On the epistemology and ethics of communicating a Cartesian consciousness

Researchers have made situation awareness into a researchable, scientific concept and generated practical progress mainly by modeling it on a natural-scientific ideal of empiricism and positivism. Crucially, in the manner of Cartesian dualism, it assumes that the world is objectively available and apprehensible, and can be compared to the internal corresponding mirror (the SA) of it. This has involved epistemological and ethical sacrifices. Most importantly, people now get blamed for losing SA. This happens in research, investigations, media and judicial contexts, where in hindsight it is pointed out that their “mind” did not get the crucial bits of “matter” that were supposedly available to them.

► To study situation awareness, researchers have mainly used a natural science model.
► This sees the world as objectively available, against which awareness can be contrasted.
► This tends to reduce human performance explanations to mental mechanisms.
► All these assumptions involve epistemological and ethical sacrifices.
► “Loss of situation awareness” is accordingly used in lay contexts to judge performance.