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From: MJackson.Wbst@PARC-MAXC.ARPA
Newsgroups: net.physics
Subject: Re: Apparent Order in Random Numbers - a - (nf)
Message-ID: <14874@sri-arpa.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 22-Dec-83 09:53:00 EST
Article-I.D.: sri-arpa.14874
Posted: Thu Dec 22 09:53:00 1983
Date-Received: Sun, 25-Dec-83 00:47:29 EST
Lines: 17

"The vast power trigger-induction holds over us hints at something in
our evolution (oops!) that says that a few people surviving by making a
correct wild guess (and many many dying from the wrong wild guesses) is
better than the whole population dying from overconservatism."

Most human reasoning employs faulty logic ("most A is B, most B is C,
hence most A is C") because in the real environment matters are seldom
sufficiently clear-cut (or information sufficiently complete) to enable
one to construct formally correct syllogisms.  Hence the use of such
slippery tools as analogy.

A paper by Marvin Minsky, "Jokes and the Cognitive Unconscious,"
discusses the role of humor in instructing/exercising the mental
"censors" which attempt to check clearly inappropriate use of such
uncertain but useful mental processes.

Mark