Etymology: The term was coined by cognitive developmental psychologist Andrew Shtulman as the title for his 2017 book Scienceblind: Why Our Intuitive Theories About the World Are So Often Wrong. Meaning: It’s no easy thing to understand the world around us as it really is. We may think we know what causes rainbows, or the seasons, but when asked to explain, our supposedly scientific knowledge can evaporate. In the heat of the moment, we usually revert to intuitive theories. This story is from Kinfolk Issue Thirty-One Buy Now Related Stories Arts & Culture Issue 46 Word: Wintering When to withdraw from the world. Arts & Culture Issue 45 Word: Explication An explanation to end all explanations. Arts & Culture Issue 44 Word: Anecdata Fact, meet fiction. Arts & Culture Issue 43 Word: Knolling The fascinating history of the flat lay. Arts & Culture Issue 42 Word: Hyperobject A word for things too huge to name. Arts & Culture Word: Negentropy A physicist’s fix for a messy home.
