Your car breaks down. Must be because you skipped an oil change last month. Or your favorite team loses. Well, that was because of a bad call by a corrupt referee. In reality, many events involve multiple contributing factors. But we tend to gravitate toward single causes.
In this episode of Choiceology with Katy Milkman, we look at our desire to explain things simply, even when the truth may be more complex.
Where unidentified flying objects are concerned, there is rarely a simple answer. They'd be identified flying objects otherwise. So in the absence of conclusive evidence, UFOs capture the imagination.
Case in point: the Rendlesham Forest Incident. We’ll hear from UFO expert (and skeptic) Toby Ball about a fascinating series of sightings in the Rendlesham Forest in the early 1980s. Toby deconstructs the events—and the rush to conclusions by certain media outlets—in search of an explanation.
Toby explores the folklore and culture surrounding UFO encounters on his show Strange Arrivals. He also appears on the weekly podcast Crime Writers On.
Next, Katy speaks with Tania Lombrozo about her research on our mind’s preference for simple explanations—and when that can lead us astray. Tania is the Arthur W. Marks Professor of Psychology at Princeton University and lab director at Princeton’s Concepts and Cognition Lab.
Choiceology is an original podcast from Charles Schwab. For more on the show, visit schwab.com/Choiceology.
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Important Disclosures
The comments, views, and opinions expressed in the presentation are those of the speakers and do not necessarily represent the views of Charles Schwab.
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All expressions of opinion are subject to change without notice in reaction to shifting market conditions.
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Investing involves risk including loss of principal.
The book How to Change: The Science of Getting From Where You Are to Where You Want to Be is not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. (CS&Co.). Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. (CS&Co.) has not reviewed the book and makes no representations about its content.
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Choiceology with Katy Milkman 
