[The Prometheus Shot – E013 :: Escher’s Vision – The Creativity of Integration & Transformation ]
This post is part of the Prometheus Shot series.
Category: Approximation
This post (podcast) is about a meta-example on Approximate Thinking and political discussions. Starting from a couple of examples, the power of identities and their role in understanding and obscuring (clarifying) thinking become evident.
Incompleteness, biases, Identities and Culture
How does culture morph from a force for understanding and creativity, into a limiting force that serves to inspire laziness and embolden BIRGERS? Approximate Thinking and Identities have an interesting relationship. The below discussion is based on sections from “Fuzzy on the Dark Side”.
Ayn Rand and Approximate Thinking – Again : A collection of strange quotes by Ayn Rand can cast further light on the reasons behind the distribution success of “Atlas Shrugged”, as discussed in “Fuzzy on the Dark Side“.
Ayn Rand and Approximate Thinking?
Many people complain about the simplistic (and sometimes infantile) nature of Ayn Rand’s “Atlas Shrugged”… Still, the book is only less successful (in terms of distribution) than the bible. What explains this? I argue that it is the conflation of identities and political ideologies with ideas and thought.
Ultimately, laziness and approximate thinking are what made John Galt great! This is really the secret behind Ayn Rand’s “Atlas Shrugged”.
Ranking universities and higher education institutions is (??) helpful in some respects. It might make it easier for (the perplexed) youth entering into higher education to choose… Moreover, A competitive environment, promoted by university rankings, encourages creativity, innovation, and effort.
Nothing simplified, however, comes for free… “University Rankings” are an extreme Approximation (reduction), and those are dangerous.
Why is it that discussions on equal opportunities can easily get derailed into name-calling? What are the causes of success, and why are people so sensitive about them? Fuzzy thinking about work and politics, and an incomplete understanding can cause an unnecessary confusion.
This post is about the power of the ‘token representative’. The image of the refugee of today, is replacing that of the mobster of yesterday. It is always easier (and more emotionally satisfying) to use ‘approximate thinking’ and remember a simplified story. Interestingly, this is flowing from cultural products like Film to other areas, including business and entrepreneurship…
Can Economists ruin Innovation with an Index? Thoughts on measuring innovation, growth, culture, and creativity.
The 2022 Global Innovation Index report released by WIPO has been published for 2022. Here are some of thoughts on the report, including a few comments and reflections on innovation, economic growth, measurement, and cultural resources.
The Cognitive Reflection Test : A shortcut to measuring Intelligence
Can three innocent questions serve as a proxy for an intelligence test and predict cognitive ability? Even if not, it might be fun to play around with them, and reflect on what reflective thinking ability can teach us about our decision making and mental habits.