Of Robots and Government Policies

I am currently reading Caves of Steel by Isaac Asimov and I would like to share a quote from the book that provides social commentary in the context of social unrest.

The context is that more and more human jobs are being replaced by robots ever since the invention of the "positronic brain." As time goes on, increasingly advanced robots are being built. The scene is at a department store where the clerks have recently been replaced by robots. A female shopper starts complaining about not wanting to be served by robots and this complaint starts a chain of events that eventually leads to a mob forming outside the store that is on the verge of rioting and tearing apart the robots. The author covers the fact that most of humanity has an increasingly more severe fear of being replaced by robots and one of the ways this fear manifests itself is through riots throughout the city. He then continues to make an astute observation on the topic of social unrest:

... individual robots were not to blame. Individual robots could at least be struck at. One could not strike at something called 'governmental policy' or at a slogan like 'higher production with robot labor.'

This observation touches upon the fact that majority of people are not able to process complex or abstract ideas, especially when they are angry. They want something straightforward and concrete to attack so they can vent their frustrations. I imagine this might even be the case with most of Trump's supporters. They are angry at various government policies and other complex issues involving numerous stakeholders, thoroughly vested interests, and situations that have a long history. These individuals are frustrated and are looking for an outlet for venting their anger against something/someone that is easy to visualize and hate on. This could partially explain some of the racism and hatred present among Trump's supporters. They need a way to channel their anger and Trump is providing them with easy and simple targets that don't involve analysis or thinking of any sort. It's tempting and very human to take the path of least resistance when solving a problem. In this case, the "problem" is frustration that has no easy outlet.

The secret to a better memory

Do you consider yourself as someone with a poor or strong memory? Well, your answer is irrelevant because there are strategies you can use to drastically improve your memory no matter how strong or weak your memory is.  The key lesson to remember is that humans excel at visual and spatial memory and we work better when we have context. We are terrible at remembering isolated facts and abstract ideas.  To create strong memories, we need to infuse them with clearly visual and concrete characteristics.  We need to imagine directly interacting with the memory in some form through touch or smell or any other non-abstract method of interaction.  By doing this, we are connecting the memory to our powerful senses such as sight and smell.  An additional tool to use is to connect the memory to something unexpected or emotional or humorous.  Our brains are wired to filter out the ordinary and the banal so we aren't overloaded with information.  As a result, a lot of important information that your brain deems ordinary or mundane can get filtered out and we become forgetful.  On the other hand, if something is unexpected, humorous, or emotional, you are much more likely to remember it.

All of this should seem familiar to previous blog entries about aiming for concreteness, eliciting emotions and using unexpectedness.  The best way to drive the point home is through using these strategies on one thorough example.

Imagine you are going to give a presentation and there are a list of items that you need to go through.  Unfortunately, you are having a difficult time trying to keep the list together in your head.  Let's assume this is the list with the topics you need to discuss:

• Profits are up due to a recent partnership with a firm in Japan.
• The company computer systems have been updated and run 30% more efficiently.
• A new competitor has risen and is providing similar products at cheaper prices.
• Your technical employees are unhappy and morale is down.
• There has been negative press coverage lately about the company's environmental track record.

As you can clearly see, these ideas are rather abstract and you might have a difficult time remembering all of them while you are giving the presentation.  Our brains aren't great at remembering the concepts in this list because they are abstract, they lack concreteness, they aren't visual, they aren't emotional, and they aren't unexpected or surprising or out of the ordinary.  The goal in this case is to take these kinds of memories and transform them into the types of memories that our brains excel at.

How can we convert these memories to something that is vivid, engaging, has spacial context, and is novel and marvelous? Your first step is to visualize a place in your mind where you can physically "store" these memories.  Think of a place that you know really well, like your childhood home.  For me, I am going to visualize my current home.

The first item on the list deals with profits due to a partnership with a firm in Japan.  To add a visual aspect to this image, I am going to imagine a Japanese man in a business suit standing in my driveway (I have physically "stored" him at a specific location now).  His suit is green and it has a giant dollar sign on it. He has his hand extended and is getting ready to shake mine.  I have taken this abstract idea and have made it concrete and placed him in a spacial context I am familiar with.

