Crowd control: Reducing individual estimation bias by sharing biased social information

Cognitive biases are widespread in humans and animals alike, and can sometimes be reinforced by social interactions. One prime bias in judgment and decision-making is the human tendency to underestimate large quantities. Previous research on social influence in estimation tasks has generally focused on the impact of single estimates on individual and collective accuracy, showing that randomly sharing estimates does not reduce the underestimation bias. Here, we test a method of social information sharing that exploits the known relationship between the true value and the level of underestimation, and study if it can counteract the underestimation bias. We performed estimation experiments in which participants had to estimate a series of quantities twice, before and after receiving estimates from one or several group members. Our purpose was threefold: to study (i) whether restructuring the sharing of social information can reduce the underestimation bias, (ii) how the number of estimates received affects the sensitivity to social influence and estimation accuracy, and (iii) the mechanisms underlying the integration of multiple estimates. Our restructuring of social interactions successfully countered the underestimation bias. Moreover, we find that sharing more than one estimate also reduces the underestimation bias. Underlying our results are a human tendency to herd, to trust larger estimates than one’s own more than smaller estimates, and to follow disparate social information less. Using a computational modeling approach, we demonstrate that these effects are indeed key to explain the experimental results. Overall, our results show that existing knowledge on biases can be used to dampen their negative effects and boost judgment accuracy, paving the way for combating other cognitive biases threatening collective systems.

Overimitation and the Ritual Stance

To engage in ritual is to adopt a unique stance on behaviour—one that forfeits all hope of ever discovering a causal structure in the actions involved. Rituals are causally opaque not only in a provisional or potentially resolvable way but irretrievably so. Psychologists describe the copying of such behaviour as ‘overimitation’—the uniquely human tendency to imitate actions modelled by others that have no transparent instrumental rationale but are simply that way because it is the established convention. This chapter explores the evolutionary origins of the ritual stance, as well as some of the many ways in which cultural systems exploit it to create magic, meaning, and mythology.

Nursing as an Aesthetic Praxis

<p>This Thesis focuses on the experience of being human as process in order to reveal being. Illness and health are seen as reflections of this process of revelation. This work argues that health and illness are physical expressions of consciousness and therefore an outcome of what a human being has thought. In this way, this work shows how thought/intent serves to create life in the moment. In this understanding lies the potential to change reality, to change life. The Thesis identifies self-responsibility as the key to changing consciousness. Taking responsibility for the creation of one's reality eliminates the human tendency to blame another for what is experienced in life. To that end, this work argues, we are each free to choose what is felt in response to life. In so doing, we can become conscious that life is a choice approached from either the position of perfection, or excellence. This work argues that as human beings we have grounded thinking in perfection. In this playing out of rights and wrongs, an independent form of surrender, the outcome is the reification of the thought that we are separate from God. I think, therefore I Am. Such thinking it is argued, is the basis of disease and thus illness is an outcome of thought that as experience has been judged. The thesis develops the position that human beings approach life from the position of perfection thereby creating an appraisal from the outcome of life's experiences. Excellence as a state of being creates the appraisal from the effort of an outcome. Thus excellence, is to experience life as an Isness, and then make a conscious choice to feel love. Perfection makes a judgement about life, and so pronounce life and therefore thinking as good and bad, or right and wrong. In the understanding that human beings are the creators of their reality, it is possible to conceive of care in nursing that is directed at changing thinking/thought. Such change would be to focus on the excellence of life, and in that way enact care in nursing that is an enabling through a process of being that is an emotional allowance in response to life. To this end, this work is titled Nursing as an Aesthetic Praxis. The aesthetic is emotion and feeling. Praxis, is presented in its dialectical relationship of thought and action that is then bound to emotion and feeling in such a way that it illuminates the nature of thinking. This way of thinking, this work shows, is transformatory. Where transformation is a process of being that as a state of excellence is one of incremental human freedom accompanied by incremental responsibility.</p>

