THINKER'S ALMANAC: December 31

Subject: Time - Sagan’s Cosmic Calendar

Event:  December 31

 

The construction of such tables and calendars is inevitably humbling….dinosaurs emerge on Christmas Eve; flowers arise on December 28th; and men and women originate at 10:30 P.M. on New Year's Eve. All of recorded history occupies the last ten seconds of December 31. -Carl Sagan

In his 1977 book Dragons of Eden, astronomer Carl Sagan tackles the problem of trying to illustrate how old the world is relative to how young human beings are.  To do this he constructs what he calls a Cosmic Calendar.  In this calendar, Sagan asks the reader to imagine the 15 billion years condensed and recorded on a 365-day calendar.

On the Cosmic Calendar, the key event on January 1 is the Big Bang (the beginning of the universe).  Other key events don’t occur until September, such as the formation of the earth on September 14 and the origin of life on Earth on September 25.

If you represented the Cosmic Calendar as the length of a 100-yard football field, the whole of human history would represent a length no larger than the size of a hand.

The key day on the Cosmic Calendar for humankind, therefore, is today: December 31.  It should be humbling to realize how recently our species has appeared:  10:30 PM on December 31st.  Fire became an available tool minutes ago, at 11:46 PM and the first cities appeared at 11:59:35 PM.  Because the alphabet was invented just seconds ago, at 11:59:51 PM, all of recorded human history must be squeezed into a period of just ten seconds.  In Sagan’s words, “Every person we’ve ever heard of lived somewhere in there. All those kings and battles, migrations and inventions, wars and loves. Everything in the history books happens here, in the last 10 seconds of the cosmic calendar.”

The point of the Cosmic Calendar is to give us some perspective about how long our species has been on Earth relative to how long the universe has been in existence.  Although we as humans are newcomers, arriving just 90 minutes before the clock strikes twelve, beginning a new year, we still have enormous power to influence the next cosmic year.  As Sagan puts it, “We have a choice: we can enhance life and come to know the universe that made us, or we can squander our 15 billion-year heritage in meaningless self-destruction.  What happens in the first second of the next cosmic year depends on what we do.”

Challenge - It’s the Time of the Season:  What is the best thing anyone has ever said about time?  Do some research to find quotations.  Write down the one you like the best, and explain why you think the quotation is insightful.

Sources:

1-Sagan, Carl. The Dragons of Eden: Speculations on the Evolution of Human Intelligence. New York: Ballantine Books, 1978. 

THINKER'S ALMANAC - December 29

Subject:  Creativity - Serendipity

Event: Birthday of inventor Charles Goodyear, 1800

 

I am not disposed to complain that I have planted and others have gathered the fruits. A man has cause for regret only when he sows and no one reaps. -Charles Goodyear

Today is the birthday of Charles Goodyear, the man who invented vulcanized rubber.  Born in Connecticut, Goodyear left home at 17, moving to Philadelphia to work in the hardware business.  Struggling with ill health and his finances, Goodyear eventually returned to Connecticut, and after visiting a store that sold rubber goods, he decided to go to work on how to make rubber less sticky and more durable and resilient.  Although he had no formal education in chemistry, Goodyear worked diligently and tirelessly to find a way to make rubber more effective and useful.  

In 1839, serendipity struck, giving Goodyear the breakthrough he was hoping for.  While working with a mixture of rubber and sulfur, he accidentally spilled some of the liquid onto a hot stove.  When the mixture hardened and Goodyear peeled it from the stove, he realized that it was still usable and that it was durable and elastic; it was also resistant to the extremes of both heat and cold.  The chance spill gave Goodyear the break he needed.  He soon perfected the process we know today as vulcanization of rubber, which he patented successfully on June 15, 1844.

Although the world benefited from applying vulcanization to a number of new products, specifically automobile tires, Goodyear, himself, did not go on to great success.  He continued to struggle with financial debts as well as with competitors who pirated his patent.  In 1860, Goodyear died, still in debt (1).

Challenge: Father and Mothers of Invention:  What is the best thing anyone has ever said about invention.  Do some research on quotations.  When you find one you like, write it down and explain why you think it gives interesting insight into invention and creativity.

Sources:

1- Ganesh, A.S. “Goodyear never did not have a good year.” The Hindu.com 17 June 2018.

