and that's an ultimate survival skill. You can plant entirely
false memories, whole memories, into the minds of people for things that didn't happen. All
that intelligence, all that experience, all that education doesn't protect you. I think
part of being skeptical is keeping an open mind but demanding evidence. Try and
find some evidence first, and then make up your mind.
We wanted people to confront things that they think about and do every day and realize that
there's science around them in every place. The best way to think about: "Will I be able
to do something well in the future" is to simulate it in the present.
I would say to both skeptics and believers: "Try and base your thoughts and your beliefs
on the evidence." I mean, that's what you do in many different areas of your life.
The world doesn't really look the way you think it looks. There's not a simple panacea
here. I personally find that the smartest people I meet are always willing to say they
don't know something. Science isn't just for scientists. It's for
anybody with integrity that really honestly wants to understand their world. Making mistakes
is really important. If it feels easy, you're probably doing it wrong.
People will quickly recognize that the letter string at the bottom will produce more words
than the letter string at the top. Why would the order of the stockings affect
my judgment? That was disgusting. What was that nice one?
What was the really good one? What am I going to do? I'm totally going to
take a sip and... Sorry. What were you saying? Hang on. Let me enjoy this wine.
One of the things we're trying to do in this course is give a realistic idea about how
the mind is actually working. Think clearly. Think effectively. Ultimately, we want them
to have the tools to be able to change the world.