Bad Assed Trader: My latest fascination relating to trading is whether I am fully using my "free will" to trade.
One would like to think so.
But all is not what it seems in respect to human behaviour.
Wikipedia defines free will as:
"Free will is the ability of agents to make choices free from certain kinds of constraints."
I then forgot where I had read the article so did a bit of googling and found this fascinating short Youtube video on Free Will which demonstrates exactly what the article was saying.
In my research on the topic I also came across this really absorbing article in the New York Times which has stimulated my thought no end. As a psychology graduate and soon-to-be qualified coach I have a more than passing interest in this anyway, let alone how it relates to trading.
I have an emerging hypothesis which I'd like to start to relate here.
Evidence points to decisions being made first in the subconscious mind. Logic would suggest that if decisions originate there then thoughts also originate there as you would expect thoughts to precede decisions. Otherwise, what would be the point of thoughts if not to guide decisions?
Psychological study has long understood that people are primarily driven and motivated by deep seated needs (or urges). These needs come before the thoughts and before the decisions - they are the first step in the process of any action we take.
At their most basic they are clearly physical - the need for air, water, food and warmth. Maslow set out a hierarchy of needs in a pyramid (see left) and the basic needs are at the bottom.
So our need for air generates our action to breathe. The thoughts and decisions concerning breathing are generally taken subconsciously. Conscious thought does not come into it unless we wish to veto the decision to breathe and hold our breath. We cannot consciously override this deep seated need though because in the end our subconscious takes over and forces us to breathe.
As we work up the pyramid we believe we have more choice over whether, how and when we meet these needs. We are also more influenced by our environment and upbringing in these choices - ways of acknowledging respect differs across cultures for example.
So we start with the need which drives or motivates us to find a way to meet it. Latest research in neuroscience (watch that Youtube video and read that NYT article) is now showing us that our subconscious mind starts that process of meeting a need with something that could be described as a "perception of motion". This means the subconscious mind has an idea as to how to meet that need and perceives the answer.
Whilst needs are always real and valid (because they are simply needed - no choice or interpretation is involved), the ideas generated as to how to meet them are sometimes inefficient. For example, someone who needs respect might hit another person thinking that will gain respect. This might not be the most efficient and effective way to gain that person's respect. These ideas from the subconscious are the result of learning, mainly as a child when we form our understanding of the world around us and how it works.
So the subconscious generates this idea and the conscious mind becomes aware just before execution, perceiving the decision as made and then witnesses the execution of the act as though it was controlling it. According to the NYT article and information on Wiki, our conscious has the power of veto. This means it can receive the proposal to act from the subconscious and then reflect on it, consider it more fully and then decide against it. This is considered to be where "free will" is applied, through conscious thought, where people believe they have resisted their urges or some predetermined destiny that's written into their DNA or fate or whatever.
But I'm not so sure.
I do believe we have free will but I don't believe it is generated by the conscious mind. If decisions originate in the subconscious then all thoughts could be expected to originate there and so it is in the subconscious mind that free will resides. Our conscious mind is simply overhearing, if you like, the thoughts and decisions the subconscious is considering and making. Consciousness is just awareness: awareness of thinking, deciding, doing and perceiving. I don't think I'm out of kilter here considering the definition I found on Wiki:
"Consciousness is a term that refers to the relationship between the mind and the world with which it interacts."
So if we want to trade using free will and our free will resides in our subconscious/unconscious mind then it is our subconscious mind that must be trained to trade and to wish to use its free will (free from the influence of deep rooted emotions) when doing so.
I have some ideas that I am experimenting with on myself to train my subconscious to direct my trading more effectively and will let you know of positive outcomes as they unfold...
One would like to think so.
But all is not what it seems in respect to human behaviour.
Wikipedia defines free will as:
"Free will is the ability of agents to make choices free from certain kinds of constraints."
I recently read that scientists had carried out research which allowed them to predict a decision people were going to make 6-7 seconds before the person had actually made the decision....or should I say was aware of the decision they had made. The conclusion was that the subconscious (or unconscious mind as many prefer to define it) makes our decisions before we are aware of them and then informs the conscious part of our brain which thinks it has made the decision all by itself.
