By Barış Bayram
Why is it hard to recognise the full value of a new idea, research finding or other innovation? Why do people fail to properly appreciate other people or things most of the time? Can this help explain why injustices persist?
There is no “invisible hand” that allocates rewards according to capabilities or performance, including ensuring that academic research or social interactions are recognised in terms of scientific or ethical merits.
There are three main patterns causing what I call “unjust appreciation”:
- lack of intellectual development to determine values, merits and deserts (ie., just rewards)
- cognitive biases and social biases, especially related to status and groups
- tribalism, along with power and conflict considerations that rely on cost-benefit analysis.