Beyond Feelings

CHAPTER 13 The Errors in Combination
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b. Many years ago Dr. Wellington Koo, a respected Asian diplomat, attended
a formal dinner and happened to be seated next to an American man who
did not know him. When soup was served, the stranger said to Dr. Koo in
a friendly voice, “Likee soupee?” Dr. Koo nodded in reply. Later, when
the meal was finished, Dr. Koo was introduced, walked to the podium,
and gave an eloquent presentation in perfect English. When he returned
to his seat, he turned to the stranger and said, with a twinkle in his eye,
“Likee speechee?” 2
c. Psychological research reveals that human beings have a tendency “to
attribute the behavior of others to personality factors and that of ourselves
to situational factors.” In other words, if someone else acts offensively,
we believe that is the way he or she is, whereas when we act
offensively, we say we had no choice under the circumstances. 3
2. In 1903 Mercedes automobile executives reasoned that the total worldwide
demand for automobiles would never exceed a million vehicles because the
number of people capable of being chauffeurs would never exceed that number. 4
Given the history of automobile sales in the twentieth century, that prediction is
laughable. But where exactly did the executives’ thinking go wrong? What specific
error or combination of errors did they commit?
3. Not many years ago prosecutors in some states stipulated that one or
more of the following conditions must exist before they would file rape charges:
(a) the force used by the rapist was sufficient to make the victim fear serious
injury or death, (b) the victim earnestly resisted the assault, and (c) at least one
other witness corroborated the victim’s charge of rape. Are these conditions
reasonable? What error(s) in thinking, if any, do they suggest? Explain your
answer.
4. Three Southern California professors of medicine devised a hoax as an
experiment. They paid a professional actor to lecture three groups of educators.
Armed with a fake identity (“Dr. Myron L. Fox of the Albert Einstein University”),
false but impressive credentials, and a scholarly sounding topic (“Mathematical
Game Theory as Applied to Physical Education”), the actor proceeded to present
one meaningless, conflicting statement after another. His words were a combination
of double-talk and academic jargon. During the question-and-answer
period, he made even less sense. Yet not one of the fifty-five educators in his audience
realized they had been tricked. Virtually all of them believed they had learned something.
Some even praised the impostor in this manner: “Excellent presentation,
enjoyed listening. Has warm manner . . . lively examples . . . extremely articulate.”
5 Explain what combination of the errors discussed in Chapters 9 through
12 may have accounted for the audience’s gullibility.
5. Analyze the following case as was done in this chapter with the cases of
Claude, Sam, and Stephen:
A middle-aged couple, Ann and Dan, learn that their twenty-two-year-old
daughter, a senior in college, is a lesbian. They are appalled. They were
raised to believe that lesbianism is willful moral degeneracy. Struggling to
cope with their new awareness, each begins to blame the other—Ann suggests
that Dan has always been cold and aloof with the girl, and Dan claims
that Ann has smothered her with affection. After many hours of arguing,
they decide that there is a more direct cause of her deviance—the college.
“You’d think educated people would be alert to the danger of degeneracy