The Illusory Truth Effect and Cognitive Biases

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The chapter explores how the rhyme as reason effect and the illusory truth effect shape our perception of truth, leading to the spread of false news and misconceptions. It discusses the implications of cognitive biases on important matters like elections and personal relationships, highlighting the challenge of distinguishing between accurate information and misleading narratives. The chapter also delves into the dual nature of cognitive biases, demonstrating how they can be leveraged by both science communicators and purveyors of misinformation.

Raise your hand if you've ever belittled a stranger online, made a decision based on astrology, or, heaven forbid, fallen for a conspiracy theory. No? Well, then, consider yourself lucky. And if your hand is raised, don't feel bad, because it turns out in our Information Age the cognitive biases that kept us alive a few millennia ago now make us susceptible to bouts of extreme irrationality. How this happened, and what we can do about it, is the subject of a brand new book by linguist Amanda Montell called "The Age of Magical Overthinking: Notes on Modern Irrationality."