- See Also
-
Links
- “Is Political Extremism Supported by an Illusion of Understanding?”, 2022
- “The Illusion of Stable Fertility Preferences”, Et Al 2022
- “The Extreme Illusion of Understanding”, Et Al 2022
- “Illusory Feelings, Elusive Habits: People Overlook Habits in Explanations of Behavior”, 2022
- “Widespread Misperceptions of Long-term Attitude Change”, 2022
- “The Insights Psychedelics Give You Aren’t Always True: The Study of False—sober—insights Teaches Us to Be Wary of Accepting Every Realization from Psychedelic Trips without Critical Thinking”, 2022
- “The Human Black-Box: The Illusion of Understanding Human Better Than Algorithmic Decision-Making”, Et Al 2022
- “Irrelevant Insights Make Worldviews Ring True”, Et Al 2022
- “Getting a Grip on Insight: Real-time and Embodied Aha Experiences Predict Correct Solutions”, Et Al 2021
- “Genes, Ideology, and Sophistication”, 2021
- “What Causes the Insight Memory Advantage?”, 2020
- “Dramatic Changes to Well-known Places Go Unnoticed”, Et Al 2020
- “Why Humans Totally Freak Out When They Get Lost: People Really Do Circle past the Same Tree over and over Again—it Doesn’t Just Happen in Movies”, 2020
- “The Dark Side of Eureka: Artificially Induced Aha Moments Make Facts Feel True”, Et Al 2020
- “Measuring Actual Learning versus Feeling of Learning in Response to Being Actively Engaged in the Classroom”, Et Al 2019
- “The Generative Adversarial Brain”, 2019
- “The Devil’s in The G–tails: Deficient Letter-shape Knowledge and Awareness despite Massive Visual Experience”, Et Al 2018
- “15 Years of Research on Redirected Walking in Immersive Virtual Environments”, Et Al 2018
- “Memory and Availability-biased Metacognitive Illusions for Flags of Varying Familiarity”
- “The Perceptual and Phenomenal Capacity of Mental Imagery”, 2017
- “Magicians Fix Your Mind: How Unlikely Solutions Block Obvious Ones”, 2016
- “Two Mechanisms of Constructive Recollection: Perceptual Recombination and Conceptual Fluency”, Et Al 2016
- “Intuitive Feelings of Warmth and Confidence in Insight and Non-insight Problem Solving of Magic Tricks”, Et Al 2016
- “When People Remember Dreams They Never Experienced: A Study of the Malleability of Dream Recall over Time”, Beaulieu-2015
- “The Spacing Effect and Metacognitive Control”
- “Political Extremism Is Supported by an Illusion of Understanding”
- “Self-Regulated Learning: Beliefs, Techniques, and Illusions”
- “Cavemen Were Better at Depicting Quadruped Walking Than Modern Artists: Erroneous Walking Illustrations in the Fine Arts from Prehistory to Today”, Et Al 2012
- “A Century of Imagery Research: Reflections on Cheves Perky’s Contribution to Our Understanding of Mental Imagery”, Et Al 2012
- “Teller Reveals His Secrets: The Smaller, Quieter Half of the Magician Duo Penn & Teller Writes about How Magicians Manipulate the Human Mind”, 2012
- “Distributed Learning: Data, Metacognition, and Educational Implications”
- “Design and Validation of the Quantum Mechanics Conceptual Survey”, Et Al 2010
- “Hyper-priming in Cannabis Users: A Naturalistic Study of the Effects of Cannabis on Semantic Memory Function”, Et Al 2010
- “Optimizing Retrieval As a Learning Event: When and Why Expanding Retrieval Practice Enhances Long-term Retention”, Et Al 2010
- “Optimising Learning Using Flashcards: Spacing Is More Effective Than Cramming”, 2009
- “Long-term Memory for the Terrorist Attack of September 11: Flashbulb Memories, Event Memories, and the Factors That Influence Their Retention”, Et Al 2009
- “Applying the Principles of Adult Learning to the Teaching of Psychopharmacology: Overview and Finding the Focus”, 2009
- “Attention and Awareness in Stage Magic: Turning Tricks into Research”, Et Al 2008
- “Knowledge Retention After an Online Tutorial: a Randomized Educational Experiment among Resident Physicians”, Et Al 2008
