Caveman_Logic

“‘The fault, dear Brutus, lies not in our stars, but in ourselves..,’”(Davis, 2009) William Shakespeare may not have had the same intent as I share with Hank Davis about this quote’s message, but in general it is stating that the human condition is to blame for our actions, not supernatural forces. Caveman Logic portrays the inefficiency of our mental apparatus in forming conclusions. This gap, or “blind spot”, is often taken advantage of by people who notice this weakness and profit from allowing us to firmly believe certain illusions. Astrology is a leading example of caveman logic which is present within my own personal life. The dependence on the cosmos and the alignment of the stars leads to endless misconceptions in our belief systems. Davis’s objective in writing this book seems to relate to an addiction recovery guide. Steven Pinker’s, How the Mind Works ,is in accordance with Davis and their allowance for the reader to become aware of this innate behavior and understand it’s evolutionary programming subsequent from the Pleistocene era. Certain pattern thinking profited by natural selection and caveman logic is the result of this progression, or regression, in which heredity is the sole provider for characteristics to persist. Considering the Stone Age, from which our minds were molded, survival was the key to a reproductive success. This does not include a clear and dexterous mind, but rather perceiving the world in such a way that resulted in the continuation of your life. Unfortunately this occurred during a time where it was expected to comprise the mind of inaccurate beliefs, due to limited resources and knowledge, but why does it persevere into the year 2010' Strangely, I have always been fascinated with astrology, yet skeptical of my Catholic faith. After comprehending the theory of caveman logic, I was utterly confused about my own perceptions and apparent susceptibility. I attended an all girls Catholic high school where I was forced to take a class in theology; furthermore I got tested and graded on the conception of God. Unfortunately, due to my realistic tendencies, this had the reverse effect and I started questioning everything which subsequently led me to withdraw from my faith. My behavior seems to resemble what Davis is hoping to achieve by allowing humanity to recognize that there is a problem within our mind’s incapability to calculate sensations; development of this “immunization.” Similar to Davis’s accounts I never expressed or even registered the word atheism into my vocabulary, it seemed wrong and immoral. My family is not comprised of rigorous, religious followers of the Christian faith, but I did grow up attending church every Sunday. I catch myself biting my tongue every time I am confronted with this growing suspicion, and the result is, “..but I believe in something.” This confirms that there exists an emanation of instinctive beliefs from the mindset of the human brain. Specifically: “Religion is the inevitable byproduct of how our minds minds misperform.” (Davis, 2009) Davis explains this occurrence as a very “costly process” which I certainly relate and presently find myself. This belief system, erroneous or not, has been embedded in my mind since I was a child. Pinker expresses his strong opposition in relying on a sole source for all your questions and wonders of the world. “…and there has to be unity of function: the different parts are organized to cause the system to achieve some special effect-special because it is improbable for objects lacking structure, and special because it benefits someone or something.“(Pinker,1997) Simply because the constellations are arranged in a way that may seem to depict design, must we really search for that explanation' Pinker suggests that humans fall back on supernatural motives in deciphering and comprehending what they are perceiving. Without efficiently being able to describe both the structure and it’s function, constellations and astrology, one can not merely accredit astronomers; whom outwardly profit from their understanding of the messages of this “design” and its meaning in deciphering our personal characteristic. We search for these reasons within concepts that seem to be the result of an intelligent designer, the beauty of the stars. This urge to apply meaning does not enhance your argument in portraying the illusion of astronomy to psychic abilities. Davis compares this reversal to learning a new language once you have become an adolescent. The accent will always be there. Despite my cynicism within religion, I am a firm follower of astrology. There was apparent truth in view of the coincidence between my horoscope and my reality; and righteously so. I paused twice during the section in Caveman Logic describing the analysis of student’s handwriting. Firstly because I read one of the student’s evaluation and thought to myself, “ Hey! That describes me, we must have similar handwriting!” I guess I did not retain enough from Davis or Pinker thus far: “Our minds don’t deliver a written disclaimer saying, ‘The conclusion you are about to reach maybe inaccurate..’” (Davis, 2009) Pinker explains the exertion of human behavior as the result of the mental modules located with the biology of our brains: which are consistent in all persons. We all possess the same physical organs and thus the explanation of our evolutionary predispositions and our present display of caveman logic. Natural selection chooses which to strengthen among these individual structures which ultimately affects our behavior. The brain is molded from Pleistocene times when we relied strongly on strict methods of existence and reproduction. “.. we are not simply blank states, responding to the external environment. The evolved structure of our minds brings a lot to the party.” (Davis, 2009) We are continually trying to grasp a better understanding at the unknown by clinging to a source which seems to explain it. Considering we are all prone to operate at this evolutionary level of commonsense, learning to adapt and question the triggering of our perceptions is crucial in overcoming this return to the Dark Age. “Plato said that we are trapped in a cave and know the world only through the shadows it casts on the wall. The skull is our cave, an mental representations are the shadows.” (Pinker, 1997) Philosophy class have allowed me to understand this analogy and its excellence portrayal