The Matrix movie trilogy hypothesises a scenario where artificially intelligent (AI) machines have enslaved humankind by creating a simulated reality called “The Matrix”. This simulated reality tricks humankind to believe they are alive and well while they are, in fact, physically strapped down in an induced comatose state.
Unsurprisingly, this series has captured the imagination of a whole range of highly intelligent people and stimulated all kinds of debates. Elon Musk, for example, is believed to subscribe to this notion that we live in a simulated reality. A highly intelligent friend of mine, with an eyebrow-raising IQ, has vociferously argued numerous times that we live in a simulated reality.
About two years ago, my then 13-year-old son also out of the blue asked me what I would do if I discovered that our reality was simulated. I gave him a somewhat convoluted answer to his question but was challenged to search for patterns that might suggest we live in a simulated reality.
In the past few years, as I have been slowly inching my way through various great writings on cognition, there are aspects about our cognition that are getting clearer in my mind. One of these is what I term cognitive heuristics.
The term heuristics is often employed in philosophy to denote a set of rudimentary rules we develop over time to create meaning about the world around us. In coaching, we call these rudimentary rule sets ‘filters’.
A story is told about an old man who, on a beautiful sunny spring morning, is driving leisurely down a dirt country road. He notices a car approaching at what he considered an inappropriate speed, consequently stirring up a lot of dust.
As the cars are about to pass each other, the approaching car slows down abruptly. The young lady in the other car, seizing the brief moment as their eyes lock, shouts through her rolled-down window, “PIG”. The old man becomes livid. How dare she call me a pig when she is the one endangering me on the road? As his angry thoughts overcome him, he speeds up rapidly. A few metres down the road, he hits a pig at high speed.
Now let’s observe the catalytic role of cognitive heuristics in this unfortunate accident. The young lady, with every good intention, warns the old man about a pig on the road.
The old man, on the other hand, experiences that brief well-intentioned moment as an insult. In fury, he speeds up, hitting a pig a few moments later. What has happened here is that the old man had a rudimentary set of rules that assigned meaning when he heard the word “PIG”. Notice she never said, “you are a pig”, but she just shouted PIG. So, there was a cognitive rule in this old man’s filters that associated the word PIG with name-calling.
So, in this incident we have two sets of realities: what actually happened and what the old man experienced. Cognitive heuristics or filters ultimately created a reality for this old man that is diametrically opposite of what was intended and what happened.
Cognitive heuristics, as in The Matrix trilogy, created a simulated reality for him. These cognitive heuristics are formed through our socialisation, education and significant emotional experiences. They create instant meaning and therefore a lived reality for us.
So here is the thing: the formation and formatting of these cognitive heuristics are not consciously done by us. Yet they define our reality and therefore define us. So, unless we make a conscious effort to regularly audit our cognitive heuristics, we may well be trapped in the Matrix of our socialisation.
In due course, I will share how you may audit your cognitive heuristics.