THINKER'S ALMANAC - December 28

Subject: Philosophical Ideas - Adler’s Great Ideas

Event:  Birthday of philosopher and author Mortimer J. Adler

 

In the case of good books, the point is not to see how many of them you can get through, but how many can get through to you. -Mortimer Adler

Today is the birthday of philosopher and author Mortimer J. Adler (1902-2001).  As a teen, Adler dropped out of high school and worked as a copy boy for the New York Sun, but he later resumed his education at Columbia University.  After he finished the academic requirements for his bachelor’s degree, Adler was not allowed to graduate because he had refused to participate in physical education.  Nevertheless, Adler continued at Columbia as a teacher and a graduate student until he earned his Ph. D. in experimental psychology.  When he finally walked across the stage to collect his doctorate, he was the only Ph.D. in the country without a master’s degree, a bachelor’s degree, or a high-school diploma.

Soon Adler moved to the Midwest to teach philosophy at the University of Chicago.  At Chicago, he worked closely with his university’s president, Robert Maynard Hutchins, to develop a new liberal arts curriculum based on a core collection of outstanding works that constitute the foundation of the literature of Western culture.  Together Adler and Hutchins initiated the Great Books Foundation, a non-profit organization founded to promote continuing liberal education among the general public.

In 1952, Adler compiled a 54-volume collection called Great Books of the Western World.  This collection included the works that Adler considered the canon of Western culture, the best writing from fiction, history, poetry, science, philosophy, drama, politics, religion, economics, and ethics.

In addition to the writings of the canon, the Great Books of the Western World included a two-volume index to the 102 “Great Ideas.” Compiled by Adler, this index is called the Syntopicon and contains all references to each of the Great Ideas in the Great Books.   

By Great Ideas, Adler means the “vocabulary of everyone’s thought.”  The ideas are not technical terms or specialized jargon of different branches of learning; instead, the Great Ideas are “the ideas basic and indispensable to understanding ourselves, our society, and the world in which we live” (1).  For Adler, philosophy is not just an academic pursuit; instead, philosophical thought is the business of everyone, and inquiring and conversing about big ideas is a core part of what it means to be human.

Below is an A to W listing of some of the Great Ideas. Each of these ideas is universal in the sense that each is a “common object of thought,” meaning these are ideas which any two human beings should be able to discuss.  Unlike the tangible, common objects we interact with, these are ideas — intangible, abstract objects that live in the mind.

Art, Beauty, Change, Democracy, Emotion, Fate, Government, Happiness, Induction, Justice, Knowledge, Language, Mind, Nature, Opinion, Progress, Quality, Rhetoric, Science, Truth, Universal and Particular, Vice and Virtue, Wisdom

Challenge - One Great Idea, Two Great Works: What is a single universal idea or theme that appears in the work of two separate authors?  Identify a single universal idea, such as truth, wisdom, or democracy, and explain how that idea appears in two different written works. The works may be fiction, drama, poetry, or nonfiction.  In the course of explaining your idea, relate your interpretation of what you think each author is saying about this idea, along with specific evidence from the text that supports your interpretation.

1-Adler, Mortimer.  How to Think About Great Ideas.  Open Court, 2000.

THINKER'S ALMANAC - December 26

Subject:  Call to Arms - Battle of Trenton

Event:  Washington crosses Delaware and surprises the British, 1776

On this day in 1776, George Washington crossed the Delaware, leading the soldiers of the Continental Army in a surprise attack on a Hessian outpost at Trenton, New Jersey.  

After suffering defeat in the Battle of Long Island and losing New York City to the British, the Patriot forces were in danger of losing the Revolutionary War.  Hoping to mount a comeback and to surprise the Hessians who were celebrating Christmas, Washington planned a night crossing of the half-frozen waters of the Delaware River.

Washington had an unconventional attack planned, but another key element of his strategy was to employ some especially motivational words, words that would light a fire under an army that was freezing on the shores of the Delaware. On Christmas Eve, the day before the crossing, Washington ordered that Thomas Paine’s The American Crisis be read aloud to troops of the Continental Army.

