232_i2 본문읽기 15

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Human processes differ from rational processes in their outcome. A process is rational if it always does the right thing based on the current information, given an ideal performance measure. In short, rational processes go by the book and assume that the book is actually correct. Human processes involve instinct, intuition, and other variables that don't necessarily reflect the book and may not even consider the existing data. As an example, the rational way to drive a car is to always follow the laws. However, traffic isn't rational; if you follow the laws precisely, you end up stuck somewhere because other drivers aren't following the laws precisely. To be successful, a self‑driving car must therefore act humanly, rather than rationally.

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Like positive habits, bad habits exist on a continuum of easy‑to‑change and hard‑to‑change. When you get toward the "hard" end of the spectrum, note the language you hear - breaking bad habits and battling addiction. It's as if an unwanted behavior is a nefarious villain to be aggressively defeated. But this kind of language (and the approaches it spawns) frames these challenges in a way that isn't helpful or effective. I specifically hope we will stop using this phrase: "break a habit." This language misguides people. The word "break" sets the wrong expectation for how you get rid of a bad habit. This word implies that if you input a lot of force in one moment, the habit will be gone. However, that rarely works, because you usually cannot get rid of an unwanted habit by applying force one time.

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A common but incorrect assumption is that we are creatures of reason when, in fact, we are creatures of both reason and emotion. We cannot get by on reason alone since any reason always eventually leads to a feeling. Should I get a wholegrain cereal or a chocolate cereal? I can list all the reasons I want, but the reasons have to be based on something. For example, if my goal is to eat healthy, I can choose the wholegrain cereal, but what is my reason for wanting to be healthy? I can list more and more reasons such as wanting to live longer, spending more quality time with loved ones, etc., but what are the reasons for those reasons? You should be able to see by now that reasons are ultimately based on non‑reason such as values, feelings, or emotions. These deep‑seated values, feelings, and emotions we have are rarely a result of reasoning, but can certainly be influenced by reasoning. We have values, feelings, and emotions before we begin to reason and long before we begin to reason effectively.

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Electric communication is mainly known in fish. The electric signals are produced in special electric organs. When the signal is discharged the electric organ will be negatively loaded compared to the head and an electric field is created around the fish. A weak electric current is created also in ordinary muscle cells when they contract. In the electric organ the muscle cells are connected in larger chunks, which makes the total current intensity larger than in ordinary muscles. The fish varies the signals by changing the form of the electric field or the frequency of discharging. The system is only working over small distances, about one to two meters. This is an advantage since the species using the signal system often live in large groups with several other species. If many fish send out signals at the same time, the short range decreases the risk of interference.

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Creativity can have an effect on productivity. Creativity leads some individuals to recognize problems that others do not see, but which may be very difficult. Charles Darwin's approach to the speciation problem is a good example of this; he chose a very difficult and tangled problem, speciation, which led him into a long period of data collection and deliberation. This choice of problem did not allow for a quick attack or a simple experiment. In such cases creativity may actually decrease productivity (as measured by publication counts) because effort is focused on difficult problems. For others, whose creativity is more focused on methods and technique, creativity may lead to solutions that drastically reduce the work necessary to solve a problem. We can see an example in the development of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) which enables us to amplify small pieces of DNA in a short time. This type of creativity might reduce the number of steps or substitute steps that are less likely to fail, thus increasing productivity.