Jonah Engler talks about the big data approaches to human psychology on this document. Click to view!

1. Big Data Approaches to Human Psychology
No matter what sort of business you are in, sooner or later you have to deal with people. With
their whims and feelings and psychological tendencies. In times past, massive research projects
were done to try to get closer to how people would react to given situations or when presented
with certain opportunities or challenges. Today, Big Data is making it easier to solve some of the
toughest lingering gaps between communication and real connection.

2. One of the most difficult hurdles to get over is the inborn nature of most people to resist change.
This tendency, called cognitive inertia, causes people to balk at any change, no matter how
benign or beneficial. You see it every election cycle. Congress yanks the lever for the same
people again and again. That’s the strength of cognitive inertia. It causes people to drive the
same cars, eat the same food, go to the same places and use the same products…even when they
“know” there is better available.
Big Data is allowing computers to build models and achieve more accurate situational
awareness, allowing for predictability that was, until now, out of reach. Data driven protocols
can “understand” what people are looking for and what might motivate them to make a change,
even if they are initially reluctant to do so. And, as systems improve, so, too, will this ability.
Another reason humans resist change or decision-making can be boiled down to simple
information overload. In most people, when they encounter too much information, they don’t
catalog and quantify it – they simply ignore it or shut down the flow of information, breaking the
connection and ending the communication.

3. Another issue created by information overload is the presence of too much of the wrong data.
When people stop taking in information that means they also stop comparing, contrasting or
correcting information. Quality is trumped by quantity, leading people to incorrect conclusions.
However, Big Data can handle much more information and more efficiently categorize, compare
and contrast that data to arrive at the best possible solution.
Jonah Engler, a finance expert from New York, loves to spend his time researching about
stockbroking and coffee.