← all facts
cognition
You assume you understand everyday objects better than you do.
The illusion of explanatory depth reveals that people believe they understand complex systems until asked to explain them.
Participants often claim to understand how a zipper or a flushing toilet functions. When forced to draw the mechanism step-by-step, their confidence collapses as they realize they lack functional knowledge.
Your brain favors the feeling of comprehension over the mechanics of reality.
Where this comes from
- Study
- Rozenblit and Keil, 2002, Cognitive Science
- What the check found
- The claim accurately reflects the seminal 2002 study by Rozenblit and Keil, which defined the illusion of explanatory depth.
- Confidence
- Well replicated
Related
One of these every day, and every one names the study it came from. When a finding is contested, it says so.