“Many people operate as if there are two separate and equal sources of information—the self and others, where the number of others is irrelevant. The result is a “truly” false-consensus effect in the context of knowing one’s own plus a certain number of others’ responses.”

— Robyn Dawes

Source: Everyday Irrationality: How Pseudo-Scientists, Lunatics, and the Rest of Us Systematically Fail to Think Rationally (2001), Chapter 8, “Connecting Ourselves with Others, Without Recourse to a Good Story” (p. 148)

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Robyn Dawes 11

American psychologist 1936–2010

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