In words that he had written just one day before, Paine frames the situation with stirring words that challenge the Patriots to move forward with courage and to seize this opportunity to transform the trials they face into a triumph:

THESE are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives everything its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as freedom should not be highly rated. Britain, with an army to enforce her tyranny, has declared that she has a right (not only to tax) but “to bind us in all cases whatsoever,” and if being bound in that manner, is not slavery, then is there not such a thing as slavery upon earth. Even the expression is impious; for so unlimited a power can belong only to God. . . .

Let it be told to the future world, that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive, that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet and to repulse it.

After successfully crossing the Delaware, Washington and his men arrived at Trenton the next day.  Catching the Hessians off guard and hungover from their Christmas Day celebrations, the Americans won an easy victory.  

Victory in the Revolutionary War would not come for five more years, but the success of the Colonial Army at Trenton revived the spirits of the American colonists, showing them that victory was possible.

Challenge - Say It So You Can Make It So: What is something you feel so strongly about that you would advise everyone to do it?  As Paine’s writing demonstrates, words have the power to move people to action, the kind of action that can change the course of history.  Write a speech in which you argue for a specific call to action on the part of your audience.  As the title of your speech, finish the following:  Why everyone should . . .

The following are some examples of possible topics:

Why everyone should learn a second language.

Why everyone should meditate.

Why everyone should study abroad.

Why everyone should take a self-defense class.

Why everyone should sing in the shower.

Why everyone should read more fiction.

Why everyone should vote.

Why everyone should use the Oxford comma.

Provide clear reasons, evidence, and explanation.  In addition to logic, move your audience with emotion by showing how important your suggested activity is and how it will bring fulfillment to their lives. 

Sources:

1- Paine, Thomas. The American Crisis. 23 Dec. 1776. Public Domain. 

THINKER'S ALMANAC - December 25

Subject:  Giving and Receiving - Dunn’s Study on Happiness

Event:  Christmas Day

Since you get more joy out of giving joy to others, you should put a good deal of thought into the happiness that you are able to give.” -Eleanor Roosevelt

On Christmas, most people contemplate the proverbial question about whether it is better to give than receive.  A study by social psychologist Elizabeth Dunn provides some clear insight on how we might resolve the question. 

With her colleagues Lara Aknin and Michael Norton, Dunn surveyed 632 Americans, asking them to identify their average monthly expenditures and to rate their level of happiness.  Based on analysis of this data, Dunn determined that people spent on average 90% of their money on monthly expenditures.  This spending, however, had no bearing on satisfaction.  What did have an impact on happiness levels, however, was whether or not people spent money on others, either for gifts or for charity. Those that spent more on gifts or charity, were happier (1).

In Charles Dickens classic story A Christmas Carol (1843), Ebbineezer Scrooge's nephew sums up the charitable, giving spirit fostered by the holidays:

 

[Christmas is] a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time; the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys. (2)

 

Not until the end of the story and after he is visited by the three Christmas spirits does Scrooge understand his nephew’s point.  In the last chapter, he awakes on Christmas day and is able to experience for the first time the joy of giving rather than receiving.

 

Challenge - Stocking Stuffers:  What single concept from the Thinker’s Almanac do you think is the most worthy of presenting as a gift to someone who is not familiar with it.  Select one topic from the year, such as the spotlight effect, cognitive dissonance, groupthink, the Ulysses contract, or the marshmallow test.  Write about the concept, assuming that your reader is unfamiliar with it.  Define the term, give concrete examples of what it looks like, and provide a rationale for why it is a concept that should be in everyone’s cognitive toolkit.

Sources:

1-Dunn, Elizabeth, Lara Aknin, and Michael Norton. “Spending Money on Others Promotes Happiness,” www.sciencemag.org March 21, 2008.

2-Dickens, Charles.  A Christmas Carol. Project Gutenberg.

THINKER'S ALMANAC - December 22

Subject:  Cognitive Dissonance - The Seekers

Event: Dorothy Martin’s Prophecy, 1954

 

We are all capable of believing things which we know to be untrue, and then, when we are finally proved wrong, impudently twisting the facts so as to show that we were right. -George Orwell

In 1954, psychologist Leon Festinger saw an intriguing headline in the newspaper:  “Prophecy From Planet Clarion Call to City:  Flee That Flood.”  The article explained the strange beliefs of a Chicago cult called the Seekers, led by housewife Dorothy Martin, who claimed to be receiving communications from the planet Clarion.  Based on these communications, Martin revealed that on December 21, 1954, the world would end.  Prior to the event, however, Martin also explained that aliens would come via flying saucers to collect her faithful followers and take them to safety on Clarion.