- “Enhancing Learning and Retarding Forgetting: Choices and Consequences”, Et Al 2007
- “Discovery Misattribution: When Solving Is Confused With Remembering”, 2007
- “The Science of Cycology: Failures to Understand How Everyday Objects Work”, 2006
- “Meta-atheism: Religious Avowal As Self-Deception”, 2004
- “Knowing the Limits of One’s Understanding: The Development of an Awareness of an Illusion of Explanatory Depth”, 2004
- “Folkscience: Coarse Interpretations of a Complex Reality”, 2003
- “Naive Optics: Predicting and Perceiving Reflections in Mirrors”, Et Al 2003
- “Why Did We Think We Dreamed in Black and White?”, 2002
- “Fundamentally Misunderstanding Visual Perception: Adults’ Belief in Visual Emissions”, Et Al 2002
- “Increasing Confidence in Remote Autobiographical Memory and General Knowledge: Extensions of the Revelation Effect”, Et Al 2002
- “The Misunderstood Limits of Folk Science: an Illusion of Explanatory Depth”, 2002
- “Scattered Naive Theories: Why the Human Mind Is Isomorphic to the Internet Web”, 2001
- “The Persistence of a Misconception about Vision After Educational Interventions”, Et Al 2001
- “Metacognition in Motor Learning”
- “How Well Do We Know Our Own Conscious Experience? The Case of Human Echolocation”, 2000
- “Memory for Everyday Objects: Where Are the Digits on Numerical Keypads?”, 1999
- “The Fire That Comes from the Eye”, 1999
- “Impact of Formal Continuing Medical Education: Do Conferences, Workshops, Rounds, and Other Traditional Continuing Education Activities Change Physician Behavior or Health Care Outcomes?”, Davis & Al 1999
- “The Mismeasure of Memory: When Retrieval Fluency Is Misleading As a Meta-mnemonic Index”, Et Al 1998
- “Does CME Work? An Analysis of the Effect of Educational Activities on Physician Performance or Health Care Outcomes”, 1998
- “The Shadows and Shallows of Explanation”, 1998
- “Does Anything Leave the Eye When We See? Extramission Beliefs of Children and Adults”, 1996
- “Conditions Affecting Beliefs about Visual Perception among Children and Adults”, Et Al 1996c
- “Images, Words, and Questions: Variables That Influence Beliefs about Vision in Children and Adults”, Et Al 1996b
- “Beliefs of Children and Adults About Feeling Stares of Unseen Others”, Et Al 1996
- “Does the Sensitivity of Judgments of Learning (JOLs) to the Effects of Various Study Activities Depend on When the JOLs Occur?”
- “How Tracy Austin Broke My Heart”, 1994
- “Memory and Metamemory Considerations in the Training of Human Beings”
- “Development in the Understanding of Perception: The Decline of Extramission Perception Beliefs”, 1994
- “Influence of Animation on Dynamical Judgments”, Et Al 1992
- “Confabulations and the Frontal Systems: Strategic versus Associative Retrieval in Neuropsychological Theories of Memory”, 1989
- “Long-term Memory for a Common Object [a Penny]”, 1979
- “The ‘Feeling of Being Stared At’”, 1898
- “Memory Predictions Are Influenced by Perceptual Information: Evidence for Metacognitive Illusions”
- “Very Long Term Retention of Knowledge”
- “Force Concept Inventory”
- “The Initial Knowledge State of College Physics Students”
- “Causal Understanding Is Not Necessary for the Improvement of Culturally Evolving Technology”
- “Humans Who Are Not Concentrating Are Not General Intelligences”
- Wikipedia
- Miscellaneous
- Link Bibliography
Humans believe they have a rich sensory world with precise memories, deep, detailed, and accurate causal models of how things work, and powerful abstractions—because this is how it feels from the inside.
But when tested on simple tasks like “how do bicycles or eyes work” or “what does a US penny or the letter ‘g’ look like”, this depth proves illusory: many human responses are shallow, incoherent, incomplete, unpredictive, and based on just a few sketchy features. (Much thinking is outsourced to others, the environment, habit, and a lifetime of trial-and-error.)
