Inevitable Illusions: How Mistakes of Reason Rule Our Minds

From Library Journal
Minimally, how many people must there be in a room to allow a better than 50 percent chance that two of them will have the same birthday? Your answer may reveal the presence of a cognitive illusion-a mental tunnel that confounds rational thought. Piattelli-Palmarini, director of the Cognitive Science Institute in Milan and a research associate at MIT, offers fascinating examples of such illusions to show how spontaneous, intuitive judgment can lead us astray. Our failure to grasp basic probability, for example, can lead to catastrophic decisions in law and medicine. The author describes the seven deadly mental sins and suggests ways to overcome bias and "mental sloth." This thoughtful, often disturbing book will challenge even those readers with a firm grounding in probability and statistics. For academic and large public libraries.Laurie Bartolini, Legislative Research, Springfield, Ill.Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.


Nature
"A delightful informal survey...the best popular book yet in theis peculiar field"


R. C. Lewontin, Harvard University
"A fascinating and insightful look."


Book Description
"Fascinating and insightful. . . . I cannot recall a book that has made me think more about the nature of thinking." — Richard C. Lewontin

Harvard University

Everyone knows that optical illusions trick us because of the way we see. Now scientists have discovered that cognitive illusions, a set of biases deeply embedded in the human mind, can actually distort the way we think.

In Inevitable Illusions, distinguished cognitive researcher Massimo Piattelli-Palmarini takes us on a provocative, challenging, and thoroughly entertaining exploration of the games our minds play. He opens the doors onto the newly charted realm of the cognitive unconscious to reveal the full range of illusions, showing how they inhibit our ability to reason—no matter what our educational background or IQ. Inevitable Illusions is stimulating, eye-opening food for thought.


Language Notes
Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Italian


The publisher, John Wiley & Sons
This highly enjoyable read covers provocative recent discoveries in the study of the mind. Demonstrates that everyone is prone to certain ``cognitive'' illusions or biases in thinking which lead to systematic misjudgments in decision making. Shows how those illusions have important effects on everyday life from investment decisions to the judgment of jurors. Introduces the full range of illusions including ``probability blindness'' and ``predictability in hindsight,'' all explained through the use of intriguing examples that illustrate exactly how illusions fool us.


From the Back Cover
"Fascinating and insightful. . . . I cannot recall a book that has made me think more about the nature of thinking." — Richard C. Lewontin

Harvard University

Everyone knows that optical illusions trick us because of the way we see. Now scientists have discovered that cognitive illusions, a set of biases deeply embedded in the human mind, can actually distort the way we think.

ANNOTATION

Scientists have recently made the alarming discovery that the human mind is apparently "hard wired" to make mistakes in judgement--cognitive illusions--thatfunction like mental blinders, including "juror's fallacy, " "predictability in hindsight, " and the "seven deadly mental sins."

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Writing with all the wit and charm that have made his books international best-sellers, Piattelli-Palmarini explores the full range of cognitive illusions. From the perils of "probability blindness" to the smoke and mirrors of "magical thinking" and the perplexing twists and turns of the "seven deadly mental sins," he guides us on a sweeping tour of these fascinating discoveries. Through amusing and engaging examples, he allows us to see exactly where we go wrong and why we are so often ready to bet not just money, but even our lives and the lives of others, on our false conclusions. Taking us on a delightful intellectual adventure, Piattelli-Palmarini probes some of the most intriguing and significant new findings about the mysteries of the human mind and reveals how we can consciously protect ourselves from the deceptive short-cuts and flaws in logic that rule our thoughts.

FROM THE CRITICS

Library Journal