CHAPTER 2
WHY WE'RE SO BAD AT DISTINGUISHING SKILL FROM LUCK

AS PART OF A LECTURE that he delivers to the general public, Simon Singh, a British author who writes about science and math, plays a short snippet from Led Zeppelin's famous rock song, “Stairway to Heaven.” Most of the people in the audience are familiar with the tune, and some know the lyrics well enough to sing along.

He then plays the same song backward. As you would expect, it sounds like gibberish. He follows by earnestly asking how many heard the following lyrics in the backward version:

It's my sweet Satan. The one

whose little path would make me

sad whose power is Satan.

Oh, he'll give you, give you 666.

There was a little toolshed where

he made us suffer, sad Satan.

The ...

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