Jonathan Drori: Why we don’t understand as much as we think we do
It seems that I've been stuck on this theme for some time now. The more I dig, the more fascinated I become. Although this video mainly deals with our misconceptions about science, I think the same concept applies to all other aspects of life.
The following points especially stood out to me:
- We learn through experience more than from the teachers in a classroom.
- Once we have stored information in our minds, we look for evidence to reinforce our misconceptions.
- There are people all too able to provide that evidence and/or to create other barriers to new and accurate information.
- Neither we nor our children are empty vessels, as we are constantly gathering and accumulating data.
- Our early mental models are extremely persistent and difficult to shift.
I think we can apply this to just about every bias or pre-existing idea we have regarding race, culture, religion, gender roles, politics, tradition, and even our idea of God.
It's true that it is extremely difficult to look at any new information with a completely clean slate without any preconceived notions we have learned through someone else teaching us. hmmm...
I think the key is to always try to think and experience things for ourselves.
