The Reasoning Test Psychologists Still Can’t Explain

Why do almost all of us struggle with a simple reasoning test, yet get it right the moment it’s about a pint in a pub? This week, Professor Hannah Fry and Michael Stevens take on the Wason Selection Task, one of the most intensely studied problems in the history of psychology.

They unpack why a rule involving letters and numbers can feel strangely difficult, while the exact same logic becomes immediate and instinctive when it’s about people, rules, and catching someone out.

From counterexamples and conditional statements to confirmation bias and the limits of human reasoning, they reveal why we rarely look for what proves us wrong. Along the way, they tackle a bigger question: did reasoning evolve to uncover truth, or simply to help us get along?

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