I think the key is this sentence: "Many students thought the pen would float away. One year, she asked them instead about a crescent wrench instead of the “apocryphal pen.” They all answered that question correctly!"
People just DO NOT think.
Everybody has SEEN (on TV, where they spend more time in front of, than in school or reading books) astronauts in orbit demonstrate they're weighless, by showing a pen float in front of them.
So space = floating pens, in their visual memory.
Moon is in space, therefore pens float.
What about a wrench? Oops, no visual memory to answer, bummer, they'll have to think! And of course, some of the little teaching they had pegged, and they can answer correctly.
That's all. People DO NO think.
Why do you think, IBM had to put up "THINK!" panels in its offices?
I've found that the main problem is that people do think. About things that they've seen on tv, or read, that are just plain fictional.
Humans have a huge advantage in being able to communicate knowledge across generations, and a huge disadvantage in being able to communicate bullshit across generations.
I think he's referring to cached thoughts. Thinking critically takes more effort than retrieving cached thoughts. So why think critically in lieu of a ready made meme?
People just DO NOT think.
Everybody has SEEN (on TV, where they spend more time in front of, than in school or reading books) astronauts in orbit demonstrate they're weighless, by showing a pen float in front of them.
So space = floating pens, in their visual memory.
Moon is in space, therefore pens float.
What about a wrench? Oops, no visual memory to answer, bummer, they'll have to think! And of course, some of the little teaching they had pegged, and they can answer correctly.
That's all. People DO NO think.
Why do you think, IBM had to put up "THINK!" panels in its offices?