When we are in the grasp of ...

When we are in the grasp of illusion - or, for that matter, whenever we have a new idea - instead of searching for ways to prove our ideas wrong, we usually attempt to prove them correct. Psychologists call this the confirmation bias, and it presents a major impediment of our ability to break free from the misinterpretation of randomness.
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 Leonard Mlodinow

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Research suggests when it comes to understanding our feelings, we humans have an odd mix of low ability and high confidence.
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 Leonard Mlodinow
We also use our imagination and take shortcuts to fill gaps in patterns of nonvisual data. As with visual input, we draw conclusions and make judgments based on uncertain and incomplete information, and we conclude, when we are done analyzing the patterns, that out picture is clear and accurate. But is it?
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 Leonard Mlodinow