Science or Stories?
summary
Explains how cognitive science shows people often make decisions based on intuition and stories then rationalize them with logic, and argues that both storytelling/emotion and scientific evidence have roles. Uses examples and personal stories to illustrate how social influence and narratives shape choices around products and processes, and suggests ways to balance emotional persuasion with evidence-based decision making.
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chapters (7)
- 0:00Start
- 3:32Scientists are biased - Drug trials are now "double-blind" because it was discovered that if researchers and doctors knew which patients were getting "real" treatment, that would change the outcome. Scientists suffer from confirmation bias. I wouldn't believe that even if it were true! Anonymous reviewer of a scientific paper
- 10:41Our educational system? Science education focuses on what to think, that is, content, not how to think. Problems given to students are solvable, when problems in the real world often have no solution. We don't prepare students to think and make decisions.
- 13:50Organizations don't encourage the scientific method We don't have the resources for one experiment, let alone the repeated experiments that good science requires Decision-makers want action not investigation Many executives are resistant to the notion of "experiment."
- 15:08We are often in organizations where failure, a natural part of the learning process, is avoided. In most organizations, admitting that you don't know is risky. You want others to believe you're the expert.
- 21:24Diversity! Have more women on the team or involved somehow. Research shows higher quality collaboration, changes the behavior of the male members, increases group intelligence and overall performance.
- 25:03We need both ! Our best hope for overcoming personal bias is to collaborate with diverse others, both sharing stories and testing our ideas. "A Final Word about Stories," IEEE Software, March/April 2014
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