| Vecums |
[Nov. 13th, 2008|05:32 pm] |
"As we gain experience with age, our default hierarchies fill up and the situation reverses. We have a larger collection of specific experiences and more feedback on what has worked and what has not. Our mental models grow into highly complex structures of categories, interlinked rules, and weightings. We become less likely to perceive anything as totally new, and instead try to relate new knowledge to previous experiences and group these experiences into existing categories. Once in a while, we encounter something outside our realm of experience, and we then have to create a new, high-level category or rearrange existing categories. As our mental models become more complex, such major rearrangements become more difficult. Reorganizing and older, more experienced mental model is like reorganizing General Motors, whereas reorganizing a younger, less experienced model is more akin to reorganizing a small startup. Our mental models thus tend to settle over time, and it takes progressively bigger and bigger shocks to shake them up."
"Origin of Wealth" |
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