See Also
Links
“Is Political Extremism Supported by an Illusion of Understanding?”, 2022
“Is political extremism supported by an illusion of understanding?”, 2022-08-01 (; similar)
“The Illusion of Stable Fertility Preferences”, Et Al 2022
“The illusion of stable fertility preferences”, 2022-05-16 (similar)
“The Extreme Illusion of Understanding”, Et Al 2022
“The Extreme Illusion of Understanding”, 2022-04-04 (similar)
“Illusory Feelings, Elusive Habits: People Overlook Habits in Explanations of Behavior”, 2022
“Illusory Feelings, Elusive Habits: People Overlook Habits in Explanations of Behavior”, 2022-03-28 (similar)
“Widespread Misperceptions of Long-term Attitude Change”, 2022
“Widespread misperceptions of long-term attitude change”, 2022-03-07 (; similar; bibliography)
“The Insights Psychedelics Give You Aren’t Always True: The Study of False—sober—insights Teaches Us to Be Wary of Accepting Every Realization from Psychedelic Trips without Critical Thinking”, 2022
“The Insights Psychedelics Give You Aren’t Always True: The study of false—sober—insights teaches us to be wary of accepting every realization from psychedelic trips without critical thinking”, 2022-02-22 (; similar; bibliography)
“The Human Black-Box: The Illusion of Understanding Human Better Than Algorithmic Decision-Making”, Et Al 2022
“The Human Black-Box: The Illusion of Understanding Human Better Than Algorithmic Decision-Making”, 2022-02-10 (; similar)
“Irrelevant Insights Make Worldviews Ring True”, Et Al 2022
“Irrelevant insights make worldviews ring true”, 2022-02-08 (; backlinks; similar; bibliography)
“Getting a Grip on Insight: Real-time and Embodied Aha Experiences Predict Correct Solutions”, Et Al 2021
“Getting a grip on insight: real-time and embodied Aha experiences predict correct solutions”, 2021-04-08 (backlinks; similar)
“Genes, Ideology, and Sophistication”, 2021
“Genes, Ideology, and Sophistication”, 2021-03-08 (; similar)
“What Causes the Insight Memory Advantage?”, 2020
“What causes the insight memory advantage?”, 2020-12 (backlinks; similar)
“Dramatic Changes to Well-known Places Go Unnoticed”, Et Al 2020
“Dramatic changes to well-known places go unnoticed”, 2020-10-31 (similar)
“Why Humans Totally Freak Out When They Get Lost: People Really Do Circle past the Same Tree over and over Again—it Doesn’t Just Happen in Movies”, 2020
“Why Humans Totally Freak Out When They Get Lost: People really do circle past the same tree over and over again—it doesn’t just happen in movies”, 2020-05-13 (similar)
“The Dark Side of Eureka: Artificially Induced Aha Moments Make Facts Feel True”, Et Al 2020
“The dark side of Eureka: Artificially induced Aha moments make facts feel true”, 2020-03 (backlinks; similar; bibliography)
“Measuring Actual Learning versus Feeling of Learning in Response to Being Actively Engaged in the Classroom”, Et Al 2019
“Measuring actual learning versus feeling of learning in response to being actively engaged in the classroom”, 2019-09-04 (; backlinks; similar)
“The Generative Adversarial Brain”, 2019
“The Generative Adversarial Brain”, 2019-07-21 (; similar)
“The Devil’s in The G–tails: Deficient Letter-shape Knowledge and Awareness despite Massive Visual Experience”, Et Al 2018
“The devil’s in the g–tails: Deficient letter-shape knowledge and awareness despite massive visual experience”, 2018-04-02 (similar)
“15 Years of Research on Redirected Walking in Immersive Virtual Environments”, Et Al 2018
“15 Years of Research on Redirected Walking in Immersive Virtual Environments”, 2018-01-12 (; similar)
“Memory and Availability-biased Metacognitive Illusions for Flags of Varying Familiarity”
“The Perceptual and Phenomenal Capacity of Mental Imagery”, 2017
“Magicians Fix Your Mind: How Unlikely Solutions Block Obvious Ones”, 2016
“Magicians fix your mind: How unlikely solutions block obvious ones”, 2016-09-01 (backlinks; similar)
“Two Mechanisms of Constructive Recollection: Perceptual Recombination and Conceptual Fluency”, Et Al 2016