Assuming that Martin’s proclamations were incorrect, Festinger arranged for some of his students to infiltrate the Seekers in order to observe them up close.  Festinger was especially interested in how the group would react on this day, December 22, when they learned that the flying saucers did not arrive as scheduled and that the world did not end.

As Festinger expected, the morning of December 22 dawned without the arrival of any alien visitors.  Early that morning at 4:45 AM Martin called the Seekers together to deliver her latest message from Clarion.

Martin’s message totally reframed the Seekers’ situation, turning it from tragedy to triumph.  She proclaimed that because her people had shown how much faith, the earth had been spared:

 “…by his word have ye been saved -- for from the mouth of death have ye been delivered and at no time has there been such a force loosed upon the Earth.  Not since the beginning of time upon this Earth has there been such  force of Good and light as now floods this room.”

Festinger documented the story of the Seekers in his 1956 book When Prophecy Fails, and he called the phenomenon of clashing beliefs experienced by the Seekers cognitive dissonance.  And as he further explained, cognitive dissonance is a type of thinking all humans experience:  facing incompatible beliefs, we rationalize a situation or justify a failure. Who hasn’t, for example, gone on a diet one day and then gone on a junk food binge the next.  We might be disappointed with ourselves, but we are also capable of buoying our self-esteem by rationalizing our behavior by explaining it away as a minor indiscretion.

To establish the reality of cognitive dissonance under experimental conditions, Festinger set up a study that he called “The Boring Task.”  It began by giving subjects an hour-long task:  simply turning pegs monotonously on a wooden board.  Once that task was completed, he offered half the subjects one dollar to tell the next person waiting to complete the task that it was fun and interesting.  The other half of the subjects were offered twenty dollars to tell the next person in line that the task was fun and interesting.  Finally, all participants were interviewed by researchers and asked what they really thought about the task.  The results showed that subjects who had been paid one dollar reported that the task was enjoyable, while subjects who were paid twenty dollars reported that the task was terribly dull.

Festinger interpreted the results as consistent with how ordinary people adjust their beliefs when faced with cognitive dissonance.  The people who were given just one dollar to lie experienced an uncomfortable clash of belief between their true feelings about the task being boring and the fact that they had told someone else it was fun.  This clash of beliefs was resolved by simply altering their beliefs and reporting that the task was actually fun.  In contrast, the people who were given twenty dollars felt no need to alter their beliefs because they had been fairly compensated to lie and thus felt no need to justify their actions (1).

Challenge - Franklin and the Fish:  In his autobiography, Benjamin Franklin recounts the following incident.  Read it carefully, and explain how specifically Franklin experienced cognitive dissonance:

I believe I have omitted mentioning that , in my first voyage from Boston, being becalmed off Block Island, our people set about catching cod, and hauled up a great many. Hitherto I had stuck to my resolution of not eating animal food, and on this occasion I considered, with my master Tryon, the taking every fish as a kind of unprovoked murder, since none of them had or ever could do us any injury that might justify the slaughter. All this seemed very reasonable. But I had formerly been a great lover of fish, and when this came hot out of the frying-pan, it smelt admirably well. I balanced some time between principle and inclination, till I recollected that, when the fish were opened, I saw smaller fish taken out of their stomachs. Then thought I, "If you eat one another, I don't see why we mayn't eat you." So I dined upon cod very heartily, and continued to eat with other people, returning only now and then occasionally to a vegetable diet. So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable creature, since it enables one to find or make a reason for everything one has a mind to do.

 

Sources:  

1-Grimes, David Rober.  Good Thinking.  New York:  The Experiment, 2019.

2-The Electric Ben Franklin.  The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin (1793).

THINKER'S ALMANAC - December 21

Subject: Creative Thinking - Functional Fixedness

Event:  The story “Angels on the Head of a Pin” appears in The Saturday Review, 1968

Children must be taught how to think, not what to think. -Margaret Mead

On this day in 1968, Alexander Calandra published a story in The Saturday Review magazine entitled “Angels on the Head of a Pin.”

