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James C. Zimring argues that many of the mistakes that the human mind consistently makes boil down to misperceiving fractions. Blending key scientific research in cognitive psychology with accessible real-life examples,
Partial Truths helps readers spot the fallacies lurking in everyday information.
List of contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Part I. The Problem of Misperception
1. The Fraction Problem
2. How Our Minds Fractionate the World
3. Confirmation Bias: How Your Mind Filters Evidence Based on Preexisting Beliefs
4. Bias with a Cherry on Top: Cherry-Picking the Data
Part II. The Fraction Problem in Different Arenas
5. The Criminal Justice System
6. The March to War
7. Patterns in the Static
8. Alternative and New Age Beliefs
9. The Appearance of Design in the Natural World
10. The Hard Sciences
Part III. Reversing Misperception
11. How Misperceiving the Fraction Can Be Advantageous
12. Can We Solve the Problems with Human Perception and Reasoning and Should We Even Try?
Notes
Bibliography
Index
About the author
James C. Zimring is the Thomas W. Tillack Professor of Experimental Pathology at the University of Virginia School of Medicine. He is the author of What Science Is and How It Really Works (2019).
Summary
James C. Zimring argues that many of the mistakes that the human mind consistently makes boil down to misperceiving fractions. Blending key scientific research in cognitive psychology with accessible real-life examples, Partial Truths helps readers spot the fallacies lurking in everyday information.