“Two mechanisms of constructive recollection: Perceptual recombination and conceptual fluency”, 2016-01 (similar; bibliography)
“Intuitive Feelings of Warmth and Confidence in Insight and Non-insight Problem Solving of Magic Tricks”, Et Al 2016
“Intuitive Feelings of Warmth and Confidence in Insight and Non-insight Problem Solving of Magic Tricks”, 2016 (backlinks; similar)
“When People Remember Dreams They Never Experienced: A Study of the Malleability of Dream Recall over Time”, Beaulieu-2015
“When people remember dreams they never experienced: A study of the malleability of dream recall over time”, 2015 (; backlinks; similar)
“The Spacing Effect and Metacognitive Control”
“Political Extremism Is Supported by an Illusion of Understanding”
“Self-Regulated Learning: Beliefs, Techniques, and Illusions”
“Cavemen Were Better at Depicting Quadruped Walking Than Modern Artists: Erroneous Walking Illustrations in the Fine Arts from Prehistory to Today”, Et Al 2012
“Cavemen Were Better at Depicting Quadruped Walking than Modern Artists: Erroneous Walking Illustrations in the Fine Arts from Prehistory to Today”, 2012-10-17 (similar)
“A Century of Imagery Research: Reflections on Cheves Perky’s Contribution to Our Understanding of Mental Imagery”, Et Al 2012
“A Century of Imagery Research: Reflections on Cheves Perky’s Contribution to Our Understanding of Mental Imagery”, 2012-09-01 (similar)
“Teller Reveals His Secrets: The Smaller, Quieter Half of the Magician Duo Penn & Teller Writes about How Magicians Manipulate the Human Mind”, 2012
“Teller Reveals His Secrets: The smaller, quieter half of the magician duo Penn & Teller writes about how magicians manipulate the human mind”, 2012-03 (backlinks; similar)
“Distributed Learning: Data, Metacognition, and Educational Implications”
“Design and Validation of the Quantum Mechanics Conceptual Survey”, Et Al 2010
“Design and validation of the Quantum Mechanics Conceptual Survey”, 2010-07-12 (similar)
“Hyper-priming in Cannabis Users: A Naturalistic Study of the Effects of Cannabis on Semantic Memory Function”, Et Al 2010
“Hyper-priming in cannabis users: A naturalistic study of the effects of cannabis on semantic memory function”, 2010-04-30 (; similar)
“Optimizing Retrieval As a Learning Event: When and Why Expanding Retrieval Practice Enhances Long-term Retention”, Et Al 2010
“Optimizing retrieval as a learning event: When and why expanding retrieval practice enhances long-term retention”, 2010 (; backlinks; similar)
“Optimising Learning Using Flashcards: Spacing Is More Effective Than Cramming”, 2009
“Optimising Learning Using Flashcards: Spacing Is More Effective Than Cramming”, 2009-01-19 (; backlinks; similar)
“Long-term Memory for the Terrorist Attack of September 11: Flashbulb Memories, Event Memories, and the Factors That Influence Their Retention”, Et Al 2009
“Long-term memory for the terrorist attack of September 11: flashbulb memories, event memories, and the factors that influence their retention”, 2009 (similar)
“Applying the Principles of Adult Learning to the Teaching of Psychopharmacology: Overview and Finding the Focus”, 2009
“Attention and Awareness in Stage Magic: Turning Tricks into Research”, Et Al 2008
“Attention and awareness in stage magic: turning tricks into research”, 2008-07-30 (backlinks; similar)
“Knowledge Retention After an Online Tutorial: a Randomized Educational Experiment among Resident Physicians”, Et Al 2008
“Knowledge retention after an online tutorial: a randomized educational experiment among resident physicians”, 2008 (; backlinks; similar)
“Enhancing Learning and Retarding Forgetting: Choices and Consequences”, Et Al 2007
“Enhancing learning and retarding forgetting: Choices and consequences”, 2007-04 (; backlinks; similar)
“Discovery Misattribution: When Solving Is Confused With Remembering”, 2007
“Discovery misattribution: When solving is confused with remembering”, 2007-01 (backlinks; similar; bibliography)
“The Science of Cycology: Failures to Understand How Everyday Objects Work”, 2006