of Pinker’s stance. Our mind is composed of misfiring which create false perceptions. The mental representations that our minds compute are the mere shadows that Plato refers to as our fictional truths. As a species we are drawn to the beauty of simplicity, this is the cause of denying the theory of evolution and caveman logic and falling into the supernatural realm in which are brains are predisposed to favoring. Gullibility is a result of these survival methods that our ancestors applied in determining between Type I and Type II errors. “False positives”, Type I, resulted in less deaths yet wasted time. On the other hand, Type 2 errors lowered the chances of the early man’s survival through his ignorance of the sensory stimulus. This was not always a progression into danger but imagine if it was not an mental illusion but a predator waiting to ambush. These risks were not easy to ignore millions of years ago. Unfortunately this explains why our mental modules are drawn to conclusions of fantasy and illusions and simply why natural selection has not chosen perceptual truth. Pinker’s analysis on the computational theory of the mind further exemplifies the reasoning behind my instinctive behavior in reacting to the students handwriting. Entering into my mind was this idea, or representation of her personality, that related to aspects of my personality which I then computed through heuristics and quickly determined a conclusion. The second pause occurred after continuing to read the other students assessments whom after deliberating amongst each other concurred the same reaction as myself. I predicted Davis’s explanation before I even continued to glance at the following statements; the proof I once recognized was the mere outcome of my naïve thinking and lack of understanding of multiple endpoints. This overextension of relating the generality of a horoscope to our current lives is astronomical. We allow ourselves to take this, what seems to be like a specific conclusion, and apply it to our reality. The probability of this coincidence will be extremely high because due to our faulty perceptions, we conclude that general comparisons are specific to us as an individual. Multiple endpoints is a theory stating that we may have a perceived notion, a horoscope, and are not knowingly synchronizing it to an infinite amounts of verification. “The temptation to ‘see something’ (be it a pattern or a connection) is just too great.” (Davis, 2009) The analogy of comparing the firing of a gun into the side of a barn and then choosing the most accurate and precise bullet hole accounts for my personal application of astrology. This concept also reminds me of my sister’s astrological beliefs in which she is assigned to be an Aries, but decided she relates more to the structure of the Pisces’s disposition. This is a contradiction, if you believe in astrology then you believe in the theory that you are assigned to the god in which your birthdates lies within the cosmos. Not only is she applying the theory of synchrony, the way I do with my Scorpio horoscope, but she is choosing what mess of possible seemingly specific predictions to choose from. As humans we find the urge and impulse to establish a creator of design. Astrology, which is an aspect of early religious beliefs, is simply that. We are the way we are because the gods of the cosmos designed us that way. “That makes us the victims of an illusion: that our own psychology comes from some divine force or mysterious essence or almighty principle.” (Pinker, 1997) The causation of certain events in our life can be found in our known universe, this may not be as comforting or socially accepted, but seems more realistic then anthromorphism. Astrologers depict personal characteristics in accordance to the stars in space. Representation bias also plays a role in accepting horoscopes as a true prediction of the upcoming weeks in one’s life. I spend time and effort to receive emails and search through magazine pages in anticipation to read the few lines under the header: Scorpio. This is an aspect of probability distortion, I am putting emphasis on the importance of this specific horoscope and allowing myself to compute it into relevance of my active life, but what about the other forecasts' Am I simply ignoring them' Do I read them, but without meditation in order to allow myself a chance to apply the evidence to several events' Either way, I am biased to Scorpios’ message and do not see the high probability rate of coincidence that lies within the others. Confirmation bias pertains to the fact that I already believe in the superstitious behavior of astrology so I am naturally searching for confirming evidence to verify my supposed horoscope. We must consider the whole spectrum of events and possibilities within our life and not strictly become drawn to the few that follow our flawed belief systems. Not only do I strictly read and interpret Scorpios forecast but I shuffle through events in my life in order to confirm the predictions. This is an example of representation bias within my sole focus on one specific outcome and confirmation bias by ignoring the events I scramble through to find the one that matches and strengthens my supernatural acceptance. “Oh, so I guess you're saying that it doesn't matter what I type into the computer. With all that built-in structure, its environment can't be very important. It will always do the same thing, regardless of what I type in." (Pinker, 1997) This is not the point both Davis and Pinker are trying to establish but rather to simply recognize the mistakes our brains are making. That learning is important and rather crucial due to the fact that “our organs of computation are a product of natural selection.” (Pinker, 1997) Davis is not saying to deny the concept of Santa Clause, but rather to be simply mindful of your misconceived perceptions. It takes work and “strength of character.” This is the result of the many illusionists who make the claim and profit exploiting our innate lack of sharp-eyed perception skills. Astrologers take advantage of our lack of intelligence and strife for it, this is not the fault of an individual, but rather the fault of this developed tendency within the species. Learning ways to avoid mental misperceptions, like memorizing names to visual illusions, will not eliminate the intake of erroneous beliefs, but will allow you to recognize them as so.