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THE MYTH OF SELF-AWARENESS
by Mike Neuenschwander ~ October 1, 2008.
Permalink | Filed under: Hybrid Vigor, Social Trust Online.
Yesterday, Olivia Judson published a piece in the New York Times about how human beings are almost incapable of being objective, particularly when it comes to the subject of themselves. This creates severe difficulties for studying humans as individuals, cultures, and civilizations. She points out:
The literature from psychology shows that, as individuals, we are good at seeing other people clearly, but poor at seeing ourselves. Most people, for example, describe themselves as being better drivers than average, and consider themselves better looking than other people consider them.
It seems the observer’s paradox applies also to self-observation. Who knew?
December 5th, 2008 at 6:15 pm
Great point. I think she is right, but I see a shift in this idea. Especially as communication and self-expression is exponentially being broadcasted unlike it has ever been. I’m excited for this ‘change’ so to speak.
It’s not like anything anyone can imagine. Except a couple of us
Great post!
February 27th, 2009 at 8:59 am
[...] So as we struggle to understand the causes of the current recession, I think it’s time to put America on that couch and—treating the nation as a superorganism—construct the psychological profile of America. Unfortunately, I’m in no position to do that sort of analysis (and for that matter, it’s not clear anyone is). But in true American spirit, I’ll do it anyway. [...]
April 14th, 2009 at 8:36 pm
[...] title says it all. It’s a topic I’ve broached several times on this blog (for example, here and here). The book is written for a general audience but provides summaries of experiments and [...]