The essays linked on this page are my attempt to add a sprinkle of knowledge and framing to the world around me. The pursuit of knowledge is never complete, and I find myself revising and adding to these essays from time to time as my own understanding matures. Most would be considered synthetic – my own interpretation and inter-weaving of things I’ve read and anecdotal experiences I have had. Hopefully one day I’ll also be able to add to the dialogue with my own research.
On how humans relate to the world
At our base level, we can consider humans as singular, conscious units that process information from our outside environments. Essays in this section discuss what we know about cognition and strategies our brains use to make sense of the world around us.
Data vs Information
In this essay, I discuss the difference between Data and Information in the DIKW ((The Data, Information, Knowledge and Wisdom Pyramid is a popular structure that describes how different levels of knowledge relate to one another. Read more on Wikipedia.)) Pyramid. I think the first step toward understanding this theory is understanding that data is objective – something that exists in the real world, but information is subjective as it requires the human step of relating multiple data points together. Read More…
Reflections on the Anchoring and Adjusting Heuristic
The anchoring and adjusting heuristic is one of a number of strategies that humans use to access relative value. In this essay, I describe how it works and how the concept of norms comes into play. Read More…
Thinking about Humans as Social
As many point out ((Such as Jonathan Haight in The Righteous Mind, Saadi Lauhou in Installation Theory, Randall Collins in Interaction Ritual Chains, and countless others…)) humans have evolved in groups and a big part of the way we perceive is the result of that process. In these essays, I explore how we discuss the sociological aspects of human behavior.
Magic Circles
A Magic Circle is a physical or temporal space where human group members have imposed agreed-upon rules for behavior. I discuss magic circles in two essays. The first essay discusses what a magic circle is and how one is formed. The second essay discusses what happens when deviations in the circle occur.