Nursing as an Aesthetic Praxis

<p>This Thesis focuses on the experience of being human as process in order to reveal being. Illness and health are seen as reflections of this process of revelation. This work argues that health and illness are physical expressions of consciousness and therefore an outcome of what a human being has thought. In this way, this work shows how thought/intent serves to create life in the moment. In this understanding lies the potential to change reality, to change life. The Thesis identifies self-responsibility as the key to changing consciousness. Taking responsibility for the creation of one's reality eliminates the human tendency to blame another for what is experienced in life. To that end, this work argues, we are each free to choose what is felt in response to life. In so doing, we can become conscious that life is a choice approached from either the position of perfection, or excellence. This work argues that as human beings we have grounded thinking in perfection. In this playing out of rights and wrongs, an independent form of surrender, the outcome is the reification of the thought that we are separate from God. I think, therefore I Am. Such thinking it is argued, is the basis of disease and thus illness is an outcome of thought that as experience has been judged. The thesis develops the position that human beings approach life from the position of perfection thereby creating an appraisal from the outcome of life's experiences. Excellence as a state of being creates the appraisal from the effort of an outcome. Thus excellence, is to experience life as an Isness, and then make a conscious choice to feel love. Perfection makes a judgement about life, and so pronounce life and therefore thinking as good and bad, or right and wrong. In the understanding that human beings are the creators of their reality, it is possible to conceive of care in nursing that is directed at changing thinking/thought. Such change would be to focus on the excellence of life, and in that way enact care in nursing that is an enabling through a process of being that is an emotional allowance in response to life. To this end, this work is titled Nursing as an Aesthetic Praxis. The aesthetic is emotion and feeling. Praxis, is presented in its dialectical relationship of thought and action that is then bound to emotion and feeling in such a way that it illuminates the nature of thinking. This way of thinking, this work shows, is transformatory. Where transformation is a process of being that as a state of excellence is one of incremental human freedom accompanied by incremental responsibility.</p>

Knowledge Hiding: One of the Primary Reasons behind the Rapid Spread of the Novel Coronavirus COVID-19

The world is battling out the pandemic of Covid-19. The World Health Organization (WHO) is jointly acting upon the same daily, which is evident from the ‘situation reports.’ The pandemic, which saw its origin in Wuhan, has spread across the world within a short span of under two months. While the pandemic has effectively instilled a situation of cordon sanitaire across the globe, the virus seems to show no respite. This study collates different sources and establishes the human tendency of knowledge hiding as the prime reason for the spread of such colossal magnitudes. The study underlines the notion by examining some of the critical cases and situations that have unfolded in the very recent past.

Kantian Moral Agency and the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence

This paper discusses the philosophical issues pertaining to Kantian moral agency and artificial intelligence (AI). Here, our objective is to offer a comprehensive analysis of Kantian ethics to elucidate the non-feasibility of Kantian machines. Meanwhile, the possibility of Kantian machines seems to contend with the genuine human Kantian agency. We argue that in machine morality, ‘duty’ should be performed with ‘freedom of will’ and ‘happiness’ because Kant narrated the human tendency of evaluating our ‘natural necessity’ through ‘happiness’ as the end. Lastly, we argue that the Kantian ‘freedom of will’ and ‘faculty of choice’ do not belong to any deterministic model of ‘agency’ as these are sacrosanct systems. The conclusion narrates the non-feasibility of Kantian AI agents from the genuine Kantian ethical outset, offering a utility-based Kantian ethical performer instead.

ORGAN DONATION IN THE CONTEXT OF HUMAN TENDENCY TO BE CONSISTENT. CONSIDERATIONS WITH REFERENCE TO LAW AND PSYCHOLOGY

The text verifies the hypotheses that exploiting the human tendency to be consistent and introducing appropriate legal solutions can increase organ donation. The considerations found that there are arguments for the status quo bias (the tendency to be consistent) exists and affects humans. Concurrently, there are multiple rational psychological justifications for this kind of occurrences. Thus, the status quo bias can be exploited for increasing the organ donation, imposing on a person the decision regarding being willing to become an organ donor after their death or not, and count on this person not changing their decision in the future due to the tendency to be consistent. In Poland, such a solution could be introduced by adding the 7th item to the Article 11 section 1 of the Act on Vehicle Operators with the following wording: “declared that they agree or not to the removal of cells, tissues or organs from their corpses for transplantation, or the removal of cells and tissues for transplanting them into another person. The declaration may be changed at any time.”

