The Knowledge Illusion

Why We Never Think Alone

296 pages

English language

Published July 29, 2017

ISBN:
978-0-399-18435-2
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OCLC Number:
952154258

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4 stars (3 reviews)

We all think we know more than we actually do.

Humans have built hugely complex societies and technologies, but most of us don’t even know how a pen or a toilet works. How have we achieved so much despite understanding so little? Cognitive scientists Steven Sloman and Philip Fernbach argue that we survive and thrive despite our mental shortcomings because we live in a rich community of knowledge. The key to our intelligence lies in the people and things around us. We’re constantly drawing on information and expertise stored outside our heads: in our bodies, our environment, our possessions, and the community with which we interact—and usually we don’t even realize we’re doing it.

The human mind is both brilliant and pathetic. We have mastered fire, created democratic institutions, stood on the moon, and sequenced our genome. And yet each of us is error prone, sometimes irrational, and often ignorant. …

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Review of 'The knowledge illusion' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

A bat and ball cost $1.10. The bat costs one dollar more than the ball. How much does the ball cost?

This question appears on Yale Marketing Professor Shane Frederick's CRT--"Cognitive Reflection Test." He found it in a book of riddles. (Collaborating!--he needn't create his own questions from scratch!) Those getting it and two other similar questions right are, we're told, in the minority. The CRT distinguishes people who like to reflect before they answer from those who just answer with the first thing that comes to mind.

I had no trouble with the bat and ball problem nor with the other two, not necessarily because I "like to reflect." But because I'd seen it before (as well as the other two!) In fact, I saw it most recently in [b:The Enigma of Reason|32336635|The Enigma of Reason|Hugo Mercier|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1488567927l/32336635.SY75.jpg|52973807]. And before that in [b:Thinking, Fast and Slow|11468377|Thinking, …

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Subjects

  • Sociology of Knowledge
  • Thought and thinking