The Edge Of A Chocolate Chip Cookie, The Creation Of Navajo Rugs, And Hostage Negotiators: Why Imperfection And 'Extreme Humanity' Should Be Your Creative Secret Weapon - Not AI
The 3-Word Quote: ‘Perfection Isn’t Pleasing’
*originally posted on 12/23/23
1.
You are likely very busy this time of year.
Lots of rushing around, finishing work projects, running last-minute errands, and perhaps a night or two of holiday baking.
In some households and businesses, baking leads to contests—gingerbread-building competitions and cookie-making contests to see who might be crowned champion.
But it was one cookie contest held years ago that psychologist Adam Ferrier conducted that you should be aware of - even if baking isn't your thing.
This contest was a psychological study, not an actual baking contest. It was a simple study, and the results went unpublished.
However, the results are still widely discussed.
Ferrier took two nearly identical cookies and placed them side by side.
He then gathered 626 study participants and asked each participant one question: which of the two cookies do you prefer?
It was a simple study and a simple question.
Look at the cookie and select the one that looks the best.
It was a simple study, but the results were surprising.
Sixty-six percent of the participants clearly liked one of the cookies over the other.
It was a convincing victory for one of the cookies.
However, it was the reason that the winning cookie won that was the surprise.
And it should be a lesson for anyone who creates anything.
2.
Navajo weaving has been around for hundreds of years.
Traditional Navajo crafts and designs are widely respected and admired as the craftsmanship is phenomenal.
Known primarily for their weaving skills, workers worldwide copy these Navajo designs.
The traditional designs often display geometric patterns that reflect nature and contain earth colors and vivid patterns.
Among weavers, the Navajo are considered among the best.
However, despite centuries of practice, most designs are not considered perfect.
In fact, if you examine the rugs and tapestries closely, you'll find flaws in most of them.
What's unusual is that these slight flaws were created by design.
They were done purposely.
But why would master craftsmen and women purposely incorporate mistakes in their work?
3.
Leslie Edwards' occupation doesn't deal with chocolate chip cookies or beautiful textiles.
His job certainly involves something other than baking or weaving.
But it still might be considered an art.
Edwards is a hostage negotiator.
A former British Army officer, Edwards has helped negotiate the release of hostages worldwide, including aid workers, journalists, oil company executives, and children of wealthy business owners.
These life-or-death situations can take weeks or months to be resolved - and they take skill.
Kidnappings by criminal organizations occur frequently enough that the insurance industry has a subspecialty called K & R.
K & R stands for Kidnapping and Ransom, and according to a Guardian article, seventy-five percent of Fortune 500 companies pay for K & R insurance policies.
Ninety-seven percent of kidnappings are handled by professional negotiators and are resolved through ransom payment.
Less than one percent of people kidnapped by criminal organizations are killed.
However, in these negotiations, Edwards says there are rules to abide by.
Most negotiations are dictated by common sense guidelines, such as being cordial and professional, finding a middle ground, and not letting emotion take over.
But Edwards says there is one rule that always comes first before the actual negotiations can begin.
This first rule isn't surprising.
And if you're in a creative field, it's a rule you should apply to your work, too.
The Takeaway:
So what does a study comparing two similar chocolate chip cookies, mistakes in Navajo rugs, and a hostage negotiator have in common?
All relate to what artists and creatives need to remember in the incoming age of AI - and always.
Showing humanity and flaws is often crucial to creative work.
Let me explain.
Adam Ferrier's study showed two near-identical cookies to 626 people and asked them to select their favorite.
But the cookies weren't identical - they were nearly identical.
The only difference between the two cookies was that one had a rough, slightly bumpy edge to the cookie.
The other cookie had a perfectly round, smooth edge.
Participants had a simple choice: choose between a 'perfect' cookie and one with a bumpy, rough edge.
And one won convincingly.
And it wasn't the perfect cookie.
Two-thirds of the people selected the cookie that wasn't perfect.
