The Invisible Gorilla. The Experiment That Revealed Why Attention Hinders Focus, Memory Fails, and Intuition Deceives

Imagine that you are walking down the street and a man stops you. He looks lost, shows a map, and asks for directions. You want to help and start plotting a route, when suddenly you hear workers from behind asking to step aside. A large door is carried between you and the stranger. Will you notice the substitution of the passerby in this situation? Are you sure? What if we told you that half of the people who participated in this experiment saw nothing and continued to talk to a different person calmly? After reading this book, you will never be able to fully trust your brain again. One of the most famous experiments in the world showed that we do not notice the whole world around us and overestimate our observation skills. Each of us is convinced: it is impossible to lose what is right in front of us, everything happened exactly as we remembered it, and there is nothing easier than to understand a new issue from scratch. But in reality, we rely much more on intuition than on common sense. «The Invisible Gorilla» is the most famous psychological experiment in the world. Psychologists from Harvard uncovered six everyday illusions that lead to mistakes in life and can even be dangerous. You will learn many interesting stories that will vividly show when illusions arise in our lives and how to counteract them. You will delve into yourself and the secrets of our brain and finally see the world as it is. From this book, you will also learn: • what is common between driving while intoxicated and talking on the phone while driving; • why Oscar-winning films have so many bloopers, yet we rarely notice them; • why companies spend billions launching a product that, in their own opinion, will fail; • what is common between chess players and criminals; • why the same event is remembered differently by participants.