35 scientific concepts that will help you better understand the world

Among the most influential scientists had conducted a survey to determine which scientific concepts they consider most important for the modern era. We invite you to familiarize yourself with this list.

1. Cognitive smirenieDesyatiletiya cognitive studies have shown that our minds have a limit, and far from perfect, but knowing this limit, we can learn to talk more effectively. The most severe consequence of this phenomenon can be considered the fact that people tend to remember things that are consistent with their convictions regardless of the evidence.

2. Cognitive zagruzkaNash brain can hold a limited amount of information at a time when too much information, there comes the "information overload", and then we are easily distracted and do not remember what was studied. Working memory - this is what scientists call short-term memory, that it holds the content of our consciousness at any given moment, and it is this area handles all impressions and thoughts, we receive throughout the day.

3. Limitation udovletvoreniyaKogda we have too many options to choose from, then, no matter how attractive and useful as they are, it can act on us overwhelmingly that we can not find the best solution and to choose something one. Therefore, restrictions are beneficial - for a finite number of options we choose from the offered much faster. In fact, many creative solutions come from constraints satisfaction: for example, Einstein was able to make a breakthrough in physics, when he realized that the time does not have to run at a constant speed.

4. Conjugate superorganizmySovmestnye efforts of biologists and sociologists led to the formation of "society unmasked altruism", in other words, any altruistic act is done in their own interests. However, a new concept - "conjugate superorganisms" - says that we live life in a number of different hierarchies: when you reach higher levels of development, you are able to put the success of the group above their own personal goals - this principle of leadership, for example, military and fire.

5. Principle KopernikaV based on the principle of "Copernicus" is the idea of ​​our non-unique: the universe is much more than we realize, and we have assigned it a rather minor role. The paradox of the Copernican principle is that only properly appreciate our place in it, even if it slightly, we can understand the true motives of the particular circumstances, and when we do some things, they will be not quite so small.

6. Cultural attraktorNas attracted to the idea or the concept that we can easily understand and learn: for example, the cultural attractor are round numbers, because they are easy to remember and use as symbols for quantities. However, if we attract this or that concept, it does not mean that it is best for all situations.

7. Cumulative pogreshnostKogda information is transmitted through several channels, some of its elements can be skewed by prejudice, or simple human error - the effect of the spread of misinformation called cumulative error. Given that we live in an age where information can fly around the world in a nanosecond, this principle has become very important for us, and even to some extent dangerous.

8. TsiklyTsikly explain everything, especially at the basic level of evolution and biology, but it is worth paying attention to what the cycles are at the moment. All the "magic" of the cognitive perception depends, like life itself, from the cycles within cycles of recurrent reflexive information and transformation processes - from biochemical processes inside the neuron to the circadian cycle of sleep-wake, waves of brain activity and the fading, which we can see with the help of electroencephalographs.

9. Deep vremyaSuschestvuet belief that ahead of us will have more time than we have already managed to spend - it forms a more expansive view of the world and the potential of the universe. For example, our sun had existed less than half the time he is released: it formed 4, 5 billion years ago, but will shine more 6 billion years before he runs out of fuel.

10. Double-blind metodEtu concept lies in the fact that the subjects were not devoted to the important details of the ongoing investigation. Researchers use it as a tool to prevent the influence of the unconscious on the outcome of the experiment. Understanding the causes of the need for double-blind experiments can help people understand the inherent subjective everyday prejudice, to protect themselves from the habit of generalization and understand the need for critical thinking.

11. Theory effektivnostiTeoriya efficiency - one of the most important concepts in science, her idea is that you can really measure something and decide, taking into account exactly at your disposal tools measuring how your theory corresponds to the results obtained.

12. Group rasshirenieChem more developing technologies, especially related to each other we are, and there are more and more close overlap between the various groups and sections of the population - for example, is more marriages. Such effects are potentially useful for improving cognitive skills from two different perspectives: the scientists call them "the expansion of groups with common interests" and "the effect of hybrid vigor».

13. External effektyVse we somehow influence each other, particularly in the world of relationships. External effects - this unintended positive and negative side effects of these interactions. In today's world, the external effects are becoming increasingly important as the action happened in any place, can potentially affect other steps on the opposite side of the world.

14. Defeats contribute uspehuNeudachi - this is not something that should be avoided, but rather something that must be cultivated. We are accustomed to thinking of failure as a sign of weakness and inability to try again, and, nevertheless, the heyday of the West is associated with tolerance to failure: many immigrants brought up in the traditions of a culture where mistakes are not tolerated succeed, getting in an environment where defeat is acceptable, therefore, contribute to the success of defeat.

15. Fear neizvestnostyuNasha attachment to friends and acquaintances often prevents us to take risks and to take steps leading to this breakthrough: we often fail to appreciate the real balance of risks and benefits, and our irrational fears hinder progress. If the society will learn to understand how to assess the risks associated with the technology, and to take short-term risks for the sake of greater benefit in the long term, we can expect progress in all areas of science - especially biomedical technologies.

16. Patterns fixed deystviySvoё behavior, we often tend to explain instincts, but what we take to be an instinct behavior can be learned over time - fixed action pattern. This effect has many applications, including our ability as rational beings change of behavior that we believe instinctively realizing our own patterns of fixed actions and patterns of those people with whom we interact, we, as human beings with abilities to cognitive processes can rethink our patterns of behavior.

17. Focus on illyuziiMy often think that certain circumstances could dramatically change our lives, but in fact, factors such as income and health, do not indicate the general happiness of the individual. This disparity in the distribution of attention between the fictional and the real life circumstances of life is the reason for the concentration on an illusion.

