The Curse of Knowledge Meets The Valley of Death
From Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford
Published 4/2/2021
Why were soldiers on horseback told to ride straight into a valley full of enemy cannon? The disastrous "Charge of the Light Brigade" is usually blamed on blundering generals. But the confusing orders issued on that awful day in 1854 reveal a common human trait - we often wrongly assume that…
