To Help Others, It Pays to Be Open-Minded

Looking at the picture of health in New Zealand, you can’t help but be concerned.

Almost 70% of the adult population classify as overweight or obese. In relation to longevity, the ‘Foresight’ report from the UK Government [ref 1] estimates that:

• For men, up to 13 years and for women, up to 8 years of life may be lost due to obesity.

In terms of our mental health, in a recent national survey, over 11% of the adult population reported:

• Experiencing anxiety, psychological fatigue, or depression ‘over the past four weeks’.

Over the past 10 years, the prevalence of adults suffering anxiety has more than doubled. It’s likely that this under-represents a larger number lurking below the surface of what is actually reported.

On a positive note, such health issues are treatable. A recent review published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine [ref 2] found that:

• Physical activity is highly beneficial for improving symptoms of depression, anxiety and distress across a wide range of adult populations.

The authors made a bold but well supported conclusion:

• Physical activity should be a mainstay approach in the management of depression, anxiety and psychological distress.

The study was substantial to say the least. It included a review of over 1000 trials with 128,119 participants.

In our Personal Training and Weight Management Coaching programmes, we certainly trumpet the multiple health benefits of physical activity.

Unfortunately, in the collective health professions we’re sometimes not as effective at ‘helping’ as we could be. A contributor to our effectiveness (or lack thereof) relates to the way we think and the judgements we make.

In this article we’ll examine:

• Heuristics and fast vs slow thinking.
• The Cognitive Reflection Test – what can we learn from it?
• Why it’s important to be open-minded.

First up, let’s do a quick test…

Have a go at answering the following questions. There’s no pressure, no-one’s going to be marking or checking your answers, other than you.

And the good news is – you can’t really fail this test. Ultimately, it just provides an insight into the way you think. We’ll review the answers later in the article.

Here are the questions:

1. A bat and ball cost $110 in total. The bat costs $100 more than the ball. How much does the ball cost?
2. If it takes 5 machines 5 minutes to make 5 widgets, how long would it take 100 machines to make 100 widgets?
3. In a lake, there is a patch of lily pads. Every day the patch doubles in size. If it takes 48 days for the patch to cover the entire lake, how many days would it take for the lilies to cover half of the lake?
4. If you’re running a race and you overtake the person in 2nd place, what place are you in?

What are Heuristics?

Heuristics are the mental shortcuts we use to make decisions quickly, without engaging in active thought, or complex problem-solving. They refer to the ‘rules of thumb’ which free-up our limited cognitive (thought) processes for more important matters.

For example, heuristics enable me to instantly delete emails promising a multi-million-dollar inheritance from a ‘distant relative’. If I just send X amount to X account, those funds will be released to me immediately…Yeah right!

I don’t need to waste energy thinking about what’s clearly a scam.

Psychologist Daniel Kahneman [ref 3] refers to fast vs. slow thinking. Fast, ‘heuristic’ thinking is impulsive and reactive, whereas slow thinking involves more careful, reflective thought.

While there are obvious benefits to making quick decisions, there’s a major downside.

Decisions and judgements made quickly, without careful thought, are prone to error.

The following health-related judgements are examples of fast, heuristic-based thinking:

• ‘People with obesity are lazy’.
• ‘If people want help, they’ll ask for it’.
• ‘People who don’t use their gym memberships aren’t committed’.
• ‘People struggling with mental health issues lack resilience’.

Such judgements are made quickly with little or no consideration of any underlying issues or contributing factors. Unfortunately, such judgements can influence the behaviour of health-related practitioners in ways that aren’t ‘helpful’ for anyone.

‘Help’ can be withheld from those struggling with their weight, or not using their gym membership. The rationale becomes ‘Why would I bother helping those who aren’t committed to helping themselves’? Where people are perceived to lack resilience, they’re told to ‘harden up’. If people don’t ask for help, they’re assumed to be OK and left alone, despite their struggles being reasonably obvious.

Judgements such as those above simply aren’t supported by evidence when they are examined and thought about in detail. Our Personal Training and Weight Management Coaching programmes encourage detailed thought because the consequences of such judgements are dire for all.

What is the Cognitive Reflection Test and how did you score?

The Cognitive Reflection Test (CRT) measures your propensity to use slower, reflective thought processes as opposed to fast, heuristic-based processes. It helps to draw our attention to the errors associated with fast, heuristic thinking.

If you answered question 1-3 earlier in the article, you completed the original CRT. Question 4 is a recent addition which I included for those of you with a more ‘competitive’ orientation.

Before we look at the answers, it’s important to note that studies using the CRT typically find that:

• The majority (80%+) of participants usually get at least one question wrong.
• 40-50% of participants usually get all the questions wrong!

Here are the answers:

Regardless of whether you made any errors, let’s work through the questions one by one.

Question 1: How much does the ball cost?

Fast, impulsive thinking encourages us to look at the price difference between bat and ball. So, if the bat and ball cost $110 combined and the bat costs $100 more than the ball, the ball must cost $10, right?

Wrong! The question asked what the cost of the ball would be if the bat cost $100 MORE than the ball. So, if the ball costs $10, and the bat costs $100 more, then the bat must cost $110. If this were the case, then the combined cost of bat and ball would be $120, not $110.

However, if the ball costs $5, then at $100 MORE than the ball, the bat would cost $105. With these price tags, the combined cost is…$110!

Hence, the ball must cost $5.

Question 2: How long to make 100 widgets?