I then forgot where I had read the article so did a bit of googling and found this fascinating short Youtube video on Free Will which demonstrates exactly what the article was saying.
In my research on the topic I also came across this really absorbing article in the New York Times which has stimulated my thought no end. As a psychology graduate and soon-to-be qualified coach I have a more than passing interest in this anyway, let alone how it relates to trading.
I have an emerging hypothesis which I'd like to start to relate here.
Evidence points to decisions being made first in the subconscious mind. Logic would suggest that if decisions originate there then thoughts also originate there as you would expect thoughts to precede decisions. Otherwise, what would be the point of thoughts if not to guide decisions?
 |
| Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs |
At their most basic they are clearly physical - the need for air, water, food and warmth. Maslow set out a hierarchy of needs in a pyramid (see left) and the basic needs are at the bottom.
So our need for air generates our action to breathe. The thoughts and decisions concerning breathing are generally taken subconsciously. Conscious thought does not come into it unless we wish to veto the decision to breathe and hold our breath. We cannot consciously override this deep seated need though because in the end our subconscious takes over and forces us to breathe.
As we work up the pyramid we believe we have more choice over whether, how and when we meet these needs. We are also more influenced by our environment and upbringing in these choices - ways of acknowledging respect differs across cultures for example.
So we start with the need which drives or motivates us to find a way to meet it. Latest research in neuroscience (watch that Youtube video and read that NYT article) is now showing us that our subconscious mind starts that process of meeting a need with something that could be described as a "perception of motion". This means the subconscious mind has an idea as to how to meet that need and perceives the answer.
Whilst needs are always real and valid (because they are simply needed - no choice or interpretation is involved), the ideas generated as to how to meet them are sometimes inefficient. For example, someone who needs respect might hit another person thinking that will gain respect. This might not be the most efficient and effective way to gain that person's respect. These ideas from the subconscious are the result of learning, mainly as a child when we form our understanding of the world around us and how it works.
So the subconscious generates this idea and the conscious mind becomes aware just before execution, perceiving the decision as made and then witnesses the execution of the act as though it was controlling it. According to the NYT article and information on Wiki, our conscious has the power of veto. This means it can receive the proposal to act from the subconscious and then reflect on it, consider it more fully and then decide against it. This is considered to be where "free will" is applied, through conscious thought, where people believe they have resisted their urges or some predetermined destiny that's written into their DNA or fate or whatever.
But I'm not so sure.
I do believe we have free will but I don't believe it is generated by the conscious mind. If decisions originate in the subconscious then all thoughts could be expected to originate there and so it is in the subconscious mind that free will resides. Our conscious mind is simply overhearing, if you like, the thoughts and decisions the subconscious is considering and making. Consciousness is just awareness: awareness of thinking, deciding, doing and perceiving. I don't think I'm out of kilter here considering the definition I found on Wiki:
"Consciousness is a term that refers to the relationship between the mind and the world with which it interacts."
This reflects well my own line of thought which is that consciousness is just awareness of the world, including what we are perceiving, thinking and doing in our subconscious. We (the bit of us that feels, wants, thinks, aspires, plans, decides, regrets, loves and hates) are our subconscious really.
The Oxford English dictionary defines conscious as "aware and responding to one's surroundings".
The conscious mind is the aware mind.
Experienced traders stress the need to be self aware, to recognise when feelings like greed and fear are starting to influence your trading and to refrain from trading until you are aware that you are back in control, ready to trade without emotion - trading what you see not what you think or feel or want. Trading with free will.
So if we want to trade using free will and our free will resides in our subconscious/unconscious mind then it is our subconscious mind that must be trained to trade and to wish to use its free will (free from the influence of deep rooted emotions) when doing so.
I have some ideas that I am experimenting with on myself to train my subconscious to direct my trading more effectively and will let you know of positive outcomes as they unfold...
 |
| Unleashing the power within... |
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