Invisible Gorilla - Topline Summary

Invisible Gorilla

Executive Summary

* Don't assume you see everything there is to see. You probably think you remember things better than you do. Confident people don't necessarily have better memories, knowledge, or abilities. Don't assume you know the cause of something. Be skeptical of claims that simple tricks can improve your thinking. You can develop high levels of expertise if you study and practice the right way. Try to slow down, relax, and examine your assumptions before you jump to conclusions. After reading this book you won't be as sure of yourself, but you will have new insights to how your mind works, and new ways of understanding why people act the way they do because of the illusions that affect us all.

Illusion of memory

* The illusion of memory happens when what we remember is different from what we think we remember. What is stored in memory is not an exact replica of reality, but a re-creation of it. When we recall a memory, we integrate details we remember with our expectations of what we should remember. Emotional memories, like the ones we have for 9/11, are more likely to induce strong, vivid recall - regardless of whether they are accurate. Beware of memories accompanied by strong emotions and vivid details. They are just as likely to be wrong as mundane memories, but you're far less likely to realize it

The Illusion of Confidence

* The confidence that people project in a variety of situations, is all too often an illusion. Worse yet, it is the people in the bottom half of an ability range who are more likely to be over confident. Since they don't realize that they are below average, they are unlikely to take steps to improve. The more expertise one has, the more likely they are to say "I don't know" and mean it. If you offer your opinion to a group early and often, people will take your confidence as an indicator of ability, even if you are actually no better than your peers.

The Illusion of Knowledge

* Whenever people think they know more than they do, they are under the influence of the illusion of knowledge. Even scientific experts can dramatically overestimate what they know. Until we are asked to produce what we know, we seem blissfully unaware of the shortcomings of our own knowledge. When approaching a project or challenge, one should spend time escaping the illusion of knowledge by finding out what they don't know. Positive illusions do, however, allow us to take on challenges that we might shrink from if we knew the truth.

The Illusion of Cause

* Pattern perception is central to our lives. It allows us to draw conclusions in seconds from our surroundings. Unfortunately, at times we perceive