An excellent (and funny) example of Cognitive Bias

by Slave4_38y 10 Replies latest social entertainment

  • Slave4_38y
    Slave4_38y

    I saw this and immediately thought about how this relates to us. Once you've learned how to ride the TTATT-bicycle it's almost impossible to ride the "truth"-bicycle again.

    https://youtu.be/MFzDaBzBlL0

  • The Searcher
    The Searcher
    Brilliant!! Already shared it!
  • Driving Force
    Driving Force

    Very interesting video.

    Well I am glad I learned the TTATT-bicycle, and will never get on the "Truth"-bicycle again.

  • label licker
    label licker
    That was well done! He looks like the same guy that was on one of these posts not long ago. Where he filmed himself going into a hall on memorial night.
  • freeliving
    freeliving
    Great watch!
  • hoser
    hoser
    Once your pattern of thinking has changed it is almost impossible to go back.
  • GrreatTeacher
    GrreatTeacher

    This is not really an example of cognitive bias, which is about making irrational judgement, and more about learning, which is affected by neurons that fire together (or don't. )

    Neuroscience, which is the study of brain cells (called neurons) can help us understand how we learn. "Neurons that fire together wire together" is the concept that once we learn a skill, like riding a bike, the neurons wire together and pull that pattern up whenever we attempt to ride a bike again. Hence the belief that you can never forget how to ride a bike.

    However, neuroplasticity is the idea that our neurons are flexible. When we first try to ride the backwards bike, our brains call up the bike riding formula. When it doesn't work, it takes awhile, but we can learn the new skill. Our neurons now fire together in this new way and this becomes the new "how to ride a bike" skill set.

    "Use it or lose it" is another concept in neurology. Once those neurons start firing in this new pattern, the old pattern becomes increasingly difficult to access. The brain is undergoing "differentiation" in which the old patterns unwire.

    The interesting thing, though, was that he was able to access the original pattern (or algorithm as he calls it) after only 20 minutes. It is still there! He had replaced the "how to ride a bike meme" with the "how to ride a backwards bike" meme. Anything that looked like a bike, then, would pull up the new algorithm. The question is whether he could differentiate the 2 algorithms and pull them up at will to represent the bike at hand.

    I would like to see this experiment continue and see if his brain could continue to differentiate to the point that both algorithms are there and he could seamlessly switch between the 2 immediately after getting on a bike and noticing whether it was a regular bike or a backward bike. Neuroplasticity says he could do it!

    So, the bad news about our brains on "the truth": our brains wire in specific patterns.

    The good news: we can learn new patterns which can become just as automatic as the old. It just takes practice.

  • Oubliette
    Oubliette

    Well that was interesting but it wasn't very scientific. Anecdotal evidence is never more than intriguing at best.

    Also, his conflation of motor skills with cognitive biases is unsupported by any neuroscience which I know of. If someone can provide an important scholarly study supporting this claim I'd love to read it.

    And the concluding comment that "welders are often smarter than engineers" is just dumb.

  • GrreatTeacher
    GrreatTeacher

    Hey, Oubliette, I just realized that my first sentence is completely unclear. Too many commas and not enough clarity. I need to go back and proofread before I post.

    The motor skills learning is NOT an example of cognitive bias. Cognitive biases are logic-deficient thought processes that can cause one to come to faulty conclusions.

    I also thought the "welders are smarter than engineers" comment was ridiculous. Also annoying was the scripture reference at the end of the video. It was Proverbs something or other flashed on the screen without an actual quote.

    My neuroscience information came from a book by Norman Doidge, MD entitled "The Brain's Way of Healing; Remarkable Discoveries and Recoveries from the Frontiers of Neuroplasticity."

    ...

    I just proofread and am now posting!

  • Oubliette
    Oubliette

    GT, for whatever reason I had no problem understanding your previous post.... lol!

    My comments were directed to the guy (I think his name is Destin) that made the video in the OP.

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