An excerpt from the most recent Newsweek related to the heuristic approach in the sciences. Discussion/thoughts welcome...

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MIND MATTERS
Wray Herbert
Less (Information) Is More
According to a new book, most people think too much before they make important decisions.

Excerpt

A growing number of psychologists are questioning the soundness of Franklin's method [of moral algebra], and its modern iterations, including data-heavy calculations by increasingly powerful computers.

One of the leading challengers to the dogma of decision making is psychologist Gerd Gigerenzer, of the Max Planck Institute in Germany, whose new book "Gut Feelings" collects a convincing body of evidence for the power of hunches over laborious data crunching. Hunches, gut feelings, intuition—these are all colloquial English for what Gigerenzer and his colleagues call "heuristics," fast and efficient cognitive shortcuts that (according to the emerging theory) can help us negotiate life, if we let them...

FULL ARTICLE
http://www.newsweek.com/id/71514/page/1

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Heuristics in Psychology

In psychology, heuristics are simple, efficient rules, hard-coded by evolutionary processes or learned, which have been proposed to explain how people make decisions, come to judgments, and solve problems, typically when facing complex problems or incomplete information. These rules work well under most circumstances, but in certain cases lead to systematic cognitive biases.

For instance, people may tend to perceive more expensive beers as tasting better than inexpensive ones (providing the two beers are of similar initial quality or lack of quality and of similar style). This finding holds true even when prices and brands are switched; putting the high price on the normally relatively inexpensive brand is enough to lead subjects to perceive it as tasting better than the beer that is normally more expensive. One might call this "price implies quality" bias. (Cf. Veblen good.)

Much of the work of discovering heuristics in human decision-makers was ignited by Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman[3]. Gerd Gigerenzer focus on how heuristics can be used to make judgments that are in principle accurate, rather than producing cognitive biases – heuristics that are "fast and frugal".[4]

from Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heuristic

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Princeton Professor Daniel Kahneman, incidentally, who is one of my hometown heroes, is one of the founders of Prospect Theory. For some related links, please see:

What is Prospect Theory?
http://raphie.wordpress.com/2006/12/16/syn...onverging-road/

Of particular interest., at least for this aspiring Cognitive Physicist is that Kahneman, a psychologist, won the Nobel Prize in Economics. Here is an excerpt from the post:

"Prospect theory has probably done more to bring psychology into the heart of economic analysis than any other approach. Many economists still reach for the expected utility theory paradigm when dealing with problems, however, prospect theory has gained much ground in recent years, and now certainly occupies second place on the research agenda for even some mainstream economists." (text via via Behavioral Finance.net http://prospecttheory.behaviouralfinance.net/ )


Best,
Raphie

Raphie Frank, Here are a few pertinent links for enlightenment (food for thought.):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_Good_Science_Center This was started by Frans de Waal.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frans_de_waal
One of my favorite psychologists, Abraham Maslow, who instead of studying psychotic and deranged people and trying to derive theories of mind based on them (Sigmund Freud) Maslow studied persons of accomplishment and geniuses and tried to optimize the study of mind with his theory of "Hierarchy of Needs" rising to the apex of "self-actualization!"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Maslow
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maslow's_hierarchy_of_needs

QUOTE

Self-actualization--a concept Maslow attributed to Kurt Goldstein, a mentor to Maslow--is the instinctual need of humans to make the most of their abilities and to strive to be the best they can. Maslow writes the following of self-actualizing people: They embrace the facts and realities of the world (including themselves) rather than denying or avoiding them. They are spontaneous in their ideas and actions. They are creative. They are interested in solving problems; this often includes the problems of others. Solving these problems is often a key focus in their lives. They feel a closeness to other people, and generally appreciate life. They have a system of morality that is fully internalized and independent of external authority. They have discernment and are able to view all things in an objective manner. In short, self-actualization is reaching one's fullest potential.