Did you see or hear about the Taos chase? What do you know? Could it be that we know less than we think we do? Might we consider this…On November 20, 2013, President Obama, awarded the Medal of Freedom
A dashboard-mounted camera captures a routine pullover. The driver of a mini-van was clocked in at seventy-one miles per hour. As directed, she stops. The policeman approaches the vehicle with only a ticket-in-hand and a request. Pay the fine or sign the citation. If you chose to appeal and appear in court you need to do so within the next thirty days. For the first few minutes a viewer could think this is dull and dreary, but then, suddenly everything changes. The mom speeds off, the police pursues, and wham, bam, children scream, a baton breaks windows. What happened? People made decisions.
How? Why? There is more here than meets the eye. There are two people who believe that they know what they see and see what they know. And that is where Professor Kahneman comes in.
The Princeton University Professor Emeritus and Psychologist Daniel Kahneman, PhD, has devoted his life to the study of how and why we make decisions, and the effect of our decisions on behaviors, his, her, and yours. For instance, what would occur if the overwhelmed minivan driver was far from home, had five children in the car and decided to run, if she put her foot on the accelerator pedal and took off in the dust? Would the officer chase her? Might his blood boil? Would he worry that the erratic driver might get away, do harm to her herself, her family or a stranger? Or could it be that were she to flee…but why would she? Why indeed. We do not know what each of these individuals thinks, but we can be sure that the two of these people have told themselves a story and will act based on it. However, as Professor Kahneman says, “We have a very narrow view of what is going on,” and “What you see is all there is [WYSIATI]” It is only upon reflection that we might reconsider what we did and ask ourselves why.
The Tennessee mom who drove through Taos will tell her story [See below.] The police officer will tell his. As you watch the dash-cam recording you too will construct a tale and tell it, as this is. Do you recall the mother’s speed and her mad dash from the scene? Did you believe that literally and figuratively she left the police officer in the dust. Is it true that she would not pay the traffic ticket, sign the citation or meet with the judge that day? Did the mother of five children pushed the pedal to metal and speed off reaching speeds of near 100 miles per hour? Have you heard the reports, read the papers, are you sure that you saw as you think you did?
Professor Kahneman reminds us that we tend to like people, at least some of them. We believe people, people that we like and trust. We believe what they say. If we do not like people we will not believe what they say. Do you believe that a chase ensued, sirens blared only after the woman speed away from refusing to sign the citation or are you only sure that the policeman went wild? The question is what do you know and what do you believe?
Were you aware that the woman was pulled over twice within minutes, and if you were, does that change your opinion about what occurred? How did you feel when the officer approached the van the first time, or the second time? Did you see, hear, or believe that the speeding mom said she would not sign the citation or do you better recall that see said she would, later, maybe…it depends what you believe. It may seem obvious to you, or perhaps only to me, the Tennessee mom had one of those moments that President Barack Obama spoke of during the Medal of Freedom ceremony.
Now, all of us have moments when we look back and wonder, “What the heck was I thinking?” I have that — (laughter) — quite a bit.
As she flew through the air the mother might have asked herself as the President did. ‘What was I thinking?” From what occurred we can surmise it was too late. The cycle had begun: cause and effect, as well as the affect of each of these…we make decisions. These are the cause. Others respond, and we feel the effect of our choices. In turn, we respond to their responses and ultimately all is affected, or so we might believe. As the President then went on to explain this is why we need to know a man like Psychologist Daniel Kahneman.
He has made that simple question his life’s work. In a storied career…he basically invented the study of human decision-making. He’s helped us to understand everything from behavioral economics to “Does living in California make people happy?” It’s an interesting question. He’s also been called an expert on irrational behavior — so I’m sure that he could shed some light on Washington. (Laughter.)…[H]e’s still discovering new insights into how we think and learn, not just so we understand each other, but so we can work and live together more effectively.
Possibly we can only assess the accounts. At present, Americans feel disconnected in a connected world. Today, people feel lonely, even when with other individuals. Ostensibly, we understand each other or work and live well together – in truth, we barely know who the other is. We are seen as a speeding mom, a cop with a ticket to give. We are Black, white, or a person of color. We are mixed together and mixed in our feelings toward each other. How might these feelings affect our decisions and why might this be important today? Please consider again the circumstances of this mom of five children. She is in a state far away from home, aware of the reality that no one knows her least of all the cop who stands before her or the jurist who might decide her fate. Then contemplate the cop and the ensuing crisis. He cannot control the situation; yet, he has been led to believe that control or patrol is his career.
The two come together one day in October. And crash, boom, bam, and bang! A collision of decisions. Why? Well let us look at the encounter, again and again. See the emotions, his, hers, and ours, and consider the decisions made and also the people.
There’s a lot of randomness in the decisions that people make. ~ Daniel Kahneman
The mom and the policeman know what they see. And that is all there is. As observers we are no different. We too are characters in this story. We each think or think the other thinks that they are an outsider, alone – or at least the possibility persists.