18. Hidden sloiSkrytye layers - a layer of understanding that exist between external reality and our own perception of the world. Layers systems become more interconnected with the development of our habits: for example, it is difficult to learn how to ride a bike, but with practice this skill becomes an integral part of our. The general concept of the hidden layers deep covers aspects of how the mind works - whether a person, animal or alien organism in the past, present or future.

19. HolizmV colloquial notion of holism means that the whole is greater than its individual parts. The most striking example is carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, sulfur, phosphorus, iron and some other elements mixed in the right proportions, lifestyle. There is a kind of an amazing interaction between the parts, just look at the DNA and other complex systems such as cities, functioning only when each element carries out its work.

20. Conclusion better obyasneniyaEsli happening any event, there are many things that could serve his cause, but the truth is often the most rational explanation for what happened. Many of our most fierce scientific debate - for example, string theory, and the foundations of quantum mechanics - are to what competing criteria should prevail.

21. Machine kaleidoscopic otkrytiySamye significant insight or invention are, as a rule, the result of the work of several people. In most cases no one does anything alone: ​​one based on someone's shoulders. Looking back, we often find that if a scientist does not make a specific opening, although working on it, then the other individual has made a discovery in the next few months or years. There is reason to believe that the great discoveries are part of a kaleidoscope of discoveries and makes a lot of people at once.

22. Game imёnMy give names to everything that surrounds us, to better understand the world, but we sometimes simplify or distort the true nature of the body or process: this name keeps us from further, deeper questions about the nature of something. It is also important to not think too many words associated with different concepts, because it can lead to confusion: for example, the word "theory" in science means a strong viable idea, and colloquially - the general assumption.

23. Metainduktsiya pessimizmaMnozhestvo scientific theories of past eras were wrong, so we have to assume that the majority of current theories, too, will eventually prove to be incorrect. Taking the assumption that many of our theories of "actual time and probably erroneous," we can hear and accept other people's ideas.

24. Games with positive summoyV zero-sum games, there are clear winners and losers, but in a positive-sum games, everyone wins. Rational, acting in their own interests the player in these games can benefit another player taking the same solutions that benefit himself.

25. Strength desyatiBolshaya of the world operates on the strength of ten - understanding of the ranking, for example, in the case of Richter scale for measuring earthquakes, allows us to more fully realize the scale of the event. Our space-time trajectory - a tiny part of the universe, but we can at least apply to it and assess the strength of ten prospects.

26. Predictive kodirovanieNashi expectations and that they were justified or not strongly affect our perception of the world and, ultimately, our quality of life. Predictive coding takes into account how the brain uses mechanisms for predicting and waiting for judgment of input signals and use them to perception, thought and action.

27. HaotichnostHaotichnost - fundamental limit our intuition, saying that there are processes that we can not fully predict. This concept is difficult to perceive us, despite the fact that it is an integral part of our world. Some random events, such as the chaotic cluster of atoms is so absolute that we can predict the outcome of such "accidents" with complete certainty.

28. Rational bessoznatelnoeFreyd created the idea of ​​the irrational subconscious, but many modern scholars have challenged this concept: instead, they argue that the conscious and the unconscious are closely related, and insist that our brain works on both levels. Our conscious understanding of probability, for example, is far from perfect, but our unconscious constantly makes subtle evaluation of the various probabilities.

29. uklonIdeya selfish that we perceive ourselves better than we really are. We tend to attribute the merits themselves, and blame others for the failures, for example, nine out of ten drivers say that their level of driving above the average, while students in the polls more than 90% of respondents rate themselves above their own colleagues.

30. The syndrome is shifted osnovaniyaEtot syndrome is the belief that everything we perceive is the norm, and we do not take into account past or potential future events. The syndrome is named after the scientist Daniel Pauly (Daniel Pauly), expressed the view that "each generation takes as a basis the size of stocks and the composition of society, which took place at the beginning of their life path, and use them to evaluate changes throughout life." When the next generation begins its journey, stocks have dropped, but a new state becomes their new base.

31. Skeptical empirizmLuchshim example for the skeptical empiricism is elaborate and proven research on the effectiveness compares favorably with conventional empiricism, which is the result of a simple observation of the world around us. Simply put, it is important for us to be skeptical to the world, not just take what we consider "truth».

32. Structured prozorlivostMy too overestimate the importance of luck to make a breakthrough, but successful people regularly put themselves in those positions - continuing education, tireless work, the search for truth - where luck is their own. Each of us should spend a few hours a week to search for and study of materials that do not have anything to do with our daily work in the field, not having our work with nothing to do.

33. Sub-module I razumVera in that we have only one "I" is false: actually we have several personalities, or "at-me". Each of us has a set of functions "under-I" - one used when communicating with friends, and the other is intended for self-defense, and the third is gaining status as fourth need to find a partner, and so on.

34. UmveltUmvelt - is the idea that we blindly accept the reality around us. It would be helpful to include the concept of "Umwelt" in the lexicon of the public - it is a good description of the idea of ​​the limits of knowledge, inaccessibility of information and contingencies.

35. riskMy not calculated, people assess the probability of bad: our irrational fears and inclinations always have a negative impact on our estimates. We attach too much importance to the possibility of rare major events sometimes occur to us (such as winning the lottery or air crashes), but do not pay more attention to small events. Making the right decisions requires mental effort, but if we pereuserdstvuem, we run the risk of counterproductive way to: increase the stress and wasted time. So it is better to maintain a balance and play, taking a healthy risk.

via factroom.ru