Why We Ask Why: The Science of Explanation and the Human Drive to Understand

'One of my absolute favourite cognitive scientists. Now she's written one of my absolute favourite books!'
Angela Duckworth, author of GRIT

'A delightful tour of how the mind works for anyone who's ever wondered about their own desire to wonder'
Laurie Santos, Professor of Psychology at Yale University

'Fascinating, insightful, and always engaging'
Daniel Gilbert, Professor of Psychology at Harvard University and author of STUMBLING ON HAPPINESS

'One of the most eloquent and creative of cognitive scientists as well as one of the best writers . . . [a] splendid new book'
Alison Gopnik, Distinguished Professor of Psychology, UC Berkeley

'Smart, funny, and full of surprises, Why We Ask Why is a gem'
Paul Bloom, Professor of Psychology at the University of Toronto, Brooks and Suzanne Ragen Professor Emeritus of Psychology at Yale University, and author of PSYCH

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An insightful and compelling look at the cognitive science of explanation, revealing why humans crave explanation, what role it plays in our lives, and how we can do it better.

Humans are explanation-seeking creatures. We wonder why there's traffic, why a friend behaved a certain way, why the sky is blue, and - in moments of existential reflection - why we are here. Renowned cognitive scientist Tania Lombrozo has turned this explanation-seeking tendency back on itself to ask: Why do humans explain? What does explanation do for us? And, most importantly, how can we do it better?

Lombrozo explores the role that this overlooked cognitive process plays for each of us as we engage with others and the world around us. She reveals what makes some explanations more satisfying than others, why we seek simpler explanations (and whether we should), how explanations drive learning and science and how explanations give meaning to the world. Along the way, she provides crucial tools for becoming better producers and consumers of explanations.

Astute, thought-provoking and constantly surprising, Why We Ask Why is a book that offers explanations for questions you didn't even know you had.

Tania Lombrozo is Arthur W. Marks '19 Professor of Psychology at Princeton University, where she is also an Associate of the Department of Philosophy and directs the Program in Cognitive Science.

Tania Lombrozo received a B.S. in Symbolic Systems and a B.A. in Philosophy from Stanford University in 2002. followed by a Ph.D. in Psychology from Harvard University in 2006. She was a professor of psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, from 2006-2018, before joining the faculty at Princeton.

Professor Lombrozo's award-winning research aims to address foundational questions about cognition using the empirical tools of cognitive psychology and the conceptual tools of analytic philosophy.

She lives in Princeton. New Jersey with her husband and two daughters.