Richard Feynman famously said, “The first principle is that you must not fool yourself, and you are the easiest person to fool.” Better thinking requires that we recognize the limits of our knowledge and the ways we deceive ourselves.
You are the easiest person to fool If there’s one form of evidence most of us value above all others, it’s our experiences. After all, our senses don’t lie. Others’ experiences are almost as good, especially […]
Four Ways Your Personal Experiences Can Lead You Astray Read More »
Cognitive Dissonance, Motivated Reasoning, and Confirmation Bias Dorothy Martin awoke early one morning in her suburban Chicago home. Her whole arm was tingling. She didn’t know why, but she picked up a pencil next to her
The Person Who Lies To You The Most… Is You Read More »
A long time ago six blind men lived in a village in India. The men had heard stories about elephants from the other villagers, and they were very curious. One day the villagers arranged for the
The blind men and the elephant: Is perception reality? Read More »
The Dunning-Kruger effect explains why stupid people think they’re amazing On a sunny day in 1995, a man walked into a Pittsburgh bank. He smiled at the security cameras, pointed a gun at the cashiers, and
Overconfident Idiots: Why Incompetence Breeds Certainty Read More »
