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1、September20,2006Time:10:11amchapter06.texCHAPTER6DiversityandProblemSolvingDARWIN’SBRASSTACKSTalenthitsatargetthatnooneelsecanhit;geniushitsatargetnooneelsecansee.—attributedtoArthurSchopenhauerNOWthatwe’vecoveredwhatcognitivediversityis—we’vedefinedperspectives,heuristics,andsoon—wegettothemeat
2、ofthebook:thedemonstrationthatdiversityproducesbenefits.Weseewhydiversitymaybeasimportantasabilityinsomecontexts,andhowitcanbeevenmoreimportantinothers.Inshort,weshowthatdiversitycreatesbenefits.Theproofsrelyonthetoolboxframework.We’llseehowperspectives,heuristics,interpretations,andpredictivemod
3、elsaggregate.Throughout,Iavoidmakingblanketstatementsthatdiversityisalwaysgoodoralwaysbad.Blanketscoverthings,andIdonotwanttocovertheparticulars.Whetherandhowdiversityimprovesperformanceonataskdependsonthetypeofdiversityconsideredandthetypeoftask.Weshouldnotexpectanyonetypeofdiversitytobebenefic
4、ialinallcontextsanymorethanweshouldexpectfrictiontohinderperformanceinallcontexts.Whenwewanttostopthecar,welikefriction.Inthesenextthreechapters,weseewhydiversityissuchapowerfulforce.Weseehowourdifferencescontributeasmuchtoourcollectiveperformanceasourindividualabilities.WewillSeptember20,2006T
5、ime:10:11amchapter06.tex132CHAPTERSIXtakeanabstract,logicalapproach.Bybeingabstract,wecanapplyourlogicacrossavarietyofcontexts—toeverythingfromidentitygrouppoliticstostockmarketpredictionstointerdisciplinaryscience.Someofwhatfollowsmaytakealittletimetoabsorb,butit’sallthereforareasonanditallhas
6、abigpayoff.Ifyou’vewonderedif,how,andwhydiversitycreatesbenefits,you’reabouttofindout.ProblemSolvingWebeginwithproblemsolving.Werestrictattentiontodifficultproblems.Wedon’tneeddiverseperspectivesandheuris-ticstohelpuswitheasyones.Twoplustwoiseasy.Proteinfoldingisdifficult.Wefacenoshortageofdifficult
7、problems—findingrenewablesourcesofenergy,designinghealthpolicies,andmanagingecosystemsreceivethemostattention,butdiffi-cultproblemsalsoincludedesigningbuildings,writingexamina-tions,andproducingmovies.Difficultproblemsarenothingnew.A
