How do we know what isn't so?

Thomas Gilovich’s book, “How We Know What Isn’t So: The Fallibility of Human Reason in Everyday Life,” focuses on the common errors humans make while trying to comprehend the world around them. He explains how our beliefs are derived from flawed rationality rather than irrationality. Gilovich covers topics ranging from our tendency to look for confirmation, our ability to find a pattern and meaning in chaos and randomness, the distinction between two and one sided events, biases, the Lake Wobegone effect, ESP, and much more.

I found the topic on “the will to believe” particularly interesting. The will to believe, a type of wishful thinking, states that people will cling onto any supporting evidence that is in favor of their views or beliefs. It’s not that people will simply believe whatever they want to, but rather that evidence may seem compelling only when evaluated somewhat uncritically. We tend to be more compassionate towards information that supports our hopes and rather skeptical of information that is antagonistic to them.

Gilovich gives two compelling examples of this. He says people use the will to believe when exploring medical treatments and also when it comes to ESP. Alternative medical practices often take advantage of scenarios where people are desperate for options or change, such as arthritis, cancer, or aging. People eager to get treatment often make rushed decisions when the possibilities of success seem convincing. Gilovich also relates the “will to believe” to people’s beliefs in ESP. Somewhat seductive aspects of ESP are the implication that we possess powers that we have yet to develop and the potential for some part of us to survive death. Belief and the desire to believe, creates a market for the coverage of pseudoscience and the paranormal. Coverage creates or reinforces belief when the media and the public feed off of one another. If evidence can make a doctrine seem plausible, most laypeople are willing to believe in its effectiveness, especially if it’s to their own benefit.

This concept of the “will to believe” reminded me immediately of the 10% use of our brain theory that I read about in Scientific Perspectives on Pseudoscience and the Paranormal by Timothy Lawson. He talks about how the 10% theory can seem appealing to people because it encourages the idea that we have untapped potential in our brains, leaving the possibility that anyone, if able to tap into the other 90%, can be the next Einstein. People often believe things without giving it a second thought because it’s just more comfortable that way.

Overall, I found this book very interesting. The author was witty, informative, and persuaded me with pure commonsense. It tied in very well with what we are already learning in class. Almost instantly, I find myself being much more critical on my everyday judgments and decisions, taking a step back and few moments to use my scientific mind. Now I know how to tell what isn’t so!

-Clarie-Ann Henriques