This is not dissimilar to the way that paintings can exploit shortcuts in our perceptual system: as objects become more distant, they appear smaller, and “perspective” can trick us into seeing three dimensions where there are only two, by taking advantage of this strategy used by our depth-checking apparatus. When our cognitive system—our truth-checking apparatus—is fooled, then, much like seeing depth in a flat painting, we come to erroneous conclusions about abstract things. We might misidentify normal fluctuations as meaningful patterns, for example, or ascribe causality where in fact there
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