paragraphs.

And some emotion too!

by Guest Mon Oct 22, 2012 3:49 pm

These kinds of discussions always remind me of ex bf who always accused me of taking decisions with my head and not my heart. And for the life of me I could never fully understand him. And he still tells me the same and I still dont know the difference. In my head there is never a conflict. I know how to process stuff only one way and I never know if it's my heart or head talking. Ugh @ him again.

by Guest Mon Oct 22, 2012 10:35 pm

panini press wrote:
Huzefa Kapasi wrote:
panini press wrote:I don't think any decision is purely driven by either emotion or reason. Even when it seems like I made a decision purely based on one of those two, I may in fact be employing both. For instance, I may think I decided to set the cruise control at the speed limit based on reason ("my insurance premium will go up if I get a speeding ticket"), but I may be motivated by emotion as well (fear of losing driving privileges). I may think I decided to support the Democratic party because their positions appeal to me at an emotional level, but when I evaluate them rationally, I find most of those positions reasonable as well.

For most everyday decisions, reason and emotion do not necessarily come into conflict, and we therefore make "good" decisions. It is only when reason and emotion come into conflict that we are faced with hard decisions that we agonize over and remember. In those cases, I'd like to believe I rely on reason more often than on emotion, but I am open to the possibility that I may be deluding myself when I believe that.
a lot of reasoning went into writing those two impassioned paragraphs.
And some emotion too!

ya, i meant emotion by "impassioned." anyway, enjoyed your take. Smile

by KumarGg Tue Oct 23, 2012 2:36 pm

panini press wrote:I don't think any decision is purely driven by either emotion or reason. Even when it seems like I made a decision purely based on one of those two, I may in fact be employing both. For instance, I may think I decided to set the cruise control at the speed limit based on reason ("my insurance premium will go up if I get a speeding ticket"), but I may be motivated by emotion as well (fear of losing driving privileges). I may think I decided to support the Democratic party because their positions appeal to me at an emotional level, but when I evaluate them rationally, I find most of those positions reasonable as well.

For most everyday decisions, reason and emotion do not necessarily come into conflict, and we therefore make "good" decisions. It is only when reason and emotion come into conflict that we are faced with hard decisions that we agonize over and remember. In those cases, I'd like to believe I rely on reason more often than on emotion, but I am open to the possibility that I may be deluding myself when I believe that.

Thanks to all. Thats a good response. What you'e written is true and these dont need to be mutually exclusive. But I should have clarified myself when I asked the question- I meant more like people-related decisions. Such as when looking for a job, evaluating offers, making performance appraisals, trusting one colleague over another, choosing who to let go from the company, resolving workplace conflict, choosing if to discipline and older employee over a complaint from a new one, trusting an idea coming from a younger and inexperienced colleague etc

And on a personal front, choosing who to marry, where to live, which school to put my kids into etc

by Idéfix Tue Oct 23, 2012 3:14 pm

KumarGg wrote:I meant more like people-related decisions. Such as when looking for a job, evaluating offers, making performance appraisals, trusting one colleague over another, choosing who to let go from the company, resolving workplace conflict, choosing if to discipline and older employee over a complaint from a new one, trusting an idea coming from a younger and inexperienced colleague etc

In my experience, most decisions related to people are made almost exclusively using heuristics -- do they look trustworthy, do they inspire confidence, do you like them, etc. Those heuristics are not based on thoughtful and thorough reasoning, so you could label them as based on "emotion" -- at least in the sense that they are made based on the emotional response that results from the heuristics. (Do they make me feel comfortable? Do I trust this person? etc.)

Very little long-form reason is involved in most of the work-related situations you mention above. The only big exceptions I can think of are performance appraisals and choosing who to let go or discipline. In my experience, there is a lot more reason employed there, thanks to employment discrimination law. I am not suggested reason overrules emotional preferences in those matters, but a conscious rational process is at least supposed to occur before a decision is made.