In fact, it was the cookie's imperfections that bolstered the cookie's appeal.
Ferrier determined that people purposely picked the flawed cookie because it looked homemade—it looked like it could have been baked in your house, in your kitchen, perhaps even as part of a family cookie-baking contest.
In short, the bumpy-edged cookie looked like it had been made by a person. It looked homemade—it wreaked of humanity.
And that matters to consumers.
And it should be important to creatives and businesses (ask Coca-Cola, which received much backlash over its AI-produced holiday commercial).
In a year when artificial intelligence has disrupted so many fields, when so many online classes promise to perfect and improve one's work with AI, and when perfection is being peddled perpetually, people still prefer products created by people.
Because perfection can be a turn-off. In most things, perfection isn't pleasing.
In fact, people will often choose imperfection. But the imperfections they desire are flaws that show humanity.
We don't search out imperfections regarding critical issues. We don't desire inferior products, but we do desire art made by people.
The cookie study has been replicated multiple times and is an example of a bias known as the 'Pratfall Effect.'
The Pratfall Effect is psychologist Elliot Aronson's study that filmed an actor answering quiz questions.
The actor was given the answers and answered most of the questions correctly.
But after answering the questions, Aronson asked the actor to make it look like he was clumsy and to spill a cup of coffee on himself.
The spilling of his coffee - this purposeful act was his 'pratfall.'
After filming the actor, Aronson showed the video to a large group of students who were 'sectioned into cells.'
The students watched different versions of the film - one showed the actor spilling the coffee on himself; the other video did not.
Aronson then asked students which film the students liked better.
Students greatly preferred the actor when he spilled the coffee.
People empathized with the actor's mistake.
They connected with his humanity, not his perfection.
As one author said, maybe businesses and creators should 'flaunt their flaws' - studies clearly show this works.
***
And what of Navajo rugs?
These master weavers, in a way, flaunt their flaws.
Their rugs aren't perfect on purpose.
Perhaps understanding the Pratfall effect before it even had a name, the flaws in the rugs were not done for commercial purposes but were included to demonstrate their core beliefs.
The Navajo believe that only God is perfect, so imperfection is often 'baked' into their art to show their humanity.
They have learned to "abandon this rigid and obsessive behavior and embrace the concept of imperfection."
These imperfections are often minor and don't detract from the function or beauty. But the flaws are a reminder of our humanity.
And humans are never flawless.
Japan's concept of wabi-sabi, where imperfections are a vital component and are highlighted, is similar to Navajo beliefs.
***
Leslie Edwards is a hostage negotiator.
Nothing goes perfect in his world. Each situation and negotiation is different.
But he demands one thing from the hostage takers before his negotiations start.
And it's simple.
Edwards' rule: "Make sure they're alive first."
In other words, Edwards requires 'proof of life.'
He needs to know the hostage is unharmed and alive before proceeding with negotiations.
When AI offers to write 'flawless' work and create 'perfect' art for you, there will be consumers who demand the opposite of you.
These people will demand 'proof of life' in your work.
These consumers will require proof that there is a human behind the art and products - not just in writing prompts for programs, but in the actual work and creation of the object.
AI will continue to transform most industries. It will likely change your job or make it easier in some capacity. This is not debatable.
It will help make things quicker and more ‘perfect’. But don't mistake this for helping you improve your craft.
With all the promise of artificial intelligence, never forget empathy and humanity can’t be outsourced.
Because in the world of artists, and writers, and painters, and weavers, people will eventually 'yearn to see your humanity' - flaws and all.
3 things before you go:
watch: Coke’s AI commercial; if you don’t think humans crave other humans and their art, read the comments below the commercial on Youtube
watch: even when most of their commercials get it right - sometimes humans get it wrong - especially when the commercial comes across against using the tools of great artists
listen: ‘loud, brash, and joyous’ ; covered by multiple artists and appeared in several films; the screams in back are of the producer who wanted to make it sound like the singer was in a bar; turn up the volume
Thanks for reading.
-Jeff