Here, fast thinking encourages us to make a judgement based on what appears to be a clear pattern. If it takes 5 machines, 5 minutes to make 5 widgets (5 – 5 – 5) then 100 machines must take 100 minutes to make 100 widgets right (100 – 100 – 100)?

Wrong! If each machine takes 5 minutes to make a widget, then the number of machines has no bearing on how long it takes to make a single widget. It will always take 5 minutes.

So, at 5 minutes per widget, it takes 5 minutes for 100 machines to make 100 widgets.

Question 3: Those expanding lily pads…

Fast thinking encourages you to make a mathematical judgement error. If it takes 48 days for expanding lily pads to cover a whole lake, then surely it would take half that time (24 days) to cover half the lake. It’s simple division, right?

Wrong! Because the lily pads are doubling in size every day, they’ll cover half the lake the day before they cover the whole lake. So, on day 47 they’ll cover half the lake. And as they double in size overnight, the whole lake will of course be covered on day 48.

Question 4: Overtaking the runner in 2nd place…

With little thought, this question seems to be asking where we’d be if we’re ahead of the person in 2nd. The obvious judgement is that we must be in first place, right?

Wrong! To be in first place, we’d have to over-take the person that is currently in 1st place. Because we’ve only overtaken the person in 2nd place, we take their place in 2nd, and they drop back to third.

The person in first is still way out in front.

So, how many of the questions did you get right or wrong? Did you answer quickly, or did you take your time?

If you’re like the majority of people who have completed this test you made at least one error, if not more.

Ultimately, the CRT serves to highlight a key point:

• It’s easy to get things wrong when we don’t take the time to think carefully about the problem.

Why is it important to be ‘Open-Minded’?

The modern world is very ‘noisy’. We’re bombarded with information via multiple media channels and ‘smart’ technologies. Some of the information we receive is useful and accurate, plenty isn’t.

In a noisy environment, we can expect to make judgement errors. Especially when we rely on fast, heuristic-based thinking to decipher the mass of information surrounding us.

What’s important, is whether we can identify and accept the errors we make and learn from them.

This is what being ‘open-minded’ is all about.

Consider whether you agree or disagree with the following statements:

1. ‘Allowing oneself to be convinced by an opposing argument is a sign of good character’.
2. ‘Changing your mind is a sign of weakness’.
3. ‘Intuition is the best guide in making decisions’.

Actively open-minded people tend to agree with the first statement and disagree with the 2nd and 3rd.

To be ‘actively open-minded’ is to search for information that contradicts your pre-existing ideas.

This includes considering the dissenting opinions of others and carefully weighing up new evidence against your old beliefs.

When it comes to health, being open-minded enables a practitioner, or aspiring practitioner to discover that:

• Obesity is caused by a multitude of factors none of which include ‘laziness’.
• People seldom ask for help. Help has to be provided by observant practitioners who identify those who are struggling and intervene accordingly.
• Psychological distress is increasingly ‘normal’. To dismiss it as a lack of resilience is to ignore the problem, it’s causes, and potential treatments.
• Non-use of gym memberships or health services is normally attributable to barriers (perceived or otherwise), not a lack of commitment. Hence, a practitioners role involves the identification of, and removal of such barriers, where possible.

For practitioners, such discoveries hold the key to understanding how to provide meaningful, effective help for those in need. These are just some of the discoveries made by our Personal Training and Weight Management Coaching graduates.

In society, we tend to trust and like ‘leaders’ who are decisive. Leaders who are firm, clear and seem to instinctively know what is right. According to Kahneman [ref 3], such leaders inspire confidence. However, when it comes to reducing error and actually ‘getting it right’, the evidence clearly suggests that:

• Remaining open to counterarguments and accepting that one might be wrong, is more important.

Being ‘decisive’ (and accurate) only comes at the end of an open-minded thought process, not the beginning.

A Final Word…

As well as its alarming impact on longevity, The Foresight report [ref 1] also claims that obesity:

• Represents a risk to humanity on a similar scale to climate change!

Physical health issues such as obesity don’t exist in isolation. Our physical health is inter-related with our mental, environmental and societal health.

Looking into the future, the health-related challenges we face aren’t going to be solved by simplistic thinking that:

• Blames individuals for lacking…resilience, commitment or willpower.
• Views physical and mental health in isolation from each other, and the modern environment.
• Ignores the need for supportive interventions that address our current reality.

And our challenges certainly won’t be solved by the alarming trend of moving education ‘online only’. Critical thinking, essential for problem solving, requires analysis, discussion and debate, in-person. This doesn’t occur when education is restricted to our personal echo chambers.

At NZIHF, we’ll never join the ‘online only’ crowd. It short-changes everyone – us, our students and ultimately, the clients of our graduates. Our Personal Training and Weight Management Coaching programmes will always focus on:

• Providing substantive, carefully compiled sources of relevant information
• Encouraging critical thought, dissemination and practical application of that information, in person.

The objective is simple – to produce open-minded practitioners who think constantly about how to best apply their skills and knowledge to suit the unique needs of each and every client.

Thinking again about the picture of health in New Zealand, these are practitioners we clearly need more of.

References

1. Butland et al. (2007). Foresight. Tackling Obesities: Future Choices – Project Report (2nd Ed). https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/reducing-obesity-future-choices
2. Singh et al. (2023). Effectiveness of physical activity interventions for improving depression, anxiety and distress: an overview of systematic reviews. https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/early/2023/03/02/bjsports-2022-106195
3. Kahneman et al. (2021). Noise: A flaw in human judgement. London: William Collins. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/55339408-noise