“The science of cycology: Failures to understand how everyday objects work”, 2006-12-01 (similar; bibliography)
“Meta-atheism: Religious Avowal As Self-Deception”, 2004
“Knowing the Limits of One’s Understanding: The Development of an Awareness of an Illusion of Explanatory Depth”, 2004
“Knowing the limits of one’s understanding: The development of an awareness of an illusion of explanatory depth”, 2004 (backlinks; similar)
“Folkscience: Coarse Interpretations of a Complex Reality”, 2003
“Folkscience: coarse interpretations of a complex reality”, 2003-08-01 (backlinks; similar)
“Naive Optics: Predicting and Perceiving Reflections in Mirrors”, Et Al 2003
“Naive Optics: Predicting and Perceiving Reflections in Mirrors”, 2003 (backlinks; similar)
“Why Did We Think We Dreamed in Black and White?”, 2002
“Why did we think we dreamed in black and white?”, 2002-12-01 (; similar; bibliography)
“Fundamentally Misunderstanding Visual Perception: Adults’ Belief in Visual Emissions”, Et Al 2002
“Fundamentally Misunderstanding Visual Perception: Adults' Belief in Visual Emissions”, 2002-06-01 (; backlinks; similar; bibliography)
“Increasing Confidence in Remote Autobiographical Memory and General Knowledge: Extensions of the Revelation Effect”, Et Al 2002
“Increasing confidence in remote autobiographical memory and general knowledge: Extensions of the revelation effect”, 2002-04 (backlinks; similar)
“The Misunderstood Limits of Folk Science: an Illusion of Explanatory Depth”, 2002
“The misunderstood limits of folk science: an illusion of explanatory depth”, 2002 (backlinks; similar)
“Scattered Naive Theories: Why the Human Mind Is Isomorphic to the Internet Web”, 2001
“Scattered naive theories: why the human mind is isomorphic to the internet web”, 2001-12-01 (; backlinks; similar)
“The Persistence of a Misconception about Vision After Educational Interventions”, Et Al 2001
“The persistence of a misconception about vision after educational interventions”, 2001-09-01 (backlinks; similar)
“Metacognition in Motor Learning”
“How Well Do We Know Our Own Conscious Experience? The Case of Human Echolocation”, 2000
“How Well Do We Know Our Own Conscious Experience? The Case of Human Echolocation”, 2000-09 (; similar; bibliography)
“Memory for Everyday Objects: Where Are the Digits on Numerical Keypads?”, 1999
“Memory for everyday objects: where are the digits on numerical keypads?”, 1999-07-12 (similar)
“The Fire That Comes from the Eye”, 1999
“Impact of Formal Continuing Medical Education: Do Conferences, Workshops, Rounds, and Other Traditional Continuing Education Activities Change Physician Behavior or Health Care Outcomes?”, Davis & Al 1999
“The Mismeasure of Memory: When Retrieval Fluency Is Misleading As a Meta-mnemonic Index”, Et Al 1998
“The mismeasure of memory: When retrieval fluency is misleading as a meta-mnemonic index”, 1998 (; backlinks; similar)
“Does CME Work? An Analysis of the Effect of Educational Activities on Physician Performance or Health Care Outcomes”, 1998
“The Shadows and Shallows of Explanation”, 1998
“The Shadows and Shallows of Explanation”, 1998 (backlinks; similar)
“Does Anything Leave the Eye When We See? Extramission Beliefs of Children and Adults”, 1996
“Conditions Affecting Beliefs about Visual Perception among Children and Adults”, Et Al 1996c
“Conditions Affecting Beliefs about Visual Perception among Children and Adults”, 1996 (backlinks; similar)
“Images, Words, and Questions: Variables That Influence Beliefs about Vision in Children and Adults”, Et Al 1996b
“Images, Words, and Questions: Variables That Influence Beliefs about Vision in Children and Adults”, 1996 (backlinks; similar)
“Beliefs of Children and Adults About Feeling Stares of Unseen Others”, Et Al 1996
“Beliefs of Children and Adults About Feeling Stares of Unseen Others”, 1996 (similar)
“Does the Sensitivity of Judgments of Learning (JOLs) to the Effects of Various Study Activities Depend on When the JOLs Occur?”
