Human Irrationality, Strikes versus Disputes - Assignment Example

Conceptual Analysis Affiliation Question The processing of information in our minds can take various forms. These forms depend on the context in which we are using particular information. Various disciplines apply conceptual analysis in order to come up with more comprehensible information, information that can be used in that discipline to perform various tasks such as create designs, understand certain concepts related to that discipline, as well as map facts into a form that is easily usable in that discipline. The human brain is quite important in building mental models. It assists in creating catalogs of facts, principles and concepts that assist in making ideas more precise for the human understanding as well as clarify cluttered and jumbled thinking. Inconsistency in analysis, or partial analysis of information by the brain might result in misunderstanding or even no understanding at all. The brain is friendly to consistency and closely relates to items that are similar in a specific manner or characteristic. The mind, for instance, will tend to force us into remembering items that are placed in a certain grouping in the supermarket. Problems in conceptual analysis arise in various circumstances. In comparative words, for instance apply in different standards of measure. For the brain to really process information involving comparative words such as big or small, then the context in which the comparative word applies to must be specified. For example, a farm is big in terms of area of coverage while a tree is big in terms of height. The specification of the contexts is what enables us build a complete mental model, and eventually understand concepts much better. In addition, the standards for comparative terms constantly change. Expression of natural concepts, according to Sowa (1984) in a computerized form slowly replaces its vague boundaries with sharp ones that are precise and distinctive. However, the replacement of a concept defined by family resemblances with a concept of a similar name defined by the sufficient conditions is always misleading. The adoption of conceptual graphs was a great breakthrough in the understanding of concepts. The first thing to do when analyzing a concept is to imagine all instances in which its applicable, then list all these instances into subtypes, find out what other concepts might be linked to the concept in a canonical graph, check dictionary definitions of the concepts and finally dwell on the concepts schemata. Many concepts are highly dependent. Question 2 According to hall (2012), some concepts are similar with only a minor distinction between them. In light of this, I chose three concepts from a wide array of concepts listed by hall. For each pair, I will draw distinctions between them and evaluate in detail how they are related and how they are different. Strikes versus disputes The terms strikes and disputes came into prominence during the industrial revolution. These words share a similarity since they both refer to a disagreement or are brought about by a disagreement. However, a closer look will see the glaring difference between them. A strike refers to a stoppage of work by a large group of workers while a dispute is a refers to a disagreement between parties Thin versus slim These words are similar since they have been generally used to describe a person’s figure. However, they are used under different environments. Thin is often used in a derogatory manner whereas slim is often used in a positive way. A person can be slim and fit but he/she cannot be thin and fit. Aggressive versus assertive Both of these terms refer to the tendency to impose one’s decisions or want on others. Nevertheless, their differences are glaring. Assertive is often used in positive light while aggressive is used in a negative light in most instances. Thus, while assertive refers to the tendency of a person to insist on his/ her claim, aggressive refers to a hostile act or attitude. Question 3 Human irrationality There is an intrinsic connection between human irrationality and human creativity. Thus, we cannot exterminate human irrationality without affecting human creativity. Irrationality can be basically defined as the art or concept of thinking, acting or talking in such a way that the concept of rationality is ignored. Thus, irrationality as a concept refers to an opinion or an action undertaken without basing it (the action) on reason or facts. Compared to machines, the human mind is devoid of reason, computation, communication and memory in most instances. However, machines are programmed to be good at these. In fact, human beings have to concentrate in order for them to think rationally while their language is often ambiguous and imprecise. Also, they have to learn computation in school.as a result, human beings, unlike machines which think rationally are good at imagination which leads to improvisation. This improvisation can be termed as being creative improvisation or creativity. Therefore, human irrationality has a direct link to human creativity. Hence, we cannot exterminate human irrationality without eliminating human creativity. By eliminating human irrationality, we will turn human beings into machine like beings which removes unpredictability, imagination and creative improvisation concepts. Machines generally do not possess the ability to be creative since they are programmed to behave in a certain prescribed rational way. In fact, machines are devoid of irrationality. For machines to work, distributed systems and backups are designed to enable them to behave in a certain way in any conditions at all times. This removes the element of creativity from them. The introduction of a unique or new situation often affects rationality in human beings. Hence, they have to think outside the box and come up with new ways to respond to the situation. Without the concept of irrationality, human beings would not be able to improvise or come up with new creative content, solutions, decisions or actions. Arieti (1976) argues that for a concept to inspire the creative process, it must have an open ended attribute. This can be decoded to mean that the concept of rationality are usually ironclad rigid formulations which do not encourage the creative process since they are always defined and structured in a certain way. The concept of irrationality is better understood by fiction writers, playwrights and poets who acknowledge that words acquire greater meaning for what they don’t say rather than for what they don’t say. Thus, meaning is often hidden. However, a rational mind would not discover or comprehend the extra semantic unsaid load. Discovering of the unsaid element in words is a necessary attribute for creative writers (Arieti, 1976). This example signifies the importance of irrationality and its link with the creative process or creativity element. The extra meaning dug from words by poets is necessary sometimes so as to align the poem or work of art to a particular unique situation. On the contrary, a rational mind would only view the basic meaning of the word and thus be unable to adapt to the new situation or environment. Also, some writers prefer to belittle the conceptual and abstract while assigning greater value to the particular. Further, Arieti (1976) states that self-actualization and realization psychologists tend to desist from categorizing people’s experiences. The art of categorizing experiences prevents human beings or individuals from knowing the unique qualities of things. This means that a rational human being cannot comprehend the finer or unique qualities of certain situations/ environments. What this implies is that irrationality helps individuals to view things, especially the finer qualities of things, in a new context different from the normal perspective or view. Unlike the rational being who only views concepts or things from a general view, the irrational thinker sees things from both the particular and general views. Thus, he finds a way of accentuating the both general and particular aspects without avoiding the other. This examples hint at the significance of the irrationality mind in advancing the creative process. Thus, we cannot exterminate human irrationality without also eliminating human creativity. References Arieti, S. (1976). Creativity: The magic synthesis. Hall, S. (2012). This means this, this means that: a users guide to semiotics (p. 176). Laurence King Publishing. Sowa, J. F. (1984). Conceptual structures in mind and machines. Read More