Saved on this device

Follow your curiosity

What discovery has been shared with you?

FACTREE gives you something interesting to discover every day — and something worth talking about together.

Start with one fact. Explore it, go deeper, then follow whichever branch catches your imagination.

Choose subjects for a surprise

Exploring any topic

Begin your discovery

Your next discovery is one click away.

Choose one or more subjects above, or leave Any Topic selected and let curiosity decide.

Psychology

Cognitive Biases in Public Perception of Economic Inequality

Quick fact

Studies show that most people severely underestimate the actual share of wealth owned by the top 1%—in the U.S., the top 1% holds about 40% of wealth, yet people guess it's around 20-30%. This misperception persists even when respondents are given accurate data, suggesting deep-seated cognitive biases.

Why this is interesting

Imagine you ask a room of people how much wealth the richest 1% own. Nearly everyone will get it wrong—often by a lot. Why are our intuitions about inequality so systematically off?