Why Some People Fight New Ideas-Re: mold is not a health hazard

[Guest guest]

Carl:

Excellent point. Those outside the IEQ industry have a vested interest in

protecting against frivolous claims thus we tend to side on the " safe until

proven harmful " school. Those in the IEQ industry have a vested interest in

promoting the " harmful until proven safe " school. I suppose it all comes down to

the mighty dollar as the deciding basis for your beliefs.

I am certainly not going to tell someone that water damage and mold growth is

perfectly harmless any more than you would tell someone that water damage and

mold growth is going to make them sick and/or kill them. I agree that

precautionary language is certainly warranted, however, I adamantly disagree

with the " mold is plutonium " prophets.

With data supporting both sides of the argument, how can anyone, anywhere make

definitive statements regarding the dangers or safety associated with mold

exposure?

The question is - What is the proper level of precaution and guidance without

sounding totally dismissive or sounding like a profiteering loon?

Will

> >

> > People are biased against creative ideas, studies find

> >

> > August 26, 2011 By Catt

> > The next time your great idea at work elicits silence or eye rolls, you

might just pity those co-workers. Fresh research indicates they don't even know

what a creative idea looks like and that creativity, hailed as a positive change

agent, actually makes people squirm.

> >

> > " How is it that people say they want creativity but in reality often reject

it? " said Jack Goncalo, ILR School assistant professor of organizational

behavior and co-author of research to be published in an upcoming issue of the

journal Psychological Science. The paper reports on two 2010 experiments at the

University of Pennsylvania involving more than 200 people.

> >

> > The studies' findings include:

> >

> > Creative ideas are by definition novel, and novelty can trigger feelings of

uncertainty that make most people uncomfortable.

> >

> > People dismiss creative ideas in favor of ideas that are purely practical --

tried and true.

> >

> > Objective evidence shoring up the validity of a creative proposal does not

motivate people to accept it.

> >

> > Anti-creativity bias is so subtle that people are unaware of it, which can

interfere with their ability to recognize a creative idea.

> > For example, subjects had a negative reaction to a running shoe equipped

with nanotechnology that adjusted fabric thickness to cool the foot and reduce

blisters.

> > To uncover bias against creativity, the researchers used a subtle technique

to measure unconscious bias -- the kind to which people may not want to admit,

such as racism. Results revealed that while people explicitly claimed to desire

creative ideas, they actually associated creative ideas with negative words such

as " vomit, " " poison " and " agony. "

> >

> > Goncalo said this bias caused subjects to reject ideas for new products that

were novel and high quality.

> >

> > " Our findings imply a deep irony, " wrote the authors, who also included

Mueller of the University of Pennsylvania and Shimul Melwani of the

University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

> >

> > Uncertainty drives the search for and generation of creative ideas, but

" uncertainty also makes us less able to recognize creativity, perhaps when we

need it most, " the researchers wrote. " Revealing the existence and nature of a

bias against creativity can help explain why people might reject creative ideas

and stifle scientific advancements, even in the face of strong intentions to the

contrary. ... The field of creativity may need to shift its current focus from

identifying how to generate more creative ideas to identify how to help

innovative institutions recognize and accept creativity. "

> >

> > The study, " The Bias Against Creativity: Why People Desire But Reject

Creative Ideas, " might validate the frustrations of creative people, Goncalo

said.

> >

> > Provided by Cornell University (news : web)

> >

>

>

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