People aren't stupid. Right?

People aren't stupid… right?

So why do we sometimes think we're the most reasonable person in the room?

There are 3 cognitive illusions at play:

Naive realism

We believe we see the world exactly as it is.

Others say reality is different? They must be mistaken.

Do they resist when we correct them? "They must be stupid."

Psychological distance

People close to us, those we know and connect with, appear as fully detailed individuals.

We understand their circumstances. They make sense to us.

Bu people physically or emotionally distant appear abstract.

When they disagree, we don't see their reasons.

We don't understand them. "They must be stupid."

Correspondence bias

We assume other people's actions reflect their personalities rather than their situations.

Someone does something "stupid"? "They must be stupid."

The solution?

It's about stepping out of our own heads, ditching assumptions and empathizing with others.

Keeping these biases in mind is especially important when researching, writing and designing for users.

Read more about the topic in this interesting newsletter by Adam Mastroianni:

The radical idea that people aren’t stupid

OR, the toilet spoke and I understood the truth

Experimental HistoryAdam Mastroianni

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I'm Elisa, an Italian content designer with a background in localization and customer service. This is where I document my life in UX and writing.

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