Illusion of Explanatory Depth
The tendency to believe we understand how complex things work in more depth than we do.
What it is
Rozenblit and Keil found the overestimate larger for explanations of mechanisms than for facts, procedures or stories.
In effect
Most people have heard of the vagus nerve and few could say what it does, yet the name feels explanatory.
What it does not say
The finding concerns how well people rate their own understanding before and after trying to explain. It does not say that people know nothing about how things work, only that the feeling of knowing runs ahead of the knowledge.
Sources
- Rozenblit, L., & Keil, F. (2002). The misunderstood limits of folk science: An illusion of explanatory depth. Cognitive Science, 26(5), 521-562.