deadlift pr: 185

body weight: 120

I'm a freak science experiment & getting stronger every day...

As someone who was a much deeper thinker than I once said, "Perception is the editor of reality."

Viva La CrossFit

I remember studying all of this during my Criminology BA and in survival school. I would comment but it would show some bias .

#2 - are you the Red or Black Spider Chick? BTW how is WP, Beale is 80° and sunny right now. =D

I found an excellent Eco Chalk Substitute at REI for $4.00, I'm looking forward to using it.

Most of my cognitive bias and distortions can be attributed to alcohol
Especially remembering one’s choices as better than they actually were
HA!!!

#12 - Illusion of control - the tendency for human beings to believe they can control or at least influence outcomes which they clearly cannot.

You mean when I am watching my team on TV and rooting for them really hard it is not making them perform better? Naw...I know it is. :)

What you see is what you get. But that depends on your point of view.

It was reportedly the the Commissioner of the US Patent Office Charles Duell who said in 1899 that "everything that can be invented has already been invented."

Alas it's a genius that can think outside of the box. Society has come a long way in the last 500 years and while many inventions are improvements of ideas of genius' past - once in a while a true pioneer has set aside their contemporaries biases and has come through with the great leap forward (Leonardo diVinci, the Wright Brothers and Albert Einstein).

The next great thing is out there if we can set aside our own preconceived ideas.

While I'm pushing my own preconceived physical limits with your system called Crossfit. My starting point has been low but I'm surprised at what my body has achieved already. (This wasn't meant to go on about CrossFit but that's my own bias that needs a pigeonhole for everything).

When my body slows down it will be time to kick my brain into the next gear. These rest day topics are a good start.

What will our next great leap forward be?!

I'm sensing it will revolve around the fundamental interactions of nature and the discovery of the fifth force...

Thanks again Coach!

Cool article. This link turned up while I was searching for a gym on Long island, NY that has platforms and decent bars. Pretty good link:
http://dangilliland.typepad.com/strongman/weightlifting/index.html

I love that healthbolt website. Very funny things when you look around in there. Great use of the strikethrough font

Did this this morning. Two rounds of the following.

"House of Ugly"

2X

10 TGU (45 lb bar)
20 tuck jumps
30 walking overhead lunges (45lb bar)
40 pushups
30 KB swings (55lb)
20 floor wipers (135lb)
10 burpee box jumps

UC Riverside lost to Nebraska yesterday 11-1 in the Tempe regional. Wait 'til next year!

I have been doing crossfit since 2/07 and the results are awesome. I was 226 when I started and in 4 months I have grown to 240. The best part is, I feel lighter, runs are faster, pullups are way better, and back pain is a thing of the past. Learning new lifts like snatches and such are what keep it fun. Just wanted to pass along my improvements. Thanks Crossfit!

Very Interesting little article. Thanks Coach!

I wonder what the ratio of bias' someone has opposite to your own, to the amount that you would have an issue being around that person?

How many bias' can you put up with before your own bias' kick in?

How many bias' can you identify in the people around you during the day (because you can't tell your own) you might be able to assess which ones you exhibit (to a point) just be the people that you like the most.

Kate

Wow - I only needed one reason to know why what I thought was right was wrong.... My wife said so....

Cognitive biases look bad when they are applied in very controled environments (e.g. craps, coin-flipping, 1% chance of shock, etc).

Cognitive biases becomes the framework that allows us to make decisions (especially quick decisions) in situations that contain limited information and uncertain outcomes.

Combat training, martial arts training & similar training tries to mold theses biases so someone can quickly and efficiently react in stressful situations.

Go Big Red! :-)

go Spider Chick......Good Job

Coach,
I liked the article and commend you on your examination of thought processes. We often have political discussions here and an honest examination of our own biases will help us become better thinkers. Not just that, in my opinion the highly polished spinners of the Rove generation probably understand our biases better than we do and play to that weakness in thinking.

Thanks coach,
Ricky

I did it! three weeks of active rest (12wks on, 3 wks off)- didn't do a single WOD. It was killing me to see the posts without participating. I did light CFWUs (x3) and some pool work, but not much else. I'm looking forward to hitting it again tomorrow.

I didn't know how much my body needed that recovery time. I started CF in DEC'07 and I just took my first real break. I haven't seen much discussion on rest cycles (over many weeks and months, not day-to-day). On week one of three of this past rest cycle, I feel like I went through a process where my joints and tendons swelled and popped and my muscles were really sore- all that stuff that I hear happens with older, out of shape, non-CF dudes. And just when I started to worry that there was something wrong with me, everything quickly went back to normal and I feel great. What's the full story? Is there more to the physiology of long rest cycles than just muscle recovery?

