"The Knowledge Illusion": How We Rely on Each Other More Than We Realise

Exploring Steven Sloman and Philip Fernbach's Insights on Shared Knowledge and the "Hive Mind"

Have you ever wondered how much of what you know is really your own knowledge?

While reorganising my bookshelf over the weekend, I found "The Knowledge Illusion: Why We Never Think Alone" by Steven Sloman and Philip Fernbach. As I flipped through it, a bunch of post-it notes fell out, reminding me of how much I enjoyed reading it earlier this year. Here’s my simple take on this fascinating book.

This book shows how we rely on what others know for almost everything we do. Think about your morning routine: your alarm clock, coffee machine, and smartphone all work because of other people's expertise. We trust these tools even if we don’t understand them completely.

The authors compare a 15th-century soldier following Joan of Arc’s visions to a modern soldier using high-tech gadgets. Both trust in something they don’t fully understand, showing how we've always relied on faith in the unseen.

A key idea is the "knowledge illusion." We think we know more than we actually do because we mistake the knowledge around us for our own. For example, many of us believe we know how a zipper works until we try to explain it and realise we don’t. This can make us overconfident.

The book also talks about crowdsourcing, where we gather knowledge from lots of people. Apps like Yelp and Waze are good examples. They work well because they use information from many users. But crowdsourcing can fail without the right expertise, as shown by a Finnish football team that let fans make game decisions, leading to bad results.

"The Knowledge Illusion" challenges the idea that we are independent thinkers. It shows that we are stronger when we think together. As the world gets more complex, understanding our reliance on shared knowledge is more important than ever.

If you’re curious about how our minds and society work, I highly recommend this book. It’s an eye-opening look at how we understand the world and how much we depend on each other.

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