Research Into the Low Prevalence of Taking Perspectives
Author: Scott Moehring Issue: 2024-09-04
Research Into the Low Prevalence of Taking Perspectives
by Scott Moehring
Everyone talks about how people aren't thinking. We cry out for critical thinking, creative thinking, empathetic thinking, scientific thinking, long-term thinking, spiritual thinking. But we can't do that unless we define what thinking actually is in any practical way.
Thinking is making meaning from information using four pairs of elements, and every thought uses all of those eight elements at the same time. We all use the same organizing elements whether we realize it or not. The value of knowing them is to make our thinking explicit and conscious, rather than implicit and unconscious. It lets us see and examine our thinking. It also lets us see and examine what others are thinking.
The four pairs of elements are:
- We identify things, which is choosing what something is, which simultaneously excludes everything else. We called this making distinctions between identity and other. Distinctions define things.
- We split things into parts and group them into wholes. The parts have smaller parts, and the wholes are part of bigger holes. We call this organizing systems of parts and wholes. Systems organize things.
- We see ways these parts and wholes relate to and affect each other. We call this recognizing relationships of action and reaction. Relationships affect things.
- We look at things in different ways, which changes what we see. We call this taking perspectives of point and view. Perspectives change the other three pairs.
When asked to think about something, Cabrera Lab research (34,000 people) showed that explicit use of perspectives is the least common action. This includes making their own perspective explicit, and taking another perspective. Perspectives are always there, but most often implicit and unconscious. Most don’t realize that what they see is not what everyone else sees. Their point is only one point from which to look, and the view they are looking at might contain completely different information. The combination of that point and view is a single perspective.
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The implications are profound. We all are seeing something different, but few realize that what they are seeing is not a given. Consider a movie, song, news story, or a conversation. The information is exactly the same, but the meaning is made from the individual application of the eight elements. The unique interaction of my point and view will change what distinctions, systems, and relationships I see. Those Ds, Ss, and Rs I make and see are literally what I think is real. Sit with that for a minute. This is not trivial!
Perspective-taking also had the highest Dunning-Kruger effect, with people expressing the highest degree of confidence while displaying the lowest degree of competence.
Our communication will struggle until we can understand what a point is, how it fundamentally affects our thinking, and how we can adopt other points to see more, empathize, understand, negotiate, influence, collaborate. “Tyrant” and “Hero” are distinctions from a perspective. Each is organized with other things, and has different relationships. The interaction of all the elements is highly dynamic. Change one element in a thought (a mental model), and it ripples through all of the other elements.
Here's a 6-minute discussion of the Cabrera’s perspective research within a longer presentation that covers all four patterns.
Dr. Laura Cabrera shows how we know DSRP exists and its efficacy (YouTube)
I recommend watching the whole 54 minute presentation to get an understanding of what is meant (technically, practically, changeably) by the statement “people don’t think”. These are specific actions that anyone can learn, do, and improve. Anyone! The Cabreras taught them to elementary school kids for 10 years. They teach them to PhDs, West Point Cadets, athletes, all walks of life. Their research has shown that a simple 1-minute exposure measurably improves our use of the elements. There is great value in priming a meeting or conversation with a quick reminder of the simple patterns of DSRP. See my short descriptions above.
Do not underestimate the power of these simple patterns. All math is built from a few simple concepts. All writing too. All thinking is these eight elements — identity, other, part, whole, action, reaction, point, and view. You can combine them to construct or deconstruct thinking of any complexity, be it yours or someone else’s. In fact, it appears we can't do it any other way.
If you find any exception — meaning anything that exists without all eight, or that can’t be built from just these elements — please let me know. I haven’t found one in four years, and they haven’t found one in 20 years. DSRP has earned its distinction as an empirical scientific theory that exists in mind and nature. It is not simply a consultant framework.
Here is a paper of the findings:
I truly hope you find this useful both for important work and also just simple daily life.
Related:
- Scott Moehring (author)
- 2024 (year)
- Topics: Future Visioning and Scenario Planning