After rereading my earlier post, I noticed some mistakes.
The biggest one being- "... just be the people that you like the most."

It should read "...just by being with the people that you like the most."

#14 Ricky-
You wrote
"We often have political discussions here and an honest examination of our own biases will help us become better thinkers."

This isn't likely to happen.

In the end of the article it stated-
"Oh and, by the way, you’ll never be able to truly gauge any of the biases you might be operating under since it’s not possible to accurately observe a system you’re part of."

However, I believe that understanding someone else's biases will help us become better debaters and possibly be a little more forgiving to each other as we go about our daily lives, not just here in the comments page.

Kate

I back #13. It doesn't matter if you are wrong or right, you are always wrong if the wife says so. =D

I agree Kate, once you have knowledge of something it changes everything.

I would also have to put in the list of great inventors Sir Isaac Newton. His math and laws are used today as much as they were then. While of course things like gravity, planetary motion, optics and on and on existed, there was no way humans could prove or describe it. He invented a way. I'm thinking our next leap forward will occur like others in the past, someone with mental capacity well beyond what the world has known will come along and show us. It is the chaotic nature of chance. I am biased in this opinion, doh!

Some random drive'bys on the article:

Are any or all of these biases at play all of the time? If so, to what extent? What are the studies that back up these biases and what percentages of people showed these biases and to what extent? 100%? Or 73%?
It's not that I disbelieve these "biases", I acknowledge that they exist - but they do to a greater or lesser extent and they vary with the individual.

What separates humanbrings from every other race is our ability to step outside of ourselves - to put ourselves in the place of someone else, even to the limited extent that we can. It is this ability that helps us to empathize and to reflect upon our own actions. Obviously, some of us our better at it than others.

I wonder, then, do we really have cognitive biases at all times about all things? I don't think so. I think we have more "blinders" to things we feel more strongly about - our "can't helps" Holmes called them - we just "can't help" but feel or believe that particular thing is true. But things we are disinterested about emotionally are less likely to be subjected to cognitive biases, IMO. e.g. I have no emotional attachment to whether 7 x 6 = 42 than I do to 8 x 9 = 72. Obviously, that's the abstract, but we can draw that down to daily events we observe around us and ask whether we're really "biased" about all things we perceive.

That's it for now.

Kate,

Nicely put, as usual.

I'm thinking it's not possible to act effectively without the confidence in being right. So at some level one has to embrace one's biases and get going like they aren't there.

It's not possible to find more of one's blind spots without being willing to acknowledge that they may be there - so in some times/places one has to be willing to embrace the certainty of one's own lack of knowledge, mis-perceptions, and etc based on the biases we use to function.

I think this is the contradiction that shapes public dialogue - and regrettably limits genuine public search for and appetite for truth.

Scotty McC, keep us posted on your experiment, very interesting.

Aswab

SC - if only you had some excitement and enthusiasm for what you do! Aswab

A better title might have been "26 Reasons What You Think is Right [May Be] Wrong."

Surely it is possible to have one or more of the listed biases and still not be wrong on a given subject.

Seems that the author may have his own bias.

Paul,
Good to hear from you!

I agree, one must be aware of their own biases, so that they would not come across as being ignorant.
However, there are many instances when someone has the mentality of "He who is loudest wins" because of their own conviction that they are 'Right', forcing their own opinions down someone elses throat to the point where other people back down. Therefore, as you have stated above, it seems like it would limit anyones appetite for the truth.

Kate

CrossFit is the only effective fitness program out there. Am I biased, or is this fact? I think it's fact: it works for me, I'm part of the community, and there's evidence to back it up. Bias in this case is good!

Paul/Apolloswabbie - I think your neighbor is a friend of mine.

Steve

Dale Saran, at #20, correctly observes that humans have the ability to step outside ourselves and possibly recognize one or more of the plethora of biases that we may be operating under. The trick is to have access to a friend, a counselor, a group, one's spouse, someone who can gently help us to "get outside ourselves." For example, the 12 Step programs require one to conduct a personal inventory; all great coaches video tape their athletes to show them what they may be doing incorrectly. I think it's safe to say that we all operate under one or more of these so-called biases; what we..or at least I...need is acess to someone to get me out of myself and the willingness to listen.

Did the 30 Muscle-ups today.

