THINKER'S ALMANAC - December 4

How did a 1960s folk-rock group end up employing King Solomon as their lyricist?

Subject:  Wisdom/Lateral Thinking - Solomon’s Judgment

Event:   The Byrds song “Turn, Turn, Turn” hits number one, 1965

On this day in 1965, a song with lyrics written by an ancient king of Israel became a number-one hit.  The song was “Turn, Turn, Turn,” by the folk-rock group the Byrds. 

The song’s music was written by the American folk singer Pete Seeger in 1961.  Seeger said that he had just gotten a letter from his music publisher, saying that he was having trouble selling Seeger’s protest songs.  Frustrated and angry, Seeger took out a Bible, turned to some verses in the third chapter of the Book of Ecclesiastes, and improvised a melody; within fifteen minutes he had a demo of the song that he sent off to his publisher.  The publisher loved the song and quickly sold it to the folk group the Limelighters, who recorded a version featuring the banjo.  The song did not become a hit, however, until the Byrds recorded their own arrangement, featuring their unique folk-rock style.

Of course, the writer of the song’s lyrics was not alive to see the song’s success, nor did he earn any royalties.  The writer was, however, royal.  He was King Solomon, the king of Israel, who built the First Temple in Jerusalem in the ninth century B.C. Solomon was known in his life for his massive wealth, but also for his prodigious wisdom.

The classic tale used to illustrate Solomon’s perspicacious judgment is found in Old Testament, I Kings 3:16-28. The wisdom shown by Solomon might also be called Lateral Thinking, a problem-solving approach that uses counterintuitive thinking, imagination, and creativity to arrive at out-of-the-box solutions:

Two women came before King Solomon, desiring his judgment on a vital personal matter.  The two women lived in the same house and each gave birth to a baby boy within days of each other.  The first woman explained to Solomon that the second woman’s baby had died in the night, three nights after it was born.  The first woman further claimed that the second woman crept into her room at night and exchanged her dead child for her living baby. Upon hearing the first woman’s story, the second woman countered, saying that the living child was hers, that the first woman was making up the story, and that it was actually her baby who died.

After hearing the conflicting testimonies of the two women, Solomon pondered how to tell which one of the women was lying and how to determine the child’s true maternity.

Next, Solomon issued an order to his courtiers:  “Bring me a sword.  Divide the child in two, and give half to the one, and half to the other.”

                                                        Image by CCXpistiavos from Pixabay 

Upon hearing this, the first woman begged the king not to kill the child and to instead give the baby to the second woman. The second woman approved of Solomon’s solution, saying, “Let it be neither mine nor thine, but divide it.”

King Solomon now issued his final judgment, awarding custody to the first woman, saying, “Give her the living child, and in no wise slay it: she is the mother thereof.” 

Solomon’s judgment in this case clearly showed his wisdom and insight.  After hearing the pleas of the first woman to spare the child’s life, he knew she must be the true mother.  This was then confirmed by the second woman’s cold acceptance of the plan to slice the baby in two.  Obviously this case was decided long before DNA testing, but as Solomon revealed, his psychological insight was as good as, and much quicker than, any DNA test.

 

Recall, Retrieve, Recite, Ruminate, Reflect, Reason:  How did Solomon show his wisdom in the case of the two women and the baby?

Challenge - Counterintuitive Solutions:  Solomon’s decision to slice the baby in two was clearly a counterintuitive approach to solving the problem; nevertheless, in hindsight, we can see its wisdom.  Common sense is important, but it’s also important to see the sense in thinking that does not necessarily fit the mold.  What is another example of a situation in which counterintuitive thinking made sense?  Do some research and find a case that illustrates how pure logical thinking is not always the place to begin when problem solving. 

