Big Data Approaches to Human Psychology
No matter what sort of business you are in, sooner or later you have to deal with people. With their whims and feelings and psychological tendencies. In times past, massive research projects were done to try to get closer to how people would react to given situations or when presented with certain opportunities or challenges. Today, Big Data is making it easier to solve some of the toughest lingering gaps between communication and real connection.
One of the most difficult hurdles to get over is the inborn nature of most people to resist change. This tendency, called cognitive inertia, causes people to balk at any change, no matter how benign or beneficial. You see it every election cycle. Congress yanks the lever for the same people again and again. That’s the strength of cognitive inertia. It causes people to drive the same cars, eat the same food, go to the same places and use the same products…even when they “know” there is better available.
Big Data is allowing computers to build models and achieve more accurate situational awareness, allowing for predictability that was, until now, out of reach. Data driven protocols can “understand” what people are looking for and what might motivate them to make a change, even if they are initially reluctant to do so. And, as systems improve, so, too, will this ability.
Another reason humans resist change or decision-making can be boiled down to simple information overload. In most people, when they encounter too much information, they don’t catalog and quantify it – they simply ignore it or shut down the flow of information, breaking the connection and ending the communication.
Another issue created by information overload is the presence of too much of the wrong data. When people stop taking in information that means they also stop comparing, contrasting or correcting information. Quality is trumped by quantity, leading people to incorrect conclusions. However, Big Data can handle much more information and more efficiently categorize, compare and contrast that data to arrive at the best possible solution.
Jonah Engler, a finance expert from New York, loves to spend his time researching about stockbroking and coffee.