8:02 as rx'd

30 MU's for me today, too. Then some BJJ. Time posted on that day. What difference the false grip makes for multiples!

John #26 - I think you are right that it would be ideal ot have someone (or a group) who can help us "step out of ourselves", but I think you can do it by merely being conscientious - and honest with yourself to a fault.

"To thine own self be true, and it follows as the night the day, thou canst not be false to any man." Hamlet.

I'm not saying we should be ol' Prince Hal either, but a little introspection wouldn't kill us. I think T.S. Eliot's "Murder in the cathedral" covers this - "why am I doing what I'm doing?" Being conscious of our own self-interest (and biases) at least gives us the opportunity for (attempted) honest assessment of our perceptions and choices.

Put succinctly (and to Kate's point) - a little (self) uncertainty isn't such a bad thing.

The concept of empathy, the ability to step outside one's bias and self-interest, is interesting in that it is both innate and learnable.

This discussion reminds me of a well-worn saying about surgeons: "Occasionally wrong; never in doubt." Always gives me a chuckle...

#18 kate,

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. You may be right but I still have to try and be aware and work to overcome my biases, both professionally and personally.

I am progressive and an optimist... that's my bias.

Ricky

I reject your reality and substitute my own

f/43/168#
no rest for the wicked...missed yesterday's WOD so I did it today.

Subbed with 120 pu (jumping) & dips (assisted machine).
Time: approximately 15 min (lost my stop watch so I used the gym's clock)

For muscle ups, do the rings have to rotate? I'm trying to do muscle ups on rings that just hang off a chain and don't rotate, but now that I look at the muscle up vids, it looks like the rings have to be able to rotate in the hanging strap. Is that true? Does what I say make any sense?

Very interesting article. Cognitive psychology always wrenches my mind.

#34 Chuck: it's definitely not necessary for the rings to rotate. Keeping them in place (by the chain) should make it even fairly easier since you are less likely to loose your nice "false-grip".

Practiced 400m runs today:
Six sprints for time, 4 minutes rest in between.
Best time: 70:61 (5th)
Worst time: 71:99 (4th)
Average time: 71:40

I use these bias' all the time when trying to explain Crossfit to the non-kool aid drinker.

CrossfitCrossfit is the greatest because everyone that does it thinks so. (#1)

Crossfit is the greatest because it fits my career choice in the military. (#7)

Crossfit is the greatest because it is free. (#21)

Crossfit is the greatest because it is so predictably unpredictable. (#24)

Crossfit markets itself when done at Globogym.(#25)

And so on....

#17 - Scotty

I am curious as to why you chose to take 3 weeks off. Did you do some reading or something that suggested this?

I myself am thinking I may take 3 weeks off. I was planning on taking 2 because of vacation but think I may make it 3 weeks. I started Crossfit about a week after feeling a little pain in my distal bicep tendon. All the pullups seem to have really aggravated the injury. I am pretty sure it has turned into tendinosis now that it has been about 7 weeks. The pain has gotten worse and today is the worse it has been, surely because of the 270 pullups in the last two days. I may do some modified WODs and eliminate pullups altogether for awhile, just not sure yet.

The "26" list was pretty dry & boring stuff. Let me recommend something much more interesting brain sustenance:
http://www.ejectejecteject.com/archives/000157.html

#38 - that was perhaps one of the most thought provoking things I've ever read. Thank you for sharing it.

Howdy,
Work
{Ride (Airdyne) .5 miles @ level 8; Ring dipx15; and Body extensionx15 (from knees)}x4.
Duration 17:07...

I like the article.

That's why it's good to be part of a community. You can see each other's blind spots. Ideally.

#17, 37

Much needed day of rest. Nonstop BJJ is kicking my ass. I think extended rest periods can be helpful, especially when dealing with injuries. I take a long-term view of fitness, as I'm not currently training for an event (tennis tourney, grappling competition, etc.) with a specified date. IMO, if you look at your gains over a course of a year, you won't be as bothered with taking some much needed rest. In fact, after taking a few weeks off, I have seen notable improvements in my fitness, especially when it comes to my strength (deadlifts, etc).

I've included a [indirectly] related Newsweek article for the community. Fareed Zakaria, the columnist, gives, what I think, a balanced "snapshot" of how to restore America's place in the world after the current admin and into the next (be it Hillary or Fred). The article doesn't pander to either extremes, but injects some much needed common sense into the discussion over our place in the world in the next year or two. Just thought ya'll might enjoy it...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19001200/site/newsweek/page/0/

WOD as posted

120 pull-ups on nautilus 125 lbs of help.

120 dips on nautilus 125 lbs of help.

I started out without any help and didn't get very far...did 15 of each until I needed some assistance.

