Why do some parents not vaccinate their children? Why are people still abusing antibiotics? Why can't many people look at AIDS rationally? When it comes to health, people tend to insist that science is wrong because unknown dangers are everywhere.
In The Cognitive Trap, the Gorman father and daughter examine the psychological, social, and neurobiological reasons behind this rejection of health science. Based on an analysis of numerous cases of denial, they identified six main factors that lead to rejection of science about health: fear of conspiracy, fear of complexity, the influence of charismatic leaders, cognitive bias and the internet, causality and bridging the cognitive gap, and the nature of risk**. The authors argue that health science is particularly vulnerable to the natural resistance of people's preconceived beliefs to new ideas.
Scientific research has shown that humans have an instinctive, deep-seated discomfort with changing our minds when confronted with new information. And this kind of research is now at the forefront of neuroscience.
This book attempts to think about and assess the risk of what people do when making decisions about their health for themselves or their loved ones, and puts forward an important idea: we need to disseminate scientific knowledge and technology to the public, so that the public can abandon those inherent misconceptions, better understand their own health, and make informed decisions.