Science on Tap — “Partial Truths: How Fractions Distort Our Thinking”

Via Productions’ next in-person Science on Tap event is 7 p.m. March 22 at Alberta Rose Theatre, 3000 N.E. Alberta St., Portland. Tickets are $15 to $45 at scienceontaporwa.org/events/alberta_march_22_partial/. Recorded live shows are available to Patreon members after the event.

A fast-food chain once tried to compete with McDonald’s quarter-pounder by introducing a third-pound hamburger—only for it to flop when consumers thought a third-pound was less than a quarter-pound because three is less than four. Errors of this type can be found from antiquity to the present, from the Peloponnesian War to the COVID-19 pandemic. In his new book “Partial Truths,” Dr. James C. Zimring argues that many of the mistakes the human mind consistently makes boil down to misperceiving fractions like percentages, probabilities, frequencies, and rates. Zimring also explores the counterintuitive reason that these flaws might benefit us, demonstrating that individual error can be highly advantageous to problem-solving by groups. Blending key scientific research in cognitive psychology with accessible real-life examples, “Partial Truths” helps readers spot the fallacies lurking in everyday information. For more information on this event or about Science on Tap, visit Science on Tap OR WA.