Kody Kolb: May 2012 Archives

I can remember many times in which I have fallen victim to one or more of the obstacles in problem solving. I have taken many math classes in my life, and the higher in calculus you go, the more creative you must be in order to solve problems. This was my biggest pitfall. I would think of a solution to a problem and when it didn't work, I would often make the same mistakes because I was set on that being the type of solution to the problem. The best solution I had to this was to move on in my homework and come back to it later, hopefully with a new perspective on the problem.

This can apply to real life problems too, not just math. I would sometimes think of a solution to a real world problem for a social studies class and would not be able to think outside that type of solution. An example of this would be that, theoretically, I believe that the solution to our country's debt is to increase taxes. When I start to realize this wouldn't always work, I am unable to come up with another solution because I keep thinking of taxes, when in reality, cutting spending would help too.

What are you some other strategies from getting out of the problem solving "rut"?

I just took the "Decision 2012" IAT. It was quite interesting. According to this I have a moderate implicit preference for Mitt Romney compared to Barack Obama. I also have a slight implicit preference for White People compared to Black People. I will admit that I prefer Mitt Romney to Barack Obama. Race is no issue there, I prefer Mitt Romney's political views, I'll be honest. Now, to address the other thing. I am certainly not consciously racist, but it is true that I hold certain stereotypes. I don't believe in them and I don't attempt to act on them, but they are still there. Subconsciously, I hold a few stereotypes of other races. I'm sure that not every person falls victim to this, but many do. I think this implicit preference doesn't really mean much. I did answer on the "hot to cold" scale, that white people are slightly warmer to me than black people. I think I answered an 8 for black people and 9 for white people. I grew up in suburban St. Louis. While I was around lots of black people growing up, most of my friends outside of school were white. I lived in an area that is 98.19% white and 0.07% black. There were a lot of black people that I went to school with because of a desegregation program in which my school would bus kids in from the inner city, so I felt very comfortable around black people, but I suppose I do feel slightly more comfortable around white people, because that is who I grew up around.

Anyway, here's a meme that applies:

If there is one concept in psychology that I learned this semester that I think I will remember and use for a long time, if not the rest of my life, it's the correlation vs. causation fallacy. I notice people falling victim to this fallacy all the time. I don't always call them out, but I am thinking in my head, "No, that's not necessarily true." I even got to use it in my public speaking course. I had to debate on the affirmative side of legalizing marijuana. I used the correlation vs. causation fallacy to debunk the gateway drug argument (people who are open to smoking marijuana are already open to trying new things; it doesn't necessarily mean they do harder drugs because they smoke marijuana, it's just a correlation, not the causation). I think it can be very helpful in the future, especially when analyzing different things in our society. It can help us resolve the roots of our problems. We might be able to throw out possible causes of our problems if we keep correlation vs. causation in mind. What do you guys think? Is correlation vs. causation helpful in society? What are some examples that you have seen since learning about it?