Sciencespeaking topic
Optimism bias: why do we think bad things always happen to someone else? Why do we systematically underestimate our own risks?
— Weinstein, optimism bias
practice with this topic
Set the timer (5-30 min), take 20 seconds of prep if you like, start talking. Jot your thoughts onto the sticky-note board.
similar topics
- The problem of induction: how can we know the sun will rise tomorrow just because it has risen every day so far? Do past observations guarantee anything about the future, or is it just habit?
- Why was it so surprising when Rutherford's gold foil experiment revealed that the atom is mostly empty space with a dense nucleus?
- The argument between Einstein and Bohr over quantum mechanics shows that great science can run on personal stubbornness as much as evidence.
- Fat isn't 'burned,' it's breathed out: most of the fat you lose leaves through the lungs as carbon dioxide. When you lose weight, where does the fat actually go?
- Status quo bias: why is our tendency to want everything to stay the same so strong? Why do we avoid change even when it costs us nothing concrete?