The Invisible Gorilla: How Our Intuitions Deceive Us Paperback
Author: Christopher Chabris - ISBN: 0307459667 - Language: English - Format: PDF, EPUB
DESCRIPTION
Amazon.com Review
Tom Vanderbilt writes on design, technology, architecture, science, and many other topics. He is author of Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do (and What It Says About Us) published in 2008 by Alfred A. Knopf, and Survival City: Adventures Among the Ruins of Atomic America, published in 2002 by Princeton Architectural Press. He is contributing editor to I.D. and Print magazines, contributing writer at Design Observer, and writes for many publications, ranging from Wired to the New York Times to Men's Vogue to the Wilson Quarterly. He lives in Brooklyn, NY.
Do you remember when you first saw--or more likely, didn’t see--the gorilla? For me it was one afternoon a number of years ago when I clicked open one of those noxious-but-irresistible forwarded emails ("You Won’t Believe Your Eyes!"). The task was simple--count the number of passes in a tight cluster of basketball players--but the ensuing result was astonishing: As I dutifully (and correctly) tracked the number of passes made, a guy in a gorilla suit had strolled into the center, beat his chest, and sauntered off. But I never saw the gorilla. And I was hardly alone.
The video, which went on to become a global viral sensation, brought "inattentional blindness"--a once comparatively obscure interest of cognitive psychologists--into striking relief. Here was a dramatic reminder that looking is not necessarily seeing, that “paying” attention to one thing might come at the cost of missing another altogether. No one was more taken with the experience than the authors of the original study, Daniel Simons and Christopher Chabris, as they recount in their new--and, dare I say, eye-opening--book, The Invisible Gorilla. "The fact that people miss things is important," they write, "but what impressed us even more was the surprise people showed when they realized what they had missed."
The Invisible Gorilla uses that ersatz primate as a departure point (and overarching metaphor) for exploring the myriad of other illusions, perceptual or otherwise, that we encounter in everyday life--and our often complete lack of awareness as we do so. These "gorillas" are lurking everywhere--from the (often false) memories we think we have to the futures we think we can anticipate to the cause-and-effect chains we feel must exist. Writing with authority, clarity, and a healthy dose of skepticism, Simons and Chabris explore why these illusions persist--and, indeed, seem to multiply in the modern world--and how we might work to avoid them. Alas, there are no easy solutions--doing crosswords to stave off cognitive decline in one’s dotage may simply make you better at doing crosswords. But looking for those "gorillas in our midst" is as rewarding as actually finding them.
(Photo © Kate Burton)--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Publishers Weekly
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
--This text refers to the
Audio CD
edition.
DETAILS
- Paperback: 320 pages
- Publisher: Harmony; Reprint edition (June 7, 2011)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0307459667
- ISBN-13: 978-0307459664
- Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 0.7 inches
- Shipping Weight: 8.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
- Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,131 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #30 in Books > Medical Books > Psychology > Cognitive
- #40 in Books > Health, Fitness & Dieting > Psychology & Counseling > Applied Psychology
- #61 in Books > Science & Math > Behavioral Sciences > Cognitive Psychology
REVIEWS
The Invisible Gorilla How Our Intuitions Deceive Us Christopher Chabris on Amazon com FREE shipping on qualifying offers The Invisible Gorilla How Our Intuitions Deceive Us Christopher Chabris Daniel Simons on Amazon com FREE shipping on qualifying offers Reading this book will Buy The Invisible Gorilla How Our Intuitions Deceive Us book online at best prices in How Our Intuitions Deceive Us Import Paperback Audible Download The Invisible Gorilla reveals the myriad ways that our intuitions can deceive us Trade Paperback ISBN 9780307459664 Our THE INVISIBLE GORILLA teaches us NOOK Book eBook Paperback And Other Ways Our Intuitions Deceive Us 6 49 9 86 Paperback 2 6 49 9 86 The Invisible Gorilla How Our Intuitions E book sale the invisible gorilla how our intuitions deceive us or download the E book sale the invisible gorilla how our intuitions deceive us Book information and reviews for ISBN 0307459667 The Invisible Gorilla How Our Intuitions Deceive Us by Christopher Chabris Author Title The Invisible Gorilla And Other Ways Our Paperback Jeffrey Brantley gorilla other ways our intuitions deceive us christopher 8 Reviews The Invisible Gorilla How Our Intuitions Deceive Us or download a FREE Kindle Reading App How Our Intuitions Deceive Us by Christopher Chabris Paperback The Invisible Gorilla How Our Intuitions Deceive Us book download Christopher Author on Jun 07 2011 Paperback The Invisible Gorilla And Other Ways Our Intuitions
The Invisible Gorilla is an unusual name for an unusual book. The authors Christopher Chabris and Daniel Simons have assembled a evidence of six illusions that impact our lives in significant ways. Chapter One deals with the illusion of attention, that is, the illusion that we see or observe far more than we think. Several experiments have proven that even obvious things are easily missed by people. Up to fifty percent of testers failed to see a fake gorilla enter a basketball game where the testers were counting the number of ball passes rather than looking for gorillas. It is from this experiment that the book gets its name.
Most think that such a gorilla would be easily noticed; however, various experiments have shown this is not the case. This lack of ability to see objects that are not expected may explain why cars pull out in front of motorcycles, as it is theorized that people driving cars do not expect to see motorcycles and thus they do not. Cell phone users also miss obvious objects while they are driving. It seems cell phone users that are driving suffer from a reduction in awareness, but they are not aware of it. Thus the illusion that they are as fully aware while talking on the phone as they are when the phone is not in use. The Invisible Gorilla points out how this attention illusion can have real and sometimes harsh results in the real world.
Then the book goes on to describe five other illusions: the illusion of memory, the illusion of knowledge and confidence, the illusion that in a series of events, event one causes event two, and the illusion that certain mythical processes - such as hypnotism - can help one reach their full potential.
PREVIEW
The Invisible Gorilla DOWNLOAD
No comments:
Post a Comment