Aphorism #2: Red Decks, Red Decks Everywhere

A philosophy of humour

The Iowa Gambling Task is a rarity: a (successfully) replicated psychological experiment. In the “task”, subjects draw cards from four decks — two red, two blue. Each card financially rewards or punishes. The catch: the red decks are duds — stick to them and you’ll always lose. The question: how long before subjects figure it out.

Turns out, 50 cards. But — not consciously. After 50 cards test subjects can tell you the blue decks are better; it takes another 30 before they can articulate why. The gap between unconscious knowledge and conscious knowledge: 30 cards.

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A Jungian way of thinking about the Iowa Gambling Task from (Jung’s heir to the Jungian throne) Marie Louise von Franz:

“To know if one has an inflation, a person has only to see if he or she gets on other people's