Episode 2: Illusions

Question 1

Naive Realism

Answer 1

Human beings think they perceive the world they it really is.
“Reality is an illusion”.
What we experience in reality is just the kind of interaction that occurs between the kind of stardust that we are made of and the kind of stardust that’s out there.
Physicists see molecules and blank spaces instead of the chair.
What we see is filtered by our own experiences.

Question 2

Expectancy Effect

Answer 2

We use pattern recognition to make sense of the world. Our pattern recognition abilities are shaped so that we can sharpen things that we expect to see, and level those things that are inconsistent.
We see what we expect to see.
Just like in politics, when you disregard whoever talks about right wing and praise the ones that cherish a more just world.

Question 3

Fundamental Cognitive Error

Answer 3

People tend to underestimate the contribution of their beliefs and theories to their judgment and observation.
They fail to understand that there are more than way to look at things and interpret it.
It leads to cognitive biases.