by Allen Cardoza
Allen Cardoza and Dr. Melody Foxx discussed the common illusions and misperceptions that we are all prone to believing in with Daniel Simons on LA Talk Radio.
The new book by Simons, a Professor of Psychology at Beckman Institute, University of Illinois, focuses on the illusions of attention, memory, confidence, knowledge, causality, and consequences. Simons co-authored The Invisible Gorilla with Chris Chabris. The premise of the book is that we neither see nor remember things as clearly as we believe we do.
Using dozens of real-world stories and pop-culture examples backed by clever experiments, the authors illustrate how we continually get things wrong, and how we have to recognize that we only have a limited amount of mental resources available to use at any particular time.
Our minds don’t always work the way we think they do. Although, we often think we see ourselves and the world as they really are, we’re actually missing a whole lot. It’s a good thing to be less sure of yourself sometimes, noted Simons. In The Invisible Gorilla, the authors use a wide assortment of stories and counterintuitive scientific findings to illustrate our common misperceptions.
Combining the work of other researchers with their own findings, the authors talk about how flaws in our attention, perception, memory, and reasoning arise They also reveal how faulty intuitions often get us into trouble.
Again and again, Simons explained, we think we experience and understand the world as it is, but our thoughts are beset by everyday illusions. We write traffic laws and build criminal cases on the assumption that people will notice when something unusual happens right in front of them.
The Invisible Gorilla reveals the numerous ways that our intuitions can deceive us, but the book is more than a catalog of human failings. It also provides a comprehensive explanation as to why people succumb to these everyday illusions and what people can do to see the world more accurately.
Looking to find out more about The Invisible Gorilla, then visit www.answersforthefamily.com