Also on This Day:

-December 4, 1656:  On this date in 1656, French philosopher and mathematician Blaise Pascal wrote a letter in which he expressed one of the central paradoxes of writing:  it’s faster and easier to write a long composition than to write a short one.  Pascal expressed the paradox as an apology to his reader:  “The present letter is a very long one, simply because I had no leisure to make it shorter” (2). According to Ralph Keyes in his book The Quote Verifier, Pascal’s quotation has been falsely attributed to Thomas Jefferson, Samuel Johnson, Henry Thoreau, Abraham Lincoln, Mark Twain, and Voltaire (3).  The popularity of Pascal’s sentiment reveals both how much writers value brevity and how difficult it can be to obtain.  Being clear, concise, and cogent is hard work.

Sources:

1. 1-”Turn, Turn, Turn (To Everything There is a Season”) Songfacts.com

2-http://www.ccel.org/ccel/pascal/provincial.xviii.html

3-Keyes, Ralph. The Quote Verifier, 120

THINKER'S ALMANAC - December 4

Subject:  Wisdom - Solomon’s Judgment

Event:   The Byrds song “Turn, Turn, Turn” hits number one, 1965

On this day in 1965, a song with lyrics written by an ancient king of Israel became a number one hit.  The song was “Turn, Turn, Turn,” by the folk-rock group the Byrds. 

The song’s music was written by the American folk singer Pete Seeger in 1961.  Seeger said that he had just gotten a letter from his music publisher, saying that he was having trouble selling Seeger’s protest songs.  Frustrated and angry, Seeger took out a Bible, turned to some verses in the third chapter of the Book of Ecclesiastes, and improvised a melody; within fifteen minutes he had a demo of the song that he sent off to his publisher.  The publisher loved the song and quickly sold it to the folk group the Limelighters, who recorded a version featuring the banjo.  The song did not become a hit, however, until the Byrds recorded their own arrangement, featuring their unique folk-rock style.

Of course, the writer of the song’s lyrics was not alive to see the song’s success, nor did he earn any royalties.  The writer was, however, royal.  He was King Solomon, the king of Israel, who built the First Temple in Jerusalem in the ninth century B.C. Solomon was known in his life for his massive wealth, but also for his prodigious wisdom.

The classic tale used to illustrate Solomon’s perspicacious judgment is found in Old Testament, I Kings 3:16-28:

Two women came before King Solomon, desiring his judgment on a vital personal matter.  The two women lived in the same house and each gave birth to a baby boy within days of each other.  The first woman explained to Solomon that the second woman’s baby had died in the night, three nights after it was born.  The first woman further claimed that the second woman crept into her room at night and exchanged her dead child for her living baby. Upon hearing the first woman’s story, the second woman countered, saying that the living child was hers, that the first woman was making up the story, and that it was actually her baby who died.

After hearing the conflicting testimonies of the two women, Solomon pondered how to tell which one of the women was lying and how to determine the child’s true maternity.

Next, Solomon issued an order to his courtiers:  “Bring me a sword.  Divide the child in two, and give half to the one, and half to the other.”

Upon hearing this, the first woman begged the king not to kill the child and to instead give the baby to the second woman. The second woman approved of Solomon’s solution, saying, “Let it be neither mine nor thine, but divide it.”

King Solomon now issued his final judgment, awarding custody to the first woman, saying, “Give her the living child, and in no wise slay it: she is the mother thereof.” 

Solomon’s judgment in this case clearly showed his wisdom and insight.  After hearing the pleas of the first woman to spare the child’s life, he knew she must be the true mother.  This was then confirmed by the second woman’s cold acceptance of the plan to slice the baby in two.  Obviously, this case was decided long before DNA testing, but as Solomon revealed, his psychological insight was as good as, and much quicker than, any DNA test.

Challenge - Counterintuitive Solutions:  Solomon’s decision to slice the baby in two was clearly a counterintuitive approach to solving the problem; nevertheless, in hindsight, we can see its wisdom.  Common sense is important, but it’s also important to see the sense in thinking that does not necessarily fit the mold.  What is another example of a situation in which counterintuitive thinking made sense?  Do some research and find a case that illustrates how pure logical thinking is not always the place to begin when problem-solving. 

