7 research outputs found
Applying math onto mechanisms: mechanistic knowledge is associated with the use of formal mathematical strategies
What counts as a flexible representational choice? An evaluation of studentsâ representational choices to solve linear function problems
A cross-national comparison of reform curricula in Korea and the US in terms of cognitive complexity: the case of fraction addition and subtraction
Rationality, Perception and the All-Seeing Eye
Seeingâperception and visionâis implicitly the fundamental building block of the literature on rationality and cognition. Herbert Simon and Daniel Kahnemanâs arguments against the omniscience of economic agentsâand the concept of bounded rationalityâdepend critically on a particular view of the nature of perception and vision. We propose that this framework of rationality merely replaces economic omniscience with perceptual omniscience. We show how the cognitive and social sciences feature a pervasive but problematic meta-assumption that is characterized by an âall-seeing eye.â We raise concerns about this assumption and discuss different ways in which the all-seeing eye manifests itself in existing research on (bounded) rationality. We first consider the centrality of vision and perception in Simonâs pioneering work. We then point to Kahnemanâs workâparticularly his article âMaps of Bounded Rationalityââto illustrate the pervasiveness of an all-seeing view of perception, as manifested in the extensive use of visual examples and illusions. Similar assumptions about perception can be found across a large literature in the cognitive sciences. The central problem is the present emphasis on inverse opticsâthe objective nature of objects and environments: e.g., size, contrast, color. This framework ignores the nature of the organism and perceiver. We argue instead that reality is constructed and expressed, and we discuss the species-specificity of perception, as well as perception as a user interface. We draw on vision science as well as the arts to develop an alternative understanding of rationality in the cognitive and social sciences. We conclude with a discussion of the implications of our arguments for the rationality and decision making literature in cognitive psychology and behavioral economics, along with suggesting some ways forward