The Illusion of Understanding: Phil Fernbach at TEDxGoldenGatePark

Professor Phil Fernbach discusses the "illusion of understanding" in this riveting TEDxGoldenGatePark talk that sheds light on how our understanding of things may not coincide with the depth of our opinions. Phil Fernbach is a cognitive scientist who studies how people think and make decisions. He has recently been interested in what people think they understand (a lot) and what they actually understand (not so much) and the implications of this dissociation for social policy and marketing. Other research areas include causal inference, planning and goal pursuit, financial decision-making, reasoning and moral judgment. He has published extensively in the top peer-reviewed journals in psychology and consumer research and his work has been profiled in media outlets such at the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and ABC News. Dr. Fernbach is an Assistant Professor of Marketing at the Leeds School of Business at the University of Colorado, Boulder. In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations)