Hive Mind

This article brings to light some interesting research. Basically, when you ask two people to guess about something, the average of their two guesses is closest to accurate. When you ask a group of people, the accuracy increases.

And that sort of phenomenon could be expected. However, the strange thing is that when someone guesses *twice* - differently than their first, the average is also closer. At a second guess period of about three weeks, the average of the two guesses was about 16% more accurate. Not as accurate as a group, but more accurate than an individual.

I found strange a question they asked;

But that this happens at all raises questions about “individuality” within an individual. If guesses can shift almost at random, where are they coming from?

I don't know if it really raises questions about individuality. Certainly it seems like random, by my guess is that it might have something to do more with survival of the population. If a group of people (population of species) are able to correctly determine X, and correct decisions about whether something is dangerous or harmless tend to promote the survival of the species... those individuals who tend to guess too extreme will be removed from the population, and their genetics and learned behavior both will be removed.

*shrugs* but that's just my theory.

Back, by Popular Demand

Or at least demand... which in my case ends out to be popular I'm sure.

Anyhow, I suppose I can let you know a little about what's going on over the next two weeks - research for my philosophy paper.

Basically the concepts are dualism and naturalism, their strengths, weaknesses, and which philosophy I find more convincing, or both, or neither.

Both of dualism and naturalism are metaphysical world views. Metaphysics being the study of what is real. Is matter real? Is there non-physical matter? These are questions that dualism and naturalism attempt to answer.

For the dualist, reality is comprised of two (or dual) different parts. You have the physical and apparent part, and the hidden part. For instance, the dualist could look at one of his friends and say "Oh, that's Sarah." What if she were in some horrible accident and her arms and legs were lost? Well, most likely he would still be able to say, "Oh, that's Sarah." So for the dualist, the body is obviously not entirely the person. Now, perhaps that same friend, rather than get in an accident, just woke up one day and decided she would flip her personality completely around. Well, the dualist would most likely say, "That looks like Sarah, but it's not the Sarah I know!" This is because there are two different parts to the person. The literal, physical body, and the hidden, mysterious mind or soul.

The naturalist, on the other hand, thinks a bit different. The naturalist sees the wold according to "nature's laws". When the naturalist drops a stone, ten times out of ten she observes it drop to the ground. Not only that, but any time she observes anyone drop anything, she sees it drop to the ground. In addition, everything she observes behaves in certain ways. An ice cube that is less dense, floats in the water. The naturalist observes that upon death, the person stops moving and reacting, and begins to decompose. So for the naturalist, the person ends at death.

Really there are quite a few more principles that describe dualists and naturalists, but really that's all I have the effort to mention at the moment...

enjoy!