Ref posted article:

The scientific method is predicated on the assumption that an individual cannot ever be free of his/her own biases. The results of applying the scientic method have been beyond comprehension, e.g. compare 14th century Europe with 21st Century Europe.

Statistics and probability are the ultimate arbiter of reality. I believe, that until people are schooled from the 1st grade on in the comprehension and application of statistics and probability, we will be condemned to suffer from corrupt politicians, corporations, etc. While progress is made in some areas, the Tsunamis of prejudice and stupidity awash in the world could return us all back to the 14th century.

My personal mantra: Hard-nosed, literal, precise and accurate.

28/F/105#

3 mile interval run on treadmill

made up Saturdays WOD

Five rounds for time of:
25 Wallball shots, 12 pound ball - 10 foot target
30 Pull-ups

19:53

ripped on each hand today, boy did it hurt to shower. I really hope we don't have pull-ups tomorrow!

p.s. spider chick, congrats on the PR!

Hey guys!

Greetings to all

Congrats to Spider-chick.

I did the 120 pull-ups/dips w/o today. 17:47

age:36
bw:167.5

10 rounds of
30 sec easy jumprope
30 sec sprint jumprope
Mil presses

presses were 45x8/65x8/75x5/85x5/95x3x6

So, how many of these bias' and effects can we apply to the crossfit training philosophy? Hmmmm..........

So, how many of these bias' and effects can we apply to the crossfit training philosophy? Hmmmm..........

CrossPit at Brand X:

3 rounds
30 sprawls
30 punches on heavy bag

6:41

There is a common modern bias that is even beneath this article (seen also in #38) that anything before epistemic thinking and modern philosophy, which holds that man must first establish that he knows before he can establish what he knows, nothing good or productive was done. It is a modern error to think of the medieval times (no, not the great dinner theater in Schaumberg, Il.) as the "dark ages." This is just not the case. Artistotle, Aquinas, Anselm, all ancient and mediavel thinkers, formulated arguments that modern thinkers can still not refute.

Basically, the modern project has been to hold scientific proof as the only criteria for truth. But, by whom is science (and math, and probabilities, and statistics) set up and observed by? Human beings. The statement itself that "the only true knowledge is that which can be scientifically verified" is self-refuting, because it can not be scientifically verified.

So where does this get us? There are immutable truths outside of ourselves and we use our reason to discover these truths. So what about the 26 biases? They forgot #27, that any system which can not be challenged or questioned (for example by saying any challenge is a bias in itself) is fallacious and assumes more than it is really able to.

Emmanuel Kant and his system is comparable to this "bias" theory, and does allow a person to get beyond themselves. There are truths outside of ourselves (being and existence, for example) and we can know of them through reason and observation. Reason can be obstructed by bias, ignorance, etc., and so we must have some premises to operate on and ways of comparing/deducing the truth. There is much which science can not prove, nor logic, nor math. We often need experiential data, history, etc. In a word, it'll take more than 26 points to explain away the importance, capability, and potency of human rationality. A lot of ink has already been spilled on this and it is kind of arrogant to think that we can get the corner on this topic in 26 points.

Great mind work, though.
Sound mind in a sound body-Socrates

Jim

mixed in a 10k on the C2
46:08

very disappointed in the hurdle drill demo... no offense, but poorly done...

I liked this article quite a bit...on my third or fourth read. The few times I admit that I found myself resenting Mr. Meredith's theories and refusing to admit that I was not in full control of my own cognitive functioning. Upon any sort of real self-examination, I think we all find that it is remarkably challenging to escape one's own perceptions. That said, it is our biases and perceptions that make us human, as we are a species driven by emotion and instinct. Also, I must concur with a poster on Mr. Meredith's site on the topic of Wikipedia. If this article is to be taken seriously, there are more reliable and respected sources for this topic.

#44 - Amen to literacy in the disciplines you mentioned, but without an accompanying understanding of econmics, the statistician will still not be analyzing the right material. Economcis is fundamental to understanding how the world works. As are some of the less 'hard' disciplines, as in Jimbo's post. Aswab

Looked at #38 from IndidelSix. I'm a big Game Theory guy. In fact, the entire underlying premise for the business plan for our business is non-zero sum games.

The author of InfidelSix's link might as well be sitting inside Hank Reardon's mind!

BTW, nice to see you here, Paul.

D.

Off day...working on stuff...
BP: 185/10 225/9 225/8 185/15
SP: 95/5 135/5 135/2 135/f
5x95# of front squat/squat cleans/snatch/OHS
150 Double unders (2:35)