Sources:

(1). 1-”Turn, Turn, Turn (To Everything There is a Season”) Songfacts.com

THINKER'S ALMANAC - September 14

How did one man’s simple experiment show the world how easy it is to get people to conform?

Subject:  Social Proof - Asch’s Lines

Event: Solomon Asch born, 1907

One should respect public opinion insofar as is necessary to avoid starvation and keep out of prison, but anything that goes beyond this is voluntary submission to an unnecessary tyranny. -Bertrand Russell

Which one of the three lines marked A, B, and C matches the length of the line in the box below?

-----------------

A ------------ B ---------------------- C -----------------

Hopefully you picked C, but do you think you could be influenced to pick B?

Here are a few more questions.  They are a little more broad, but they all relate to how individuals relate to groups.

Is it true that individuals in general feel that their behavior is correct when they are acting the same as other people?  Can an individual’s perception of the world be altered by social pressure?  Will a person go so far as to do regrettable or immoral things to avoid being shunned by the group?  How much do we truly desire what we want to do versus how much we desire to do what other people do?

Image by Willfried Wende from Pixabay

These are the kinds of questions that psychologist Solomon Asch, who was born on this day in 1907, asked.  Asch was born in Warsaw, Poland, and he and his Polish-Jewish family emigrated to the United States in 1920.  Growing up in New York City, he learned English by reading Charles Dickens.  He earned his Ph.D. from Columbia University in 1932. 

Early in his life, Asch began thinking about how human thinking and perception can be influenced by suggestions.  His New York Times obituary recounted one memorable incident from Asch’s childhood:

As a boy of 7, he stayed up late for his first Passover night. He saw his grandmother pour an extra glass of wine and asked whom it was for.

For the prophet Elijah, an uncle told him.

"Will he really take a sip?" the boy asked.

"Oh, yes," the uncle replied. "You just watch when the time comes."

Filled with the sense of suggestion and expectation, the boy thought he saw the level of wine in the cup drop just a bit.

As a researcher, Asch performed his most famous experiment in 1951.  He had five people take the A, B, C line test above.  He told them it was a test of their vision, but in reality, it was a conformity test.  Of the five people in the room, only one was a true subject; the other four were confederates of Asch.  He told each of these confederates to intentionally pick the wrong answer and to say it out loud.  Asch always asked the true subject for his answer last. In the study, nearly 75% of the true subjects went along with the group, selecting the obviously wrong answer.  Asch also tested a control group; in this group each member was instructed to individually record their answers in writing.  Members of the control group identified the correct answer 99% of the time.

Asch’s studies confirmed that humans do have a herd instinct.  Today we call this social proof, a term coined in 1984 by Robert Cialdini, a psychology and marketing professor. From an evolutionary perspective, social proof makes perfect sense; after all, our survival as a species hinged on staying with and working as a group. But today, going along with the crowd does not always provide an advantage; in fact, this herd instinct can be used to subconsciously influence our behavior.  

The laugh track that’s added to television shows is there to influence your perception.  The bandwagon, the classic propaganda technique, is a social proof method.  Advertisers know the power of popularity and public opinion.  While it is true that we are all influenced by other people, we must still remember that it is always best to think for ourselves.  Just because a politician is ahead in the polls does not mean that he or she is the best leader.  Likewise, just because a brand of coffee is the most popular brand does not mean that it is the best.  Know the power of social proof to influence human thinking and behavior, and try to be conscious of its subconscious influence on your thinking and behavior.

Recall, Retrieve, Recite, Ruminate, Reflect, Reason:  What is Social Proof, and how can it be either a positive or a negative depending on the context?

