Robert Burton, a neurologist and5 the author of the book On Being Certain, contends that we all suffer from a common human condition of thinking we know more than we do. For years, Burton has been grappling with the question What does it mean to be convinced? He told me he has concluded, based on extensive research, that the feeling of “knowing” is just that—a feeling, or a sensation. However, the feeling is so strong that it creates what Burton calls a “certainty epidemic”—wherein
