The Intuitive Cyborg: Problem Solving in the Post-Computational Age

How does human operational thinking and decision-making, or problem solving in general, really work? Do we make our best decisions after rational deliberation? Moreover, how does human psychophysiology, i.e., perception, rational thinking and emotion influence our decision-making? Questions such as these seem especially interesting for decision-making or, better, problem solving in highly technological environments. Not only contemporary air warfare but also corporate problem solving and decision-making is undergoing a radical change. Decision-making has become computational. Prediction and analysis tools compute relevant factors, predict possible outcomes, and thus prepare solutions, which are supposed to work with a high degree of success. This dissertation argues that successful problem solving, even operational decision-making in the context of high technology, is in essence intuitive. We already know that emotional problem solving is emotionally biased and irrational. This dissertation will also argue that if we decide and solve problems based on strict analysis, logic, and computation, human decision-making will be biased as well, leading to, in anthropomorphic terms, irrational decisions. My third argument is that biased problem-solving and unbiased problem-solving are very difficult to tell apart from each other. In the last part of the dissertation, I examine whether the Heideggerian concept of Gelassenheit will have a positive effect on decision-making and problem solving.