Challenge: Echo Or Individual?:  In commenting on the topic of conformity, the philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “ Yield not one inch to all the forces which conspire to make you an echo.”  Do some research on quotations related to the topic of conformity or public opinion.  Find a quotation you like.  Then, write it out and explain how you think it provides insight into the relationship between the individual and society.

September 14, 1814:  On this day during the War of 1812, Francis Scott Key wrote the lyrics to the U.S. national anthem “The Star-Spangled Banner.”  The inspiration for Key’s words was the British fleet’s shelling of Fort McHenry, which guarded the harbor of Baltimore, Maryland.  Key watched the bombardment from an odd perspective. An American Lawyer, Key had boarded a British ship prior to the battle to negotiate the release of another American being held by the British.  Once on the ship, Key was detained until the battle ended the next morning.

September 14, 1959:  The Soviet spacecraft Luna 2 became the first man-made object to reach the moon.  Nearly ten years later, on July 20, 1969, U.S. Apollo astronaut Neil Armstrong became the first person to walk on the surface of the moon.

Sources:

1-Stout, David. “Solomon Asch Is Dead at 88; A Leading Social Psychologist.” The New York Times 29 Feb. 1996.

 

THINKER'S ALMANAC - November 13

How can the popularity of Elvis help us understand the importance of thinking for ourselves?

Subject:   Ad Populum Fallacy 

Event:  Elvis’ album “50,000,000 ELVIS FANS CAN’T BE WRONG released, 1959

Which one of the three lines marked A, B, and C matches the length of the line in the box below?

----------------- A ---------- B ----------------------- C -----------------

The answer to the problem is obviously C.  How then, did psychologist Solomon Asch get subjects in an experiment to select B as the correct answer?  

He did it using the same appeal that advertisers use to catch your attention and to make you feel like you need to have what everybody else has.  Marketers call it the bandwagon technique; psychologists call it social proof or groupthink; logisticians call it the ad populum fallacy.  When they were alone, Asch’s subjects selected the correct answer, C; when other people were in the room, however, and when those people gave the wrong answer, individuals succumbed to peer pressure, conforming to the group rather than standing apart.

On this day in 1959, the second album of Elvis’ gold records was released.  Featured prominently in all caps at the top of the album was the boast “50,000,000 ELVIS FANS CAN’T BE WRONG.”

It’s one of the oldest appeals there is:  “Everybody’s doing it; therefore, it must be right.”  It makes perfect sense that it “feels” right to do the popular thing, to give in to the herd instinct.  After all, a big reason that our ancestors survived long enough to have offspring is, in part, because they stayed with and followed the group.  It’s our default.  If you’re walking down the street and you see one person looking up in the sky, you might not stop and look up; however, what if you were walking down the street and you saw four people looking up?  Would you even think about it, or would you instinctively look up?  

Feeling right and being right, however, are different.  Just because popular opinion favors one side, does not make it right. As the English writer W. Somerset Maugham said, “If fifty million people say something foolish, it is still foolish.” There was a time when popular opinion favored slavery.  Likewise there was a time when the majority believed the earth was flat and that the sun revolved around the earth.  This is why we need science because it is a truth-seeking, reality based system that works against our tribal instinct toward groupthink.

Elvis’ music really was pretty good, but that doesn’t mean you have to be a fan.  Think for yourself, and remain skeptical.

Recall, Retrieve, Recite, Ruminate, Reflect, Reason:  How did the Asch experiment show the true nature of the ad populum fallacy?

Challenge -Thinking For Yourself: Do some research on quotations on the topic of “thinking for yourself” or “independent thinking.”  When you find a quotation that you think shows real insight, write it down, and explain why you think it is insightful.

Sources:

1-Carroll, Robert Todd.  “Ad Populum Fallacy.”  The Skeptic’s Dictionary.  1994.

THINKER'S ALMANAC - November 13

How can the popularity of Elvis help us understand the importance of thinking for ourselves?

