Think with Christopher Chabris

Recent News

• How experts recall chess positions

  
  In 2011, a computer (Watson) outplayed two human Jeopardy champions. In 1997, chess computer Deep Blue defeated chess champion Garry Kasparov. In both cases, the computer “solved” the game—found the right questions or good moves—differently than humans do. Defeating humans in these domains took years of research and programming by teams of engineers, but only with huge advantages in speed, efficiency, memory, and precision could computers compete with much more limited humans. What allows human experts to match wits with custom-designed computers equipped with tremendous processing power? [...] Read More

• New guide to writing and revising

  
  Over the past 20 years of teaching, writing, and editing, I have compiled a set of tips, tricks, and pet peeves that I share with students and colleagues. I’ve decided to make this writing guide more widely available in case others will find it useful. The emphasis is on scientific writing, but the same principles [...] Read More

• Ghost busters, parapsychology, and the first study of inattentional blindness

  
  ghosts in the history of inattentional [...] Read More