Commentary on Illusions of Understanding in the Sciences.

This commentary discusses Shiffrin, Stigler, and Keil (2025) on illusions of understanding in science, focusing on linear regression as a key example where predictive success is often mistaken for causal insight. It highlights how statistical paradoxes and specification issues reveal the gap between formal accuracy and true understanding, and extends the discussion to pedagogical and sociological factors that reinforce these illusions.