The human body has evolved over a period to have characteristics that preserve itself. A great example of such a characteristic is the human body’s response to being struck by a mallet on the knee. This reaction actually developed over time to help correct a person’s balance if they were to lose it suddenly (Weiner, 2010). The signal from the knee to the brain and back would not happen quickly enough to prevent a fall and thus our bodies have evolved to have this reaction without the brain being involved. This reaction is involuntary and happens almost instantly. In very much the same way our bodies have evolved to have quick reactions to avoid danger, our brains have evolved as well. If you are walking down the street and someone starts aggressively running towards you, your brain quickly analyzes the situation and tells your body to either prepare to run or prepare to fight. The brain needs to process this information quickly in order to be able to address the situation before the person reaches you. In order to be able to accomplish this the brain will make several assumptions quickly based on current knowledge and past experiences in order to solve the problem quickly. The process that the mind follows in order to complete this is called the ladder of inference. It is in essence an evolved behavioral trait that most human utilize to non-actively analyze data. The concept of the ladder of inference was first introduced in the book the fifth discipline, but previously developed by Harvard’s Chris Argyris (Senge, 2006). While everyone understood that the human brain was making quick assumptions this model was the first to break in down scientifically. It introduces the idea of tiers that a person’s mind goes through when presen... ... middle of paper ... ...against all candidates, and does it represent beliefs or values that need to be reevaluated. Simply educating those around you on the ladder of inference and being able to alert them when they have jumped up their ladder too quickly is a great start. Works Cited Harvey, C., & Allard, M. J. (2012). Understanding and managing diversity: Readings, cases, and exercises. (5 ed.). Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. Bell, M. P. (2012). Diversity in organizations. (2 ed.). Mason, OH: South-Western. Senge, P. M. (2006). The fifth discipline; the art and practice of the learning organization. (Revised ed. ed.). New York, NY: Doubleday. Weiner, W. J. (2010). Neurology for the non-neurologist. (6th ed.). Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. The ladder of inference. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.mncounties.org/Futures/Taskforce/feb11/The Ladder of Inference.pdf
Alger, Jonathan. "The Educational Value of Diversity." The American Association of University Professors. Academe, January/February 1997.
WORLD HEALTH ORGANISATION, 1997. Tabular list of neurological and related disorders. In: WORLD HEALTH ORGANISATION, ed. Application of the International Classification of Diseases to Neurology. Canada: World Health Organisation, p. 153.
Schwartz, Stuart, and Craig Conley. Human Diversity: A Guide for Understanding. 14th ed. New York: McGraw-Hills Primis Custom Publishing, 2000. 3-7. Print.
Kottak, Conrad Phillip and Kayhryn Kozaitis 2012 On Being Different, Diversity and Multiculturalism in the North American Mainstream, 4th edition, McGraw Hill Press, New York: Chapter 1.
Selingo, Jeffrey. "New Study Questions Educational Benefits of Diversity." The Chronicle of Higher Education 49.29 (2003). Academic OneFile. Web. 9 Aug. 2011.
Research Updates. University of Rochester Medical Center. November 10, 2008. National Institutes of Health. February 6, 2009. < http://www.urmc.rochester.edu/neurology/nih-registry/research/index.cfm>.
For instances, in one study, volunteers were required to stare at a computer screen as different phrases quickly appeared and disappeared without their knowledge. These phrases such as “violent” and “elderly” influenced their minds when they complete different types of tasks, such as writing or walking. Their behaviors changed according to the flashing words because the unconscious mind was affected by it, even though they were unaware of these influences. Since their conscious minds were not able to pick up the words on the screen, they created reasoning with the knowledge they did have. As Daniel Gilbert stated, “ their brains quickly considered the facts they are aware and draw out the same kinds of plausible but mistaken inferences about themselves that an observer would probably draw about them” (131). Daniel Gilbert proves that the unconscious mind takes the knowledge one is aware of and creates a logical reasoning behind it, even if it is not true. When Daniel Gilbert says "mistaken inferences" he means that the person is unaware of the factors that influence one's behavior, thus creating a false sense of understanding. The volunteers believed their false reasoning, thus affecting the truth behind their
In simple cases of inferential naivety players are capable of realizing that the actions taken by previous movers reflect their own signals, however they fail to comprehend that these previous movers themselves infer with the same logic from even earlier actions. In a paper by Erik Eyster and Matthew Rabin, this process is described as follows:
Cañas, K. A. & Sondak, H. (2011). Opportunities and challenged for workplace diversity: Theory, cases, and exercises. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Prentice Hall.
Senge, P. (2006). The fifth discipline: The art & practice of the learning organization (revised ed.). New York: Random House.
Senge, P. M. (2006). The fifth discipline: The art and Practice of the learning organization (1st ed., Rev.). New York, NY: Doubleday.
In this week’s readings the subject of dimensions of cultural diversity were covered comprehensively in both books. Understanding and Managing Diversity presented a nicely laid out illustration:
Barak, M. E. (2005). Managing diversity: toward a globally inclusive workplace. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage Publications.
Anderson, M, L, Taylor, H, F. (2008). Sociology. Understanding a Diversity Society. Thomson Higher Education. Belmont. (USA). Fourth Edition.
Keil, F. C. and Wilson, R. A. (1999) The MIT Encyclopedia of the Cognitive Sciences. Cambridge, Massachusetts & London, England: The MIT Press