A Little Knowledge

When it comes to understanding things in everyday life, we think that we are pretty good at it. Like zippers – that handy item on jackets, pants and handbags that is awesome until it gets stuck or just doesn’t work!

So, on a  scale of 1-7, how would you rate your knowledge of how a zipper works? Seven for excellent or 1 for poor? Next, in as much detail as you can, write down all the steps of a zipper’s operation. Now rate your knowledge using the 1-7 scale.

If you are like most of the participants in research studies, your second score is lower than your first. Why? We think we understand how things work in our life -healthcare, economics, politics, and everyday items like zippers. We believe we “got this” even when our knowledge is only an inch deep.

Researchers call this tendency of people to overestimate their knowledge and abilities the Illusion of Explanatory Depth (IOED). The consequences of IOED are many like the “I can fix it myself”  project that is finally handed over to a professional or is never repaired. Also, we may make poor personal and professional decisions because we are sure that we know the facts. Or IOED can lead us to create facts that simply are not so.

Check out Just an Illusion in this edition of The Download to see if you are suffering a bit of IOED when it comes to leading healthcare topics such as pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) reform, homelessness and gun safety!