Why People Are So Confident When They’re Wrong

Veritasium unpacks the most dangerous cognitive bias—overconfidence—by exploring the Dunning-Kruger effect, how our brains take mental shortcuts, and why we often think we know more than we do. With real-world tales like rogue trader Nick Leeson and the collapse of Barings Bank, you’ll see how feedback (or the lack of it) shapes our confidence, plus tips on how to check yourself before you wreck yourself.

On the side, Derek Muller’s launching a tabletop game to help cure your overconfidence (check it out on Kickstarter), and you can grab a magnetic molecular modeling kit called Snatoms to geek out on chemistry. Sign up for the weekly Veritasium newsletter while you’re at it, and enjoy the shout-outs to all the brilliant brains behind the video!

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