The next item deals with computer systems and efficiency.  I am now imagining walking into my house and into the living room.  There seems to be an enormous computer in the middle of the room with giant muscular arms coming out of its side.  It's flexing them and showing off about how quick it is.  I have now turned this boring and abstract item about computers and efficiency into this ridiculous and surreal visual image of a giant computer with big muscly arms.  This is an image I won't forget any time soon.

The next item of discussion is a new competitor.  For this, I am now walking into my kitchen and there seems to be a smooth-looking fellow in a black suit smoking a cigar.  He is arrogantly looking at me while he is surrounded with the products that he is selling at cheaper prices.  There is now an emotional attachment to this item on the list because this fellow's arrogance is making me angry.  I have turned the abstract idea of competition into a concrete and emotional image of an arrogant and annoying man in a black suit.

You continue with this strategy for the rest of the items on the list.  Once you are done with the list, you have created memories that are generally visual, concrete, emotional, humorous, and unexpected.  The next step is to mentally walk back through the scenario you have created. I am now once again approaching my home.  Why is there this Japanese fellow standing in my driveway with an obnoxious green suit?? OH! That's right, this is about the partnership with a firm in Japan.  

Upon entering my living room, I see this huge computer that resembles a muscular man.  Why is it flexing its giant arms and bragging? Was this something about computers and their speed? YES! The next item deals with computer efficiency.

I now enter the kitchen and this arrogant fellow with a cigar is staring at me and mockingly smirking.  He is surrounded by a bunch of products.  Why is he behaving like this? I hope by now you get the idea.  The goal during this whole exercise was to connect abstract and mundane concepts and memories to vivid images and examples that are much more easily remembered.  

I encourage you to try this method for yourself.  Try memorizing a list of ideas, items, or concepts without using the strategy outlined above. Now, try remembering a list by using the strategies discussed here. I can guarantee that the method discussed here will create much stronger memories that will be easier to recall and leave a lasting impression.

Source:  http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/images/stories/large/2008/08/29/memory36969112_crop.jpg 

References:

Foer, Joshua. Moonwalking With Einstein.

Statistics? *Yawn*

One of the primary difficulties in being persuasive and making a lasting impression on your audience (especially among experienced professionals) is not being viewed as credible.  To counteract this drawback, you can boost your perceived credibility by referencing statistics.  Unfortunately, people's eyes glaze over and they stop paying attention as soon as you start reciting rows of numbers.  Think of the last time you were reading an article, a study, or a book and you came upon a page full of charts, graphs, tables, or numbers.  Even though I have taken statistics courses, I unfortunately find myself skipping over these sections so I can get to the conclusions and interpretations section.  Is a part of this my fault for being lazy and not wanting to think hard?  Yes, it is.  But, I believe another major aspect of the issue is how statistics are actually presented.

There is a proper way of presenting statistics that has a much higher chance of connecting with your audience and making a lasting impression.  To do this, you must present statistics in a more "human" way and place the numbers in contexts that non-statisticians would be familiar with.  You must use everyday examples that people are familiar with and utilize their intuition by incorporating scales and relationships that they will understand and be able to relate with.

As I've discussed in previous entries, analogies and concrete examples are effective tools for connecting with your audience and tapping into their intuitive visual abilities.  These strategies are especially  important when dealing with numbers because most of us don't get much practice with interpreting quantitative data.  During the rare times that we do find ourselves in such a situation, we are often too stubborn or embarrassed to admit our numerical illiteracy.

To drive these points home, consider a recent commercial by Toyota for the Camry:

                        Video link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxIHC2sM5P0

Here is the relevant quote from the actor in the ad:
Actor: "The reinvented 2012 Camry Hybrid is rated at 43 miles on the gallon. That's the length of two football fields that are each 21 and a half miles long.  Just to put that in perspective for you."

The actor then grabs hold of a gallon of milk and starts drinking it.  This tactic is meant to emphasize the original statistic even more and allow people to visualize how much a gallon actually is.  The ad connects that small amount of milk to the length of two football fields.  It's attempting to use scales and visuals that most people will hopefully be familiar with.

