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Clear+Vivid with Alan Alda

Steve Sloman and Phil Fernbach: How Do You Know That?

Clear+Vivid with Alan Alda

Bobi NYC

Science, Society & Culture, Comedy

4.83.5K Ratings

🗓️ 18 July 2023

⏱️ 39 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Most of us don’t know most things. Yet most of us also think we understand a lot (OK, not quantum mechanics or Federal Reserve policy). We are all living with what Sloman and Fernbach argue is an Illusion of how much we know: a knowledge illusion. And this is fueling the fracturing of society.

Transcript

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0:00.0

I'm Alan Olver and this is Clear In Vivid, Conversations About Connecting and Communicating.

0:15.7

The idea is that we get our sense of understanding from the people around us, right?

0:22.2

Understanding is like a virus which we can catch.

0:25.0

So we might have a sense of understanding because the people around us have a sense of understanding.

0:30.3

But they might only have a sense of understanding because the people around them think they

0:34.1

have an understanding.

0:36.2

And those people might have a sense of understanding only because the people around you see where

0:40.3

this is going, right?

0:41.4

You can have an entire community that has a sense of understanding even though nobody

0:46.1

actually understands.

0:48.7

That Steve Sloeman who along with his colleague Phil Fernbach has written a book called

0:54.2

The Knowledge Illusion, Why We Never Think Alone.

0:59.3

It's a book that certainly made me think.

1:03.6

Well this should be interesting because I found your book fascinating, The Knowledge Illusion.

1:11.0

And what should be interesting about our conversation is that a couple hours ago, I said

1:17.6

to my wife, Arlene, I'm going to talk with these two interesting guys.

1:22.5

And it should be fascinating because the subject is so interesting.

1:25.9

She said, What is it?

1:28.0

And I thought I understood it well enough to explain it.

1:31.5

Oh, I love that.

1:35.5

So that sort of is your book right there.

1:40.0

So why don't you both have a go to helping me understand what the Knowledge Illusion really

...

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