Word: gilbert
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...resistance to this proposition - people like to think of themselves as unique, self-aware individuals who can predict their own responses - that even after being shown how muddleheaded their own predictions tend to be, people still prefer to rely on them rather than seeking advice from others, Gilbert's study found...
...Gilbert and his co-authors from Harvard and the University of Virginia say the findings aren't altogether surprising. People all over the world share similar reactions to stimuli; common evolutionary "physiological mechanisms" would explain why people, regardless of culture or belief, generally prefer "warm to cold, satiety to hunger, friends to enemies, winning to losing and so on." The authors write, "An alien who knew all the likes and dislikes of a single human being would know a great deal about the entire species...
...Reached on the phone at his office at Harvard, Gilbert said that this new study builds on previous research on psychological biases and fallacies - a genre of studies "that show us how we are largely strangers to ourselves." But, he says, we can better understand how we will react to future situations by embracing our commonality with other people, and treating their response to experiences as less subjective than objective...
...Gilbert suggests his research could have some revolutionary implications for the way people behave. For one thing, the next time you sit down at a new restaurant, you might be better off abandoning the menu and instead asking a fellow diner, "What's good here?" Or you might even consider asking friends, family or the village elders whether your partner is marriage material or not. "Most Westeners would reject the notion outright that someone else would pick your marital partner more accurately than you can. It's not clear to me that's true," Gilbert says, conceding that...
...maybe not. "That doesn't leave room for changes in character. I'm quite different with my wife than [I was with] my first wife," Gilbert says. "My first wife wouldn't be able to predict very well what my current wife would experience...