This ad is a simple example but I believe it effectively showcases what I initially discussed.  Numbers must be placed in a familiar perspective or else your audience isn't going to make the effort to truly understand their meaning and scale.

Environmentalists can also apply these lessons to properly communicate environmental problems such as the size of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.  Often times, when this issue is discussed, the authors describe the size of the plastic debris by comparing it to the size of Texas or some other incredibly large area that people can't effectively visualize.


Case in point:
http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/earth/oceanography/great-pacific-garbage-patch.htm

"The Eastern Garbage Patch floats between Hawaii and California; scientists estimate its size as two times bigger than Texas."


To remedy this, other units of measurements can be used.  For instance, football fields and skyscrapers are objects that most people would be more familiar with and can more effectively visualize.  The size of the garbage pile can be discussed in these terms instead.  Large objects such as these are still not as human-friendly as smaller objects such as houses, cars, and tennis balls but using these is still an improvement over what is currently done.


Having said all this, you must keep in mind who your audience is.  If you are dealing with technical and quantitative experts who live and breathe numbers every day then your attempts at making statistics more relateable and human-friendly are going to be a waste of time.  Your efforts might even backfire because these experts might think you are questioning their competence and level of quantitative expertise.  The strategies covered here are more relevant when dealing with individuals outside the quantitative fields.  These tactics can be effective with people who don't consistently deal with numbers in a thorough and meaningful manner.

Can they visualize it?

Well, can they?

"They" in this case is your audience.  "It" is your idea or message.  In previous entries I discussed the importance of using metaphors and pre-existing ideas that your audience is familiar with.  Today, we take this a step further and add an additional layer.  We need to make sure that the metaphors and the audience-familiar concepts that we use are CONCRETE examples.

What does "concrete" mean?  Concrete examples have several important characteristics:

• They are NOT abstract ideas.
• They are generally interpreted and understood the same way by different people.
• They are more likely to bring everyone to the same conclusion.
• They can be examined with your senses and easily visualized.
• You've most likely had previous experience with them.

Having said that, here are some examples of concreteness:

• A juicy apple.
• A bicycle.
• Luscious lips.
• A bloody knife.

As you can see, all of these concepts are easily visualized and you have no trouble interpreting what you are reading.  Now, consider abstract ideas such as these:

• Truth.
• Justice.
• Efficiency Optimization. 
• Stakeholder Strategy.
• Resource Utilization.

The above ideas are NOT easily visualized or interpreted in the same way by different people.  Our senses can't easily guide us in these instances.  Using such abstract examples are going to muddle your message and degrade its clarity.  These abstract concepts will cause your audience to have a diverse set of interpretations on what you are trying to communicate.  As a result, they aren't going to be on the same page when it comes to understanding your ideas.

Easily understandable examples are useful because they can be used as stepping stones for understanding new concepts.  By jumping off of such stable starting points, you are much more likely to have an audience that is following you along your chain of thought because they have a strong foundation for their understanding.  The audience can relate to your examples because they are based off of existing knowledge and connect with their visceral senses.

Let's consider a hypothetical example in the context of air pollution.  An environmental justice group is trying to get attention for the awful air quality in their neighborhoods.  How can they effectively portray their struggles and communicate their community's suffering in concrete terms?  One potential way of doing this is to use the image of a person suffering or adapting to poor air quality.  A child or an elderly person would be effective.  

Here is an example of a picture that can be used:

Image source: http://scipeeps.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/reducing-air-pollution.jpg

On the side of the image, a message could be added:  "Where we live, this is the norm."

By using such imagery, your audience isn't asked to conceptualize a term such as "air pollution."  Different people will have different interpretations of what that means.  Some people might think of the awful air conditions in Chinese cities and others might consider the stereotypical smoggy haze over LA.  By providing your audience with a clear-cut example and a simple message, they are all on the same page and the problem of air pollution is channeled through this simple and specific example.  Everyone looking at your message is much more likely to be on the same page and your message is much more likely to be easily understood and be memorable.  

If you want your audience to be on the same page and easily relate to your ideas, start from what is likely to be universally understandable and consistently interpreted.