Scienceblind: Why Our Intuitive Theories about the World Are So Often Wrong

By Andrew Shtulman

Book Overview

"A fascinating, empathetic book" -- Wall Street Journal

Humans are born to create theories about the world -- unfortunately, we're usually wrong and bad theories keep us from understanding science as it really is

Why do we catch colds? What causes seasons to change? And if you fire a bullet from a gun and drop one from your hand, which bullet hits the ground first? In a pinch we almost always get these questions wrong. Worse, we regularly misconstrue fundamental qualities of the world around us. In Scienceblind, cognitive and developmental psychologist Andrew Shtulman shows that the root of our misconceptions lies in the theories about the world we develop as children. They're not only wrong, they close our minds to ideas inconsistent with them, making us unable to learn science later in life. So how do we get the world right? We must dismantle our intuitive theories and rebuild our knowledge from its foundations. The reward won't just be a truer picture of the world, but clearer solutions to many controversies -- around vaccines, climate change, or evolution -- that plague our politics today.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0465053947
• ISBN13: 9780465053940
• Release Date: April 2017
• Publisher: Basic Books
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 1.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.3" x 9.4"