What A Simple Question Reveals About The Most Dangerous Cognitive Bias

A new Veritasium feature dives into our tendency to be way more confident than we should be—aka overconfidence bias—and shows how a seemingly innocent question can expose big calibration errors in our own heads. You’ll get a fresh take on the real Dunning-Kruger graph, see how shortcuts in our brain trick us into thinking we’re experts, and even learn why a little overconfidence can be good (but only to a point).

Along the way, Derek Muller and his team walk you through wild true stories—like Nick Leeson’s rogue-trading meltdown and the collapse of one of England’s oldest banks—to highlight how missing feedback compounds mistakes. Finally, you’ll get practical tips (and a brand-new tabletop game on Kickstarter) to help you check your confidence and make smarter decisions.

Watch on YouTube