KumarGg wrote:And on a personal front, choosing who to marry, where to live, which school to put my kids into etc

These are very much driven by emotion. That last one on kids' school seems to get a lot of rational thought process, but I don't know how much of the decision itself boils down to heuristics and emotional responses -- my hunch is, quite a bit.

by Petrichor Tue Oct 23, 2012 3:39 pm

Heuristics is an interesting word - PP, you seem to lean towards an "emotional" shade when it comes to "heuristics" usage. I think of it as the intellectually lazy way of using macros in your brain, hopefully not recklessly, to speed up and unclutter your decision-making. Thus, heuristics for me, implies little primitives of 'logic' that you have used elsewhere or apriori to help you get to the abstraction at hand. This is the kinda thing that makes me go 'Jinnah' when presented with a soiree-like evening that Jeremiah had with his urbane, intellectual sounding Pakistani friends. This may be complete baloney of course, and that is the problem with heuristics as well. Very few people can rationally provide a 'pathway' to their current stance - either they are oblivious or obdurate or both.

Enough of my rambling - after a 102.8 last evening and recovering with a vadai and rava paayasam today I am thankful for small mercies like this half-decent thread.

by Idéfix Tue Oct 23, 2012 3:47 pm

atcg wrote:Heuristics is an interesting word - PP, you seem to lean towards an "emotional" shade when it comes to "heuristics" usage. I think of it as the intellectually lazy way of using macros in your brain, hopefully not recklessly, to speed up and unclutter your decision-making. Thus, heuristics for me, implies little primitives of 'logic' that you have used elsewhere or apriori to help you get to the abstraction at hand.

That's the exact sense in which I meant heuristics as well. I didn't mean to suggest that heuristics are "irrational."

atcg wrote:Very few people can rationally provide a 'pathway' to their current stance - either they are oblivious or obdurate or both.

You hit the nail on the head. This is the sense in which I suggested heuristics are closer to emotion than what I tentatively labeled "long-form" reason. The reason I suggest that is that we recognize the decisions we make using heuristics through the emotional responses the decisions produce. In my last reply, I actually started making the distinction between heuristics and emotion, but didn't want my message to be muddled. It is indeed in very decisions that we take a thorough and long-form approach to rational analysis.

by Petrichor Tue Oct 23, 2012 3:52 pm

Thanks for clarifying, PP.

by Idéfix Tue Oct 23, 2012 3:53 pm

To elaborate on how we recognize decisions made through heuristics -- when we evaluate strangers, one of the first tests is assessing whether the person is a friend or a foe, and if a foe, whether our response should be fight or flight. Because evolution valued quick reflexes in this area, we do make rather rapid decisions on those two questions. And we feel that the other person is friendly before we actually evaluate them against specific aspects of friendliness, and we feel that they are hostile before we pull out our Interpersonal Hostility Checklist. The heuristics behind the feeling itself may be fairly rational -- e.g. fear of a predator, so the decision can be called rational as much as it is emotional.

by Guest Tue Oct 23, 2012 3:58 pm

atcg wrote:Thanks for clarifying, PP.

Hey Libran! How was ur b'day?

PS: Vadas after recovering from a 102.8 f fever? Rolling Eyes

by Idéfix Tue Oct 23, 2012 4:01 pm

kinnera wrote:
atcg wrote:Thanks for clarifying, PP.

Hey Libran! How was ur b'day?

PS: Vadas after recovering from a 102.8 f fever?

Here's how that's a good rational decision: make up for lost/forgone nutrition while sick. Here's how that's a good emotional decision: when recovering, eat comfort food you grew up with. Smile

by Guest Tue Oct 23, 2012 4:06 pm

panini press wrote:
kinnera wrote:
atcg wrote:Thanks for clarifying, PP.

Hey Libran! How was ur b'day?

PS: Vadas after recovering from a 102.8 f fever?
Here's how that's a good rational decision: make up for lost/forgone nutrition while sick. Here's how that's a good emotional decision: when recovering, eat comfort food you grew up with.

reason shld defy one from having oily vadas a day after recovering from such high temp. no? idly is a better choice. He went with his emotions, which is what librans lean towards most of the time. Heart rules over the mind.

by Petrichor Tue Oct 23, 2012 4:18 pm

Glad to offer up myself in a neatly packed test tube for further forensic analysis!

Kinsey, difficult to come up with new and creative ways for bdays these days Smile

So, I decided to respond in a personalized elaborate manner/comment to every single fb "happy birthday" message.

