Michael Perkins

In the following TED presentation, Michael Shermer discusses the natural human tendency to see patterns where none exist. He argues that failing to see a pattern that exists is typically more costly than mistakenly seeing a pattern that does not exist. Failing to see a predator, for instance, would have much worse consequences than imagining a predator that does not exist. Consequently, the brain has evolved to err on the side of seeing too many patterns. This tendency leads humans to adopt all sorts of strange beliefs.




See Also:
Seeing Faces
The Whole Problem with the World
Believing Things Which We Know to Be Untrue
Do Not Believe ...
Denialism