Chris’s Reviews > You Can Beat Your Brain: How to Turn your Enemies into Friends, How to Make Better Decisions, and Other Ways to Be Less Dumb > Status Update

"Pluralistic Ignorance" - where you mistakenly assume you're in the minority and just go along with it; when everyone else is thinking exactly the same thing. For instance, teacher says something confusing, then says, "Everyone understand?". No one puts their hand up because they think they're alone in their confusion. Boom. Pluralistic ignorance.

"The Backfire Effect" is a fun one. Apparently when confronted with information that challenges your beliefs, your learning centre shuts down. This explains why you've never seen anyone win an argument about politics or conspiracy theories on Facebook.