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Cognitive scientist Professor Steven Sloman explains how shallow our thinking really is and that our minds are highly dependent on the minds of others and on knowledge stored in our bodies, the environment and other people.

Sloman and his co-author Professor Philip Fernbach argue that we as individuals know very little but that the human hive knows a lot. They explore the extent of our ignorance and explain the clever ways we overcome it. Recognising the limits of our understanding means we can improve the way we approach complex problems, from the workings of democracy to avoiding financial meltdowns.

Sloman is a professor of cognition, linguistics and psychology at Brown University, United States, and editor-in-chief of the journal Cognition.  Fernbach is a cognitive scientist and professor of marketing at the University of Colorado.  He writes regularly for the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and BBC World News.

Here he talks to writer and journalist Paul Blezard.

Supported by Elsevier.