The officer is unaccompanied. The Tennessee mom too might believe that she is by herself. Oh she has her children with her as she travels down a near deserted Taos highway but still she is the one confronted with decision. Will she trust the transaction and the man with a ticket or will she – what? We do not know other than what we think we see.
From appearances we might conclude that neither the officer or the mom is as the elderly are. There is no visible reason for us to think that either might feel more fragile. Could it be that each may think themselves poor and therefore less able to face unexpected consequences? We do not know or do we. What do you see and what do you think? Was discrimination at play or is blindness the issue?
We’re blind to our blindness. We have very little idea of how little we know. We’re not designed to know how little we know. ~ Daniel Kahneman
A Black mom, a white man, and we, whoever we might be.
Perhaps it is time to forget the drama and see more than the celebrities. Could it be that the President was right when he asked us to reflect on the work and words of a less well-known professor?
After a crisis we tell ourselves we understand why it happened and maintain the illusion that the world is understandable. In fact, we should accept the world is incomprehensible much of the time. ~ Daniel Kahneman
References and Resources…
- President Obama to award Medal of Freedom to Kahneman. American Psychological Association. October 2013, Vol 44, No. 9
- Transcript of Obama’s Remarks at the Medal of Freedom Ceremony. The Wall Street Journal. November 20, 2013
- The Lethality of Loneliness, By Judith Shulevitz. The New Republic. May 13, 2013
© copyright 2013 Betsy L. Angert
Please view the video and read the mothers letter. Then you decide what you think, but be aware, decision-making is not necessarily reasonable, rational, nor is it fully in your control.
‘Injustice at its best:’ Mother writes about encounter with police in Taos
Editor’s note: Oriana Farrell, of Tennessee, submitted a hand-written op-ed piece shortly after her arrest via an acquaintance. The Taos News does not publish op-ed pieces on open legal cases. But given the national attention given her case, in which a state police officer shot at her vehicle as she fled a traffic stop, we have decide to publish it unedited.
After witnessing uniformed police officers fire shots at a van carrying my five children, I have learned that the value of their lives only matters so much as criminal charges against me are concerned. A uniformed officer can shoot three bullets at my van and be considered to be “doing his job”, but my doing what I can to get my own children away from such a terrifying individual has been termed “child abuse” and “endangerment,” according to New Mexico law.
An officer can use a baton to smash a glass window directly into the faces of my four young sons who were riding in the backseat, but somehow my attempts to protect them from further harm are dismissed because the perpetrator wore an official “state uniform,” and has been hired to “protect and serve.” The media has been given authority to defame my character and to erroneously report partial facts pertaining to my case because an officer of the law was said to be “doing his job.” Injustice at its best.
For the past 16 years of my life, I have devoted my everyday to parenting and to educating my wonderful children. Anyone who knows me will tell you this. I graduated my daughter from high school at the age of 15 as her home educator. I have educated all five of my children for the duration of their educational journey. I have shaped my entire life around their well-being.
Serving and protecting them is something that I do naturally — without pay. Being a “peace officer” is who and what I have been out of my obligation and responsibility as a parent. Law enforcement — I do that too within our unit every day.
As a single, African-American mother of five in this country, things are tough enough I should not have to endure harassment at the hands of someone who has been hired to protect the citizens of this land over an alleged “speeding offense.” No one should.
As a tourist who came to Taos, New Mexico, with the intention of supporting the wonderful sights and offerings of this city, I should not sit in jail right now for continuing to do the best by my children as their mother.
There are hundreds of people across the world who can attest to the great commitment I have to the health, well-being, and safety of my children. I am considered a mothering mentor to many, and a model parent to most.
This realization did not come at the hands of my incarceration, this is the reality of my life. So much so, that even in the Taos Adult Detention Center, the women view me as an encouraging mother/sister figure who loves on and cares about even those who society unfairly casts aside. I write none of these things to pat myself on the back, rather to paint a true and accurate picture of who I really am — not what a system that knows nothing about me portrays me to be.
Ask the superintendent of Memphis City Schools who I am. Or you can inquire about my person from the many Memphis City Police chaplains that I have worked alongside in various capacities. You can always speak with the families of the homeschool groups that I have run, as well as the many community service agencies I have worked and implemented programs with. Any number of these individuals will tell you that I am a most loving, caring and peaceful person who helps others daily, and that my own children are at the top of that list.
I hope that someone reads this editorial and comes to know more about the real me, and not the one misportrayed and demonized by the Taos media. I hope that someone takes the time to think about how this ordeal is affecting myself, and most importantly my children. They do not deserve this and neither do I.
I hope that the city of Taos chooses to be fair in judgment of this situation, and that a light be shed on the true injustices of this horrifying nightmare.
Finally, I speak a word of peace to the officers and other officials involved. It is my prayer that your families never be made to endure that which mine has, as a result of this terrible situation. May you never be put in a position to protect your children from your “own kind.”
—Oriana Farrell
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