Sensitive by Nature
Understanding Intelligence and the Mind
by
Book Cover & Preview Text
Similar to other forms of information, the context of behavior determines its meaning, and it can be interpreted in a variety or ways. The reason for this is that the interpretation of behavior is highly dependent upon perception. An example of this is demonstrated in the following story of a doctor and a nurse:
"A doctor is kneeling on the floor next to an unconscious patient. He yells at a nurse, ‘Get my bag!’ When the nurse returns with the doctor’s bag, she is upset with how she is being treated. The doctor then, yells to the nurse, ‘Don’t just stand there, find this patient’s chart, quickly!’ At this point the nurse is nearly in tears. She goes frantically down the hall to look for the patient’s chart."
Since perceptions are used to construct each individual’s view of the world, one individual’s interpretation of what happens can vary greatly from that of another. An interpretation using the wrong context will inaccurately attribute meaning to events.
According to the perceptions of this nurse, she was dealing with a rude and inconsiderate physician who looked down upon individuals with a lower social status. The nurse was unaware that the behavior of the physician was due to the fact that he was frightened. Concerned for the life of his patient, the physician was frantically trying to diagnose his patient’s condition. In this example, the nurse innocently failed to attribute the appropriate level of significance to the patient and the situation as a context for the interpreting the physician’s behavior. Instead, the nurse attributed an inordinate level of importance upon herself and her own situation. The nurse chose the particular context in which to interpret the events, however, she was limited to the choices provided by her internal paradigm.
9.7 Paradigm
"When we first begin to believe anything, what we believe is not a single proposition, it is a whole system of propositions. (Light dawns gradually over the whole.)"
Ludwig Wittgenstein
Similar to the context of information and behavior, a paradigm provides meaning to everything that is within the framework of the paradigm. The difference between the context and a paradigm, however, is that the ‘context’ of something originates from the outside world and enters into the brain as stimuli from sensory organs, whereas a paradigm originates from within the brain and becomes projected to the outside world.
The paradigm that an individual operates within determines what information will be considered, as well as the meaning of the information, therefore, an individual’s paradigm heavily influences the context in which information will be evaluated. As such, an inaccurate paradigm can affect an individual’s perception of reality by distorting the context of information used to interpret meaning.
Since a paradigm is a framework that is generated internally within the brain, it is dependent upon the personality of the individual. An example of how a paradigm can distort an individual’s perception can be shown in the following story of the doctor and the nurse.
"A doctor is kneeling by the side of a patient who is lying unconscious on the floor. The doctor yells at a nurse, ‘Get my bag!’ When the nurse returns with the doctor’s bag, she is angry that she has not been shown the proper respect. The doctor then, yells to the nurse, ‘Don’t just stand there, find this patient’s chart, quickly!’ Now the nurse becomes hostile toward the physician. She snarls at him and hurries down the hall in a rage. Upon returning, she fights the urge to throw the chart at the doctor."
Again, the nurse in this story is not aware that the behavior of the physician stemmed from the fact that the doctor is confused and scared for his patient. In the example, the nurse was operating from a paradigm that she was more competent than many of the physicians in this hospital, and that everyone should treat her with the utmost respect else she will quit this thankless job. The nurse failed to recognize the proper context, even though the nurse had heard that the patient was a long time personal friend of the doctor whose young children attended the same school as his child. The nurse’s paradigm not only caused her to arrive at the wrong interpretation of the doctor’s behavior, but additionally she failed to consider the possibility of other, more reasonable interpretations.
Paradigms direct the brain’s interpretive centers in hidden and powerful ways. By controlling the way that the brain interprets information and events, a paradigm, predominately determines how an individual will behave and react to incoming stimuli. Just as understanding an individual’s past paradigms can explain past behavior, understanding an individual’s present paradigm can explain present behavior. Since paradigms predispose an individual to interpret information in a particular manner, to an extent they can also be used to predict the future behavior of an individual.
Formats
Book Details
About the Book
Any reader will easily learn several courses worth of artificial intelligence and psychology, as they are introduced to the concepts building up to the most modern view of the human mind and the technology that is being used to develop it. This book is extremely educational and fun to read. It is an excellent ‘guided tour’ into the formation of biological intelligence, and a unique glimpse into the making of a mechanical form of intelligence. It addresses many of the novices’ and experts’ misconceptions about artificial intelligence and presents a useful model for understanding the every day capabilities of the mind. The book describes how the mind works to such an extent that the reader will learn how they can improve their understanding of others, affecting their ability to manage, communicate and negotiate more effectively. The material is quite stimulating to those interested in psychology, philosophy, computer science, evolution, and artificial intelligence. The minimum prerequisite for the book is high school science, as it puts basic physics, biology, chemistry and paleoanthropology into perspective in how these disciplines can help develop our understanding of human psychology as well as our understanding of what intelligence actually is.
About the Author
Jim Luisi is a graduate of Brooklyn College and currently participates in the management of two software companies, inventing new ways of looking at things and designing leading edge business solutions. Having lived previously New York and California, Jim is a now resident of New Jersey. Jim still enjoys the area in California that his mom lives in, and enjoys visiting his sister, Marie, as she periodically relocates to new and interesting locations throughout the United States. Jim is grateful to his sister and the various elves for their tremendous contribution to the book with their skillful proof reading and relentless, yet always, constructive criticism. Jim has worked in database technology for over twenty years, participated in every aspect of the software development life cycle for large information systems on Wall Street, and large control systems regarding defense work, and performed as a management consultant in extremely large automation efforts. He has also managed a research effort into artificial intelligence for a major aerospace company, and co-developed ‘Process Normalization’, which is a process that normalizes millions of lines of code to tens of thousands. As to specific accomplishments, Mr. Luisi was the chief architect of the DataPulse database technology, the first cognitive database system, and the Business Intelligence applications that have been developed using it. Most importantly, Jim’s pride and joy is his daughter, born in San Diego on the 21st of August 1990, whose welcome interruptions, along with those of the rest of his family, helped influence Jim’s decision not to change his career to become a writer.