In the story, Calandra recounts his interaction with a physics student who was referred to him by another instructor who requested that Calandra referee the student’s unconventional answer to a test question.

The question on the exam was “Show how it is possible to determine the height of a tall building with the aid of a barometer.”  

The student responded to the question as follows:  “Take a barometer to the top of the building, attach a long rope to it, lower the barometer to the street and then bring it up, measuring the length of the rope.  The length of the rope is the height of the building.”

Although the student’s answer was correct, it clearly did not reflect the instructor’s expectation that a student answers the question in a way that reveals a competence in physics.  A correct answer would involve using the barometer to measure the difference between the pressure at the top of the building and the bottom.

Offering the student a second chance to answer the question, Calandra gave the student six minutes.  This time the student-generated the following answer: 

"Take the barometer to the top of the building and lean over the edge of the roof. Drop that barometer, timing its fall with a stopwatch. Then using the formula S = ½ a t2, one could easily calculate the height of the building.”

Intrigued by the student’s thinking, Calandra asked him what other solutions he had to the problem.  The student then proceeds to give four more possible methods.  One, involving a comparison of the shadows cast by the barometer and the building; two, using the barometer as a ruler and marking off the length of the barometer on the wall while climbing the stairs; three, using the barometer on the end of a string to make a pendulum; and four, knocking on the janitor’s door and asking him the following: "I have a fine barometer which will be yours if you tell me the height of this building.”

The truly fascinating thing about Calandra’s parable is that it is the student who is being tested who becomes the teacher, supplying Calandra and the reader with a powerful lesson in flexible thinking.  Too often students are taught one, supposedly acceptable way to solve a problem, rather than being encouraged to use their creativity to explore multiple correct possibilities.  

The student was courageously resisting functional fixedness, the type of thinking that limits solutions to conventional, acceptable answers and discourages new ideas and innovative thinking.  

For example, try the following brain teaser:

What is the capital of Antarctica?

If you Google the question, searching for a city, you’ll discover that Antarctica has no cities, let alone a capital city.  However, if you look at the question with a bit more of a flexible mindset, you might realize that the word “capital” can also refer to letters; therefore, the answer is capital A.

Challenge - Defenestrate The Box:  As the student illustrated in the story, functional fixedness can hinder creative thinking.  Do a bit of research on creative problem solving, and write a public service announcement that encourages people to think outside of the box.  What are important characteristics and habits of creative thinking, and how can people apply these habits to think more creatively?

 

Sources:

1-Calandra, Alexander. “Angels on a Pin.” Saturday Review 21 Dec. 1968.

THINKER'S ALMANAC - December 20

Subject: Thinking - “Aliefs” and Beliefs

Event:  Birthday of philosopher Tamar Szabo Gendler, 1965 

Today is the birthday of philosopher Tamar Szabo Gendler, who is the Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Yale.

With the coining of one simple word, Gendler has provided insight into human psychology.  We have all heard of “beliefs,” but how many of us know about “aliefs”?

According to Gendler, aliefs are our automatic, instinctive, attitudes towards our world.  Unlike our beliefs, which are conscious and rational, aliefs revolve around words beginning with the letter A: affective, associative, automatic, and irrational (1).

 

To illustrate the difference between aliefs and beliefs, and to show how they interact, imagine you are riding up to the top of a skyscraper in a glass elevator that runs on the outside of the building.  The elevator has been in operation for years, is maintained frequently, and is safe.  Nevertheless, you have a fear of heights, so as the elevator rises and you look down on the city below, you become fearful.  This instinctive fear represents an alief because it is not rational and springs from instinctive emotions.  Internally you are also experiencing belief since the rational side of you knows that you are safe and that there is no danger of falling.

Aliefs explain why we get scared at horror movies:  even though the rational part of us knows that images on a screen cannot hurt us, our aliefs still trigger our brains to feel fear.

Psychologist Paul Rozin has completed research that gives interesting insights into aliefs.  In one study, he offered subjects a delicious sample of pure chocolate; there was one hitch, however: the chocolate was molded into a dog poop shape.  Despite the fact that each subject knew that they were being offered pure chocolate, 40 percent refused the offer. Rozin got similar results when he asked subjects to drink apple juice out of a sparkling new bedpan (2).

