Classic condition was first discovered by Ivan Pavlov. The idea is simple: pair two stimuli together to create the same reaction. The most famous example of this is his experiment with dogs. He paired to stimuli, food and a bell. He would ring the bell and shortly after give the dog food. Eventually the dog would hear the bell and think this means I'm getting food and would cause the dog to salivate.
This made me think, what stimuli make me react falsely like the dog to the bell? Here's one that came to mind: picture yourself in the shower. When the water gets too hot you step out from under the shower. Seems simple right? Now you hear a toilet flush and if you're smart you'll step out of the water. This seems unnatural though. Why does a toilet flushing make me step out of the water? It's simple. Just like the dog learned that the bell meant food humans have learned that a flushing toilet means hotter water.
Next time you react, no matter how simple, I challenge you to consider and question why you reacted in the manner you did.
bing0058: May 2012 Archives
Science, as defined in the dictionary, is systematic knowledge of the physical or material world gained through observation and experimentation. But how do we know we are right? In text books there is an answer key for every problem. There is no answer key for life. I was recently pondering this idea: most of science is based off of models of reality, not reality itself. For example, let's consider the science of economics. In a simple example, if there is more demand than supply in theory that should drive up prices. My question is why?
Most people would start to talk explain that because of scarcity, the determining factor in who gets the resource is determined by who offers the most compensation, which logically to most people makes sense, and accepts it as true. But does it need to be true, or is it even true? While this question may seem difficult, the answer is simple: it's the only way humans know how to solve the problem of scarcity, at least the way the majority believes it to be. Most have come to accept this supply and demand model because science says it to be true. This brings me to my final point. How much do we, as humans, let these representations of reality(science) influence our behavior?
