hubris as unbridled intuition guy claxton centre for real-world learning university of winchester
TRANSCRIPT
Hubris as unbridled intuition
Guy ClaxtonCentre for Real-World Learning
University of Winchester
Intelligence
• The old view – 2 (or 3) antagonists– Cool reason trumps emotion/impulse/intuition
• The new view – several complements– Interlocking and mutually-correcting modes • Cope – impulsive; rapid response; neural flow • Check – analytical, evaluative; conscious deliberation• Mull – contemplative, reflective, receptive
– ‘default network’; connection with basic values
• Chat – discursive; debate; public testing
Stupidity
• Each of these alone is capable of error and/or misapplication
• Intelligence requires timing, prioritisation and integration of the ‘combo’– E.g. the phases of creativity
A girdle round the earth
• C = 2∏R
• 2∏(R+r) = 2∏R + 200cm
• 2∏r = 200cm
• r = 32cm = 1 foot
IQ and articulacy
• IQ does not correlate with real-world complex activity (e.g. bookies)!
• IQ predicts number of my-side arguments, not quality!
• Medical students’ grades do not predict clinical judgement!
• Ethical textbooks get stolen most!
• Moral reasoning does not predict anti-social behaviour !
• Bonnie’s father has five daughters. Four of them are named Chacha, Cheche, Chichi and Chocho. What is the name of the fifth?
Varieties of stupidity
• We can– Cope impulsively• Decide prematurely
– Check narrowly• Decide egotistically
– Mull excessively– Chat collusively
Checking the Feeling of Rightness
• Each mode summates in a ‘feeling of rightness’ (FR)
• Normally, in important decisions, FR is tempered by the interaction of the different modes– Submitted to longer, multifaceted scrutiny– Held back while private and public appraisal takes place
• In Hubris Syndrome, FR self-strengthens, unchecked– Neurological switching mechanisms (cumulative inhibition) do not activate
• age, stress, power
– Self-checking fails to occur– Get over-reliant on one mode
Aggrandisement
• At the same time, FR may become generalised, no longer attached to particular intuitions, but becomes construed as a trait of the actor: infallibility– Not ‘It feels right’ but ‘I feel right’
Rationalisation
• Check mode becomes misapplied and misappropriated.
• Argument does not critique FR; it justifies it• The Check system is recruited to protect the
FR
Isolation
• Chat mode is also abused. Instead of being tested in debate, public discussion is pre-orchestrated and packed with Yes people
• Dissenters are seen as ‘disloyal’: sacked or sidelined (.e.g. RBS)
• Dossiers are ‘sexed up’; evidence rigged• Unbridled FR justifies Machiavellianism
Concealment
• Some followers are drawn to Messianic leadership– lower education, some religions
• Others dislike it, so…– FR becomes concealed under a cloak of humility– Concealment may take the form of projection of
the FR onto an external agency (e.g. ‘I am just doing God’s work’)
– This ‘humility’ and hubris often co-exist
Solutions
• Neuropsychological solutions?– Regular testing of pre-frontal cortical functioning– Acetylcholine / catecholamine boosters…
• Social solutions?– Institutionalised checks and balances; independent
arbiters (with teeth); compulsory Fools• Educational solutions?– Amore intelligent approach to the cultivation of
intelligence
