Gerd Gigerenzer Quotes & Sayings

I focus on the most important form of innumeracy in everyday life, statistical innumeracy
that is, the inability to reason about uncertainties and risk. — Gerd Gigerenzer

Cognition requires going beyond the information given, to make bets and therefore to risk errors. — Gerd Gigerenzer

a world of known risk, in short, risk (Figure 2-3, center). I use this term for a world where all alternatives, consequences, and probabilities are known. Lotteries and games of chance are examples. Most of the time, however, we live in a changing world where some of these are unknown: where we face unknown risks, or uncertainty (Figure 2-3, right). The world of uncertainty is huge compared to that of risk. Whom to marry? Whom to trust? What to do with the rest of one's life? In an uncertain world, it is impossible to determine the optimal course of action by calculating the exact risks. We have to deal with "unknown unknowns." Surprises happen. Even when calculation does not provide a clear answer, however, we have to make decisions. — Gerd Gigerenzer

An intuition is neither caprice nor a sixth sense but a form of unconscious intelligence. — Gerd Gigerenzer

We have to learn to live with uncertainty. — Gerd Gigerenzer

Great thinkers often learn, to their surprise, that new ideas are less than welcome. — Gerd Gigerenzer