Librans are hopeless optimists - the alternative is drudgery.

by Guest Tue Oct 23, 2012 4:29 pm

atcg wrote:Glad to offer up myself in a neatly packed test tube for further forensic analysis!

LOL!

atcg wrote:

Kinsey, difficult to come up with new and creative ways for bdays these days
So, I decided to respond in a personalized elaborate manner/comment to every single fb "happy birthday" message.

Why, of course that's a creative way to both celebrate and connect with friends and relatives.

atcg wrote:
Librans are hopeless optimists - the alternative is drudgery.

Ya, hopeless, die-hard optimists! Read this comment on fb: Librans are the most loving and the most lovable ppl on the planet.

by Kris Wed Oct 24, 2012 12:32 am

KumarGg wrote:Which of the two faculties do you use to make most of your everyday decisions? Both person and personal?

Which of the two faculties do you trust to make a better decision?

>>>Intuition quite a bit. This is the logic of of the subconscious.

by Idéfix Wed Oct 24, 2012 12:35 am

Intuition is another good word for "heuristics." Describing it as the "logic of the subconscious" makes it more expressive than the hard-to-understand word heuristics.

by Kris Wed Oct 24, 2012 1:01 am

panini press wrote:Intuition is another good word for "heuristics." Describing it as the "logic of the subconscious" makes it more expressive than the hard-to-understand word heuristics.

>>>In grad school, I took a class on problem solving. It was titled a management course, but was basically on being creative as a group in coming up with solutions. One of the first assumptions you would make was the problem *had* a solution. Once you start with that premise, your mind is forced to think around corners. Then the brainstorming would start, with no solution considered off-limits. The idea was that no matter how outlandish it was, it could seed other thought processes that could lead to a solution. You could almost feel yourself making a shift away from the left-brain approach.

by KumarGg Wed Oct 24, 2012 11:15 am

[quote="panini press"]

KumarGg wrote:In my experience, most decisions related to people are made almost exclusively using heuristics -- do they look trustworthy, do they inspire confidence, do you like them

In that case, its unfortunate that heuristic decisions are biased. What has "do I like them" got to do with anything? In a fair world who you like should not have any effect on your decision, because then the decision will always be in the favor of the one you like. And what other work place conflicts are you talking about if you sliced out disciplining an employee and letting go of an employee. Those are the 2 major decisions that result from solving a work place conflict.

by Idéfix Wed Oct 24, 2012 11:26 am

It may be unfortunate, but it's not a fair world we live in. Our likes and dislikes do affect how we deal with people, even if we think we are being fair and objective. Our decision making did not evolve in a world where fairness was important, so we evolved a process that often results in quick but potentially unfair decisions. That's one of the reasons why we need laws to protect people from workplace discrimination.

I meant smaller, day-to-day conflicts between people. If someone says, "so-and-so is distracting me by speaking too loudly on the phone, would you tell them to change that?" I wouldn't think too long and hard about how to approach the situation, compared to someone saying, "so-and-so is making inappropriate sexual remarks and creating a hostile work environment for me."

by KumarGg Wed Oct 24, 2012 1:30 pm

So is that the reason why big corporates tolerate hostile cut throat work environment which can be damaging to its employees. The word 'corporate' and 'dirty politics' are synonymous. I know of a lot of friends who work in big name corporates and talk about how much politics there is and how damaging the work environment is, and yet 'management' and HR do nothing about it - despite severe attrition. Attrition is clearly financially not good for an organization, but yet they continue to make these biased decisions. I am surprised why don't they still change their decision making process.

by artood2 Wed Oct 24, 2012 1:31 pm

panini press wrote:Intuition is another good word for "heuristics." Describing it as the "logic of the subconscious" makes it more expressive than the hard-to-understand word heuristics.

Intution is "logic of the subconscious". A result of data gathered over years. You had good reasons for it someday, now you do not remember the reason just the result.

by Guest Wed Oct 24, 2012 2:01 pm

artood2 wrote:
panini press wrote:Intuition is another good word for "heuristics." Describing it as the "logic of the subconscious" makes it more expressive than the hard-to-understand word heuristics.

