Chapter Two: Heuristics Traps Galore

Summary

• Selective perception is a type of confirmation bias where humans perceive things based on their expectations.
• The narrator's assumption that her dad came home leads her to interpret subsequent occurrences as evidence supporting that assumption, anchored by the noise of footsteps.
• This anchoring bias causes her to rationalize unusual circumstances that would normally contradict her belief that her dad was home.
• Texts and calls to the dad go unanswered, but the family is not alarmed as he is seen as the responsible caretaker.
• When questioned by her family, the narrator insists that the dad must have realized he left his phone and went back to retrieve it.
• John, the narrator's brother, is worried about their dad's absence to the point of considering the involvement of the police, while the narrator dismisses the idea because it hasn't been twenty-four hours.
• There's a misinterpretation of a delivery package's arrival time as the sound of their dad coming home, cementing the narrator's false belief further.
• Upon realizing that her dad might not be home, panic sets in, and the narrator considers Eugene (another family member) might have run off, and the dad went looking for him, stressing his role as a family protector.
• After finding no sign of the dad at local hospitals or in the area, and upon John's insistence, the idea of calling the police is revisited, causing a conflict in the family about getting authorities involved.
• The family starts searching for their dad in the park, with John biking and the mom driving and walking the perimeter.
• When searches turn up empty, the realization that they must involve the police becomes unavoidable, but the family hesitates, hoping to keep their current reality intact a bit longer.
• The chapter ends with a disturbing implication: Eugene has what appears to be blood under his fingernails, and the narrator rushes to destroy the evidence before the police enter their home.