Interactional biases

From page 221:

1. Communication is logically impossible
2. Nevertheless we humans can communicate
3. Therefore, we must use non-logical heuristics and a special form of reasoning to bridge the gap
4. For communication to work routinely, these heuristics must be dominant in our thinking all the time
5. Therefore, these heuristics spill over to bias thinking in non-communication domains

From page 253: “On the one hand, one finds the presumption of deterministic solutions, what one may call the ‘crossword puzzle effect’ (problems are treated as if they were designed to be solved): hence the presumption that patterns can't be random, exemplars are prototypical, samples are 'representative' and conclusions can be certain. On the other hand, one finds some evidence that attention and memory are geared to interaction tempo: humans presume single-stranded causal chains, respond (usually) to the immediately previous event, expect brief action-response intervals and very short sequential patterns.”

- Levinson, S.C., 1995. Interactional biases in human thinking. In E. N. Goody, ed. Social Intelligence and Interaction. Cambridge University Press, pp. 221–260.