Mind heuristic development is a guideline that helps a human think and act more efficiently by directing thinking in an useful, well-being and proactive direction.
Heuristic methods both help and impair decision making, as the brain is really a wonder. Heuristic and analytical thoughts use different parts of the brain.
Faster than a computer, we size up situations and take action in nanoseconds. “I went with my gut,” we say. But what is actually happening in our mind when those super-fast decisions and judgments are made? We’ve turned our mental reasoning over to a mental device called a “heuristic”. Heuristics equal mental biases.
Types of Heuristics
One heuristic is called the “familiarity heuristic.” We do what we have always tended to do. Another, the “acceptance heuristic” leads us to make choices that will draw the attention of others. Why are things like white asparagus and flawless diamonds so valuable? The “scarcity heuristic” explains that we assign value to that which is rare. Some heuristics lead to distortions of reality. For instance, when we use “hindsight bias” we believe that whatever just occurred was inevitable without really investigating other possible outcomes. This would seem really silly to a analytic/realistic mind and it probably is so.
Some heuristics have to do with how we interact with others. When we unconsciously find ourselves using the same gestures or tones as someone near us, we are using the “mimicry heuristic“. It is this instinctive built-in tendency that make marching in-step or cooperating on a mastodon hunt possible. The tendency to begin to react as others around us react, or synchrony, may help explain group cohesion or breakdown.
How is a Heuristic Device Formed?
Some heuristics come from early experiences. These “visceral heuristics” link things like being cold as an infant because no one is holding us to being alone. That linkage persists into adulthood with “cold and lonely” being a familiar concept to us all. The “negativity bias” states that humans have learned to pay attention to bad things, like snakes and poison plants, in order to survive, but that leads us to dwell on the negative in general. Other heuristic devices are passed along and reinforced by culture. Our sayings often reveal a hidden heuristic device. “There’s no place like home” reinforces the familiarity heuristic, for example.
The “caricature heuristic” is the way our brain quickly classifies an event or a person. As the name implies, it can be devastating if employed in a courtroom (if owned by a judge for instance), but useful if employed by a diagnostician like a physician who is attempting to diagnose diseases that tend to occur more frequently in some populations. A stereotype occurs because it has been a useful way to categorize information. A seventy year old woman is more likely to suffer from dementia or breast cancer than a thirty year old man.
Research indicates that something as simple as changing the font from one that is easily read to one that is less familiar will change our responses. Simple fonts yield quicker, more heuristic, responses. This is the type of information that marketers use to persuade us to buy things. Whether or not an instinctual response is good or bad might depend on what side of the cash register you occupy.
However, heuristic methods can really help us if we know how to “use” and deal with them. Here are some old wisdom heuristics, which are considered healthy-mind peculiar, that will improve the state of your mind and will help you succeed in various life situations:
1. If you want something done, do it yourself.
Comment: Obviously true, and doing it is usually very good for your self esteem. A surprising amount of work can be done this way, and experts are not always necessary. However, there is a risk of becoming overworked if you try to do everything yourself – we all need other people after all.
2. Never postpone anything you really can do right now.
Comment: Very powerful. There are many things that can be fixed or solved with a minimum of effort, but are often pushed aside as unimportant. Unfortunately they won’t go away, and in time the feelings of guilt for not having done them will make you even less likely of fixing the problems.
3. When you have several things you could be doing and don’t know which to do: Just do any one of them!
Comment: If you cannot decide between two or more possibilities, then there is a good chance that the differences don’t matter. However, most people begin to hesitate in this kind of situation (Fredkin’s paradox — “The more equally attractive two alternatives seem, the harder it can be to choose between them — no matter that, to the same degree, the choice can only matter less.”). If you are conscious of this, you can just choose one choice randomly or according to some standard method.
4. Always assume that you will succeed.
Comment: If you don’t expect to succeed in an endeavor, then you will not do your best and will not notice possible solutions, while if you feel that you will eventually succeed you will concentrate all your power at the problem. Of course, there is no point in attempting what you cannot do, a certain amount of self-knowledge is always needed.
5. If you can’t find a solution, change the rules.
Comment: Remember that there are no “no-win” scenarios. Something must go right if you follow the right set of rules.
6. If you cannot do anything about something, there is no point in worrying about it.
Comment: Worrying is stressful, and in most situations doesn’t accomplish anything – it just wastes energy. Instead of worrying about things, either do something about them or find ways around the problem. One useful idea is to write down your worries on slips of paper, and then put them away in a box. Regularly, once a week or so, you open the box and see what you can do about the worries that are still relevant.
7. Do not rely on conscious decisions when it comes to speed – just do it.
Comment: The conscious mind is surprisingly slow, conscious choices and actions are delayed for a significant time (a reflex acts within some tens of milliseconds, an unconscious reaction to external stimuli circa 100 milliseconds and a conscious choice several seconds). The duty of the conscious mind is usually to inhibit rather than start action, and if you become too conscious of what you are doing in a tense situation you will hesitate or slow down.
8. Don’t try to explain your actions for yourself.
Comment: While we often do things we do not want to explain our real motivations for in front of other people (out of fear of embarrassment, anger or loss of imagination), it is a bad idea to try to convince yourself that the motivation was anything different from what it really was. Just admit it to yourself (not necessarily to people around). It will only reduce your self-knowledge with deliberate misinformation, mislead and misunderstand yourself for something that you’re not. It is often valuable to understand what motivations you have (even if you dislike them or would never admit them in public).
9. Listen to your intuition, but do not believe it unconditionally.
Comment: Intuitive or emotional thinking, analogies, “gut feelings” or “flashes of inspiration” can sometimes give fantastic new insights or show problems from a new direction. Unfortunately such thinking isn’t always reliable, and quite often completely wrong! Such insights should never be accepted only because you admire their beauty or because they are intuitive. They sometimes just may not fit with reality.
Sources:
De Ney, W & Goel V. (in press). Heuristics and biases in the brain: Dual neural pathways for decision making. In O. Vartarin & D.R. Mandel (Eds.) Neuroscience of Decision Making. Hove, UK; Psychology Press.
Herbert, W. On Second Thought: Outsmarting Your Mind’s Hardwired Habits. New York; Random House, 2010.
Kahneman, D. A Perspective on Judgment and Choice: Mapping Bounded Rationality. American Scientist, September 2003.
