Acquiring knowledge and understanding are central to making our way in the modern world. Some of us claim to be experts because we try to know a lot about one topic.
Most of us are satisfied with knowing enough about some topics to get through the day. The book, "The Knowledge Illusion", by two cognitive scientists, Steven Sloman and Philip Fernbach, explores why we are all under the illusion that we know more than we actually do.
They discuss how we think in groups, with technology and about science and politics. They also make recommendations for how to cope with our limitations. We will read their accessible book across the six sessions. Humility and curiosity are the only prerequisites for the course.
Craig Ramsay is a political scientist who taught for decades while coping with his own illusions of knowledge.
This Study Group for those 50 and over will meet Tuesdays 1:00 – 2:30 p.m. October 30 – December 11.