The illusion of knowledge: why is it so scary

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Check whether your ideas about your own erudition are so real.

What is the illusion of knowledge

Perhaps few people can and want to call themselves incompetent in most areas of life. We are very curious and spend all our time learning about the world around us. And it seems to us that the brain is a computer that gradually accumulates the received information and stores it there for decades.

However, this is not the case. Our mind is not a computing machine or a data warehouse. Nature is designed so that the human brain, receiving new information, cuts off all unnecessary, unnecessary at the moment.

Example: Imagine any simple item you use every day, like an umbrella. You know how to open and fold it, you know the approximate opening mechanism and understand that somewhere in it a spring is used. But can you describe the exact composition and how it works from a mechanical point of view right now? If you do not make umbrellas, then it is unlikely. Because this is unnecessary information for you.

Now look back at all the objects that surround you. Most of them you could never recreate yourself. Any modern thing, whether it be a computer or an ordinary coffee cup, is a product of collective work, the knowledge of many people, bit by bit collected for centuries. But most of this information is not stored in our heads, but outside them: in books, paintings, notes. So, in fact, we do not know so much.

Our knowledge is based not on the study of every object or phenomenon, but on the ability of the brain to conduct a causal relationship, generalize previous experience and predict.

What affects our ability to think

Internet

Psychologists at Yale University found in their study that search engines really make us think we know more than we really do. At the same time, having googled the information, a person becomes so confident in himself, as if he found it not on the Internet, but in his head.

Earlier, they started talking about the Google effect, or about digital amnesia, when everything that a person reads on the Internet, he forgets as unnecessary.

This greatly complicates human development. After all, he already ascribes to himself the knowledge that he does not possess. And he sees no point in memorizing and pondering information that is available at any time.

Abundance of information

There is nothing wrong with a lot of information in and of itself. The problem is that we don't know how to dodge its flow.

Psychotherapist Andrei Kurpatov believes that a person cannot simultaneously consume information and think. And if we get new knowledge constantly - social networks, films, music, advertising - then we simply have no time to think.

Delegation of knowledge

Kurpatov also points to the problem of delegating knowledge: we are so surrounded by various assistants that we do not seek to solve problems on our own. We don’t remember phone numbers, we don’t learn to navigate the terrain, and we don’t try to count in our minds. As a result, the brain relaxes and becomes less able to think for itself.

Cognitive biases

Some cognitive biases are born precisely from the abundance of information. They are associated with the efforts of the brain to reduce the flow of acquired knowledge and it is easier to process it. For example:

• We are more attracted to information that confirms our already existing guesses. The rest of the brain can easily be discarded.
• We try to see patterns in everything. Even where they are not. This makes it easier for the brain to store and process information.
• We can simply think out the missing information on the basis of stereotypes, generalizations or previous experience. And then we successfully forget what was the fact and what we conjectured.
• To anchor information in the brain, it needs to be adjusted to existing beliefs and patterns. This means that some part of it can be donated.
• The brain remembers only the information that was important in a particular period.

Low social activity

Man is a social being. It is thanks to socialization that we have reached the level of development at which we are now. However, today the value of other people as a source of knowledge has decreased. Why do we need to keep in touch with others if all the necessary information is on the Web?

We stop communicating, and communication is always a colossal work of the mind. After all, you need to be able to understand the interlocutor, find what to say, how to please and make you share information.

What is the danger of the illusion of knowledge

Inadequate assessment of your knowledge

Psychologists David Dunning and Justin Kruger found that the less competent a person is in any issue, the more he is inclined to exaggerate his knowledge. This phenomenon is called the "Dunning-Kruger Effect".

Lack of knowledge in emergency situations

A person does not store all information about objects and phenomena in his head. But in a critical situation, when a decision needs to be made instantly, he relies only on his own knowledge. And they may not exist at all.

Loss of ability to cooperate

To be effective, a person must maintain communication. Knowledge is collective, so our individual contribution to it no longer depends on mental abilities, but on the ability to interact with other people. Considering that we already know everything, and refusing to cooperate with others, we lose the opportunity to develop further.

Vulnerability to false information

The prevalence of ready-made information and the inability to distinguish between truth and lies leads to erroneous judgments and dependence on public opinion. The stereotyped thinking imposed by a society can greatly slow down its development.

It would seem that we have become freer in the digital age. But even if we leave our father's house, where we are “taught how to live correctly,” we still continue to grow up on the successes - more often even imaginary ones - of those whom we see on social networks every day.

How to get rid of delusions

• Try to understand that we know as much as we need to. We just know less than we think.
• Ask questions. To other people, yourself and the whole world. Be open to other people's ideas.
• Be critical. Not everything that seems known is familiar to you. And not everything that they are trying to convey to you is the truth.
• Remember that you are responsible for your own actions. Regardless of what the collective and society considers to be true.
• Accept the shallowness of your knowledge, but keep being inspired by new discoveries.
• Do not avoid information that is easy to obtain, avoid information that is difficult to verify.
• Don't try to be an expert in all areas - that's impossible. Delve into areas close to you and do not hesitate to incomplete knowledge in the rest.
• Look for information on the Web purposefully: you must know exactly what you need in order not to get lost among false data.
• Avoid pomace. Try to find the information that you have to think about and process on your own.