English

The Invisible Gorilla: How Our Intuitions Deceive Us

Author: Daniel Simons and Christopher F. Chabris Publication Date: June 2011

2026-02-05 3 min read Sincheenz

Once you are done reading this book, you will take a step back before forming an opinion, whether it is about things happening around you or what you see on TV or read in newspapers, blogs, etc. The book explains how our intuitions can deceive us into believing things that might not be true.

The book addresses six main illusions. The illusion of attention explains how we overlook things due to tunnel vision and how we believe we can multitask. When we are driving, we often assume it is okay to speak on the phone because we are experienced drivers and do not need much brain power on familiar routes. But the authors argue that it is not the things we expect to see that we miss. It is the extremely unexpected that goes unnoticed. We miss it because we were never expecting it.

The second illusion is the illusion of memory, how we are often convinced that things we believe happened in the past were not actually the case. Our memories can turn inaccuracies into what feel like facts.

Then there is the illusion of confidence and the illusion of knowledge, how we judge people and experts. When someone shows a lot of confidence, we assume they know their subject better than those who want to discuss or exchange opinions. It also questions how much truth or information we believe a study or paper conveys based on its popularity or how often it is cited in magazines. What conclusion was made? Who were the test subjects? What is missing?

This leads to the illusion of cause, where the authors illustrate the common confusion that correlation implies causation. For example, ice cream sales and drowning incidents both increase in summer, but that does not mean one causes the other. Still, people believe many unrelated things, including supposed side effects of vaccines or the claimed positive effects of red wine and coffee, when they are cited in papers or articles.

The last is the illusion of potential, where we overestimate our untapped abilities and hidden capacity, believing we can do more than we actually can. It was interesting to learn about brain training and the misinformation around it. While practice improves performance, it does not create unlimited ability. Skills can improve in specific areas, but that does not mean we unlock hidden general intelligence. I have mixed feelings about this last argument, but it was interesting to read the authors’ point of view.

A good book overall. You will begin asking yourself many more questions after you finish reading it.