An Instance of a Logical Fallacy

I collaborate with different individuals on multiple disciplines. Often, I propose my collaborators to venture into areas which I have got only cursory familiarity. We work with things which are fundamental in nature.  Direct "monetization" of things which I am interested in collaborating is difficult. and it is by choice. It often servers a mechanism for food for thought. Of course, It does posses some "intrinsic" value.


Couple of weeks back, while travelling to Bangalore, I happen to buy a book titled, "Rookie Smart", written by Liz Wiseman. The central thesis of this book is, most often, Experts are at a disadvantage against "Rookies", in modern day work place. She has clustered  Rookies with similar traits to "BackPacker","Hunter-Gather", "FireWalker" and "Pioneer" etc.

After doing some reading, I loaned this book to a collaborator of mine. After a day, he phoned me and asked a question which went as  follows, "If Rookies can beat an expert in most areas, what is the point of learning deep topics?". I was bit taken aback, after getting this response. . After a while, I did understand that, he has fallen victim to the logical fallacy monikered as "Affirming the consequent".


The fallacy goes as follows

A => B. B has happened, therefore A. ( If A, then B. B , Therefore A)

The book is about how a rookie can upstage an expert,in some areas. It is not about, experts are upstaged by rookies, everywhere. So, book never implies that there is no point in become an expert at something. A naive analysis will lead to some kind of "Nihilistic" view that, It is futile to gain deep expertise in anything.

Why "Morphing Intelligence to Sensibility"?

As a person born in the early 70s, I was trained to look for "Intelligent" Behavior or whatever that meant to me. That was, at a time when Information was hard to come-by and it was costly to acquire/archive information. With luck, I could get access to book shelves (private and public) by virtue of being born in a town with a good public library and a set of remarkable individuals.

From 1989 ( from 17 to 21)  to 1993, I tried to become the most "intelligent" man in the universe! In those times, reading Encyclopedia Britannica cover to cover would have helped me achieve that. At least, I believed so. In fact, I read twelve volumes of Micropedia and got tired to pursue twenty volumes of Macropedia.The Encyclopedia Britannica comprised of thirty two volumes.

I was a voracious reader for a period of four years. That shaped my intellect and pretty much decided my path in life. Based on this foundation, I aced in  Computer Programming. That gave me a career, and a "good" life.

The saying in those days were, "How Intelligent you are?" . Those were the times when Analytical Intelligence and Intelligence were synonyms.

With the advent of Internet, Slowly things began to change. Institutions were built to liquidate the influence of individuals. By using Divide and Conquer (Division of Labor) and institutionalization, companies in fact, marginalized some  Individuals in the Software Industry. This empowered another set of Individuals, who are better at collaboration.

Now, the saying is , "How are you intelligent?". Institutionalization made collaboration, an imperative. They brought in things like Procedural intelligence, Emotional Intelligence etc. to the mainstream of human socio/economic affairs.

Despite noticing these changes, some Individuals still kept on worshiping Analytical Intelligence, a self defeating excersize. I have slowly distanced from them. But, DNA is still that of those group.

After doing contemplation for a period of sixty days,I have understood that being Sensible is more rewarding than being Analytically sound. So, I have decided to Morph my Intelligence to Sensibility.

"After contemplation, I have realized that there is nothing called Intelligence. It is just a matter of Stimulus and It's response. Men, respond to the Stimulus and Response decides the outcome. If Response leads to a positive outcome for the Individual or group, he or she is considered intelligent"

May be, this blog will reflect that transformation.