 

The interaction of alief and beliefs also help us to understand the nature of prejudice and bias.  While we may believe that we harbor no racial prejudice against any group, it is possible that we hold aliefs that reflect implicit racial bias.  Similarly, we may claim to be progressive when it comes to eschewing stereotypes about gender roles; nevertheless, we should realize that our aliefs might reflect stereotypes about the acceptable roles of men versus women within the home or in the workplace.

Challenge - Simple as A and B: Write a public service announcement that explains the difference between aliefs and beliefs. Also, explain how each of us experiences both of these types of thinking on a regular basis.

 

Sources:

1-Santos, Laurie. “CRITICAL THINKING - Cognitive Biases: Alief.” YouTube 15 Sept. 2015.

2-Tsouderos, Trine. “That's disgusting! But we love it.” Chicago Tribune 27 Oct. 2005.

THINKER'S ALMANAC - December 19

Subject:  Proverbs - Poor Richard’s Almanac

Event: Benjamin Franklin publishes an almanac, 1732

Almanacs are cyclical, a reminder that things happen in their time and place, and we can prepare and make plans, but frost might come anyway. Or a coyote might eat our chickens. But there’s next year. And regardless, we can still count the acorns and avoid killing the spiders. -Jess McHugh

On this day in 1732, Poor Richard’s Almanac was first published.  The publisher and writer was Benjamin Franklin, who wrote under the pseudonym Richard Saudners.

Poor Richard’s Almanac was just one of many almanacs published in the United States.  In a country that was primarily agrarian, an almanac was an essential tool for attempting to forecast the weather.  Many homes did not have a single book, not even a Bible, but they did have an almanac.  Typically almanacs had a hole in the top left corner so they could be placed on a hook for easy access (1).

In 1758, Franklin published an essay where he summed up the success of his almanac and explained his purpose in publishing it:

 In 1732 I first published my Almanac under the name of Richard Saunders; it was continued by me about twenty-five years, and commonly called Poor Richard's Almanac. I endeavoured to make it both entertaining and useful, and it accordingly came to be in such demand, that I reaped considerable profit from it, vending annually near ten thousand. And observing that it was generally read, (scarce any neighbourhood in the province being without it,) I considered it as a proper vehicle for conveying instruction among the common people, who bought Scarcely any other books. I therefore filled all the little spaces, that occurred between the remarkable days in the Calendar, with proverbial sentences, chiefly such as inculcated industry and frugality, as the means of procuring wealth, and thereby securing virtue; it being more difficult for a man in want to act always honestly, as (to use here one of those proverbs) It is hard for an empty sack to stand upright (2)

While full of practical tips and advice, it’s the philosophical content of Poor Richard’s Almanac that has truly stood the test of time. Franklin’s proverbs are models of concise, clear, and cogent wisdom:

 

Little strokes fell great oaks.

A penny saved is a penny earned.

Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.

People who are wrapped up in themselves make small packages.

Well done is better than well said.

If a man could have half his wishes, he would double his troubles.

Love your enemies, for they tell you your faults.

Laziness travels so slowly that Poverty soon overtakes him. (3)

Challenge - Wise Words: What is your favorite proverb?  Why do you like it?  What timeless wisdom does it present to its readers?

 

Sources:

1-McHugh, Jess. “The Quiet Mysticism of Almanacs.” LA Review of Books, 11 July 2021.

2-Franklin, Benjamin. “The Way to Wealth” (1758).

3-Proverbs and Aphorisms from Benjamin Franklin's Poor Richard's Almanac. Poorrichard.net.

THINKER'S ALMANAC - December 18

Subject: Imagination - The Narrative Fallacy

Event:  Birthday of Saki, 1870

The narrative fallacy addresses our limited ability to look at sequences of facts without weaving an explanation into them, or, equivalently, forcing a logical link, an arrow of relationship upon them. -Nassim Nicholas Taleb

Today is the birthday of Scottish writer Hector Hugh Munro (1870-1916), better known by the pen name Saki.  Munro was born in British Burma, where his father was an Inspector General for the Indian Imperial Police. Munro later served in the Burma police force himself, but he was forced to resign after he contracted malaria.  Near the end of his life, Munro joined the British Army and served in World War I.  He was killed in 1916, shot by a German sniper in France during the Battle of the Ancre

Munro’s writing career began as a journalist in England, but he is best known for his carefully crafted short stories.  The stories often satirized social conventions and frequently featured surprise endings.  Saki’s stories are often compared to those of American writer O’Henry (1862-1910), whose stories also feature endings with a surprising twist (1).