Intution is "logic of the subconscious". A result of data gathered over years. You had good reasons for it someday, now you do not remember the reason just the result.

nah. intuition is not "logic of the subconscious." what you describe is akin to remembering a theorem while having forgotten the proof. that is quite logical -- subconscious or not. intuition is different. intuition can sometimes be innate, or, in philosophical terms, a priori. like 1+1 = 2 (though that itself has a mathematical proof but yet there remain axioms in math that cannot be proven). it can be a fledgling bird automatically flying the coop to prey on worms.

by artood2 Wed Oct 24, 2012 2:09 pm

Huzefa Kapasi wrote:
artood2 wrote:
panini press wrote:Intuition is another good word for "heuristics." Describing it as the "logic of the subconscious" makes it more expressive than the hard-to-understand word heuristics.

Intution is "logic of the subconscious". A result of data gathered over years. You had good reasons for it someday, now you do not remember the reason just the result.
nah. intuition is not "logic of the subconscious." what you describe is akin to remembering a theorem while having forgotten the proof. that is quite logical -- subconscious or not. intuition is different. intuition can sometimes be innate, or, in philosophical terms, a priori. like 1+1 = 2 (though that itself has a mathematical proof but yet there remain axioms in math that cannot be proven). it can be a fledgling bird automatically flying the coop to prey on worms.

I still hold intution is subconscious application of principles learnt through experience. Killing a prey is more like...ahem...basic instinct.

by Guest Wed Oct 24, 2012 2:21 pm

then how would you describe knowledge learnt without experience (among humans). is there an english word for it? can't believe i am descending into kantian philosophy at this age.

by Idéfix Wed Oct 24, 2012 5:26 pm

Huzefa Kapasi wrote:then how would you describe knowledge learnt without experience (among humans). is there an english word for it? can't believe i am descending into kantian philosophy at this age.

You are making a distinction (in your previous post above) between knowledge acquired through formal logical proof and knowledge acquired through experience (similar to the difference between theoretical and empirical physics). In my mind, if you learn a proof and forget it but still apply the theorem, that would be heuristics. But it is also heuristics when you learn something empirically, but never understood the theory / reason behind it. For instance, you learn as a very young child that hot things burn you, and you stop trying to touch hot things. You do that before you learn anything about the physics and chemistry of heat and combustion. You learn as an older child that taking paracetamol when you are running a moderate temperature relieves the symptoms of the fever. You learn that before ever learning how it helps the body regulate its temperature at the lower, normal level. In general, heuristics is when you use shortcuts to come to a quick decision without fully understanding or thinking at length through the logic -- whether you knew it once and have forgotten it, or you never knew why. So heuristics is the "logic of the subconscious."

by artood2 Wed Oct 24, 2012 5:56 pm

Huzefa Kapasi wrote:then how would you describe knowledge learnt without experience (among humans). is there an english word for it? can't believe i am descending into kantian philosophy at this age.

some things are just coded in our DNA. By experience I meant something you had to process mentally to arrive at a conclusion. A more deliberate processing.

by artood2 Wed Oct 24, 2012 6:34 pm

panini press wrote:
Huzefa Kapasi wrote:then how would you describe knowledge learnt without experience (among humans). is there an english word for it? can't believe i am descending into kantian philosophy at this age.
You are making a distinction (in your previous post above) between knowledge acquired through formal logical proof and knowledge acquired through experience (similar to the difference between theoretical and empirical physics). In my mind, if you learn a proof and forget it but still apply the theorem, that would be heuristics. But it is also heuristics when you learn something empirically, but never understood the theory / reason behind it. For instance, you learn as a very young child that hot things burn you, and you stop trying to touch hot things. You do that before you learn anything about the physics and chemistry of heat and combustion. You learn as an older child that taking paracetamol when you are running a moderate temperature relieves the symptoms of the fever. You learn that before ever learning how it helps the body regulate its temperature at the lower, normal level. In general, heuristics is when you use shortcuts to come to a quick decision without fully understanding or thinking at length through the logic -- whether you knew it once and have forgotten it, or you never knew why. So heuristics is the "logic of the subconscious."

In general I meant experience more as a cause/effect relationship that was established earlier.

by Guest Wed Oct 24, 2012 9:46 pm

ok, i think i get it. heuristic (intuition) is logic of the subconscious and empirical. knowledge or behaviour that exists innately is "instinct."

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