Subject:   Ad Populum Fallacy 

Event:  Elvis’ album “50,000,000 ELVIS FANS CAN’T BE WRONG released, 1959

Which one of the three lines marked A, B, and C matches the length of the line in the box below?

----------------- A ---------- B ----------------------- C -----------------

The answer to the problem is obviously C.  How then, did psychologist Solomon Asch get subjects in an experiment to select B as the correct answer?  

He did it using the same appeal that advertisers use to catch your attention and to make you feel like you need to have what everybody else has.  Marketers call it the bandwagon technique; psychologists call it social proof or groupthink; logisticians call it the ad populum fallacy.  When they were alone, Asch’s subjects selected the correct answer, C; when other people were in the room, however, and when those people gave the wrong answer, individuals succumbed to peer pressure, conforming to the group rather than standing apart.

On this day in 1959, the second album of Elvis’ gold records was released.  Featured prominently in all caps at the top of the album was the boast “50,000,000 ELVIS FANS CAN’T BE WRONG.”

                                                                Image by Uwe Conrad from Pixabay 

It’s one of the oldest appeals there is:  “Everybody’s doing it; therefore, it must be right.”  It makes perfect sense that it “feels” right to do the popular thing, to give in to the herd instinct.  After all, a big reason that our ancestors survived long enough to have offspring is, in part, because they stayed with and followed the group.  It’s our default.  If you’re walking down the street and you see one person looking up in the sky, you might not stop and look up; however, what if you were walking down the street and you saw four people looking up?  Would you even think about it, or would you instinctively look up?  

Feeling right and being right, however, are different.  Just because popular opinion favors one side, does not make it right. As the English writer W. Somerset Maugham said, “If fifty million people say something foolish, it is still foolish.” There was a time when popular opinion favored slavery.  Likewise, there was a time when the majority believed the earth was flat and that the sun revolved around the earth.  This is why we need science because it is a truth-seeking, reality-based system that works against our tribal instinct toward groupthink.

Elvis’ music really was pretty good, but that doesn’t mean you have to be a fan.  Think for yourself, and remain skeptical.

Recall, Retrieve, Recite, Ruminate, Reflect, Reason:  How did the Asch experiment show the true nature of the ad populum fallacy?

Challenge -Thinking For Yourself: Do some research on quotations on the topic of “thinking for yourself” or “independent thinking.”  When you find a quotation that you think shows real insight, write it down, and explain why you think it is insightful.

ALSO ON THIS DAY:

November 13, 2012:  On this day, TED.com presentations reached one billion views.  TED (Technology, Entertainment, and Design) was created by Richard Saul Wurman, who hosted the first TED conference in Monterey, California in 1984.  Attendees paid $475 to watch a variety of 18-minute presentations.  In 2009, TED began to depart from its once a year model by granting licenses to third parties for community-level TEDx events.  The TED.com website was launched in 2006, and today there are TED events in more than 130 countries.  While the number of TED talks has increased over the years, the basic template of each talk remains the same as the first talks in 1984.  Each presentation is crafted to be emotional, novel, and memorable.  In his book Talk Like TED, communication coach Carmine Gallo acknowledges that the success of any TED presentation relies on a communication theory that goes back to an era long before TED talks:

 

The Greek philosopher Aristotle is one of the founding fathers of communication theory.  He believed that persuasion occurs when three components are represented:  ethos, logos, and pathos.  Ethos is credibility.  We tend to agree with people whom we respect for their achievements, title, experience, etc.  Logos is the means of persuasion through logic, data and statistics.  Pathos is the act of appealing to emotions.

Sources:

1-Carroll, Robert Todd.  “Ad Populum Fallacy.”  The Skeptic’s Dictionary.  1994.

2-Gallow, Carmine.  Talk Like TED:  The 9 Public-speaking Secrets of the World’s Top Minds.  New York:  St. Martin’s Press, 2014:  47-48.