Just as human minds are vulnerable to optical and auditory illusions, we also have regular, predictable, remarkable flaws in the ways we predict events, handle statistical data and uncertainty, remember our own lives, anticipate what will make us happy, assess information, and so forth. These cognitive illusions are only recently undergoing rigorous exploration, and [a:Daniel Kahneman|72401|Daniel Kahneman|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1615917414p2/72401.jpg] is one of the top names in the field.

In [b:Thinking Fast and Slow|11468377|Thinking, Fast and Slow|Daniel Kahneman|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1317793965l/11468377.SX50.jpg|16402639], Kahneman introduces his model for understanding these illusions. Roughly: people have two cognitive systems for evaluating information and making decisions -- System 1 and System 2. System 1 is fast, intuitive, subconscious, and automatic, but is prone to some easily-exploitable biases and illusions. System 2 is slow, must be deliberately invoked, is conscious, and is sapping of mental energy; while it can fill in some of the gaps where System 1 fails, it has some blind spots of its own, and can be over-reliant on the snap judgments of System 1 as the basis for its own decisions.

The marketing and propaganda industries are of course eagerly studying this new research into the various ways in which they can trick us into parting with more of our resources or doing more of their bidding while receiving less in return. We, the intended victims, are much slower to educate ourselves. Perhaps books like this will help.

Added caveat (June 2016): jasoncollins.org/2016/06/29/re-reading-kahnemans-thinking-fast-and-slow/

Added caveat (May 2021): replicationindex.com/2020/12/30/a-meta-scientific-perspective-on-thinking-fast-and-slow/