Misbelief by Dr. Dan Ariely

Author:Dr. Dan Ariely
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2023-08-09T00:00:00+00:00

Looking at the four images below, which bicycle best shows the usual position of the pedals? (please circle your answer)

Looking at the four images below, which bicycle best shows the usual position of the chain? (please circle your answer)

See the correct orientation of the parts of the bike below. How well did you do? _______________________________________________________________

Now that you have an example of how a bicycle really looks, add up your score:

In your answer to question 5, is the frame in the correct spot? (1 point if it is)

In your answer to question 5, are the pedals in the correct spot? (1 point if they are)

In your answer to question 5, is the chain in the correct spot? (1 point if it is)

Is your answer to question 6 correct? (1 point if it is)

Is your answer to question 7 correct? (1 point if it is)

Is your answer to question 8 correct? (1 point if it is)

Total Score: ______ /6 points

After completing the exercise, ask yourself questions 3 and 4 again:

3 (Updated). Do you understand how a bicycle works? Yes/No

4 (Updated). How well do you understand how a bicycle works? (using a scale from 0 = not sure at all, to 100 = understand it perfectly well): _____

Write down your responses to these questions in the table below:

Response Before Exercise Response After Exercise

3. Understanding (Yes/No)

4. Understanding (0–100)

To what extent did you change your mind? (using a scale from 0 = not at all, to 100 = very much) ________________

To what extent do you think there are other things in your daily environment that you thought you understood but now you are not so sure? (using a scale from 0 = there must be many other things that I overestimate how much I understand, to 100 = I don’t think there is anything else that I overestimate how much I understand) ________________

You may have found the test above revealing. Or maybe not. Perhaps you are an expert bicycle mechanic. Perhaps you enlisted the help of the internet. Perhaps you made a detour to your garage to remind yourself what bicycles look like. So let’s take a look at the results of a real experiment that was carried out under controlled conditions, using the same basic approach.

Leonid Rozenblit and Frank Keil set out to explore the illusion of explanatory depth: the human tendency to intuitively feel that we understand complex phenomena much more deeply and precisely than we actually do. To begin, the researchers gave participants a list of forty-eight common objects, processes, and natural phenomena ranging from can openers to livers to photocopiers to presidential elections. The participants were asked to go through the list and rate their level of understanding of each on a scale of 1 to 7, 1 being the lowest level of understanding and 7 being the highest. Then they were asked to take four of those items (selected by the researchers) and write a detailed, step-by-step causal explanation of how they worked. For example, a participant might be asked to give a detailed description of how a flush toilet, a helicopter, or a sewing machine works.

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