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Hubris as unbridled intuition

Hubris as unbridled intuition. Guy Claxton Centre 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

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Hubris as unbridled intuition

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  1. Hubris as unbridled intuition Guy Claxton Centre for Real-World Learning University of Winchester

  2. 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

  3. 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

  4. A girdle round the earth • C = 2∏R • 2∏(R+r) = 2∏R + 200cm • 2∏r = 200cm • r = 32cm = 1 foot

  5. 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 !

  6. Bonnie’s father has five daughters. Four of them are named Chacha, Cheche, Chichi and Chocho. What is the name of the fifth?

  7. Varieties of stupidity • We can • Cope impulsively • Decide prematurely • Check narrowly • Decide egotistically • Mull excessively • Chat collusively

  8. 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

  9. 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’

  10. Rationalisation • Check mode becomes misapplied and misappropriated. • Argument does not critique FR; it justifies it • The Check system is recruited to protect the FR

  11. 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

  12. 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

  13. 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

  14. Thank you • guy.claxton@winchester.ac.uk

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