When Coincidence Looks Like a Pattern Why do we think some things are related when they aren’t? You wash your car, and it rains. The next time this happens, you…
No human being is known to have achieved 100% critical thinking, and there are strong psychological and biological reasons to believe that nobody can. However, some individuals have devoted their…
We often imagine adult bones as a finished framework. But the female pelvis appears to keep changing shape—and those changes raise an intriguing evolutionary question. A 2016 study examined CT…
Why a Good Story Can Feel More Accurate Than the Evidence Why are we overconfident in our predictions? The illusion of validity is a cognitive bias that describes our tendency to be…
Why We Think Others Can Read Us Better Than They Can Why do we feel that others can read our mind? Imagine you’re giving a presentation. Your heart is racing….
Pregnancy does not end every biological connection between mother and child. During gestation, small numbers of fetal cells cross the placenta and enter the mother’s body. Some survive long after…
An “Insect” Is Literally “Cut Into” Watch an ant walking across a table. Its narrow waist makes it look almost as though someone has pinched—or cut—its body into separate pieces….
“Happy” Originally Meant Lucky If someone called you happy in medieval England, they might have been commenting on your good fortune rather than your good mood. The word developed from…
Understanding My Need for Autonomy, Predictability, and Freedom of Choice For a long time, I’ve noticed something interesting about my personality. I dislike last-minute plans, unexpected requests, sudden changes to…
When We Think We Influence What We Can’t Why do we think we have more control over the world than we do? Imagine buying a lottery ticket. One machine randomly…