It's About Learning

We are not thinking machines. We are feeling machines that think

In his book Descartes Error the renowned neuroscientists Antonio Damasio makes the argument that humans do not make decisions by relying solely on the purely rational cognitive, or reason-oriented, parts of their brain. He points to research using MRI scans of real-time functioning that reveals there is an interplay of the emotional which is centered in the limbic system, primarily the amygdala and the more evolved area of contemplation and pre-frontal cortex.

Damasio is not alone in this claim that we are feeling machines that sometimes think. Dan Ariely, an economist at M.I.T in his book Predictably Irrational points out that we not only are more emotional than we are rational we hold on to the following three myths:

We know all the pertinent information about our decisions.
We can calculate the value of the different options we face.
We are, for important decisions, rational.

The following Ariely TED Talk is a wonderful summary of this book and these ideas
Are we in control of our decisions?

References
Damasio, A. R. (2006). Descartes’ error. New York, NY: Penguin Books.

Most people would like to believe that we make informed decision based on the data or evidence and that if you want to convinces someone that your new idea, proposal, or plan is really in the best interest for everyone then all you need to do is present the facts in a clear and concise way. But what does the science or data behind this thinking really say. Robert Cialdini has been researching how and why people comply to requests and his popular book Influence: Science & Practice is the culmination of decades of research that outlines the six universal Principles of Persuasion that explains how to structure your requests. The following video summaries those six principles:

Cialdini’s most recent book Pre-Suasion: A Revolutionary Way to Influence and Persuade builds on his research into persuasion and reveals methods of priming your audience to receive your message more openly.

If we really want to have people adopt our ideas and move forward with our plans then we must look past this notion that all we need to present the data or evidence and believe that people make informed decisions solely on the information. Not only will the head not go where the heart hasn’t been the head is open to influence from many other sources so we really need to recognize that just presenting the information or more information is not enough.