“How Tracy Austin Broke My Heart”, 1994
“How Tracy Austin Broke My Heart”, 1994-01 (; backlinks; similar; bibliography)
“Memory and Metamemory Considerations in the Training of Human Beings”
“Development in the Understanding of Perception: The Decline of Extramission Perception Beliefs”, 1994
“Development in the understanding of perception: The decline of extramission perception beliefs”, 1994 (backlinks; similar)
“Influence of Animation on Dynamical Judgments”, Et Al 1992
“Influence of animation on dynamical judgments”, 1992 (backlinks; similar)
“Confabulations and the Frontal Systems: Strategic versus Associative Retrieval in Neuropsychological Theories of Memory”, 1989
“Long-term Memory for a Common Object [a Penny]”, 1979
“Long-term memory for a common object [a penny]”, 1979-07-01 (similar)
“The ‘Feeling of Being Stared At’”, 1898
“The ‘Feeling of Being Stared At’”, 1898-12-23 (backlinks)
“Memory Predictions Are Influenced by Perceptual Information: Evidence for Metacognitive Illusions”
“Very Long Term Retention of Knowledge”
“Force Concept Inventory”
“The Initial Knowledge State of College Physics Students”
“Causal Understanding Is Not Necessary for the Improvement of Culturally Evolving Technology”
“Causal understanding is not necessary for the improvement of culturally evolving technology”
“Humans Who Are Not Concentrating Are Not General Intelligences”
Wikipedia
Miscellaneous
-
1985-pirolli.pdf1985 (; backlinks) -
1978-baddeley.pdf1978 (; backlinks) -
http://johnsalvatier.org/blog/2017/reality-has-a-surprising-amount-of-detail -
https://www.amazon.com/Mind-Flat-Remarkable-Shallowness-Improvising/dp/030023872X -
https://www.lesswrong.com/lw/ke/illusion_of_transparency_why_no_one_understands/ -
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/sBBGxdvhKcppQWZZE/double-illusion-of-transparency -
https://www.statnews.com/2023/01/10/corrections-retractions-journals/
Link Bibliography
-
2022-mastroianni.pdf: “Widespread Misperceptions of Long-term Attitude Change”, Adam M. Mastroianni, Jason Dana: -
https://www.vice.com/en/article/5dgkkn/the-insights-psychedelics-give-you-arent-always-true: “The Insights Psychedelics Give You Aren’t Always True: The Study of False—sober—insights Teaches Us to Be Wary of Accepting Every Realization from Psychedelic Trips without Critical Thinking”, Shayla Love: -
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-05923-3: “Irrelevant Insights Make Worldviews Ring True”, Ruben E. Laukkonen, Benjamin T. Kaveladze, John Protzko, Jason M. Tangen, William von Hippel, Jonathan W. Schooler: -
2020-laukkonen.pdf: “The Dark Side of Eureka: Artificially Induced Aha Moments Make Facts Feel True”, Ruben E. Laukkonen, Benjamin T. Kaveladze, Jason M. Tangen, Jonathan W. Schooler: -
2016-doss.pdf: “Two Mechanisms of Constructive Recollection: Perceptual Recombination and Conceptual Fluency”, Manoj K. Doss, Maximilian R. Bluestone, David A. Gallo: -
2007-dougal.pdf: “Discovery Misattribution: When Solving Is Confused With Remembering”, Sonya Dougal, Jonathan W. Schooler: -
2006-lawson.pdf: “The Science of Cycology: Failures to Understand How Everyday Objects Work”, Rebecca Lawson: -
2002-schwitzgebel.pdf: “Why Did We Think We Dreamed in Black and White?”, Eric Schwitzgebel: -
2002-winer.pdf: “Fundamentally Misunderstanding Visual Perception: Adults' Belief in Visual Emissions”, Gerald A. Winer, Jane E. Cottrell, Virginia Gregg, Jody S. Fournier, Lori A. Bica: -
2000-schwitzgebel.pdf: “How Well Do We Know Our Own Conscious Experience? The Case of Human Echolocation”, Eric Schwitzgebel, Michael S. Gordon: -
1994-wallace-howtracyaustinbrokemyheart.pdf: “How Tracy Austin Broke My Heart”, David Foster Wallace: