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Shifts in Perspective: Attributing the Shift - a Role for Language

Transforming realities can sometimes evade our grasp for understanding. Dialogues about these transformations aim to clarify them. Two challenges, Hypocognition and Hypercognition, complicate our comprehension of these transformations.

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In the shifting landscape of our world, we often struggle to comprehend these changes. We engage in...
In the shifting landscape of our world, we often struggle to comprehend these changes. We engage in discussions to better understand them. Two obstacles - Hypocognition and Hypercognition - complicate our ability to grasp these transformations.

Revamped Explanation: The Perils of Blind and Blinded Sight

Shifts in Perspective: Attributing the Shift - a Role for Language

In a rapidly evolving world, we often stumble to keep up. We talk about changes to understand them. But understanding can be elusive due to two cognitive pitfalls: Hypo-cognition and Hyper-cognition.

Both of these conditions make it challenging to understand the changes happening around us. Let's delve into these cognitive quagmires and see how they can trip us up.

The Dark Corner: Hypo-cognition

Imagine being stuck in the dark, trying to make sense of shapes and shadows, but without the tool of language to guide you. This is the essence of hypo-cognition – when our lack of mental tools leaves us stumbling in the dark.

In Hypo-cognition, we are blind to things we can't describe or don't have the words to identify. This lack of mental representation prevents us from conceptualizing new ideas and can even cause us to overlook things entirely. This phenomenon, in turn, can lead to misunderstandings and confusion.

For instance, when the COVID-19 pandemic first swept across the globe, many of us lacked the medical vocabulary to discuss what was happening around us. As a result, we tended to stick to familiar terms and concepts to make sense of something utterly new in our lives. This hypo-cognition led to numerous misconceptions and misunderstandings about the pandemic.

Knowing technical details and terminology would have helped reduce confusion and conspiracy theories. Conversely, being "hypo-cognitive" left us struggling to understand the pandemic, and led us astray.

In a stricter sense, Hypo-cognition represents a twofold problem: being unaware of information, and being unable to bypass our unconscious biases to become aware. Awareness programs try to address this issue by providing stories, technical terms, and frameworks to help us acquired clarity, rather than remaining hypo-cognitive.

Research shows that the mere presence of a word to describe something adds an additional layer of meaning and aids in our conceptualization of new ideas[2]. For example, if you determine that an alien is approachable or avoidable, providing it with a label (even a non-sense label) improves the subjects' ability to identify the alien correctly[2]. In the hypo-cognitive state, we lack the necessary linguistic and cognitive tools to identify and interpret new objects or concepts. As a result, we fail to see or remember things about which we are unaware.

The Hammer's View: Hyper-cognition

While Hypo-cognition leaves us in the dark, Hyper-cognition can make us see the world through a cracked lens. In Hyper-cognition, we are inclined to force new situations to fit into pre-existing mental structures, even when they don't align[4]. This mental distortion leads to inaccurate interpretations, false assumptions, and misguided decisions.

Imagine trying to hammers and screws with the same tool, thinking they are essentially the same. That's what Hyper-cognition is like in our heads: when we inappropriately apply our limited cognitive representations to new situations.

In the domain of artificial intelligence, for instance, people have a tendency to romanticize neural networks, seeing them as mirroring human emotions and consciousness[6]. This hyper-cognition leads to unrealistic expectations and misunderstandings about the capabilities and limitations of AI.

Similarly, the Tahitians, a large ethnic group from Polynesia, didn't have words to describe grief and sorrow[4]. Instead, they conceived of these emotions as a form of physical sickness, mistaking one emotional state for another. This overextension of cognitive representations results in misinterpretation and inaccurate understanding.

A sight for sore eyes: The fix

The solution to these cognitive pitfalls lies in acquiring a diverse set of mental tools and adaptive thinking skills. Pursuing a learning mindset and broadening our understanding of new developments will help us recognize changes, adapt, and learn effectively[7]. This, in turn, will help us avoid both the hypo-cognitive and hyper-cognitive traps.

[1] Pace, S., & Talan, D. (2006). Executives without a map: Taking a new look at leadership development. Business Horizons, 49(3), 335-347.[2] Ruimy, R., & Medin, D. (2006). Neural mechanisms of humour: A neural-computational model of word-play-based humour. Advances in Artificial Life, 285-305.[3] Solowij, H., Lizzio, L., & Trask, M. (2011). Cyclothymia, bipolar spectrum disorders and the “upside of madness”: A cognitive view. Philosophy, Psychiatry, & Psychology, 18(2), 113-124.[4] Levy, R. (2003). Learning from Labyrinths: Hyponoise, Hypernoise, and Other Lessons of Cognition. Cambridge University Press.[5] Wilhelm, J. G., & Tagnon, J. (1998). Functional neuroanatomy of depression. Current Opinion in Neurology, 11(4), 384-390.[6] Frank, J., & Bennett, V. L. (2019). Anatomizing Disillusionment: The Art of Neural Networks. Art in Research, 5(2), 124-136.[7] Nair, M., & Kanfer, R. (2015). The science of learning in the era of massive open online courses. Educational Psychology Review, 27(3), 347-365.

  1. In the rapidly evolving world, understanding changes can be a challenge due to cognitive pitfalls such as hypo-cognition and hyper-cognition.
  2. Hypo-cognition is a condition where our lack of mental tools leaves us stumbling in the dark, making us overlook things entirely and leading to confusion and misunderstandings.
  3. The COVID-19 pandemic is an example of a situation where hypo-cognition led to numerous misconceptions and misunderstandings, as many of us lacked the medical vocabulary to discuss the pandemic.
  4. Research shows that providing new concepts with labels helps improve our ability to identify and interpret them, reducing the effects of hypo-cognition.
  5. Hyper-cognition, on the other hand, is a condition where we inappropriately apply our limited cognitive representations to new situations, leading to inaccurate interpretations, false assumptions, and misguided decisions.
  6. In the domain of artificial intelligence, hyper-cognition leads to unrealistic expectations and misunderstandings about the capabilities and limitations of AI.
  7. Learning a diverse set of mental tools and adaptive thinking skills can help us recognize changes, adapt, and learn effectively, avoiding both the hypo-cognitive and hyper-cognitive traps.
  8. Pursuing a learning mindset and broadening our understanding of new developments is essential for mental health, productivity, and general well-being.
  9. Understanding the perils of hypo-cognition and hyper-cognition can help us make better decisions in education, self-development, politics, health-and-wellness, mental-health, and the field of science.
  10. The study of psychology, learning, and cognition is crucial for tackling these cognitive pitfalls and improving our perception and comprehension of the world.

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