DISQUS

nivi · 2 years ago

Re "The subject of the debate is more important than the content."

I think this is called Availability Bias: http://www.nivi.com/blog/article/cognitive-biases

Ivan Kirigin · 2 years ago

There was an interesting talk at last year's Singularity Summit at Stanford. I think it was Nick Bostrom's talk.
http://www.thesingularity.tv/video/61298-nick-b...

He is author of "Anthropic Bias".

The way humans treat catastrophic events that are extremely low probability is perhaps related to the "7 things" that fit in your head. We deal very poorly with such events, though they are important.

egnor · 2 years ago

I think your point about mindshare, framing, and brand advertising is valid, but I think the "7 registers" concept is a bit apocryphal -- I'd like to see some more solid backing than a "Supposedly," aphorism.

paulbuchheit · 2 years ago

Yeah, I'm doubtful of the number "seven" too, but it's familiar to a lot of people and conveys the point that the capacity of our active mind is quite limited.

JKar · 2 years ago

I have heard of the concept. I believe it originates from a book "The Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two: Some Limits on our Capacity for Processing Information" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Magical_Number...
by George A. Miller (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_A._Miller), professor of psychology at Princeton University.
According to his theory, human mind can hold between 5 and 9 different "registers' consciously, at any given time.

Greetings from Poland :)

Adam Smith · 2 years ago

This is probably why people want to "think about" things or why I often want to "sleep on [a decision]." It gives me a chance to evaluate the decision with a different set of register values.

KesheR · 2 years ago

I agree with you. Here in Spain, for instance, there is a huge discussion involving Hugo Chávez and Venezuela. It's like Iran for you angloamericans. Our so-called-king ordered Chávez to shut up, in a very rude way. That's an embarrasing way for a non elected politician to act.

Well, my point is: it seems like there is no other topic in the whole world. And that includes me. Chávez looks to Spanish people now like Satan. Like the good old lord of hell. He is the most important problem we are facing.

But... is he, really? Obviously not. Believe me, there are much more serious problems here. Supossing he is EVEN a problem, of course.


I only disagree with you about that "computerized way" to analyze the brain. I think it's a mistake. I think we tend to see the brain as a machine because we understand machines, but not brains. You know what I mean? It isn't just hope for us being more than plain robots. I actually think brain is constructed by non-deterministic processes we are far away from understanding. This is more obvious for someone who has studied about computerized AI.

Great blog! Write more!

ph0rque · 2 years ago

According to *Getting Things Done*, a good productivity/organization tip is to write down all the minutiae (things that you must do), and thus clear out your registers, which leaves room for more important stuff. Makes sense.

Kevin · 2 years ago

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Magical_Number...

Daniel Ha · 2 years ago

Ah, great paper. Thanks for the link.

lgedeon · 2 years ago

Ok since you were the one that got the number seven stuck in my head, I am tagging you for the "seven things I am thankful for meme". Here is my list: http://luke.gedeon.name/seven-things-i-am-thank...
What is yours?

cite · 2 years ago

"The Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two: Some Limits on Our Capacity for Processing Information"
http://www.musanim.com/miller1956/

Niniane · 2 years ago

This is really well-written. I like this post a lot.

shuang · 2 years ago

Hello, I would like to know what is the attitude to acceptandce of censorship in china from the view of google employees and why. Though I don't think you would reply to me, just a try.
happy every day : )

Gong Cheng · 2 years ago

I have been aware of this 7 register problem for a while which is actually a part of UI design principle in computer science, however your view of it as a way of people manipulation is interesting.

Pattison Boleigha · 1 year ago

So does one overcome Tunnel Vision problems?

boleighap · 1 year ago

so I do I overcome tunnel vision problems

boleighap · 1 year ago

how do i overcome tunnel vision