Professors of Psychology Chabris and Simons write about six everyday
illusions of perception and thought, including the beliefs that: we pay
attention more than we do, our memories are more detailed than they are,
confident people are competent people, we know more than we actually do,
and our brains have reserves of power that are easy to unlock. Through
a host of studies, anecdotes, and logic, the authors debunk conventional
wisdom about the workings of the mind and what "experts" really know
(or don't). Presented almost as a response to Malcolm Gladwell's blink,
the books pay special attention to "the illusion of knowledge" and
the danger of basing decision-making, in areas such as investing,
on short-term information; in the authors' view, careful analysis of
assumed truths is preferred over quick, intuitive thinking. Chabris and
Simons are not against intuition, "...but we don't think it should be
exalted above analysis without good evidence that it is truly superior."

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