One particularly brilliant story by Saki is called “The Open Window.”  The story features a character named Frampton Nuttel, who is visiting the country in hopes of finding relief for his nervous condition.  Nuttel, with letters of introduction from his sister in hand, visits the home of Mrs. Sappleton.  While waiting for Mrs. Sappleton to come down, Nuttel talks with Sappleton’s niece, a precocious fifteen-year-old named Vera.  In the room where the two characters are sitting, a French door is kept open, despite the fact that it’s October.  Vera explains to Nuttel that the door is left open because Mrs. Sappleton is under the delusion that her husband and her brothers will return from hunting, despite the fact that the three men died three years ago, sinking into “a treacherous piece of bog.”

When Mrs. Sappleton arrives in the room and begins talking about the imminent return of her husband and brothers, Nuttel listens politely, but based on Vera’s explanation, he perceives his hostess to be deranged.

When Mrs. Sappleton announces the return of the hunters, Nuttel turns and sees three men approaching the French doors, accompanied by their hunting dog.  Thinking he is seeing ghosts, Nuttel leaps up, fleeing the house in horror.   At this point in the story, the reader realizes that Vera made up the story of the hunting tragedy simply to entertain herself.  Next, instead of explaining the trick she played on Nuttel to her aunt, she spins another tale on the spot to explain Nuttel’s odd behavior, saying that Nuttel was spooked by the dog:

He was once hunted into a cemetery somewhere on the banks of the Ganges by a pack of pariah dogs, and had to spend the night in a newly dug grave with the creatures snarling and grinning and foaming just above him.  

The story’s final line sums up Vera’s propensity for impromptu fiction:  “Romance at short notice was her specialty” (2).

The meaning of the word “romance” in the context in which Saki uses it does not mean romantic love.  Instead, in this context, romance relates to the long tradition of Medieval romances — imaginative and extravagant stories of the adventures of heroic characters.  Therefore, if he were writing today, Saki probably would have written:  “Imagination at short notice was her specialty.”  

The reality is that “Romance at short notice” is the specialty of most people.  However, unlike Vera, we’re not always consciously aware of what we’re doing.  We find it very difficult to look at facts without building a narrative to explain them. Psychologists call this the narrative fallacy; in essence, instead of having a Vera to make up stories for us, we make up our own, and then we believe them.  Very seldom do people say to themselves or others, “What might be some alternative explanations (narratives) that would explain this?”  For example, because Mr. Nuttel never questioned Vera’s narrative, she was able to manipulate him, making him believe that he really was seeing ghosts.

In the classic film Twelve Angry Men, a jury spends a hot day locked in a room trying to come up with a verdict in a murder case.  Based on the narratives provided by two witnesses, eleven of the jury members vote for a guilty verdict.  For them, the testimony (narrative) of what happened on the night of the murder becomes fact.  The twelfth juror, however, has the courage to challenge the narrative.  He doesn’t say that the accused is not guilty; instead, he challenges the other jurors to entertain alternative explanations (narratives).  By doing this, they begin to see other possible interpretations of what happened.  As a result, they begin to doubt the original narratives.  Instead of jumping to a hasty conclusion based on a single narrative, they are able to envision other possible narratives. By thinking rationally about these narratives, they arrive at reasonable doubt and -- spoiler alert -- submit a unanimous non-guilty verdict.

Challenge:  Short Notice, Short Fiction: What is something odd that a character might wear or carry, and why would the character wear or carry it?  Practice using your imagination at short notice.  Pick a number at random, from 1 to 7.  Then write the opening of a short story in which you, the narrator, give the backstory of why the character wears or carries the odd item.  Give the character a name, and also establish the setting of your story.

A character who wears a Santa hat in May

A character who wears a toga in January

A character who wears earmuffs in July

A character who always carries a rubber chicken

A character who always carries a cheese grater

A character who carries a guitar with no strings

A character who carries an open umbrella when there is no chance or sign of rain

 

Sources:

1-Encyclopedia Britannica. Saki. 

2-Saki (1870-1916). The Open Window. Public Domain. East of the Web.com.