Sunk Cost Fallacy

Tags

cognitive, fallacy

I consider myself to be a pretty rational person, and try to avoid the cognitive pitfalls that, as a human being, I am prone to falling into.  One logical fallacy that always seems to get me, no matter how much I try to banish that mode of thought, is the sunk cost fallacy.

This fallacy is the idea that you’ve already invested enough time/money/whatever into something, so to stop now would be a waste.  It has its root in a number of frailties, from loss aversion to simple pride. It is a fallacy though, because how much you have invested so far in a venture has no bearing on whether that venture is going to be a success or not.  If you wouldn’t have started it, it is wasteful to continue it, rather than the opposite.

Despite knowing full well the fallacious nature of it, whenever I am making a big decision, it always creeps into my head.  How about you, dear readers, what logical fallacy have you had the hardest time keeping out of your mind?

BMC: Ising Model

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BMC, cognitive, ICP, neuroscience, science

I won't be lyin', or gettin' you pissed.

So, today’s BMC post will touch on a topic near and dear to all my readers hearts: magnets, how do they work?  Well, dear reader, they are not in  fact miracles, but the result of the interactions of spin lattices that can be described using the Ising model of magnetism.  I shall endeavor to explain a few key features of this model to you, and let you know about a few cool things we can do with it.

400 Word Essay 3: Computer Models of Cognitive Processes

Tags

cognitive, ethics, philosophy, science, writing

I seriously considered not posting this one. Two things went wrong: I didn’t get my choice of topic in time, meaning I was assigned the negative side of a topic I would usually argue affirmatively on. Secondly, I was super busy this weekend and didn’t leave myself enough time to do a proper job. But I thought in order to maintain the intellectual honesty of this series I should post the less stellar examples along with the ones I am more proud of. It was an interesting exercise the try and argue a position I am opposed to. It’s something everyone should try at least once; I think if you don’t find it difficult you should question how secure your positions really are. So as a last disclaimer, I’m not sure how effective the following arguments are. You decide!

Topic: Human cognitive processes can be investigated by creating computational models. (CON)

Computer models, though important to the study of cognition itself, are of limited use in studying specifically human cognitive processes.

Towards a Killer Robot Army: Part 2

Tags

cognitive, lego, maze, mindstorms, robots

My diabolical plans move on apace; a new generation of infernal contraptions has sprung from the twisted machinations of my technologickal laboratory. No longer fully a slave to it’s programming, the newest addition to my mechanical throng can truly be said to be an automaton.

This most recent task in my COGS lab was once again to traverse a maze, but this time without pre-programming the route. Rather, using just two light sensors, our task was to create a vehicle capable of finding it’s own way – officially called Agent-Environment Interaction. This was a much more rewarding task than the previous Internal Representation lab…