'Reflex' Knowledge

It may appear to be a strange term and I promise it would not appear so strange once you go through the following paragraphs. 

I had used a Nokia phone till 2013. It was a very good and versatile piece and battery lasted for two days during the busy time and about 4 days when one was not busy or was holidaying. I suppose all know the story of Nokia – it is a company which suddenly lost market share and business. The management had made no mistake at the operational and tactical level. Only the ‘cheese’ had moved and it was a bit too late when they noticed it. It has been in news for making a comeback. That all would be a part of some other blog-post so let us stick to the above theme. Things changed in a major way when my brother presented me with an iPhone in early 2014. 

Initially it was very difficult to operate iPhone because except for making phone calls no other operation was obvious. One had to start from scratch. It was not simple to attach it to laptop and send mails or transfer files as I was used to with Nokia phone. Basic working procedures were entirely different. It did not take long to get used to the comforts of iPhone and to use it with all its functionalities. Over time one bought iPad and MacBook. Life could not have been simpler. No matter what book you were reading on one device, you continued reading it even after changing device and most often without wasting time on locating the page. I had used ‘Apple Mackintosh’ in 1988 and have always admired genius of ‘Steve Jobs’. It is not the time or place to sing praises of ‘Apple’ company or ‘Mac’ operating system. As we know all ‘good’ and ‘bad’ times come with and an expiry date. This too had one such time. 

Excessive use had an impact on the battery and it would not last long – had to be charged a few times each day. Only option was to carry a battery pack. It was a good solution with a major drawback - the system (iPhone + battery pack) was bulky and not as comfortable. This ‘Band-Aid’ solution did not last long and my daughter bought an ‘Android’ phone for me. ‘A very cute, simple and easy to use device’ - so she said. I fell for it and got a ‘micro’ sim for it and exchanged it for my old iPhone. It took me about an hour or so to install different ‘apps’ and to log into them and port the phone numbers through Google etc.. I was thrilled and I thought I got a very good deal and I was the winner. My daughter happily took my old iPhone, got the battery changed and used it like an iPod – listening to songs, watching movies etc. She was certain she was the ‘winner’. 

She had promised to help me out during the transition period – unlearning iPhone and learning Android. I kept asking her how such and such thing would be done and she patiently explained each time. I did notice a few discordant notes once when I called her at her office and wanted to know some operation. So I changed mode and decided to explore it myself and to discover different operations using an old and well known technique – ‘trial and error’. Most applications and functions were open to intuitive learning and had a short learning curve. These were mastered quickly. Soon within 2-3 days I was very comfortable with it because I had explored and mastered a number of operations. I felt that the ‘Android’ was the coolest thing and definitely very easy to use besides being a very versatile system. It gave so much of power that one could spend time and stay gainfully engaged. 

As I said earlier – good and bad times come with expiry date and this too came to an abrupt end. My brother-in-law presented me with an iPhone. This was lighter, slimmer and more ‘cute’. It required a ‘micro’ sim so I took the sim out of the ‘Android’ phone and put it in the ‘iPhone’. Within a short time ‘apps’ were installed and made operational. It imported all old data from the iCloud in a second. I could feel the ‘power’ of the earlier functional system coming back to me. Changeover was smooth and within a few days I was comfortable as if I had never stopped using the system. After two-three days I realized that phone was not ringing and if I did not see the flickering light and feel vibrations I would miss the incoming calls. I kept ‘swiping’ my finger ‘up-and down’ and exploring the ‘settings’. Changed ‘volume’, ring tones etc. but it could not hear ‘ring’ for incoming calls. I had used iPhone for over 3 years and was not new to Mac system so I felt a bit challenged in seeking help. During one of the hour long metro rides back from Delhi I decided to put in efforts to find what was wrong. Spent over 30 minutes but could not identify. Each time I would ‘swipe’ my fingers and go though ‘settings’ make changes and wait for the call only to notice that the changes did not work.

When all efforts failed, I decided to follow the standard problem solving method used by software programmers – start afresh (from the first step onwards) – take a deep breath – state the problem clearly and if required repeat till you clearly remember it – think of the steps for solving it – analyses the stages which could give problems. Guess what? Within a second I remembered that iPhone has a small physical switch to put it on ‘silent’ mode. I recalled that a few days back while I was attending a meeting, the phone had started ringing and as a reflex action I had switched it to ‘silent’ mode. I had completely forgotten this reflex action and had been going through the software settings route which I had got used to in the last 10-15 days and obviously I had been unable to find the solution. 

I analyzed all this action realized that I was working with ‘reflex’ knowledge and till I broke that chain no solution could have come to me. We all have heard of ‘reflex action’. When we get some input/stimuli our mental faculties work and direct us to respond. Using mental faculties to analyze stimuli to decide on correct response, increases our response time and slows down the action/reaction. This is the reason that in training for Martial Arts, or in the Army and Police training the trainees are asked to train so much that the response is conditioned and is an immediate one. The three stage process of response, ‘stimuli – analysis – response’ is changed to a two stage process, ‘stimuli– response’. 

What was happening to me was something similar. There is so much of intuitive learning in use of phone that mind was analyzing and directing action. What I wanted to do was getting communicated to fingers without a conscious analysis. It was surprising to note that it had taken my intuitive system only 10-12 days to forget that iPhone uses a physical switch for putting it on ‘silent’ mode. My system had learnt the ‘Android’ way of going through ‘settings’ and selecting options. 

It was when I consciously thought about the problem/actions from the first principle that I realized the mistake and corrected it. We all have to be conscious of this ‘reflex- knowledge’ to ensure that we do not waste time, efforts and energy.

Those who have may recall 'Thinking, Fast and Slow" by Daniel Kahneman will spot that the System 1 keeps working and we have to make a conscious efforts to 'shake' lazy one, the System 2, before it starts working.