Four pairs of socks

About this video

In a shop, four pairs of socks hang in a row, and a sign asks shoppers to choose the best pair. Most people pick the last pair in the row. Asked why, they say "it feels softer" or "the colour is nicer". But the four pairs are exactly the same. Nobody mentions that they simply chose the last one, and asked whether the position could have mattered, almost everyone says no.

Looking inside your own mind - noticing what you feel, think, want and remember - is called introspection. It seems like the one place where you can't be wrong. The psychologists Richard Nisbett and Timothy Wilson ran a test like the socks in 1977. The shoppers were sure of their reasons and didn't feel they were guessing, yet the real reason, where the pair hung, was one they never saw. The reasons they gave were made up after the choice. In 2005 other psychologists showed people two photos of faces and asked which was more attractive. Then, with a trick of the hand, they gave people the photo they had not chosen and asked them to explain their choice. Most didn't notice the swap, and happily explained why they preferred a face they had turned down.

So introspection is good at some things and poor at others. It is good at what you feel right now and what you are thinking about. It is poor at why you did something and what moved you: there we often guess, and the guess feels like seeing. When someone says "I know why I did that", it is worth being a little humble, about them and about ourselves. One way to check is from the outside: write down why you think you choose something, then see whether your choices really follow that reason. This video goes with the Do You Know Your Own Mind? lesson of Knowledge Level 2 on Knaph.

Transcript

1. 0:00Four pairs of socks. Pick the best. Most people pick the last one.
2. 0:05Softer, they say. A nicer colour. But all four are the same.
3. 0:11The real reason was where it hung. Nobody saw it.
4. 0:17Swap the face they chose, and most explain the one they turned down.
5. 0:23Looking inside shows what you feel. It is poor at why you did it.
6. 0:29So check your reasons from the outside.