In modern theory it is illustrated by the "El Farol Problem" which show the limit of inductive rationality of a whole group of agents which use an "ecology" of diverse strategies. See for example NewScientist article: "What if... How do you even begin to predict stock market crashes, traffic jams or the winner of Saturday's football match? John Casti says the answer lies in a deeper understanding of complexity " http://www.newscientist.com/hottopics/ai/whatif.jsp
Thanks a lot for posting this, rlb !!! It's an extremely interesting issue indeed, isn't it? I'm pretty sure I've read about this before, in part of either Freudian or Lacanian psychoanalysis. But it is also something that is being discussed in NLP. I would say by being aware of this tendency of human behavior (which does indeed exist), we have the potential to become more aware of our own problems / inferiorities and can tap right into recognizing and then working on them to become more accomplished. Not to mention it would also improve our social and particularly tutoring abilities, since, with this knowledge / self-awareness in the back of our minds, we would be much more inclined to empathize with people, rather than to frankly or even aggresively criticize. This ability to empathize would not only enable us to share with people our own problems in order to solve them in a joint effort, not least creating a feeling of community and reduced feeling of singular exposure (i.e. I'm being attacked and I'm all alone). But on top of that, it would give us a much more powerful, namely extremely powerful tool of self-recognition and self-improvement at the same time. To sum this up briefly, we have the constructive and psychological differences between two mindsets: 1) "You are wrong. Don't do that." 2) "You are doing something I have / had a problem with, too. We should both work on approaching it together." Personally, I think the advantages of mindset 2 over mindset 1 are so fundamentally powerful that if they were applied extensively in teaching, coaching, mentoring, parenting, but even world diplomacy and politics - The world would be a very different place indeed. Something definitely worth considering and applying. Warmest Regards, Scientist.
We are definitely on the same page here. For a while after taking this idea to heart I became very self-concious. But as you have hypothesized, in time one gains greater self-knowledge. I am not sure I am as optimistic as you that the whole of mankind is able to adopt such a mindset, but I certainly think individuals can change. I'm glad to hear atleast one other person is willing to embrace this idea, I know it's done me a world of good. All the best, rlb
I will give a clue about the third meaning. Remember the Wicked Queen in Disney Cartoon "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" ? What she wants is that the Mirror reflects the illusion that she is the most beautiful woman in the World. In stock market people somehow want to think that the market reflects their collective choice ... I tell you - but I don't oblige you to believe me because it comes from my equations - that is an illusion, a reality show from the market, yes market is really smart and it is not the crowd that can be so smart . See for example my so called Feynman-like effect http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=21973&perpage=6&pagenumber=6 If the crowd is so smart and vicious to realise that kind of effect with such precision then explain me how, if so the crowd must be more quantitative mathematicians than the quants themselves since the quants still don't have so precise model .
========= Thought of looking glass trading patterns; binoculars plenty of light & sunlight near the mirror believe it or not binoculars turned up side down magnify objects [Thanks Sports Afield] === Govornor Arnold of CA=''Break the mirror,there are millions of others to help''