Supernatural Explanations Across the Globe Are More Common for Natural Than Social Phenomena

Supernatural beliefs are common in every human society, and people frequently invoke the supernatural to explain natural (e.g., storms, disease outbreaks) and social (e.g., murder, warfare) events. However, evolutionary and psychological theories of religion raise competing hypotheses about whether supernatural explanations should more commonly focus on natural or social phenomena. Here we test these hypotheses with a global analysis of supernatural explanations in 109 geographically and culturally diverse societies. We find that supernatural explanations are more prevalent for natural phenomena than for social phenomena, an effect that generalizes across regions and subsistence styles and cannot be reduced to the frequency of natural vs. social phenomena or common cultural ancestry. We also find that supernatural explanations of social phenomena only occur in societies that also have supernatural explanations of natural phenomena. This evidence is consistent with theories that ground the origin of supernatural belief in a human tendency to perceive intent and agency in nature.

Typical is Trustworthy - Evidence for a Generalized Heuristic

When judging whether someone is trustworthy, people rely on the perceptual typicality of a person’s face. We tested whether a more general typical-is-trustworthy heuristic exists based on the descriptive typicality of a person. In four experiments, we provided participants with descriptive information about the typicality of target persons’ attributes (i.e., population prevalence) and measured perceived trustworthiness. Participants consistently expected descriptively typical targets to be more trustworthy than descriptively atypical targets. These findings show that typicality-based trustworthiness inferences are not only confided to perceptual typicality but also apply to descriptive typicality, suggesting a general typical-is-trustworthiness heuristic. This implies a human tendency to trust typical individuals more and, conversely, a disadvantage for atypical individuals such as minorities.

The Omniscient Spring – the Whispering Water: Man and potajnica

Potajnice (intermittent/rhythmic springs) are a rare hydrographic phenomenon exclusively present in karst areas. They appear as a result of the rising and emptying of the siphon in the underground karst reservoir, while the phases when the water flows over and drains down most frequently last for several minutes or several hours. They are often accompanied by a distinct noise (rumbling, sizzling, bursting) which adds to the mysteriousness of this phenomenon. Up to this point in time, around one hundred of these flows have been detected worldwide and, when it comes to Europe, they are most frequent in the Balkan Peninsula, primarily in the range of the Dinarides. The subject of this paper is the human perception of this unusual hydrological phenomenon and reaction to it, which has brought about the birth of many interesting ceremonies and beliefs. In areas with predominantly Orthodox and Islamic traditions, the water from these springs is often regarded as healing and miraculous, which is not the case in the northwestern areas closer to Central Europe. Nevertheless, the entire area is eager to provide a logical explanation for this phenomenon. In the more distant past, some of these places had been subject to Christianisation through construction of churches in their vicinity and provision of a Christian interpretation of local beliefs and tales. Man interpreted the functioning of these flows in two ways – either as the existence of a supernatural being in the underground canal, which occasionally presents a barrier to the water flow, or as activities of a higher power which infallibly judges the moral righteousness of human beings and thereupon decides to either let the water flow or stops its flow. The ancient human tendency to tame the supernatural has enticed man to look for a way to predict the flow intervals which, under certain circumstances, could ensure or confirm social power for an individual or group. At some point, the monks took over the perennial monitoring of the flow rhythm of one such source in order to harmonise their prayers for the appearance of the “healingˮ water. The relation between man and the potajnica has always been ambivalent; therefore, one river, which for centuries was called Sveto vrelo (the Holy Spring), also has an alternative name – Đavolje vrelo (the Devil's Spring). Also, men tend to cross significant distances to reach water from one spring, but avoid drinking water from others precisely due to the identical disappearance of the flow. Nevertheless, these springs represent unrivalled points where the richness of the spirit and tradition of the population visiting them is embedded, and, more generally, the relationship between man, as the human being, and this enigmatic force of nature.